Tara is now officially mobile. Today, after dinner, she started crawling forward. She would go forward a few inches, then lay down, and get up and do it again, until she had gone several feet. After 10-15 minutes of trying, she could go a couple feet at a time without stopping. Jennifer looked up in Anna’s baby book to find that Anna started just after eight months; Tara turned nine months earlier this week.

Tara is really getting very close to being able to crawl. From a sitting position, she leans forward until she is almost on all fours, except for her right leg which remains tucked under her. From this position, she rocks back and forth as if she could skootch forward. If there is something in front of her which has really caught her eye, she will lay out flat to creep another few inches forward. If this doesn’t put her within reach of whatever she is seeking, she will either raise up on her arms and start rocking again, generally propelling herself backward, or simply roll over to her back and be distracted by the new point of view.

While it’s clear she’ll be crawling soon, I wonder how long it will be before she’s walking as well; she’s not pulling up on things yet, but her balance appears to be improving. Tonight, in addition to her usual standing while holding on to my hands, we did a couple dance moves–”stir the batter”, “make the pizza”, “rock the baby”, “talk to the hand”, etc. I’ll have to get some video once she gets the routine down a little better.

The one thing that is clear is that Tara is more adventurous than Anna was, so our babyproofing is really going to be put to the test this time.