Bursts (new videos)

I don't know how it is with most kids, but with Maddy it seems as though she develops in these bursts. She'll plateau for a while, using the skills she's gained - then all of a sudden, she starts doing things she's never done (successfully) before.

Just lately, she's gone through another one of those bursts. It has been nearly four months since Maddy's first steps and I thought for sure she would be walking more by now - but in her latest plateau, Maddy has been satisfied only walking when prompted, and taking a maximum of 10-15 steps before sitting down. Her balance has improved tremendously in that time, but I think she lacked motivation to really walk. Firstly, her butt scoot is fast and efficient and walking for her is much slower. Secondly, she is already upright when she's butt scooting - and standing doesn't even make her THAT much taller ;) And thirdly, her hands are already free when butt scooting, so walking doesn't "free her hands" like it does for babies who go from crawling to walking. Just last week though, Maddy decided that she'd give it a go and she has tentatively been walking all over the place! It's still slow and a bit careful - but she is walking without me "motivating" her. I need to get a video of her walking - she's doing awesome - but so far I haven't captured it on camera. 

The second thing that Maddy is getting better at is climbing - for a while, she has LOVED steps and would go up and down them. At my parent's house at Christmas, she really mastered going up and down a single small step. We were at Maddy's developmental check up two weeks ago and there were a set of about 5 small steps. Maddy was being really cranky for her fine motor check and I thought it was because she was tired - well as soon as she was released from her chair at the table, she made a beeline for the stairs and was instantly happy - she spent a long time just going up and down while I talked with the doctor afterward! At home, we have some toys which Maddy loves to climb on - a little stove which is close to the ground is her favourite place to sit and lately she also loves standing on it. She also loves climbing between our sofa and the chair next to it - as seen in this video I took of her last night (forgive the amount of skin in this video!). 

Maddy's fine motor skills are also developing really well and she is starting to get better at using a spoon. It is something that she has struggled with and still is not expert at (her inflexible fingers don't help - and her wrist can't seem to get the right angle without a bit of help from the other hand) - but she has the motivation now and is getting better all the time. Here is a short video of her eating peas with a spoon :)

And here's another video of what usually happens after I take a video of Maddy and she wants to see it for herself. My kids both love to watch themselves - most videos we have of Lana these days end with her saying "I want to see my video now!" ;)

I'll have to work on getting a video of Maddy's walking skills - but for now, I hope you enjoy these three.