Allison - 10 Months

Our baby girl is 10 months (and a couple weeks) old.  10 Months!

She teased us with all the precursors to crawling for a couple of months, but only in the past couple of weeks has she finally proven that she is indeed a baby on the move.  Even after she started crawling (just days before her 10 month bday), it still took another few days for her to really venture out.  Whatever she was waiting for (courage? motivation? confidence? endurance?) has arrived.  Now that she has discovered she can go, she does.  Everywhere.

I'm reminded once again of how exciting and scary this milestone can be.  In a matter of seconds she can find the nearest electrical outlet, choking hazard or sharpest corner - and this is after an experienced eye has scanned the room for possible dangers.  Or, as Steve admitted yesterday, he lost her, at home.  He only turned his back for a minute and then she was gone.  She just disappeared into the next room.  I was relieved to hear this admission.  The same thing may have happened to me earlier in the week, as well.  Although, at the time this summary was written, I could not be reached for confirmation.

Once she crawled, she also quickly demonstrated that she has a whole new bag of fancy tricks with which to shock and awe us with.  It's been a busy couple of weeks.

She can pull herself to standing.  Although this is a great deal of fun, she often is unwilling, or unable, to bend her legs and sit back down on her bottom.  The end result is a very frustrated and tired baby.

She talks!  Truly.  With her hands anyway.  Allison has begun to use the sign language we've been practicing and it's as fun as it is helpful.  Her babble is also starting to sound more familiar, with her first words carefully formulated with intention:  dada, mama, dah-duh (brother), tih-tih (kitty), and many other similar sounds proudly pronounced as she points to various objects all around.

So quickly my beautiful newborn baby has grown into her own individual little person.  So quickly our world changed to welcome baby.  So quickly our world has changed again to welcome the next phase of our life with Allison - the not quite baby, not quite toddler stage...

...ready or not!