Playing with the kids is much less one-sided than it used to be. Games before usually consisted of me making faces, grabbing their hands or arms and forcing them into a round of paddy-cake or bouncing someone on a knee until giggles or spit-up happened. Now there is clapping. There is knocking things down. There are full-contact sports.

Two out of three are experimenting with cruising, and the third isn't far behind. My son enjoys the one-handed approach. Climb up to standing by using a piece of furniture, then casually look behind him to see how impressed I am with his incredible feats of skill and strength.

Of course, he also loves to pull himself up onto items that are less than stable - including, but not limited to, the wheeled toddler cruisers, the gliding rocker and his sisters.