Crawl Before You Walk

Dear Byron,

We saw you! You took a step, maybe two. You have been crawling everywhere. You're quite good at this crawling thing. Then you started to pull yourself up. Next you grabbed hold of that little walker with wheels and began to push it around with those awkward steps. But you did it. You were walking and we saw you. Now you want to go more often. You let us know you want to try it out. At times you stop, let loose and simply stand there all by yourself. You are on the verge of walking all by yourself. Its wonderful to watch you develop.

Most of the time we've been told that it is quite necessary for babies like you to crawl before you walk. The child doctors and those who study such things tell us that crawling helps to develop neurons, nerve cells that transmit signals. These neurons help both sides of your brain to work together. It is important because of the gross muscle groups crawling uses and the oppositional arm and leg movements. It will even help you develop skills to read and in general make all parts of your body work together. This crawling thing is important.

But there are kids your age who never crawl. Really. Some of them simply start walking as early as eight months. The doctors say that may be OK, but they still encourage us grownups to help kids crawl. For kids who don't, they tell us to get down on the floor with the baby and crawl with him. Make it a fun game. It's kind of a brain-gym thing and good for developing stuff like I explained above. Of course you don't have to be concerned about any of that—as if you were—because you're great at crawling.

There's another important lesson to be learned about crawling, one that will serve you well  in many areas of your life as you grow up. Always remember to crawl before you walk. As you grow you will want to do lots of different walking and running things. You may want to learn to dance, play football, run in a race, even climb mountains. Whatever the skill, remember to start out by crawling first. Learn the basics, build on them and practice. Little by little your skill will grow.

That's true with learning to talk, to sing, to write and a thousand other things. Always learn to crawl before you walk. It's important. Meanwhile we're just so very happy that everything about you is developing in this wonderful way. And we love to put our arms around you and hug you as we sing this well-known little kid's song.

My Eyes Can See 

My eyes can see. 

My mouth can talk. 

My ears can hear. 

My feet can walk. 

My nose can sniff. 

My teeth can chew. 

My lids can flutter. 

My arms hug you!  

Love you, Byron. Keep on growing up. 

GPa