Walk this way...

A few days after her first birthday Rose decided to walk full time! Before that she was taking steps here and there, but was using crawling to get from a to b. One day she just took off and never looked back. Now she pretty much walks all the time, standing up if she falls. She can even stand up right in the middle of the room. This makes playing in the backyard super fun (although it has been far far too rainy), and trips to the park more enjoyable (ditto on the rain). The short video above is of Rose having fun in Home depot. When I see it now I notice she can walk even better 3 days later.

Walking

Rose has been taking a few steps here and there for the past month or so. It has never really progressed quickly like it did with Paige (a few steps and that was it, she was walking all the time), but she's definitely improving as the weeks go on. Today I managed to capture her best walking yet. I knew she was going to do it and luckily I had my phone with me. And it was really impressive as she was outside on unstable ground and wearing her shoes. She was so adamant about not touching the grass with her hands that it provoked her to walk from the slide to the sand box rather than crawling there. However, she didn't walk the rest of the day. So odd considering she did so well. You'd think she'd be more interested in walking in the house.

Almost walking...

Rose is cruising along all of the time now. She only crawls when she wants to get somewhere quick. The rest of the time she's cruising along the furniture, or pushing a craft table chair around. The weather is getting somewhat warmer and it will be nice to go to the park soon...this requires Rose to have some sort of solid footwear in order to cruise around the park or hold my hands to walk. I brought her to Kinder Soles to get her first pair. I wasn't sure what kind to get, but the lady said that she could do with real shoes as she is on her feet over 75% of the time, and they will probably last around 3 months...in which time she'll definitely be walking. Of course she doesn't need to wear shoes all the time, but she can benefit from wearing them if we're outside, etc. And since she's on her feet a lot at home she can wear the shoes for a bit to get used to them.

She is so close to walking. She can fully walk just holding onto one of my fingers for balance. She just needs the confidence to do it on her own. She knows that she can crawl really fast, so she will just drop to her knees and crawl rather then attempt to transition between 2 close objects. I wouldn't be surprised though if she took a few steps any day now. Paige was already walking at this exact same age. I think walking would initially slow Rose down, which is why she prefers to crawl super-fast to keep up with Paige!

As an aside note, proper walking shoes from a kids store aren't cheap! Mike's first shoes were $10ish apparently for good ones, and, well, Rose's were a lot more than that! Seems crazy, but I have always splurged on quality shoes thinking that it is a good thing to spend the extra money on. I hope so.

First birthday fast approaching...

Unbelievable. My little baby is fast approaching toddlerhood. She cruises around all of the furniture, can climb up the stairs, often gets into mischief, and practices walking with her walker. She is not far off from walking on her own. I am really really finding it difficult to cook a meal or even eat my own lunch. She doesn't want to be confined to her highchair, so if I'm eating I have to feed her simultaneously or give her finger foods to keep her from getting into danger on the floor. Her favourite place downstairs is standing up at the craft table. Upstairs--Paige's room or exploring. She doesn't actually play with her toys anymore.

I'm mentally planning her first birthday, and have a beautiful girly outfit planned for her. Her birthday falls on Easter Sunday, which is a bit awkward, but that just means we'll have a weekend of fun! The plan is to go to the Springridge Easter festival. Fun for the whole family.

I thought I'd feel sad that she was getting older, but as busy as I am I can't imagine entertaining a "lump" baby anymore. She continues to be overly sensitive, crying at the slightest bump or fall, and adventurous--exploring all cupboards, drawers, and examining everything. She still wants only mommy when she's tired. She's way better with food, but we're still not into complex meals and combinations of food. No meat yet, and foods with multiple textures cause her to gag. She can eat full cheerios with her fingers, but don't expect her to eat a purree with a few chunks in it. She accidentally ate a mini oreo cookie though when we were in Florida. It was on the floor and we caught her with a mouth full of mushed up black cookie. I don't think we'll ever switch her to a bottle. There's no point. When she begins cow's milk, we'll just start to introduce it in a sippy cup. One less transition.

I'm not sure if Rose says "mama" and "dada", or if it's just well-timed babbling. It often seems to be said at the correct time, and other times I hear her saying it randomly. She is waving, clapping, and starting to point.

Something hard to believe is the fact that she has 7 teeth. She got the first 2 when she was 4 months, and then popped out 5 in a 3 week span before we left for our vacation. You can imagine the sleepless nights and pain this caused everyone involved. She has now turned into a biter, so you'd better watch out!

At this point she still takes 2 naps...9:45 and 3:00. The morning one is often longer than the afternoon one, and it lasts until 11:00 (I often have to wake her up at this point to go pick up Paige--it begins at 9:45 as we have returned from dropping off paige). She sleeps at night from about 8 until 7:30, waking up once or twice to eat. Maybe she's not hungry, but she's usually sitting or standing with her eyes open, and feeding her is the fastest way for both of us to get back to sleep!

I've obviously spent way less time chronicalling every one of her developments, as opposed to Paige's growing up. I feel guilty, of course, but also attribute it to the fact that I am more confident and don't feel the need to debate and ponder things online. It's weird though. I am just amazed with every new step as when it happened with Paige. I just don't always have time to put thought into blog.

This Rose "overview" was inspired by her turning 10 months yesterday. Wow. Unbelievable.