I'd rather move than talk

Well, its official. Our Doctor said babies take one of two roads at the mobile stage- continue talking and making strides to improve their verbal skills, or move on literally, decreasing their verbal attempts, and try to move and shake as much as possible. Scarlett's motivation is to crawl, walk, and dance as fast as possible. She could care less how quickly she can talk. Over the past few weeks, she realized that she takes more pride and enjoyment in movement than the simple act of talking. We first realized this during our initial experience at a kiddie park. We put her on a swing and all she wanted to do was go faster and higher... AT AGE 6.5 MONTHS! The higher we pushed her, the happier she was. If she was swinging at the speed of a normal baby twice her age, she wasn't excited. If we pushed her to the limits on the swing, she not only smiled, but laughed, giggled, and was as happy as she could possibly be. Babies twice her age or more have actually made comments, and even challenged their parents to make sure they were swinging higher than Scarlett. We should have known Scarlett's preference considering she gets her biggest thrill if we toss her in the air, swing her around, and flip her over our shoulder. The more the better, the faster the better. In other words, it looks like the words "mommy" and "daddy" will have to wait. At least the consistency of these outbursts anyway... She does say "dada" on occasion, and goes through verbal spurts. Mostly she just wants to move anywhere, anytime. She has now moved past the awkward crawling stage and now can't get enough.

What does this mean? Well, we now have to lower her crib because she has already started grabbing the top to pull herself up. We would rather her not fall over the top and land on the hardwood floor, so its about time we reduce those chances. She has started to crawl across the living room, so now we have to "baby proof" the house. We purchased a gate for the entry way, a cushioned floor, and we are waiting on delivery of what we are calling a "baby jail". She will have a 20 square foot play area, fenced off for her playtime enjoyment- a bigger and much more fun version of her pack and play. Is this all for Scarlett's enjoyment? Heck no! It gives us the assurance that we can leave her on the floor and not worry that she will end up sticking her finger in a light socket. She doesn't have teeth, but we would rather not take the chance of her gnawing on wires. Our dog Axel already did that when he was a puppy. Although he simply shook it off, we don't want to take that same chance on our human baby.

All is well in the house. Scarlett is active, happy, smiling constantly, and obviously is excited to enter her next stage. Is she a little more difficult? Yes. Is she even cuter than she was before? Well, she is at least AS CUTE. Hard to compare one stage to the next. Will she manipulate us? She is already trying and in some cases succeeding, but we will enjoy every second of it.