Slow down, Champ!

Unfortunately, no pictures exist of the following events, but we thought it important to share some of Ernie's news from the weekend. He's become a roll-over champ in the last week, and Friday morning before we left for Big Springs, Ernie was enjoying floor time in the reading room while Mom & Dad at their breakfast in the kitchen. All of a sudden we both looked up from our cereal bowls and saw Ernie was on his tummy (he had previously been on his back). He continued to stare at us, and his gears seemed to be turning in the direction of "they're there, and I'm here, how do I fix that?" We looked away briefly once again, and barely looked up in time to see the little booger trying to CRAWL over to us, which actually resulted in his rolling back from tummy to back again.
When we got home late Sunday night, Ernie needed to get his wiggles out after the car ride. Plenty of floor time once again ensued, and rolling over was a big part of it. When Mom got up to sit in the rocker and prepare for nursing, Dad and Ernie were practicing standing. All of a sudden, his standing turns to stepping and Dad holds his upper half steady while Ernie takes about five steps toward Mom in the chair! He just stared at Mom with a wide open happy mouth seeming amazed! He was so proud of himself! Who knows when it will be repeated, but it worked to wear him out and he slept through the night. We're just hoping he's not practicing to walk so that he can run away at five months-old to a family that doesn't make a little baby travel so often.