Baby learning to stand

In the last three weeks or so our baby has started pulling himself up to stand!  He's now 9 1/2 months old, and has no problem pulling himself up on the coffee table, the end tables, his Little Tikes Activity Garden, or anything he can reach.  It's a very exciting time, but also very nerve wracking because learning to stand also means learning to fall.  A lot.

Before he was able to stand on his own, he really liked being held in the standing position.  When he'd wake up in the morning or from a nap I'd hold him standing in the crib before taking him out.  I also spent some time teaching him air guitar while standing; I would sit behind him and move his hands as if he was playing the guitar.  Eventually when we would try to put him down on his play mat he would stiffen his legs and not want to go down to the ground.  He would cry when we put him down because he wanted to stay standing (with one of us holding him steady).

We didn't get a bouncer for him until recently, and we ended up getting a used one and saving a bunch of money.  I guess they call it a jumper; it's a Disney Baby Einstein jumper that usually runs around $100.  Ours isn't the most recent model, and I think one side is missing it's toy, but we got it for $30 from a local mother who purchases and resells used baby toys as a home business.  He loves playing in it and bouncing, and it gives his leg muscles a good workout.

Now that he's discovered standing, that's all he wants to do.  He pulls himself up on the coffee table, on his Little Tikes Activity Garden, on the couch, and in his crib.  It's becoming the norm to find him standing up in his crib when he wakes up from his nap.  When I go in to get him up from his nap he'll be standing in the crib and start bouncing up and down when he sees me.  It's adorable.

When it comes to falling, our baby is becoming an expert.  It's actually important for your baby to fall when learning to stand and walk.  It shows that they're pushing themselves and trying to stretch their limits, and the pain of falling down and hurting his head acts as an incentive to not fall down anymore.  He's getting better at putting his hands out to catch himself, or going to his knees before sprawling out on the ground.

We have an alphabet play mat, similar to this 56 Piece Build And Play Alphabets Play Mat 7X4 Feet (Google Affiliate Ad), although ours also has the numbers 1-9 instead of a star and moon.  It provides a little padding for when he falls, but he'll still cry if he falls on it hard enough.  I'm not sure how much they're charging for them in the ad, but we got ours for around $25 at BJ's wholesale club, and it is well worth it.