Call It What You Want...

Of course this is about the baby.

He is working on mastering the small step-down between the kitchen and the family room. He has learned to step up into the kitchen holding mommy's hands and almost always judges it correctly, not kicking the step or overstepping, as it were. But getting down -- that's a little more tricky.

He knew right away to stop at the edge and never just blundered over the side to his death. We've walked to it, and he lets himself dangle in midair in mommy's hands until he lands safely below. But we (probably stupidly, as this barrier has been something for the time that keeps him from one place or another) have been encouraging him to try it for himself.

So he very gingerly reached down and down and down with his hands and successfully crawled down the little step. The next time, he got in a hurry. He reached and reached and reached and went tumbling forward. Very distressing.

This halted progress for a while.

The new thing is to sit on the edge of the step and then lower himself to the floor. Tonight he did it by himself as mommy dangled a favorite family-room toy in front of him (a cassette tape in its case -- rattly and snappy and terrific). He sat on the edge of the step, his feet on the floor, then turned and lowered himself to his knees until he was kneeling facing the kitchen, then turned around and headed for the prize. He also got a hug from mommy.

If one method has unpleasant results (like tumbling down), try another.