Climbing....and Still Crawling

I'm really sorry to tell you the sad news, Reen, but Tess did not walk on your predicted date. I know you had your heart set on it, and I had a good feeling about that date too. Ry & I even took her to the church gym on Sat., walker in tow, to see if we could coax some steps out of her. We tried her on the carpet, on the gym floor, with shoes, without shoes, but she was having nothing of it.

She had her 15-mo. appointment today. She is now 32 inches tall (or long , at least until she starts standing) and she weighs 21 lbs. 4 oz. Her growth has slowed down a little, but she's still in the 90th percentile for height and 30 percentile for weight. She's a long, lean baby machine.

Tess has been climbing like crazy these days--it's like having a mountain goat in the house. She can climb up on the couch, the bench in the living room, pretty much any chair she gets her hands on.

This is particularly problematic because our couch backs up to kitchen counter and sink area, and she has figured out how to climb over the couch to reach anything on the counter. That used to be a "safe" place where I could keep things out of her reach. I'm quickly running out of "safe" places!

We don't have a whole lot of options when it comes to furniture configurations, so for now I'm focusing on teaching her "no, no, no" and trying to keep the counter clear of anything that could cause serious injury.

She was a mountain goat at the doctor's office too--climbing all over the chairs, getting into the blinds, trying to crawl on the doctor's desk. I told the doctor we were concerned that she wasn't walking yet. She watched Tess walk while holding onto my fingers and scooch along holding to the chairs. She said Tess has strong legs, good muscle tone, and no problems with her feet.

The doctor thinks that Tess will walk when she wants to, and she just doesn't want to yet. She said that babies with developmental problems aren't capable of her gymnastic climbing feats. Her advice was to give it a couple more months and that if Tess is not walking by Mother's Day, she'll give us a referral to see a specialist.

I know things won't get any easier once she starts walking, but I'm at least hoping her interest in climbing will subside once she can run!