Alice took her first official-undeniable-superbly-walking steps tonight: 10 in all, quite of her own accord, during the bedtime story. She pulled up to hold onto Lizzie's bed (not unusual), then turned to face Lizzie (not unusual), giggled (not unusual), then marched the three or so feet to Lizzie to grab Coco bear (remarkable!). Lizzie is very proud to have been the catalyst to it all. When we started clapping and yay-ing at Alice's feat, Lizzie exclaimed "It's a party!" and gave Alice a big hug. (awwwwww.)
There have been big changes in Alice's life -- all of ours for that matter -- since we last posted. In short: we moved from VA to NH in June, moved into our new place at the beginning of July, and have been settling in ever since. Lizzie, at 2+ is quite aware of all of the changes; Alice is not. (Hallelujah!) So her past two months since the move have been amazingly consistent, despite the commotion. (Or so I'd like to think, anyway.)
Let's see if I can recap the big changes... Alice was an able crawler before we left VA, but became increasingly swift and fearless each week. Her crawl is marvelous -- sort of like a charging rhinoceros (because I have so much experience with those...) By 9 months she was pulling up frequently, and could even squat herself back down (most of the time). By 10 months she was cruising, but it's really not until last week that she really got into it. She mastered stairs just last week, too, while staying with O'Ma and O'Pa. She's FAST. (Read: dangerous -- we have an open stairwell with NO banisters! Think we'll have to get on that stat.) Tonight she walked. 10.5 months, almost to the day. I do so hope she continues to crawl often -- it's so much fun to watch her charge around -- but I'm not holding my breath. This is one determined, mobile, kid.
Language is developing, too, but we have yet to hear a recognizable word. Alice does, however, copy sounds exceptionally well, and has a great time blowing raspberries at dinnertime. Good girl, but please remember to swallow first. (And ask Lizzie to do the same.)
Fine motor skills are on target -- pincer grasp has been mastered, and Alice hasn't let a spoon into her mouth for months. She has to do it herself. Independence. Good stuff. Unless we really want her to eat quickly. Dining efficiency is not high on her priority list.
Two more things Alice likes: the Kelty backpack, in which she has been spending more and more time as we explore our new surroundings (beware her ability to reach (and eat) leaves from low branches!), and the bathtub. She's a NUT in the water -- with as much as 2-3 inches of water in the tub, she'll just plop backward, grin wildly, and start thrashing her legs in a double frog kick. Amazing. She doesn't mind getting her face wet in the least, and often does. Just a few days ago, Alice started doing the same thing on her tummy -- pushed up on her forearms just enough to keep her face out of the water. Between the two positions, she's literally flopping back and forth in the tub. It's quite something!
And one thing Alice doesn't like: the car. The poor dear has decided she'd really rather NOT be in the car, thank you. This development is particularly problematic given her younger-sibiling-in-the-country status, which means she'll have to spend a bit of time this fall helping Daddy pick up Lizzie from pre-school. *sigh* That's what we call a lose lose lose proposition.
Alrighty. There's more, no doubt, but that's it for now. I'm off to bed. Among Alice's many endearing traits is her enthusiasm for watching the sun rise. At the moment, here in NH, that's about 5 on the dot. (And this is a marked IMPROVEMENT of her 4:25am days....)
Goodnight!
