Becoming a big girl

With all of the excitement of having our new puppy, I forgot to mention I finally have started walking. I've been walking efficiently for a month now. I took my first steps when I was 13 months old and it has been a gradual process over the past few months. For quite some time I was able to walk and simply chose not to. Then I spent a couple of months walking short distances always stopping to grab the nearest wall, object, or person. Finally when I turned 16 months old and Bailey joined our family, I decided walking is definitely the most efficient way to get around. Bailey had a lot to do with that. I love my brother, but any time I am on the floor or crawling, he thinks I am playing with him and tries to punce on me. Now I get up and walk as soon as I see him coming. As long as I am walking, I always have the upper hand on my brother!

The more I walk, the more comfortable I become. I have mostly dropped my arms from the high guard (or Frankenstein) position when I walk and have MUCH better balance. I'm also starting to walk backwards and trying my hand at running. This of course leads to increased falls, but so far nothing TOO bad has happened.

Also, as of yesterday, I no longer drink from a bottle. Mommy decided I was a big girl and could drink my milk from a cup, so we threw away all of my bottles. I still miss them a little, but I am doing MUCH better than mommy expected. Whenever I want a bottle, I always lead mommy to the fridge and get one out. Now when we get to the fridge I find a cup where my bottle used to be. Sometimes I forget that we thre the bottles away and fuss for a couple of minutes, but mommy just reminds me that I am a big girl. She lets me search all through the fridge until I remember that the bottles are gone. Then I take my cup of milk all by myself.

Physically, I am becoming a big girl too. I keep getting taller and my body is leaning out. My face no longer looks like a baby at all! I think the walking makes me look much more mature as well. I sure am a big girl! Mommy likes to talk and brag about all of the cute things I do. Soon I think she and I will make a list of some of those things to share with all of you.