New Year, New Moves

I think this falls under the category of "Only First-Time Parents" - we just can't help ourselves from seeing what she can do. So of course we're pretending she is learning to walk. Of course we help teach her to climb up every piece of furniture we have. It's just so darned fun to watch.

Also a bit tricky to live with though.

But first, the fun (happy news - I learned how to flip my video so you don't have to look at it all sideways now!):

The outfit makes me laugh, watching it again - poor girl. But it was end of the day, and we had already burned through one pair of matching pants that maybe didn't make her legs look so... less long than her torso. Again, poor girl. I will try to dress her better for future shoots.

In addition to these wobbly steps, we has recently learned to pull herself up on furniture, as modeled here:

I don't know if anyone else can see the hint of evil intent in her eyes, but she definitely is enjoying her new power and the attention it gets her. Mostly because inattention has cost her a blow to the head or two. For the second time in a month, Andrew has come rushing upstairs to make sure his niece is not unconscious after hearing the unmistakable thud of her head hitting the floor. I like to believe this is teaching her balance, but so far no one else is buying it.

Of course, now that she can pull herself up around the house, there is no reason not to do so everywhere, at anytime. Like say for instance, in her crib at bedtime. Last night Mum and Dad were babysitting and I had promised an easy bedtime. However, when we got home, Mum had that "We're such good grandparents" smirk on her face that hints at a story to be told. Indeed, young Talia had done all of her evening stuff with grandma as she always does: a bowl full of rice (no choking hazards when grandma is doing the feeding!), some playtime, a story and a bottle. A song, some tucking in, and sleep will follow. Unless a grand-daughter decides that she would rather flip herself over and climb up the side of the crib. For the first time. Several times. Happily, Poppa got there right as Mum's back was giving out from leaning over the crib and he finally convinced her that it was indeed bedtime.

So a new addition to our bedtime routine is returning to the room about 10 minutes or so later and tucking her back in and reminding her that it is time to sleep... she is not convinced, and we find her sleeping at odd locations in the crib but she does finally sleep so all's not lost. Yet.

Finally a photo of her latest look - this is her snorting laugh face. It's over-exposed, so you can't really see the nose snorted up, but the teeth bared is a key element. I will try to capture the sound effects on video soon, but for the time being I leave you with this.