Getting to the Point

The past week has been a good one for Anne.  She got her sixth tooth, so she now has all of her front teeth.  She learned to put all of the shapes in her shape bucket.  We show her which hole the shape goes in, but she rotates it and tries it until it goes in.  She started pointing at everything she sees.  The other day at Walmart she kept pointing at different people.  The cashiers found it especially amusing and liked to point back at her.

Yesterday, Anne decided that walking was better than crawling and now tries to walk everywhere first, before reverting to crawling.  It is amazing how quickly she is learning.  Whenever she holds a phone now, she puts it up to her ear like she sees mommy and daddy doing.  Today she picked up the kitchen timer and held it to her ear.  She understands new words, like "kitty" and "nap" and "vacuum cleaner" (which is sitting in our bedroom and she never fails to point at it when she sees it).

We bought Anne a rain coat the other day, and it is so darned cute that I couldn't decide which of the many photos to post.  So I posted most of them.  And a few cute videos too.  You can't blame a mother for thinking everything is cute, can you?

Anne pointing at the trees.  Hurry up, Spring, so we can go out and play! 

Anne points at you!

Anne caught walking between furniture.  She looks kind of guilty.

Seriously.  Do these photos need captions?

Laughing video.

Anne pets a kitty (our neighbour's cat, Monster).

One Small Step for Anne...

Anne started stumbling a few steps last Friday, but it wasn't until this evening that she really started walking.  All of a sudden she can do it.  Repeatably.  Out of nowhere.

She also learned to clap and to crawl backward down the stairs last weekend.

Anne vs. Vacuum Cleaner

Yesterday I decided to vacuum the family room.  At first, Anne was very scared, but Jeff held her and she was ok.  After a couple of minutes of watching me vacuum the couch, Anne decided she needed to investigate this vacuum thing.  She slowly made her way closer and eventually touched the vacuum a few times to see if it would bite.  It didn't, and after that she was cautious but seemed ok with it.  On one hand I am unreasonably proud that she was brave enough to come and touch it on her own even though she was afraid of it.  On the other hand, having a brave baby will undoubtedly have its downside in the future.

Anne is now ten months old.  On Saturday she started pointing at things.  She points at people and photos of babies and pictures of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.  She hasn't yet figured out to point at the things she wants.


On Monday Anne got her fifth tooth, finally one of the top middle teeth.  Soon she will no longer look like a vampire.

Over the past week or so Anne has been very close to walking.  She will often take a step or two between supports, but has not yet done what I would call full out walking.  I think we are very close.

Anne has mastered climbing the stairs.  It still makes me nervous though, so I make sure I am within arm's reach.  She is learning quickly how to get back down, but she still needs a bit of help to turn around at the top and sometimes to put her legs down to the next step.


This weekend, Gus, Greta, and Max visited us for a few days.  Max and Anne were adorable together.  Anne was fascinated by Max and watched him the whole time.  Whatever toy he was playing with was what she was interested in.  Max didn't like this very much, but tolerated her fairly well.  I have a really adorable video of the two of them at dinner on Sunday night (see below).

On Monday night we took Anne and Max to a local pool.  It was a really great setup for kids, with a gradual shallow part, floating balls, and a slide.  Max did a great job of the slide, but when I tried to go down with Anne in my lap I went a** over teakettle.  I ended up scraping my knee and spurting and spluttering.  Anne however held her breath just fine when she went under and was unaware that anything went wrong.

On Tuesday we took Max and Anne to an indoor playground.  Anne really enjoyed the balls, and both Max and Anne loved the great big slides they had.

All in all it was a great weekend and we were sad to see them go.

And now for the usual barrage of photos and videos:

Anne sleeping with her big bum in the air.

Max and Anne playing with the balls at the indoor playground.

Anne playing with the TV remote this morning.  Love those jowls.

Anne cuddles her stuffed penguin.

Anne gets excited over the baby's hat.

Anne and Max at dinner on Sunday.

Anne pointing at Mommy.

Peekaboo with a ball.