Have means, will travel

Ivan is eight months old tomorrow; he has eight teeth and managed to crack the crawling code over the last week. In my readings, I’ve learned that this is an early age to develop this skill. About 50% of all infants can "crawl" at 7 months; 75% can do so at 10 months and 90% of all infants have mastered it at 11 months. At a young seven month he exercised the “backwards crawl”, much to his frustration, taking him where he didn’t want to go and getting him partially stuck beneath the furniture. Half way through that month he began the "commando crawl," where the baby puts his elbows on the floor and keeps his legs flat as he drags himself forward as though under enemy fire. When I returned from Montreal last week, he was really making head way on the “normal” alternate arm and leg crawl. This week I’ve had to pay attention to where he was headed on his floor adventures. Yesterday, for example, he was giggling as he made his way over to Castro’s food dish while the cat was attempting to enjoy the rest of his breakfast. Castro is unsure of Ivan’s newly found territory and quietly watches with the occasional pounce over to him to see if he’s up for a little game of cat and mouse. At that point, Ivan typically puts a hand in the air to reach out to Castro and smart kitty knows that unless he gets out of the way, some of his fur will go missing. Another funny cat/kid tidbit is when Ivan beetles over to Castro’s collars, kept by the back door, and plays with Salvation Army collector with them. Castro hears his ID tags jingling and approaches, hoping Ivan will get him geared-up for going outside, one of his favourite places to be. ‘Hmmm, could this miniature master prove useful to me?’ Castro wonders. John has this new joke when I come in from outside: He used to say, ‘Watch the cat doesn’t get out’ and now he says urgently, ‘Careful the baby doesn’t crawl out the door!’, as if Ivan is waiting behind the screen door to make a break for it, just like his feline brother does.
If I were to wax on about why it was that Ivan learned to crawl sooner than most kidlets, I’d say that because I often put him down on the ground he figured it out. Our boy was heavy to being with, so on most days, after six months, I’d let him stomach surf on the kitchen floor to give myself a rest. Thanks for improving my biceps, son. You are my daily fitness routine.