... And standing up, assisted

Finding her balance has not only helped Adelaida learn to sit up by herself, it has also made her much more eager to stand! Since she was born, she has enjoyed standing up on Dale's or my (or Nonna's) lap, first with us holding her body for support and more recently with us providing her with a stable finger or two to hold while standing.

Since she is able to stand quite well while holding on to my fingers, about a week ago I tried to stand her up in front of a steady piece of furniture to see if she'd stand while holding on to it. She didn't grasp either the concept of holding on to something to help her stand or the furniture she was standing near. I concluded that she wasn't ready for that yet and didn't think much more about it.

We continued to let her stand with our help, as well as both in an over-the-door-jamb jumper and in a MegaSaucer activity center. She enjoys both of those toys and has become more interested in moving her legs and feet while in them.

Then, yesterday, we were downstairs and she was tired of playing with her balloon and tired of laying on her fish play mat, so I attempted to have her stand again. And it worked! I placed her in front of a child-sized chair (part of a table-and-chairs set that GG got for Adelaida) and put a toy on the chair for her to look at. I had to make sure her feet were positioned appropriately (perpendicular to the chair edge and not to close together) and that she was just close enough to the chair to lean against it without falling into it, and she used her hands to balance herself. She stood against the chair several times, for up to about thirty seconds each time before looking up at me or Dale and simultaneously tumbling to the ground. We got a video of her standing (sorry it's sideways; I couldn't figure out how to change that). If the video doesn't work for you, you can see it at our Flickr page (link on the right).



Although having Adelaida learn to stand by herself is very exciting, it is also a little bit frightening. After all, teething and crawling and running around and going to school and dating all follow standing, and I'm just not sure I'm ready for her to date yet. Perhaps I should be content to let her lie on her back and look up at the toys attached to her turtle play mat, and coo and smile occasionally, and let her remain a baby forever. Of course, seeing her do new things is pretty exciting too!