In the last series of “Shameless” I noticed that baby Heimi had a weird kind of black and white padded hat on his head, and I wondered what the heck the thing was for. I mean, was the baby bouncing off the walls? Bouncing around subject to the neglect rampant for all children in the family?
Now that Nicky is ten going on eleven months, it all makes perfect sense. He is moving around like crazy and his uncoordinated head is bouncing around dangerously. I’m sure we have at least one head hit a day, sometimes more. There is silence, and then a delayed “Waah!”
But I must say I am getting more experienced at preventing injury. I now place my hand in front of my head when he comes near so that our heads do not bang together. When he crawls under a table I am ready for the moment he decides to sit, with my hand on his head so that he doesn’t hit the underside of the table. We place pillows all around the bed so he is protected whichever way he launches himself. Launches seems to be exactly the right word, as he projects his body in a certain direction, without much thought to what may lie in the landing area.
Standing in my play pen
Nicky’s legs are also getting stronger and we are noticing a lot of cute things he is doing. He likes to wiggle his bum in the air while stretching his legs. He is practicing standing holding onto something more and more – his play pen or our bodies. He just loves to climb me.
Crawling to find Coffee.
His crawling is improving too and I’ve noticed some moments on all fours, although he is generally on his tummy. I used to put him down and he wouldn’t go far, but now … gone! We used to crawl sedately in the lounge among his toys because that is the one area in the house where the dogs are not allowed so as to keep it dog hair free. Now I put him down and he leaves the room in search of the dogs. Of course he is now getting full of dirt and dog hair, but at least that immune system is being built up.
Moving my stroller back and forth.
He is also fascinated with movement – moving things with wheels back and forth. In other words he would rather be next to it, rolling it, than in it. I am referring to his stroller and the walker.
Watching Barney.
And TV? I think I have given up. If it will keep him still for a few minutes so I can change his nappy, I’m all for it. Brett found some Barney for him to watch and he enjoys it. The good thing is that it’s not for long, and then he’s off to investigate something else more interesting.
So, will I invest in an infant crash helmet? Probably not. As this woman says, in a rather hilarious post, that’s what skulls are for. And Nicky has just hit his head on my tablet. He didn’t even cry.
All that good immunity building and skull strengthening…yay! Launching is EXACTLY the right word. My daughter is one week shy of ten months, not crawling yet, but tripoding (leaning over and pushing her bum into the air) and launching herself every which way. From sedately to squirmy took exactly one week, I think. Baby gate installation, here we come. Great post!
This post has me totally cracking up! And wondering if I should invest in a baby helmet before it is too late!
I remember those days! I toyed with the idea of a baby helmet too – I was so worried about that precious little head on our hard cement floors but those skulls are surprisingly strong!