Stand By Me

Our little prince is getting more brave every day. Recently we've been catching him play this new game he's invented. He finds a wall or uses his cot railing and while standing lets go to see how to see how long he can stand independently until he flops back on the ground. The first time I noticed this he was in bed and I was trying to convince him that it was time to go to sleep for the night. Of course, as most babes, he had other plans of his own and he was not going to settle in for the tonight until he was satisfied with his task. With a huge smile on his face he wobbled like a tower of Jell-o until he crash landed on his bum.

As Lachlan has been getting more confident in his balance, he has been testing it more and more. He enjoys holding on to something with one hand and then balancing on one foot. He likes to take this a bit further and trys to lean to the side while on one foot. Part of me thinks that he might have a shot in a ballet company in the future. I certainly find it interesting and also entertaining to watch him come up with all these new tricks while he tests out his abilities. I often don't know what his overall goal is, but he does and when he accomplishes something he gets so excited; the smile on his face says it all.

The last few weeks Lachlan has been testing the waters with trying to stand by himself for longer periods of time. I happened to glance over at him while he was quietly playing; trying to get a toy out of a basket and he stood for five seconds unassisted. This has been the longest thus far and I was so proud of him!

Who knows when he'll be ready to walk. He is getting more interested, that's for sure; as he uses any thing he can find as a walker. He is also starting to get more restless during the night, when he usually sleeps through. Our brain, a most amazing organ actually maps out the first walking steps while you are sleeping. To do this, it stays in active sleep a lot longer than in deep sleep. This is why many parents often around 9-12 months, often feel like their child's routine has gone out the window and wonder what on earth is going on; their once perfect, sleep-through- the- night bub is now waking every few hours! Well, little bub can't help it. His brain is on a map out mission, connecting all the dots, piecing everything together which it has observed in the world around him to create a single movement- the first step. I told you it was amazing stuff! As parents, all we can do is be patient during this time and ride it out. You'll often find that when your bub gets up in the middle of the night, they are not fully awake and seem somewhat 'out-of-it.' Some parents describe their child as having a glazed look on his face, while others eyes are completely shut but they are crawling or pulling up in their cots. Though the child may be conscious of what is going on around him, he is actually still in a state of active sleep. The best thing to do is to not disturb this state. Once he wakes from active sleep, you will have a hard time putting him back to sleep. Either see if he'll put himself back to sleep or help him if he is upset by giving him a pat or 'shhhh' or reminding him that he can use his comforter such as a pacifier or blankie. Avoid taking him out of his cot, which may wake him. Generally children fall back to sleep; some will sleep on until morning and others may repeat this process every few hours or so,as the sleep cycle repeats itself. If meeting the next milestone is the cause of his sleep disruptions, you should notice a big difference after he starts walking. Parents are often amazed by this revelation and can't believe it until they witness it for themselves or think back and say, "Ahhhhh, yes. That explains a lot!" Pre-walking isn't the only time time when the brain acts up in this fashion; any big milestone acts as a trigger. Lachlan went through the same process right before he began crawling. He'd constantly wake and I'd see him half asleep trying to push up on his hands and knees.

Once you understand what is going on inside the brain of your little one, you actually tend to feel quite sympathetic towards their situation. So have patience. It is one of the MANY challenging phases- with lots more soon to come! Until then, happy walking...and sleeping!