Mark it. At exactly thirteen-and-a-half months, Ellie has started crawling.

Just like that, she figured it out. Milestones like these always amaze me – one minute she can’t crawl, the next minute she can. Hell, when she was a newborn in the hospital, a significant part of me wondered if she would ever be able to crawl, period. And now, she can.

Of course, nothing really happens that suddenly. She’d been up on her knees and rocking for the last two months. She’s been pushing herself backwards (and getting stuck under furniture) for a while.

In the last week or two, she had very occasionally begun to do a sort of inchworm/commando crawl. Once or twice a day, she managed to propel herself forward by an inch or two. I thought about trying to get it on video, but it was so infrequent and so short-lived (she would tire out quickly), I never managed it.

Yesterday, her physical therapist was working with her and trying to encourage a real crawl. With just the barest of support, she suddenly took two or three “steps” forward and I almost fainted.

Later that night, she did it again. And again.

This morning, catching it on video was no problem at all.

And then, the realization hits: our house is not even remotely childproofed anymore.

GOTTA GO.