Holy Crawling, Batman!

I've been waiting for this day for a few weeks, but I'm still honestly amazed at Declan's agility. He crawled for the first time yesterday. He's six months and one week old.

In many ways, it's great that he's crawling so early. He's more content to play on his own and I know he's incredibly satisfied that he can finally select what to do on his own. He's definitely a motivated, independent kid. He'll focus on a skill until he gets it instead of just having fun and doing things on accident. There are no accidents here.

The down side is that he's now a total maniac. In the middle of the night, he's waking up and practicing his technique. Last night, we went into his room several times and each time he moved to the end of his crib and pulled up on the slats and crib bumper. He was sitting upright, clenching the slats of the crib like a prisoner clinging to the bars of his cell. Now he just needs to learn "nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows my sorrow" and a tin cup. Seriously. He was sitting there crying and peering up at us with this forlorn look. Like he just wanted to be free and explore the world and we were cooping him up in this horrible contraption.

I usually pull him into bed around 5:00am and the last few days I've woken up to Declan on all fours headbutting the headboard. Maniac!

He's also started bopping. All I need are some good jams and he'll be dancing the day away. The upside is that he now loves his jumparoo, although he's a little strong for his own good and often scares himself while he's bouncing around. The downside is that he bops all the time, even while breastfeeding. The changing table has become a battle ground and I often have to change him on the floor where he's flopping everywhere. I've gotten good at putting on his diapers while he's on all fours.

Seriously, are all babies so freaking strong? I'm no match for this kid. He's given me a fat lip, head butts that could make Chuck Norris pass out, and this week he grabbed my face with that death grip and gave me two large cuts on my nose.

As we speak, Declan has discovered the drawers in the tv stand. I think it's only a matter of moments before all of our DVDs and video games are strewn across the floor. Why couldn't I have a normal baby who waits until nine months to crawl?

Oh, and I forgot, Declan's new favorite thing? Electrical cords. He wants to chew on them. Great. Just great. And now he's eating the Playstation 3...