Slowly, but Surely :))

Andrea has continued to make slow, but steady progress in all areas this week. :))

Walking

• pulls herself up quickly and easily now
• constantly cruising the furniture
• takes her shopping cart out of her room and walks all over with it, and even steers around obstacles by herself
• has taken as many as 6 steps on her own
• most importantly: doing all of the above things without prompting

Even at daycare, they have been very impressed by her progress. They say she is now grabbing and walking with push toys on her own, and she also took several steps from one teacher to another on Wednesday.

I'm not sure she'll be ready for the Toddler Room by the end of the month, but I am sure that it will not take long before she gets there. We are very encouraged by (and proud of!) her recent progress.

Here's a video of Andrea taking a few steps tonight: http://media.putfile.com/Andrea-Walking-Progress

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Talking/Singing:

Talking has never been an area of concern for us. Andrea has been making noises right from the start! But I felt it's worth noting what a parrot she's become lately, and all the new words and short phrases she's learned (too many to list). For example, during her bath tonight, I told her, "Here's your boat!" And she replied, " 'ere's ma boat!"

Another fun thing she does is sing her "ABCs." Well, I put "ABCs" in quotation marks, because the only letters that come out clearly are usually A,C,H,I,QRS,TUV, and W. She also sings, "Now I know ma," and the rest is gibberish. Mommy/Daddy sings each line first, to coach her, and she repeats. But the best part is she has the tune almost perfect. It is too funny. She will sing the whole song in tune, right to the end, but substitute the letters/words she doesn't know with her own version! (She also does "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.")

Preparing for Baby

Andrea's only 17 months old, so I don't think she really understands that she'll be a big sister this summer, and what that's going to mean. We remind her every once in a while, especially when we see a baby on TV, or in person. I tell her that the baby is in Mommy's tummy. We play with her dolls, and show her how she should handle a baby.

I think that some of it is starting to register. Andrea will hug her dollies, and she really likes to feed them. Her newest thing, however, is to lift up my shirt and poke me in the belly! I don't know where she came up with that, because I definitely didn't teach it to her. I can't wait till the baby gives her a kick in return! Now it's a game though, because every time she does it, I do the Pillsbury Doughboy giggle.

I also have two big sister books for her: What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby and What to Expect When the New Baby Comes Home. Andrea's not much of the sit-still-and-listen-to-a-story type; she never has been. However, she does love flipping through books at her own pace, and studying the pictures. I got a great picture of her tonight, perusing one of her books, with a "thinking cap" (plastic bowl) on her head.