Mary is truly in a new phase. She spent the first six months virtually always in arms or in a sling. She wouldn't tolerate lying on her back in various devices or having "tummy time," just like John as a baby. At the most, I'd get about five minutes of quiet out of her before I'd have to pop her back into my sling. I've read that a lack of tummy time is okay in the sling-worn baby because the baby develops the same muscles by being vertical in the sling. My anecdotal experience with two babies is that that is true! A couple of weeks ago I put Mary on the ground and she started creeping after no more than five to ten minutes of time daily on the floor for her whole little life.
Now she's off like a shot. She creeps quite effectively: a combination of scooting backwards, launching forward, rolling, and spinning in circles. Mary moves all around the room, seeking out toys and interesting objects. Now she is starting to get up on all fours properly and rock for a second. After six months of being in arms virtually continuously, in the last couple of weeks Mary is enjoying being on the ground a lot. She'll play on her own for half an hour at a time!
I figure that this is like a dreamy mini-vacation after the six months of having to haul her weight around most of the time (yes, even while doing many chores like laundry, cooking, and washing dishes!) but before she is so effectively mobile that I'm chasing her around, rescuing her from danger and ouchies!
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