Crawling!!

Well, Luke had his six month check up this morning. As usual, he was weighed, measured and given a few shots. What was not "as usual" was that he actually started crawling right there in the doctor's office! The nurse had gotten all of his vitals and we were waiting for the doctor. Luke was up on the exam table (which is covered in that sticky-feeling vinyl/plastic type fabric). The nurse had laid out one of those blue and white paper and plastic square pads for him to lay on, but he was intent on eating it. I moved it to the other end of the exam table ... and he crawled to it! I couldn't believe what I had seen so I moved it to the other end ... and he crawled back! Eager for still more action, I put him on the floor, and he proceded to maneuver around the floor, wobbly but definitely crawling. Apparently he was intent on checking out each of the white floor tiles in a mostly blue/green tiled floor.

When we got home, he continued his little act. He crawled for his Nannie and his Uncle Joshua when they came to visit, and he crawled for his Uncles Ryan and Ben when they came bearing raisins. And most importantly, he crawled (smiling and happy) for his daddy when he got home from work. I will need to completely change my perception of his mobility for the future. I walked into the kitchen to put a tissue in the trashcan, leaving Luke playing with a toy near the rug in front of our fireplace. When I returned, he was attempting to pull the lights off of our Christmas tree! (Yes, I decided that this anecdote was too precious to omit, despite the fact that it reveals that our Christmas tree is still up as we sail merrily into mid-January!)

You may wonder what the best "carrot" is to motivate him to move. Is it the sweet voice of his loving mother calling him over? Is it the excitement of all of the new, colorful, lighted and sound-making toys? Or perhaps the cats which he so adores? None of the above. Want to see Lukey crawl? Drop a piece of paper on the floor. Yup. Paper. An empty envelope from junk mail. The instructions to one of the oodles of new Christmas toys that have been recently opened and assembled. Even the phone book. Yes, our child is a paper fanatic. A crawling paper fanatic.