Nahanni is getting ready to crawl, or walk, or pole-dance, or something. At her age, she’s strengthening her body’s core muscles, along her stomach and back, getting ready to hold the entire apparatus up while rooting to the ground with only the soles of her feet. It’s pretty amazing we’re able to do this at all, but that’s nothing compared to watching someone prepare to do it.

It’s an exhausting looking process. She flexes her stomach, essentially doing a ‘crunch,’ and then flexes her back muscles, so she arches. She does this one after another, without end. For days. It gets a bit frustrating for all of us: she’s frustrated because she’s tired, but she can’t stop it (I’m informed that this is actually a instinctual, genetic imperative, unlike crawling which can be skipped, we have no choice about our instincts to walk). We’re frustrated because holding her has become a constant struggle to adjust to her ever-changing positions. And we can’t put her down, because she’s also experiencing terrible separation anxiety.

The best description award for this behavior goes to Leah, who said it was

like living with the world’s littlest stripper. She’s just humping everything!

Poor girl, this information has now been consigned to the internet, and may haunt her for the rest of her life.

UPDATE: Check out Chris Rock on the Daily Show with John Stewart, where he says of his daughter: “My whole goal in life is to keep her off the pole.” (minute 5:30 and following)