Still Falling in the Net

Fallin in the Net

The last two weeks have brought a boon of new areas in Hazel's development. I have been dreading some of these things for a while now.

In retrospect, the first few months of my stay-at-home dad time were pretty easy. We found a pretty nice routine. Get up at 7 or so. Get the coffee ready for mom and dad, Fix a nice bottle of milk for Belle, see mom off for her work-day, lay Hazel down for a nap, have some quiet time, go for a walk, rinse, repeat...

All of a sudden she has started teething, eating solid foods, chatterboxing, grabbing at the facial and head hair, and, most devastatingly...crawling! Up until now I could set her down on her back anywhere I pleased while I read a magazine article or made myself a mess-o-potatoes without a care in the world. Just check in every few minutes or so to make sure she was smiling. That the the sum total of my concerns...to make sure she was smiling. Now I can't set her down for more than five seconds without her rolling off the edge of the bed or grabbing an extension cord. You set her down and the first thing you know she if off crawling towards the nearest vertical surface she can find to try and steady herself against for her next big trick...standing! But as soon as she gets herself up in an awkward splits-type stance halfway betwixt a kneel and standing she topples over and bangs her head on whatever she is on top of.

Lord begordy! Whatever hair she hasn't already yangk out is now falling out from the worry.

Thank bejesus for my bastient...the pack'n'play in cahoots with the arched playmat. With some adjustment to allow for her new height range, I can now leave her to her own devices for upwards of 15 minutes at a time.

The pack'nplay's forgiving sides are made of mesh that catch her falls and are breathable when, in her moments of frustration, she parks her face against it's walls. Also, it's floor is as forgiving as that of the floor of a bouncy-castle you might find at your county fair

Thanks you pack'n'play for your forgiveness and arched play mat for your beautiful support arms that give my baby the means to challenge herself in this time of growth.