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Parents amazed after 8-week-old baby learns to stand

Two parents have been left amazed after their eight-week-old daughter learned to stand up - and her father believes she was inspired after watching him view strongman clips on YouTube.

Tezra Finn-Johnston, 31, and girlfriend Emily Derrick, 23, first noticed baby Lula's strength when they left the hospital with their daughter. Even during the early stages of her life, they say that Lula could support her own head.

Check out Baby Lula standing in the adorable video below:

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Tezra said: "Pretty much from the day we left hospital she was able to support her head a little bit more than we thought she should be able to.

"She was holding it up for a few seconds and that shouldn't be for a few weeks, but pretty much straight away she was able to do that.

"Then we watched this Babies documentary on Netflix and on there they said babies are inherently programmed to crawl from birth. So I put her down on the mat and she was trying to crawl a bit.

"Then I put my arm behind her and she was able to push herself up the mat - propelling herself from my hand with her legs.

"She can also do it lying on her front as well. We noticed that and she was able to do that first time, so that was impressive.

"I’m just assisting her in doing what she likes doing - the first time we did it, she smiled at me.

"It’s like she’s showing off - she looks at you and smiles, it’s like she’s trying to be a big girl!"

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Baby Lula was born on January 31, weighing just 5lbs 9oz and was on the 5th percentile - weighing less than 5% of other babies her age.

Lula is now 15 weeks old and is able to support her own weight and stand completely unassisted.

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Speaking about one of the first times Lula showcased her incredible strength, Tezra - from Bristol in England - said: "When she was about a month old, she was having a tantrum and I tried to sit her on my knee to calm her.

"Instead of sitting down, she just stood on my knee and wouldn’t bend her legs.

"She did it a few more times later on in the weeks - eventually I thought well if she can do it while she’s annoyed, maybe she can do it when she’s happy.

"I tried to hold her and supported her, and she managed to take her own weight.

"Everyone seems to think that it’s unusual that she can hold herself up, even just sitting, let alone standing.

"I asked my mum - I’m one of four, and none of my siblings could hold their weight at her age.

"From everything I’m reading, it should be about nine months to a year that they should be able to support their own weight."

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Tezra is a big fan of strongman competitions, regularly watching videos on Youtube.

He claims Lula looks engaged when they watch the videos together - he jokes she might have been inspired by these to train herself.

Tezra thinks another reason for her strength might be a good muscle-to-weight ratio, based on the fact she was a small baby at birth.

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Or perhaps Lula's strength is in her genes? Father Tezra revealed that he's always been able to build muscle quickly, explaining:

"I don’t advise other people to try this with their baby, but I watched Babies on Netflix and in there I just got a few ideas from that really.

"I've just always enjoyed being strong. When I was about 13, I started doing weight training and arm-wrestling - I was able to beat adults.

"Since then I just took up the weights. I just really enjoy being strong - not so much fit, but more the strength side of it. I’ve always been interested in lifting as heavy as I can.

"Only recently, since they’ve had Youtube, I’ve started watching some of the strong men on their private channels.

"Eddie Hall, they call him The Beast - he was the World’s strongest man 2017 and he’s got his own Youtube channel, so I’ve been watching that. Lula sits on my knee and we both watch that, so I like to think she is training herself."

And despite the fact Lula isn’t yet able to walk, her parents believe her first steps are just around the corner.

Postwoman Emily said:

"When I give her rattles and stuff to play with, she doesn’t seem young enough to want them.

"She just seems a lot older than she actually is.

"I’m just like, ‘oh don’t grow up yet!'"

We wish the family all the best, and look forward to seeing what amazing feat Lula accomplishes next!

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