Chiku climbs up; chiku climbs down

A few posts earlier I had written about him climbing the stairs in our house for the first time. Now it is the climbing down learning time. No, not yet down staircases, but as a first step, climbing down from the cot.

Lots of friends had told D that she should not allow chiku to sleep in the cot when he is alone, because he now crawls and will fall off the bed. She has been careful about it and usually hangs around with him when he is awake and on the cot. A few weeks back she called me and told me excitedly that chiku has learnt to get down from the cot. I said how? His tiny legs wont reach the floor. She waited for a correct time and sent a video of his getting down from the cot. He comes near the edge. peers down,sees the depth and then turns and goes feet first while clutching on to the edge of the bed. His legs dont reach the ground,but he has assessed in his own way the distance to the ground, so in a leap of faith just lets go of his hand and falls on the floor. It is only a few inches and he is happy for the new experience even though it could be a bit of pain falling on the ground.


D helped matters by having mattresses around the bed on the floor, so Chiku was happy to come to the edge of the bed.do a round turn and fall plop on the mattress below. This has been going on for a few weeks. Now he has also become a bit taller and also understands navigation and space and distances better. So it was fun to watch a video D sent two days back. Video 1 , Chiku comes to the edge of the bed. turns around and tries to feel the ground. Not successful.So he climbs up and comes again and tries the second time. Again not successful. The third time around, somehow he has figured that he needs to come to the very edge and then turn around, so that he makes up the deficit in height.He does that and he is securely reaching the ground level comfortably.

Video ends with him looking at D with a huge grin on his face. Who needs languages. Here the conversation is complete.