Thrill Seeking

Z wants to stand on her own two feet.

So she has taken to standing and resisting being sat down.

And she has also taken to pulling herself up to a standing position whenever someone offers her the opportunity.

She’s quite good at this now though she still needs support.

And she (and us) have made a game of it.

With one of us holding her hands (or she holding onto our fingers), she would pull herself up to a standing position. And when she was “ready”, I would let go of both hands, and she would fall! Usually forward, and a split second later I would catch her before she hits something (we do this on PL’s tatami bed, which provides a firm but yielding surface – softer than wood).

Then Z would shriek with laughter and excitement.

And she would do this again. Over and over. And over and over again.

Tirelessly.

And we accommodate her. As long as she wants to.

You should see what her grandma calls her “hao lian” face when she manages to stand up (with help). Her smug smile of achievement.

And sometimes instead of releasing both hands, I just let go of one. And she totters and regains her balance, sometimes. Sometimes she fails and she has to sit down. But if she manages to hold on with one hand, again she gurgles or smiles smugly. Or she may even shriek excitedly.

She desperately wants to stand on her own two feet.

And she tirelessly tries and tries and tries.

If at first you don’t succeed try, try again. Or you never learn to stand, and you never learn to walk.

And that is the amazing things about babies.

We all started out that way. We were all born altricial. A fawn is able to stand up and run within hours if not minutes of being born. A human baby takes on average a year to learn to walk. Maybe more. (Some average babies takes a little longer, I think.)

Z would like to learn how to stand by 8 months, apparently.

But the point is that babies learn by tireless trial and error. First how to stand, how to walk, how to talk, first words, than two-word phrases, then simple sentences, and before you know it, they’re arguing with you.

Then they learn to skate board, and cycle, and before you know it they have bought a motorbike and is planning a round the world trip on two wheels. Just after they signed up for BASE jumping.

If we have anything to learn from babies, it is to be endlessly willing to try and fail and try again. You can fail a thousand times but you just need to try a thousand a one time. Or the Japanese have a saying: Fall seven times, get up eight times.