Month number ten

She's UP, she's UP! Month number ten in CJ's life is an exciting one, as she has a new perspective on life -- the one from a standing position! She started pulling herself up at the end of June, and the month of July included remarkable gains in her ability to move around efficiently. Gone are the days of rolling and scootching -- Caroline's mastered a full-fledged, efficient crawl that gets her from point A to point B very very quickly! She now pulls herself up easily and can creep along furniture while holding on. She even freestyles now and then -- letting go with both hands before BOOM she's down on her bum.

With her newfound mobility, Caroline's independent personality has sharpened even more. She can now pursue what she wants, when she wants it -- and can get rather testy when we reroute her from the stairs, or the electrical outlets, or even the bagels that we planned to throw away during refridgerator-cleaning-out Saturday.By moving around, Caroline can also participate much more actively in our life together. Into the shower she comes when we're getting ready for work in the morning. We come home from work and she plays and plays with us while we're having evening cocktails. She's worked out a route around the living room that involves pulling herself up on the coffee table, walking its circumference, switching over to the couch, creeping down its length, and then dropping to a crawl for a couple gymnastic moves through the bottom shelf of the coffee table. She's very proud of herself at the completion of each loop!

Caroline's vocalizations are also much more refined and frequent. She's making noises that sound a lot like words now, at least in their cadence and length. She loves to be part of conversations (even if that involves yelling over top of the speakers). She sometimes reads along with her bedtime story by babbling under her breath. Once she puts together the details of language, I have a feeling that we'll have a hard time quieting her down!

We've been fortunate to have a wonderfully exciting summer. Ball games, days at the park, evenings at the pool, and lots of travel, including a great trip home to East Aurora for Caroline's baptism and an amazing day with family. We're looking forward to all the events of August, especially the family weddings! We can't wait to see you all again and show off all that Caroline can do.