Crawlspace

Josh is crawling now. He's still a little awkward at it--he sways and rocks some as he attempts to sync the movement of hands and knees--but he manages to move forward with frightening efficiency. I almost want to test him for steroids.

With his newfound mobility comes great pride--and fear--for both parents and child. From Josh's perspective, his horizons have just expanded considerably. Now that he can explore the world, he's realizing that there is, in fact, a world to explore. As he crawls, it's easy to see the look on his face that says, "Hey, I can get around now! Neener neener neener!" But like a superhero that uses his powers for the first time--powers he didn't know he had--Josh also seems spooked by his ability to move using his own hands and legs.

As for his parents, we're naturally very psyched that he's crawling. It means he's developing on schedule, and we couldn't be more pleased (and relieved) by this. And of course we're also nervous. His bigger world has bigger dangers from which he needs protection, and we can only pray that we'll be able to keep him safe from himself. In doing so, I also pray that we'll be able to keep him safe from us. By this I mean that I hope we don't become so overprotective that we deprive him of the minor bumps and bruises he needs to sustain in order to learn about his bigger world. I hope we find the right balance between mommy and daddy's loving arms and the School of Hard Knocks.

So Joshua, go forth and conquer. Explore your world. Mommy and daddy will be right there next to you, probably with a video camera in your face, ready to give you a hug when you need it.