Fast Track

No longer willing to be left behind, Anna is on the development fast track... and I mean FAST. Every single day she's doing something that a month ago we thought was totally beyond her. Not only can she now pull up to her knees, which a month ago was a truly difficult and upsetting activity for her, she stands up by herself and also comfortable stands and looks at books or colors for long periods of time. This morning I looked away for a moment as she was sitting on the floor. When I looked back, she had climbed up into the little kid chair at her coloring table and was standing on it, with her hands balanced on the table. After I moved her over to stand by the chair to read her book, she was angry with me and STAMPED HER FOOT! Then she took two steps, still holding onto the chair, but her first ever steps, and sat back down on the floor, saying, "Bonk!" as she plopped to the ground.

She's also become an expert at stairs, she climbs quickly up, scoots back down, the climbs back up again. We're trying to institute stair rules so she doesn't go up without adult supervision, but she's resisting. She doesn't want to wait for slow old Mama or Dada, she's got places to be and things to do!

In addition to this huge leap forward in physical development, Anna is now talking, semi-intelligibly, all the time. Her vocabulary is somewhere from 25-50 words. I can't be more specific because I really have lost track. Each day she says something new in a totally clear voice, as if she's always known what that is and how to say it. This morning I got her out of bed and she said, "Hi, Mama. Outside, tree?" Hey, if she can ask, I can deliver! We went right down and looked at some trees this morning, I was so proud!

Oh, boy. As I was typing this, and I'm a fast typer, Anna was playing with her crayons ON the floor. I look back around, and she's SITTING ON TOP OF THE TABLE, indian style, crayons in hand, digging through the box of coloring books. Oh, boy, oh, boy.

Or, in Anna's new favorite all-time phrase...

Uh-OH!