This article includes the following items: Nine to Twelve Months: Big Moves, Loco motor Development, What About Safety Gates?, Bypassing the Crawling Stage, From Crawling to Scaling to Climbing, Standing Supported, Cruising Along, From Cruising to Freestanding to First Steps, Standing free., first steps, Helping the beginning walker, From Crawl to Squat to Stand, Early Walkers –Late Walkers. There will be two more parts to this article so be sure to keep an eye out for them.

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During the first six months parents and trusted subs are the center of baby’s universe. While this remains true during all states of development, from six to twelve months baby develops the skills to extend his world of interest. He becomes less an arms and lap baby and more an exploring floor baby. During his stage, growth accelerates. Baby’s weight increases by a third, first words appear, and true thumb-and-forefinger pickups emerge, as well as first crawls and steps. These skills also bring about parents’ development as safety patrol officers. Baby’s motor development allows him to get more and more of his body off the ground. By six months he’s on his own two feet, and the baby chase begins

Nine To Twelve Months: Big Moves

Progressing up the developmental ladder from crawling to scaling to cruising and finally walking is one of the most exciting motor sequences in infant development. Get your video camera ready. This budding choreographer will show you a parade of interesting moves as he climbs the ladder of developmental success.

Locomotors Development

By nine months most babies have mastered the style of crawling that is most efficient, comfortable, and speedy. For most babies this mean cross-crawling, which allows better balance by keeping one limb on each side of the body on the floor at all times. Cross-crawling teaches baby to coordinate the use of one side of his body with the other and prepares baby or other physical skills.

Once baby masters a developmental skill such as crawling, she wants to experiment with variations on that skill. Baby may get a bit cocky in her crawling style, wiggling her bottom, wobbling her head, and getting her whole body into the crawling act.

Crawling opens up a new social avenue for baby. Now she can come to you and doesn’t have to wait for you to come to her. Like a puppy eager to greet her owner, baby crawls right up your pant leg, pulling herself to a standing position and giving you “Let’s play” overtures.

Bypassing the Crawling Stage

Some infant development specialists feel that a baby who misses the crawling stage is at risk for coordination problems later on because crawling is a prelude to learning balance. While this may be true for some babies, there are many perfectly normal, well-coordinated children who quickly bypass the crawling state to move to other forms of locomotion. One baby “walked” on her knees instead of crawling. Another scooted on his bottom with one leg straight out and the other leg bent under. Some babies scoot crawling. And perhaps the enjoyment of these cute styles of locomotion by baby’s cheerleaders reinforces them.

From Crawling to Scaling to Climbing

Watch baby crawl over to the bed or sofa. He grabs the bedspread or upholstery and pulls himself up as far as he can go, a skill called scaling. Climbing and scaling are simply crawling upward rather than forward, an example of how baby expands one skill into another. Because neurologically baby develops from head to toe, his arms are stronger and more coordinated than his legs and feet. Baby first pulls up with both hands while his weaker legs bow and his feet curl inward. Finally, baby learns to push up with his legs while pulling with his hands. After baby scales the side of the sofa or high chair, he looks around in amazement that he got there all by himself and enjoys his new view. Then, for a moment, he appears stuck in the standing position. Eventually his legs give out and he crumples quickly to the floor.

Now the fun begins. After baby has mastered crawling and scaling, here comes the climber. Baby will enjoy climbing over a pile of cushions and especially the climbing-over-pop game while dad lies on the floor. Then baby discovers the ultimate climbing activity. You’ll catch him looking up at his staircase to the “sky.” Your baby may be able to climb a whole flight of stairs by the end of the first year, especially when encouraged by a cheering squad of proud parents and siblings. But notice your baby’s confused body language when he is stuck at the top of the stairs. Babies don’t know intuitively that the safest way to get down stairs is backward. They are likely to turn around and propel themselves recklessly forward. While babies do not need any help climbing up, they are likely to need help getting down. Teach your baby to back down steps by turning his body around. Show him how to dangle one foot over the edge of the step to touch the step below, Baby will then use his feet as feelers to test the distance for climbing down steps (or off the sofa). You know that you baby can comfortably handle stairs when he swings his body around at the top of the staircase and approaches the second step feet first.

What About Safety Gates?

Putting a gate at the top of stairs is like waving a red flag in front of a baby bull. The impulsive explorer scales right up the gate and rattles it back and forth until sometimes baby and gate come sliding down the stairs. Whether to rely on a gate or teach your baby how to crawl safely down stairs is a matter of baby’s temperament and crawling abilities. Watch your baby crawl toward the top step. Around ten to eleven months most babies develop some caution about heights. Some crawl toward the edge, stop, look, and feel over the edge with their hands. These are the babies who can be trained to back down the stairs safely. Impulsive babies, however, do not take time to slow down and feel for the edge; they are likely to hurl themselves down the steps. These babies and those who show quickly progressing motor and climbing skills (early walkers) are ones who need watchful monitoring and a secure safety gate.

Standing Supported

Once baby has learned to scale a piece of furniture, he likes his newly found skill and the view from up there and decides to stay there awhile, developing the skill of standing supported. But the first efforts are off balance as he tries to unfold his wobbly feet and get off his tiptoes. Once baby learns to stand like a little ballerina, feet flat and turned out, he can balance better.

Let the beginning climber scale your pant leg, and you can feel the progress that baby makes in learning to stand. Initially you feel a lot of weight as baby grips your pants for both balance and support. Gradually you feel less and less of baby’s weight as he holds on only for balance.

Cruising Along

Once baby can stand leaning against a sofa or low table, don’t expect him to stay put. When first cruising, baby is likely to get his sidestepping feet entangled. He soon learns that cruising sideways is uncomfortable. Watch how baby compensates. He turns his legs, then his feet, so they can walk frontward instead of sideways, and then turns the upper half of his body to align with the lower half. Now he learns to get one foot in front of the other, and around the table he goes, holding on first with both hands, then one hand.

Now that baby can stand and cruise, he wants to stand and play. Put toys on a low table and watch him entertain himself for five or ten minutes.

Safety Tip:
Cruising gives baby a motor skill not only to enjoy but also to use to get into trouble. Now that baby as a fascination with tabletop play, he will want to grab and bang anything within reaching distance on his cruise pad. Remove sharp breakable and mouth able objects from your coffee table or any low-lying table that the cruiser is likely to explore. Babies love cruising along desks and reaching for dangling phone cords or any object they can grab. Falling against the sharp corners of coffee tables or climbing on them and falling off are common accidents for beginning cruisers. Either store the coffee table for a year or place protective covers on the edges.

From Cruising to Freestanding to First Steps

As the cruiser sidesteps along furniture, he periodically lets go. Amazed at his courage, baby looks up for a cheering audience. His legs quickly give way and he goes boom. Here’s an exercise to put him on cruise control. Arrange furniture (sectional sofas work best) in a circle and watch baby cruise around the inner circle, holding on with one hand for support. Then put increasingly wider gaps between the section. This setup motivates baby to close the gap by toddling across the open spaces. This show may lead to baby’s first freestanding and first steps.

Standing free.
During one of baby’s around-the-living-room cruises, watch him let go and free stand. Baby is surprised and puzzled. Now that he’s left standing along, he’s faced with two decisions: how to get back down and how to move forward. He will plop down on his well-padded bottom, crawl over to the sofa, and pull back up to a standing position and try again, this time standing longer.

First steps.
Once baby begins cruising, she is ready to walk in front of you being supported y your hands. Stand baby between your legs, hold both hands, and take steps together. Then, as baby learn to free stand longer, she’s ready to take her first solo steps. Watch the balancing act as she figures out that moving forward from a standing position is just a matter of learning to balance on one foot while the other foot shuffles ahead. (Notice how your baby’s ankles roll inward, exaggerating her knock-knees and flatfeet. The rubber like ligaments supporting the ankles do not strengthen for several years, so enjoy those flatfeet for a few more birthdays.)

To start out, baby widens her stand, opens her arms sideways, and keeps her head pointed forward — all positions that achieve better balance. Her first steps are quick, staccato, and stiff legged — like a wooden soldier’s. Her face has a mixed expression of wonder and caution, but after a few days of stepping better, she consistently has an “I can do it” look.

Helping the beginning walker.
To reinforce baby’s walking skills, take her hands and walk with her between your legs or alongside you, gradually letting go with one hand, then the other. And as baby practices her first solo steps, stand a few feet away, holding our your encouraging arms and giving baby a “Come on.”

From Crawl to Squat to Stand

Even though baby may be taking a few steps, when he zeros in on a desired toy across the room, the rookie walker usually plops down from standing and clicks into a faster mode of ground transportation — often cross-crawling or scooting. The next decision for the beginning walker is how to get back to the walking position. Initially baby needs a crutch, and he crawls over to the wall or a piece of furniture, sales it to a standing position, let’s go, and takes a few steps, falls, and begins the same cycle all over.

“If only I could short-circuit the couch and go directly to standing,” baby might imagine. And in the next stage that’s just what he does.

Early Walkers — Late Walkers

Around 50 percent of babies walk by one year, but there is a wide normal range for walking, from ten to fifteen months. Walking is a matter of coordinating three factors: muscle strength, balance, and temperament, and the latter seems to influence the age of walking the most. Babies with easier temperaments often approach major developmental milestones more cautiously. ?Since early on, crawling is speedier than walking anyway, the confirmed crawlers are content to zip around the floor like miniature race cars and show no interest in joining the tall and busy world up there. Lake walkers are more likely to be content to entertain themselves with seeing and fingering fun than with motor accomplishments. A late walker goes through the crawl-cruise-stand-walk sequence slowly and cautiously calculating each step and progressing at his own comfortable rate. When he does finally walk, he walks well.

The early walker, on the contrary, may be impulsive, motor-driven baby who has raced through each motor milestone before parents could get their camera ready. While there is no definite profile of early walkers, they tend to be high-need babies who early on left the lap stage and squirmed out of infant seats. Body type may also affect the age of walking. Lean babies tend to walk earlier. Early and impulsive walkers are often more accident-prone than their more cautious walking mates.

Parents who carry their babies a lot often ask, “Will I delay her walking by carrying her around so much?” The answer is no. In fact in experience and in the studies of others, babies who are the product of the attachment style of parenting (for example, worn in a baby sling for many hours a day) often show more advanced motor skills. No matter which baby in the neighborhood walks first or winds the speed race, he age of walking has nothing to do with eventual intelligence or motor skills. Baby walking, both the timing and the style, is as unique as personality.

There will be more articles on infants, breast or bottle feeding and other related topics to follow. So please keep an eye out for more of my articles.

Know first that canal and waterway cruising is not a holiday that will please everyone. If you like playing tennis and golf all day, if your idea of happiness is lying beside a pool looking at the young ladies in their miniature bikinis, if you must absolutely be able to enjoy a hectic night life every day of your holiday – then a canal cruising holiday is most certainly not for you.

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On the other hand, if you don’t mind gliding peacefully through some of the most beautiful country in the world at a speed of around 7 km an hour, seeing parts of the countryside that other people never do, avoiding all the rush hour traffic, and slowing down the pace of your life to a gentle amble, then a canal cruising holiday will be very much your speed.

Canals are not straight roads you rush down. Typically they turn around following the bends of the countryside, although, occasionally, you may find yourself going through a town – even through the center of a major city.
To liven the proceedings you will frequently come across locks which, in almost every case, you will have to work yourself. You soon get used to it. It is a small but pleasant skill that provides an enjoyable break in the day. It is also a good place to meet people from other boats who will be full of information and advice – some of it correct and valuable.

There are several guide books available for each country, and they list the waterside pubs, which are some of the most interesting and attractive of hostelries in Europe.

Basics
If you are going to be operating the boat yourself – and there is no other way to totally enjoy the experience – then you need to be agile enough to get on and off the boat fairly quickly and you need to have somebody to steer the boat. In fact, a three person crew is preferable. If that is impossible, then there are hotel boats, especially in France, which cater to your needs.
There are no high levels of skill involved in handling a canal boat. It is not like a yacht. Steering is either from a small hand wheel or a tiller at the back of the boat, and you have a throttle lever to control the speed.

When you hire the boat you will be given a very short training course to show you how to handle the locks, bridges and other items of canal technology.
There will be a towpath running along one side of the canal, which is where the horses used to walk when they towed the boats. When you want to stop you can moor the boat on the tow path side. There is no charge for mooring and you either use mooring posts or hammer some stakes into the ground.

You, of course, carry your water with you and you will have to re-fill the tanks every second day or so. You will not have that trouble with fuel as typically you will be supplied with enough to more than last for the duration of your holiday.
You can cook on the boats – all utensils are supplied – but you will probably find yourself having dinner at one of the many waterside hostelries. You will have to take with you proper boat shoes so that you do not slip on wet decks.

On older boats, the person steering can sometimes be annoyed by the sound of the diesel engine. This is not a problem on the newer boats which are normally those for hire. In either case, it is only the person steering who notices. At the front of the boat there is no noise except for the lapping of the water and the swishing of the reeds.

In Britain, the canals are fairly narrow – two meters is fairly wide – and that is why the boats are called ‘narrowboats’. Despite their lack of beam these boats have all of the conveniences of home including showers, kitchens and the inevitable television. Note that they never come equipped with telephones – it is not meant to be that sort of holiday. But if you need to be in constant touch you can hire a mobile phone.

Almost all boats have a dining area which can be made up into an extra double berth. Unless you are very pushed you should avoid this. It is only suitable for young people. Thus the rule is that if you are hiring a boat for four people you hire a six person boat.

The electricity – after all, this is Europe – is weird and wonderful and if you need to use a hair dryer or recharge a camcorder you need to check with the hirers very carefully before you start out.

In Europe there are several cruising grounds, some more attractive than others. For example, canal boating in Scotland sometimes means that you are sailing across quite large bodies of water and you need something other than a narrow boat. Ireland, on the other hand, has become a major area for canal cruising and many of the canals have been restored and reopened.
In Ireland the Grand Canal and Barrow Systems and the Shannon River offer you the freedom of 240 kilometres of uncrowded waterways. The start of the Grand Canal is only 100 km from Dublin. The Shannon is the backbone of a vast network of inland waterways, joined to the Erne via the newly restored Shannon-Erne link. The Grand Canal connects it to Dublin and the east coast, while the Barrow Navigation makes it possible to travel to the south east. The river immediately to the south is ideal for beginners. But it is in England that British canal cruising comes to perfection.

There are three areas.
The first is the Norfolk Broads which consists of canals and rivers connected to lakes which are called Broads. There are no locks in this area, but there are tides and you need to acquire the skill of using the tides to move you along.
This is some of the most beautiful country in Europe, and even for England, it is a very quiet and remote place.

The river Thames provides yet another area for cruising, but it has some differences. The locks right up to Oxford are worked by lock keepers, who know the area and are normally great characters in their own right. The banks of the Thames are a panorama of English history and you could not be bored for one minute.

Then there are the canals which run throughout England and Wales. There are about 3,000 km still available for recreational use, as they are rarely used now for commercial transportation. It is here that you have to use a narrow boat. It will come with all the comforts of home and is very simple to use. Anyway, you cannot do much damage at a maximum speed of about 7 km an hour.

The centre of the canal system is in the city of Birmingham, but most of the canals run through the countryside. You amble along and enjoy the scenery and then at night moor beside a waterside pub. You probably will only travel for four hours or so a day, which will leave you plenty of time for exploring.

It takes about 15 minutes to get through a lock and you need to change your way of thinking of distance from km to lock km. You will it normally find that you travel at something under 30 lock km a day.

You can either cruise from your starting pint and back along the same canals or you can go on a circular tour which brings you back to your starting point. Take the advice of the boat yard as to how long a trip will take. Their judgment is better than yours. Canal cruising on the Welsh borders between Chester and Llangollen can get a little crowded at the height of the season, but many regard this as the ideal first trip.

There is much discussion as whether to carry a bicycle. You will find that carrying a bicycle for each person on-board will make the trip much more interesting because it is very easy then to cycle along the tow path to some close by destination. On the other hand storing them can be a dashed nuisance, and if you put them on the cabin top you will find problems with overhanging trees and some of the bridges, which can be very restricted. Nevertheless, they improve the holiday no end.

When you have finally decided where to go, and have arranged to hire a boat, buy a guide for the canals you intend to cruise. In Europe Nicholsons, Pearsons and Waterways World each publish a series of guides. These are useful on the cruise, as they will show you where the villages, pubs and water points are. An overall map of the system is useful for appreciating where the canals are in relation to the rest of the country, and for overall planning.
There are no big differences between cruising in Britain and cruising on the continent. Perhaps the biggest difference is that on the continent the major canals are still used for commercial traffic. But otherwise it is much the same. You never go faster than eight km per hour – there is a speed limit – and you need to allow 15 minutes for going through a lock. Otherwise, it is a very similar experience and the canal system extends through France, Germany and Holland.

Web sites
George’s: Canal Boating in the U.K. and Europe http://www.canals.com/index.htm The definitive guide. Has everything you want to know plus links to lots more. Says of itself, modestly, ‘Being an introduction for those unfamiliar with the pleasures of canal and waterway cruising, as well as a resource for experienced boaters.’
UK Canal Network http://www.ukcanals.net/ Has more links than you can poke with a stick. Total coverage. Whatever you want to know, this site has a link to it. Quite amazing.

UK Vacations Afloat on Canal, River and Sea http://www.holidayuk.co.uk/canals/index.htm Commercial site listing what it has to offer. There is an immense amount.

AccomoDATA – Canal Boating http://www.accomodata.co.uk/boats.htm Another commercial site dealing with canals in Britain.

Croisières Le Dauphin / Dolphin Cruisers, Pelican Canal Boat Rental http://www.le-guide.com/dolphin/pelican.html Commercial site on cruises – more powerboat than true canal boats – in France.

Waterways Holidays http://www.waterw

Today, Norm Goldman Editor of … is pleased to have as a guest of … Douglas Ward, author of Ocean Cruising & Cruise Ships 2005, now into its … year of publi

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Today, Norm Goldman Editor of Sketchandtravel.com, is pleased to have as a guest of Sketchandtravel.com Douglas Ward, author of Ocean Cruising & Cruise Ships 2005, now into its twentieth year of publication, published by Berlitz Publishing.

Thank you Douglas for accepting our invitation to be interviewed.

Norm:

Douglas could you tell us something about yourself and why did you want to write a book about cruising and cruise ships?

Douglas:

I had worked aboard passenger ships for 17 years before forming an association of cruise passengers, who were looking for more comparative information about cruise ships and cruising. So was born the idea for the book, which started with 120 ships and 256 pages. Today, after 20 years, the book has grown to include 256 ocean-going ships, 656 pages, and half a million words.

Norm:

I noticed your first book on cruises and cruise ships was published twenty years ago, and you have been updating your book every year. How do you go about gathering material every year for these updates and how long does it take you to update your annual book?

Douglas:

First, it takes me a minimum of three hours a day, every single day of the year, just to keep the book refreshed, up-to-date, and accurate. I also travel extensively, as much as 250 days each year. So, of course, I write while I am traveling, visiting, and sailing aboard the world’s cruise ships.

Norm:

What makes cruises so appealing to honeymooners?

Douglas:

Cruises take the hassle out of planning a honeymoon, particularly with regard to language, cuisine/meals, entertainment, and so many other things that go towards making a honeymoon a fine, affordable vacation, and a complete escape from the pressures of life ashore. Actually, it’s also a good way to find out how a newlywed couple cope with living in a small space.

Norm:

Are you seeing more weddings performed on cruise ships lately? What should cruisers know about cruise ship weddings?

Douglas:

By nature of their (out of the ordinary) appeal, more weddings are being performed aboard cruise ships today, simply because there is so much help at hand. The larger cruise lines have personnel dedicated to handling weddings and honeymoons, and the instant support of other personnel in cruise line head offices to draw from. Weddings can, in other words, be tailored completely to the individuals concerned (and without the interference of well-meaning parents and other family members who can create stress and pressure on couples about to undergo, what is for many, the most important ceremony of their lives).

Norm:

With so many cruise possibilities, how does one go about choosing a cruise and what should people take into consideration before deciding on any one cruise?

Douglas:

Choosing a cruise successfully depends on one’s personal requirements and expectations from a vacation. First-time cruise goers would be well advised to talk to an established cruise booking specialist, who will be able to help you to choose the right ship and cruise, for the right reasons, taking into account your personal tastes and socio-economic considerations. There are so many choices today that there should be a ship and cruise to suit even the most demanding and finicky of people. Perhaps the first decision, however, should be to establish how many days you can take for your vacation (including travel days to get to/from the ship), and then think about the area you would like to cruise in. The most popular regions include the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Norwegian fjords and Baltic ports, and southeast Asia/Australasia. Those with more time who want more involvement with nature should consider visiting Antarctica or the Arctic regions (you would ideally need about three weeks). Then there is perhaps the ultimate in long distance cruising an around the world cruise, which typically would take three to four months (most ships offering complete around the world cruises there are about 15 in 2005  sail between January and April away from winter).

Norm:

Have you had any bad experiences on a cruise, and if so, please describe them.

Douglas:

I have had many bad experiences, but most of them cannot be written about, and most have been aboard ships and cruise lines that no longer exist, or have changed their names. However, there have been a few nasty transatlantic crossings (I have done 152 of them), when the weather can throw some unexpected wrenches into what otherwise is perhaps a wonderful, serene way of traveling between the Old and New Worlds.

Norm:

After deciding on a particular cruise, how do you plan for the cruise and what important elements should you keep in mind?

Douglas:

Make sure you choose the right size ship for your needs. Do you want to be with 100, 500, 1000, or 3000 other passengers? Do you want to experience cruising under sail; cruising with specialist lecturers; be aboard a ship with spa facilities, large-scale production shows (a la Las Vegas), lots of gaming, or shopping opportunities? Whichever cruise you choose, try to make the travel arrangements as simple as possible. Sometimes, the mere act of getting to and from your chosen cruise ship (or embarkation point) can prove frustrating. If you are a first-time cruise goer, try not to do everything on your first cruise it could end up being more like an endurance test.

Norm:

Can you tell our readers something about the different cabins that are available on cruises and what to look out for?

Douglas:

First-timers would be best advised to book an outside cabin (a cabin with an outside view) rather than an interior (no view) cabin. So, when you wake up, you won’t be disoriented, and youll be able to see what the weather is like, which helps you decide what to wear each day. Typically, the more space you want, the higher the cost. Large suites with private balconies cost the most (some can measure up to 3000 square feet), while interior cabins that measure as little as 70 square feet will, of course, feel incredibly small. Typically, you get what you pay for. The average cabin size aboard today’s larger cruise ships (they are really floating resorts) would be approximately 180-200 square feet.

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