movin on UP

jude has reached new heights. after a few weeks of being a mom quietly nervous about her child's development and therefore nervous about the rest of his future life, jude managed to pull up to standing, all on his own.

all by myself

kara cheered and clapped, then ran for the camera



Here's the 411: kara in the kitchen making dinner, jude is in his play yard. kara comes around the corner because baby is squealing. she finds jude standing up, holding onto his baby chair.
its the first time we've ever found jude standing where one of us didn't help him get there in some way.

And here's why kara is cheering: our boy has been army crawling for awhile and in the past week he has really started cruising around the furniture (that means walking while holding on to things for support). jude had not shown the skill of pulling himself up to a standing position, which many babies his age have achieved. its all part of the process of learning to walk. and when you're in the trenches of parenting, each milestone seems huge and insurmountable, but also really really important.
In addition, jude has been annoyed. he wants to walk and cruise a lot. but he cannot get up without crying for mom and dad.
jude is movin on up.