Cecilia is 9 months old!

We are officially at the break-even point - Cecilia has now been out of my body for as long as she was *in* my body (9 months and 5 days, to be exact).

What is she accomplishing lately?

-  Well, she thinks she can walk.  She cruises to the very end of whatever she's using, holding on by a finger or two, and then lets go and LUNGES for whatever is just out of reach.  She has yet to take a step, but she's convinced that it'll work one of these days!  I'm pretty sure she's not going to be one of those babies who can walk but needs to be convinced of it.  The moment she figures it out, there will be no stopping her!

-  She climbs everything she can find...

-  She's basically a genius - she figured out how to put one of her egg shakers in a little stacking cup.  Then she takes it out and puts it in another cup.  Then she picks up the cup and dumps it out.  This keeps her occupied for a LONG time.  Is it sad that I feel really proud of this development?  We're moving towards more meaningful play!

-  She understands a few basic words - she knows her name, if we tell her to drum she bangs her hands on whatever she can find (same thing with "splash"), and she'll shake a shaker when I tell her to shake.  There are probably other words she understands, but I don't remember John Paul understanding anything (even his name) this early...

She's "drumming" on Andrew's head here...

-  She *finally* cut her first two teeth a couple of weeks ago.  Two months later than John Paul!  It was actually nice, because she got over her biting-while-nursing stage before the teeth came in, so those few bites were really more uncomfortable than painful.

-  She's a devious little thing!  She'll be playing by herself and all of the sudden she'll remember - THE STAIRS ARE THERE FOR CLIMBING!  This usually happens when I think it's safe to cook or do dishes because she and John Paul are playing happily together.  I hear silence, then panting and thumping.  Then silence again, then giggling.  Without fail, I'll look in the living room - no Cecilia.  I'll look under the table - no Cecilia.  I hear more giggling.  Oh look.  There she is.  On the stairs.  Again.

I would gate them off, really I would, but she only goes up a few steps and she knows how to get down on her own.  If she falls and breaks something, I'll take responsibility.  But we really have *no* way of gating these off anyway.

Time has certainly gone by quickly!  To think, we'll be celebrating her first birthday in just a few months!