9 months

One minute everything on the coffee table, nightstand and ottoman are safe. And the next? They're not. In just one short week you learned to pull yourself up and stand. Any chance you find, you grab on to a chair or stool or couch or person and pull yourself right up. So as where we used to say "Oh, just put that up there" now we need to find a new "up there". We are adjusting to this whole new world of higher surfaces you have discovered. And still... not crawling. You totally could if you wanted to, you just choose not to. And that's okay. You're fast enough as it is. You've got your mode of transportation mastered, you don't need to crawl. You'll take a few crawling motions, get half way there and then drop to your tummy and army crawl. I've been waiting, expecting all this time, for you just to "take off crawling any day now", but I'm still waiting. And while I wait you've moved on to standing. When we go to get you from your crib, we often find you standing, smiling. Sometimes when people ask "How's Kayla?" I struggle with what to say. You're growing by leaps and bounds but to the untrained eye it may not seem like much. "Mama" and "Dada" are common vocabulary words now, we've introduced you to chicken and rice, you've discovered the ability to grind those 4 little teeth together, you've started learning how to clap, and your new thing is pointing. You love to point. Point at everything. Where ever we go, there's that tiny little finger pointing out to the world. Most times its at nothing in particular, but the fact is that you've discovered your pointer finger and that it can push buttons! And make things light up! And play music! Its a whole new discovery tool. And that's what you're all about these days, discovering. As a friend pointed out to me, your eyes show that your knowledge is growing. And with the emergence of the nice spring weather, so the stroller has emerged too. We've resumed stroller rides. Last summer you weren't too fond of the stroller yet, but this summer we're looking forward to taking you on stoller rides every evening. All we have to do is load up the tray with Cheerios and you're good to go. And just this morning I realized how heavy its getting to carry you in your carseat and load you into the car. I've been noticing it ever so slowly along the way , but now a lot more power is required to lift you up and get you in!