a baby that bounces

We pull ourselves up onto everything.  And I mean everything.  Anything.  Whatever is taller than her that she can grip onto  to achieve her ultimate goal:  standing.

The funny thing is she doesn't realize she is not yet proficient in her abilities.  I'm pretty sure she thinks she can walk already.  She'll let go.  Fall, roll, crash and burn.  She'll look at me with ultimate disbelief.  She becomes completely dumbfounded that her efforts have failed.

Sometimes there's crying.  OK.  Actually, there's always crying.  And I'm confident she is going to suffer significant brain damage before she gets to her first birthday. 

I was so concerned the first time she bumped her head, that I whipped out one of our 'child-rearing' books that has 'symptoms and ailments' for a plethora of sicknesses, diseases, and conditions.  This should not exist in my house for reasons you will soon understand.  It said under 'head injuries' that if there is clear fluid leaking out of the nose or ears, you should contact the pediatrician immediately.  For this is a sign of something severely and significantly wrong...Please note:  she has been dealing with a runny nose for about a week prior to this mild fall...I immediately check her nose and ears.  I see 'clear fluid' coming from her nose.  I begin to mentally freak out.  I debate in my head a phone call to the doctor.  Back and forth.  Yes.  No.  Maybe? Is it just her runny nose? Call just in case?  Yes?  I decide on No.  And maybe the decision was selfishly based on not looking like an over-protective-first-time-mother (a.k.a. idiot) to the nurses and doctors.  Do they do that to you too?  I just decide to keep an eye on her for the rest of the day to make sure she doesn't experience any of the other 'symptoms'.  Like vomiting. (So when she spit up, the cycle continued.  As well as most of the day.  Until I was sure she was nothing but perfectly normal.)

Which she was.  The whole time.  Because babies are made to bounce.  Right?

Well, maybe not.  But this time she did.  As well as many more times in the future.  Along with my fervent prayers that she will never have to suffer anything traumatic other than a paper cut.  Does that sound ignorant and silly?  Probably.  But humor me anyway.  
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Until then...we will keep trying. Attempting.  Full on believing we can already stand and walk like all the other big kids.  And having fun through it all.  Well, at least one of us, anyway.