Pookie made a new physical achievement today, and we are pretty excited! Now, before I tell you what it is, and before I share the 26! photos that I plan to put in this post, let me warn you that you may not think this is as big of a deal as we do. I mean, after all, it’s not like he’s walking. And what Emrick did today is something all of you already do most days. But for the next few minutes, just pretend that you think this is amazing!

I’ve blogged before about how Emrick scoots rather than crawls. Several sources I’ve read say that this is very common, and that in fact, many kids never DO crawl and instead go straight from scooting to pulling themselves up by hanging onto furniture. Indeed, Emrick has made many attempts to reach for furniture in the past couple of weeks. When Marcus and I are on the sofa, Emrick scoots over and reaches his little hand up, but can’t seem to grab onto anything, mainly because he can’t get his knees under him. Go lie on your belly on your living room floor, and try to get up without getting your knees under you first. You can’t do it!

What Emrick can do is balance himself pretty well. If we put him into  a standing position, he can hold it indefinitely if he holds on to just one of my fingers, and for up to 5 seconds holding onto nothing at all. But with his insistence on scooting rather than crawling, and therefore getting no experiences on his knees, I began to think it might be forever before he would learn to sit on his knees or pull himself up using furniture. Every time he reaches for something above his head, he does so from the prone position, and that just doesn’t work.

But then today! Today I was in the family room with Emrick. And I don’t know, maybe I was watching the Today show too closely, but I suddenly noticed that Emrick was sitting on his knees before some shelves in the family room, and had already begun the object-removal process! I couldn’t believe it! So I grabbed my camera.

One candle down, two to go!

Good thing these candles have ties around them, or else what would he grab onto?

But alas! Emrick was soon to lose his balance and end up back on his belly! So I put the candle back in its spot, and then I placed Emrick directly in front of the shelves. I didn’t see how he actually got onto his knees last time, so I hoped I would catch the process this time.

He eyes the candle for the second time.

Reeeeeeach.... Get on your knees, son! Get on your knees!

*grunt* *grunt*

But he can’t quite get on his knees again, and instead turns his attention to the hamper-turned-toy-depository to his left.

Reeeeeeeach!

He finally gives up on the wicker hamper as well, especially once he notices that I am watching him and I have a camera in my hands.

"Did I give you permission to photograph me, Mom?"

A zoom-out reveals that he has plenty of other toys within reach, toys that require no kneeling.

"Yeah, this is interesting enough, but..."

*grunt* "...but..." *grunt*

"... but that camera mom has looks a bit more interesting right now, especially since it's something I have to reach for!"

"Whatcha doing there, Mom?"

"Taking my picture, huh?"

"Hmm. Neat. May I hold the camera, please?"

"I said give me that camera, lady!"

"Now THIS is what great photography looks like, Mom."

"This too."

At this point, I gave up on photographing Emrick getting onto his knees. These shots were cute and all, and they tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know (and more) about Emrick’s tongue. But they weren’t what I was after.

A couple of hours later, though, I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud thud, like a hard object hitting a hard surface. I ran to the family room to make sure Emrick wasn’t hurt, and this is what I saw:

Emrick is once again on his knees before the shelves, and this time the blue candle is just... gone.

This time I think he wants to see if he can take out the second two candles in one swift move.

Almost!

Hmm. Maybe he better concentrate on just the one.

But then… Oh no! Poor Pookie lost his balance again and fell sideways into the hamper. He screamed and cried, so I put down the camera for second so I could pick him up and make it all better with lots of mommy-kisses. While holding him, but after he had calmed a bit, I decided to take a picture of the sweet little tears still wetting his eyes.

While taking the pic, Emrick stopped whimpering and tried to reach for the camera again! So I guess he wasn't hurting TOO bad 😉

This was supposed to be the end of this post. But while I was sitting here getting ready to write this post, Marcus, who was watching the baby, alerted me to the fact that Emrick was on his knees AGAIN, this time in front of his “exer-saucer”.

Oh Pookie! You're getting so old! You're getting so coordinated, so agile, so...

D'oh!

This was the moment before his head made contact with the floor. And this time it was daddy-kisses that made it all better.