The Bigger They Are...The MORE They Fall

Declan is gaining more confidence and more speed. I got home from work in time to hang out for two hours before he was off to bed. He was crawling along so I got on all fours and crawled up behind him. It became our first game of chase. Soon as he heard me coming he became a little giggle machine and he crawled faster to get away.
Not too long after he had crawled away and around a corner, stopped for a moment and was sitting up. I came around the corner on all fours and surprised him. He got excited, threw his arms in the air, started giggling and quickly got on all fours to try and crawl away. Love him.

Now since he's mobile he's discovering things he wants to touch. This evening that including a bag of garbage. I told him "no" and had to remove his hand. He laid face down on the floor and started crying. It was a "fake" tantrum cry which subsided as soon as I rolled a foam disk past him...cause he thought that was hilarious.

And lastly, in addition to his crawl he's spending a lot of time on his knees. Sometimes pulling himself up and other times just sitting on his knees and bouncing a bit. Tonight he was on his knees but he lost his balance and went forehead first into the edge of the TV table. I grabbed him and instantly he was crying. No bother waiting to see if he'd just tough this one out because I knew that one would have hurt. I was holding him trying to comfort him, Daddy came right over and cuddled in but Declan wouldn't be comforted by us. Instead, while crying he was looking around.
What for?
His monkey.
He spied him laying close by on the ground. I reached over and picked him up and handed him to Declan who then stopped crying and was somehow all better.
Monkey is magic.