And now she's sitting

Yep, that's right. Caroline is sitting up by herself, unsupported just before she is 5 months old. As I was saying in a previous post, she's been doing this supported sitting thing probably since the end of November. Recently, we had been allowing her to practice on her own, meaning she was not propped on anything and nothing around her, but me sort of holding my arms out waiting for her to topple. She seemed to be making progess, but I wasn't ready for her to officially sit up on her own yet.
Well on Friday, I was doing something that involved me not holding her so I sat Caroline on the middle of the bed - she seemed steady enough - so I could finish doing what I was doing. She SAT the entire time -not only did she sit, but she also was reaching for toys, bending at the waist, grabbing them, then pulling her little self upright again. I couldn't believe she is capable of doing this! While I'm sad that she's growing up so fast, I'm very pleased with the fact that she can sit on her own. One of my friends was telling me that when her kids could "sit", she felt like a whole new world had opened up. I must agree. Caroline seems to enjoy being able to do this also; I think she likes to look around and play with her toys in an upright manner.

The downside.

Of course, with sitting up also comes toppling over ever once in a while. Until yesterday we had only been letting Caroline sit on a soft surfaces. I guess I became over confident in her new found ability too soon. We were sitting on the floor, happily playing on a blanket (on top of the rug mind you) when next thing I know WHACK! Her poor little head smacked the floor (blanket, rug, hardwood). A one and half second stun delay was followed by a piercing wail. Oh I felt so bad. I know this is not the last time she'll smack her little noggin. I just hated that it was while we were playing so nicely. After lots of kisses, she was better and was happy to sit up some more. This time, on my lap just in case, maybe we'll try again tomorrow.