In rock climbing lingo, “projecting” means dedicating many sessions to working out a challenging route that’s right on the edge of one’s climbing ability. At my local climbing gym, I’d been projecting this tricky Orange V5 the hardest move, or “crux,” being a weird calf-hook scissor stance to match the final upside-down thumb press. The first moves I’d figured out in two sessions, but even after a month I was struggling to muster enough force through my hands at hip height to reposition my calf. Then, a funny thought: Winston, at eight months old, is projecting too! Except his project is gross motor function generally.
Back at home, when he was just about six months old, Winston was flailing in tummy time, clearly wanting to move about. He was struggling for a while before I realized I was making him try to crawl in long-sleeved booted pajamas, which is like trying to climb in… I dunno, slimy gloves? When I changed him into a short-sleeve onesie, he connected to the hardwood with his forearms, palms, and soles, pieced together a stuttering army crawl, and off he went!
Meanwhile, we found that Winston loved assisted standing. As long as he had a shoulder-height handhold like his crib (which we’ve since lowered) or my knee or forearm, Winston could stand for minutes at a time. He was wobbly at first, but he liked being elevated, and standing so much trained his static balance well. However, he couldn’t clamor up to standing or lower himself to sitting, so when he fatigued he’d just cry for help, literally.
On the floor, for almost two months, he got stuck on just army crawling. He didn’t understand the concept of kneeling nor the benefits of crawling on all fours. He couldn’t elevate his belly to stay on his knees, and I noticed it was because his hip flexors and thigh adductors we’re strong enough. He could hold kneeling if I squeezed his knees inwards (climbing lingo: “power spot”), but without hefty assistance he’d just flop down. He preferred being on his belly; he liked to move, and army crawling was self-reinforcing. He’d learned an asymmetric right forearm pull, and using it constantly was building bad habits and muscle memory. As his self-appointed personal trainer, I fretted.
His army crawl was getting so speedy that we had to set up a plastic playpen for childproofing. The walls have moon-shaped cutouts and incut clouds and shooting stars, and — turns out — it was exactly the training tool that Winston needed to work out crawling and pulling to stand. It was fascinating to watch. He used the moons as “jugs” and the clouds as “crimps” — see top photo — to pull from tummy to kneeling, then from kneeling to standing. At first, he tried and failed on just one wall, but learned to army-crawl to a corner before starting to climb using two walls. On the second day, he ascended “sent” it!
Within two days more, he was strong enough to pull to stand using a single wall. By the end of the week, his hip flexors were strong enough that started crawling on hands and knees. Two days more and he figured out sitting from all fours.
Now, I’m “projecting” his pull to standing using progressively shorter supports, from shoulder–>chest–>hip–>knee height. Soon he’ll be able to post up from the floor itself. I’m also training his falling onto butt/diaper from standing. Then, he’ll have pretty much learned the entire pre-walking baby movement repertoire.
His brain is in the critical period for learning gross motor skills, and it’s a wonder to watch. He loves it too, I can tell. You can see the intent in his movements, the week-by-week progression in strength and coordination, and the joy he finds in newfound mobility.
PS: I failed to send that Orange V5 before it came down. Ah, well.