Achievement unlocked: (almost) self-determined motion!

Yesterday was another big day for Felix. After a few weeks of trying to crawl ahead and either falling over or pushing backwards, thus getting even further out of range of whatever he was aiming for and starting to cry, yesterday evening he suddenly seemed to realise that even if he wasn't moving where he meant to go, he was certainly moving.
Then he first started to determinedly push backwards just to move and see where it took him. After a while, he began to realise that he could use his legs alternately (instead of always bending both knees and then stretching both legs at once), which sped things up remarkably!
Even when it was time to go to bed and I'd just laid him on his back on the bathroom carpet so I could brush my teeth etc., he managed to roll over onto his belly (in his sleeping bag!), and then crawled first towards the door, then turned on his belly and crawled underneath the bathroom cabinet. All backwards, all in his sleeping bag, and all the time beaming with pride.
So that step is taken! The technique leaves something to be desired yet - as he is moving backwards, he can't exactly see where he's going, so he's straddled chair legs or hit the back of his head on low pieces of furniture :(, but having seen how quickly he mastered backwards crawling once he'd realised that he was moving, I'm sure he'll be crawling "properly" in no time. BEWARE.

Other great achievements of the past weeks:
- Things that fall down or go out of sight do not disappear; they end up somewhere. Felix now tries to look after toys (or spoons :P) that he drops to see where they land, or cranes his neck to look after people who just went around the corner. First steps in object permanence!
- Things that fall down make loud noises and will make me blink. When Felix gets hold of his (plastic) plate or some toy that he wants to throw down, he'll over it over empty air, clench his eyes shut in expectation of the CLANG, and then he lets go. Cause and effect 101!
- People are different. Felix is now starting to be wary of people he doesn't know or doesn't see so often. When my parents came to visit yesterday, Felix was in his playpen, which is mostly a place that he wants to be taken out of as soon as possible, so any "big person" showing up there is welcome. But as soon as my parents came in sight, the (up to then, relaxed) little Felix started to cry and only calmed down when I sat down next to him and rubbed his belly. Later on he allowed the grandparents to carry him around and play with him, but his first reaction was OMG STRANGERS IN MY ZONE OF COMFORT!
- He waves his hand "hello" sometimes, and he loves to slap one hand or both down onto a surface to see what sound that makes. It's extra fun when he managed to smear some of his food on his hands first, because that way he can clap AND paint...

Today he's very peevish. I suspect it's because he has something like a bump and a blister on his gums - looks like the lower right incisor is breaking through after all. Meanwhile, my lower right wisdom tooth has started pushing against my gums again. I'm teething along with my baby. Am I not the most empathetic mom ever. (Or just pathetic?)

Speaking of pathetic: A few days back, it was sunny, so the MIL took Felix for a walk while I worked in the garden. Due to some miscommunication, I had assumed that they'd just walk up and down the hill, so I would see them regularly. Instead, they walked (well, the MIL walked, Felix didn't ;)) all the way into town, bought some cake, then came back. (With the cake.)
Because I'd thought I'd see them regularly and I didn', I kept seeing horror scenarioes of them run over by a car, robbed, abducted etc. - no matter how much I told myself that they were surely just taking a bigger walk than I'd expected.
I used to think that my mother was so irrational, the way she always immediately thought something awful had happened instead of thinking of the (usually harmless) real reasons... and now I'm the same. *hangs head in shame*