Wordless Wednesday: Ginny's New Achievement

Ginny surprised me with this yesterday afternoon. Only had my cell phone available to take the pic. Enjoy! :)

On the Move

Ginny on the go!!

As Ginny grows, I enjoy watching her development. It is fascinating watching her discover the world around her. For the most part, I'm not a nervous parent overly concerned about her reaching developmental milestones. I don't "compete" with other parents.  Although I will admit to a twinge of concern when I learn that another baby has reached a milestone before Ginny, particularly if that baby is younger than her.  However, that feeling is usually short-lived.

Right after Ginny turned 7 months old, I anticipated that she would start crawling soon. I even pulled out my baby book to see when I met the milestones so I could have an idea of when Ginny might reach them.  What I read stunned me and made me feel sympathy for my mom.  Apparently, I was crawling at 6 months and took my first step by 9 months. 

Ginny, though, was not nearly as ambitious as I was.

It wasn't until she was almost 8 months old that she showed signs of interest in crawling. At that time, Ginny started rocking on her knees. We knew the crawling would start soon. Part of me wanted her to wait until after Christmas so I could better baby-proof the house.  Of course, she started crawling a couple of days before Christmas.

Hiding under the chair

Now Ginny loves crawling. It is amusing to look and listen to her as she does it. It sounds like she is working out at the gym, with her panting with excitement sounds.  At times she is very quiet as she crawls and becomes "stealth baby". She'll sneak off into the kitchen. Before we know it, we will find her sitting under a kitchen chair.

Like most babies, her favorite things to grab at are electrical cords. Why they fascinate her, much less any other baby, stumps me.

Ginny is not yet standing but I feel she may make the attempt soon. She often sits up on her knees and is trying to figure out how to get on her feet. We have even seen her attempting the yoga pose, downward dog.  Once she takes her first steps, nothing will be safe in our home. Oh my!

My Daughter's Magnetic Personality

Our beautiful daughter Ginny attracts attention. She seems to welcome it, too.  We somehow gave birth to an extrovert.  We find that amazing because Chris as introverted as one can be, and I'm, well, let's just say I would not describe myself as either an introvert or an extrovert. I sit somewhere right in the middle. If I lean anywhere it would be more toward the introverted side of things. Instead of giving me energy, being around a lot of people wears me out.

Ginny seems to have a spirit that draws people to her as well. It amazes me every time I witness this ability of hers.  It makes me think of a friend of mine, Amy Anne. Amy has many interesting stories to tell and many interesting things that have happened to her just because her energy draws people in to her. Ginny appears to possess that same magnetism, that same spirit of being.

Since Ginny was born, we have had many random strangers come up to us to tell us that they think Ginny is beautiful.  By many, I mean a LOT.  I expected it to some degree but had no idea she would attract high levels of attention.  We think she is adorable, but we are biased.

Now, I do expect a lot of new parents have the same experience as we do with the wonderful comments. I just wonder if they have had all the experiences we have had.

Once, after Mass, we had a woman come up to us and tell us that Ginny was beautiful and wonderful. She then said she would love to babysit for us. We didn't know her.  Chris and I had seen her at Mass for the last couple of years, but had never interacted with her before.  Our initial reaction was "Heck, yeah!", in our heads of course, but without knowing her we did not take her up on the offer.

Then tonight, again after Mass, an older woman came up to us. We had never seen her before or interacted with her before. Apparently she has seen us several times though. She had seen Ginny and thought she was beautiful. She told us that she makes afghans for people, for free, and wanted to make one for Ginny, if that would be alright with us. We said it would be fine.

Chris and I are the first to admit that Ginny is amazing, adorable, wonderful, beautiful, and smart.  We're biased though.  We never expected her to draw people in the way she does.  What an incredible gift to possess. I hope she doesn't lose that as she gets older.