The Dropping Game

Do you know what has been irritating me lately? The fact that every time Keith and I go out to a restaurant with Jayde, they NEVER have anything for her to eat. I don't mean typical baby food, because obviously I know that isn't on the menu. I mean something without all the bad things added to it. Why can't I order plain old chicken without all the seasoning? Why do the mash potatoes have to come with salt and pepper? Why do the steamed vegetables have to be saturated with tons of butter? I realize that, yes, I am very capable of bringing food for her. I also realize that I don't necessarily need to be eating out. And, I also realize that most food in restaurants are pre-made. I know that there are many parents out there who don't mind feeding their kids greasy french fries, but I do. Whether it's my daughter or someone else's child, I feel like there should be at least one thing on the menu that can accommodate them. Is that so hard?

Jayde is on the move. I now realize why people say that having a mobile baby isn't only a blessing, but a curse! Jayde is in to everything and anything that she can get her little hands on. I will turn my head for just one second and she will have made her way into the other room and pulled all of the books off of the bookshelf. All of her toys that used to remain in one corner of the room are now scattered across the house by the end of the day. The weirdest part is when I walk out of the room and into another for a moment, she will follow me. She is still doing her military crawl, which everyone who has witnessed it thinks is interesting. Although, in the last couple days she has been working on her "normal" crawl. She usually will start out with the traditional crawl for about 2-3 feet, and then plop down onto her belly and continue to crawl military style.

The thing that scares me now is the fact that Jayde keeps trying to climb up onto everything. The table, entertainment center, her crib, a chair- You  name it, she will try to climb up on it to get herself to a standing position. She has gotten better at it, but she is still clumsy, which she will be for a while since she is a baby. Her climbing on everything means that she is always falling, which also means that she will have a new bruise every couple of days. It isn't the actual standing that she has problems with, it is pulling herself up to a standing position that can be tricky. Once she is standing, she is a pro. Her favorite little game: to drop her toy while she is standing and bend over to pick it up off the ground. Then, of course, she will drop is again and repeat the process. It is so fun to watch her. She has so much fun and is so proud of herself being able to do it. That's the funny thing about babies. They have the most fun doing stuff that is a natural reaction to someone our age. Usually, if we were to drop something on accident we would pick it up without thinking about it and go on with our day. I sit here and watch Jayde drop something on purpose just to pick it up. While she is doing it, she will be concentrating so hard like it's the biggest and greatest task, which it is to her. I always laugh to myself. Watching a baby develop can be so interesting at times.