Incrementally, prosaically, but astoundingly, Genevieve is on the verge of being on the move. She has been using wiggles and rotation to get around for a week or two now, ever more effectively, though always backwards or sideways. She's very good at lowering herself from a sitting position by sticking one leg out to the side while keeping the other bent until needed to provide the little forward oomph for grabbing the toy that Julia will then decide is The Most Important Toy in the House. And this weekend, Genevieve tweaked that yoga-ish position slightly and wound up on all fours, with her hips up high - literally poised to crawl. We predict she'll be crawling by her nine-month birthday on the fifteenth.
Having mastered rolling and wiggling on the floor, she's quite naturally extended these skills to the crib. She now spends a few minutes at nap- and bedtime getting settled, and usually winds up on her stomach. This is all the more cute for the fact that Julia took a leaf from one of her favorite books and gave Gigi a teddy bear to sleep with. Granted, it was a teddy bear that some family friends had given to Genevieve, but still, it's the thought that counts. And Gigi loves PJ Bear, making very sure to snuggle up to it whenever she's sleeping. All of these milestones make it that much more fitting that on Saturday, Genevieve began intermittently clapping along with us, especially when Julia leads the cheer. From the "what the heck?" look on her chubby little face, it's clear that her palms are meeting mostly by accident.
Julia reached a milestone of her own this weekend, when I took the guardrails off her bed. She hasn't fallen out yet!