Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines

John and I have been convinced that Owen would go straight to walking, given that he is much happier standing, jumping, and walking while clutching our fingers. To our surprise, Owen has decided to branch out and try alternate modes of transportation..the military crawl. This is where he stretches out on his tummy and uses his arms and a little wiggle of his legs to pull himself towards a particular object of his affection. It is definitely a last ditch effort but works in a pinch when his chauffers are not available. This is what John and I call ourselves since the vast majority of our day seems to be spent escorting Owen around. He will be playing with a toy and suddenly sit bolt upright, wave his little arms in the air, and grunt. This is how he beckons us. If we don't immediately respond to his calls and are within striking distance, he will smack our legs, arms, faces, whatever he can reach to emphasize his point, "I must visit the kitchen now!," he seems to be saying. We put out our hands, he pulls himself up, and we are off on an adventure with many stops on the way (especially if there are cheerios strewn in our path.) But if we still don't respond, he throws himself onto our new plush rug that was a gift from his Marnie (my mom) and inches his way around. Babies amaze me. One day he had no interest in crawling whatsoever, the next he is blazing a trail on his belly. Where did he learn that? Wherever he did, we are thankful for the break it provides our backs.