How to Avoid Crawling...

Sadie was so excited to be home yesterday.  While she had lots of play time on the motel bed (with blankets spread out all over the place so that she didn't touch the comforter) it wasn't quite the same as being on her special quilts on the floor below the wood stove with all of her toys.  When we got home and placed her on her blankets she seemed shocked to see her toys and rolled around, checking out each on and making sure that they were all still there.  

Today as I watched her playing I realized the extraordinary lengths that she is going to, to keep from having to crawl.  Because she is so proficient at rolling and changing directions while rolling, she doesn't really need to crawl to get around.  She can get from on side of the room to the other by rolling and she's pretty good at rolling over any obstacles that stand in her way.  For about two weeks she has been able to push herself up off the ground and slide backwards but she really doesn't seem to be all that motivated to actually learn how to crawl.  

While she was playing this morning, Kitty, the giant stuffed cat from Old Navy, was just out of her reach.  She would have had to turn ninety degrees in the middle of a bunch of toys to roll over to Kitty and so she tried to scoot on her stomach to grab him.  Unfortunately when Sadie is really intent on something and tries to get to it she usually starts out by acting like a baby seal and raising her little arms and legs off of the ground like an airplane.  This is usually accompanied by her little staccato cry (which was formerly the "hungry" cry but that now just means "I want it. Now.").  Amazingly, Kitty didn't jump up and run over to cuddle with Sadie.  I watched to see what she would do.

Instead of pushing herself up or trying to roll, she extended her little arms all the way in front of her and grabbed the edge of the blanket that Kitty was sitting on (which she could just barely reach).  In a huge effort she pulled the blanket towards herself, which caused Kitty to tip over backwards.  That nearly caused a meltdown (I was waiting to see if she would crawl to get Kitty, but Nani rescued Kitty and pushed him closer to Sadie, narrowly averting disaster).  However she learned an important lesson.  If she pulls the blankets around she doesn't have to move at all.  The toys come to her.  

Sadie spent the rest of playtime tugging at her blankets and squealing in delight when a toy would slowly make it's way across the floor until she could reach it.  It actually looks like a lot of work just to avoid learning to crawl!