Addison Mae - 11 months

T-minus one month until baby girl is a whole year old. Where has the time gone?! I know Jordan and I are biased, but we're pretty sure our girl is a genius. She's talking up a storm and getting pretty much anywhere she wants to go. Her teachers at Starbright are amazed at how well she's talking, eating, drinking from a sippy cup, napping, playing, interacting ... and just in general being happy. I love when they tell me how she's progressing because, clearly, I've never done this before and have nothing to compare it to! It seems like every day Jordan and I or my mom and I are saying to each other, "did you know she could do this or say this?" I will admit that this girl of mine wears me slick, but there's nothing I'd rather be doing.

Weight: approx 18 pounds
Length: approx 28 inches

New things this month:

• Crawling up on her knees, as opposed to the army crawl.
• Standing on her own for a few seconds. When this girl starts walking, we're all in trouble.
• Saying pawpaw, baby, night-night and something that sounds a lot like Addie. She loves to repeat, or try to repeat, what we say.
• She also loves to sing "na-na na-na," which developed from Jordan's post-bath song to her ... "Who's that girl? Na na na na na na na na na na na. Addie's that girl. Na na na na na na na na na na na." As soon as the bath water starts draining, she starts singing.
• Grabbing her hair when we ask where her bow goes.
• Showing that she knows where your nose is by trying to pull it off. Also pointing to her teeth and toes when asked.
• Following directions, when she wants to, like sit on your bo-bo (in the bathtub where she prefers to stand), put the ball in the cup, give Izzy a hug, can I have a kiss, put the hat on your head, throw the ball to me. If the directions include the word "no" it's guaranteed she won't listen. It's still amazing how much she understands what we're saying!
• Trying to make elephant and monkey sounds when we ask what they say. I make a mean elephant and monkey so I can see why she'd want to repeat it
• Putting hats on her head. Or someone else's head. Or even better taking hats off someone else's head.
• Getting ear tubes. She acted like it was totally no big deal. Hoping these make a big difference for her and we can leave behind the awful ear infections and antibiotics.

Likes:

• The ball is still number one. Followed closely by Izzy and Izzy (aka Mia)
• Eating. New favorite foods have been blueberries (which she calls balls), taco meat and pinto beans and peas
• Dancing and bouncing to music. And singing as mentioned above
• Swimming. Although she does not want to be in a float or encumbered in any way. She also loves to stick her face in the water.
• Drumming on anything. Maybe she's going to be musical, although I am not sure how she would be considering who her parents are ...
• Her night-night bunny
• Her pillow pal, aka Lambie
• Throwing food off her high chair tray for her dog, or to tell us she's done, or just for fun. She hears no a lot about this one.
• The blinds. Another reason she hears no a lot.
• Throwing toys at other children's heads. We've witnessed this and her Starbright teachers have, too. I think she's trying to teach them to catch.
• Ice cubes
• Drinking from a straw

Dislikes:

• Being interrupted when she's doing something important
• Being constrained in any way
• Sleeping in her own bed between the hours of 4 and 7 a.m.

The Family Bed

Let me be quite clear. This is not a post about whether babies should or shouldn't sleep in "the family bed." To each his own. This is a post about my last hold out, the last sliver of myself pre-baby, the last thing I said I wouldn't do that I actually hadn't ... until now.

One of my last posts was about all the things I swore I'd never do, of which I've now done all. Jordan and I had a very short, very clear-cut discussion when I was pregnant about whether we'd have Addie sleep in our bed. The answer, from us both, was a resounding no. Mostly because we were afraid we'd squish her. And as someone who's had a lot of experience sleeping in a bed with Jordan Page, let me tell you, he'd squish her. He's a thrasher and an arm-flinger. And a ridiculous snorer, if you want to know. Several times very early on in our marriage, I woke to him putting his pillow over my head and then lying on top of it. All in his sleep, or so he claims.

And then beyond the squishing fear, we clung to the fact that it was virtually the only baby-free zone in our house. We REALLY like our sleep. And that was the one place we wanted to actually be able to enjoy our sleep. Or for at least one of us to enjoy sleeping while the other was trying to convince the baby to sleep.

We put a twin bed in Addie's room for this very reason, and we've both spent more nights than I'd like to count sleeping with her in that twin bed. Especially when the colic was really bad and the only way she'd go to sleep was on her tummy. I've crashed in that bed when I've finally gotten her to go back to sleep in the middle of the night and the 12 steps back to my own bed might as well be 1200 miles.

It started innocently enough. Kind of like when we let our cute new puppy cuddle in bed with us on a Saturday morning. (By the way, that little puppy is now 65 pounds with approximately 12 legs that stretch in every direction when she sleeps with you.) Addie's wake time was getting earlier and earlier. When she started waking before 6:30 a.m., and then before 6 a.m., Jordan would attempt to go in and convince her to go back to sleep. Which clearly would never happen since we could hear her happy little voice singing and laughing over the monitor. So, he started bringing her to our bed and I'd nurse her there. Then we'd all three hang out and play for a bit before we got up for the day. This has become a daily routine that we cherish - a few minutes to delight in our beautiful baby before tackling the day. And drinking lots of coffee.

I think it was during the last ear infection that I officially gave in. When she wakes in the night and is really upset or hurting, she wants me. And she usually wants to nurse. Yes, I'm aware that she's 10 months old and doesn't need to nurse during the night. But I've said before and I'll say it again, if I can give that baby a boob and get her back to sleep in 15 minutes rather than stay up for another hour, I'm choosing sleep. So I hear Jordan trying and trying and trying to calm her down and get her to go back to sleep (Have I mentioned that I have an awesome husband who is almost always to first to go to Addie during the night when she cries? Until I hear him give up by saying "Erin. Boob."). And I know it's not going to work. So I raise the white flag of surrender. And I say it. "Just bring her in here." I nurse, she goes back to sleep. In our bed.

And you know what? We don't squish her. And she snuggles with us as she sleeps. And makes sweet little noises. And says her favorite word, ball, and smiles, in her sleep. And she thrashes a bit and flings her limbs (yep). So I don't get much sleep. (Snore-y McSnorerson can saw logs through anything). And I hardly even care. When she wakes up, she's so happy and sweet and says ma-ma, da-da like she's so delighted and surprised to see us there.

So we've repeated this scenario a handful of times. And I have discovered how sweet it is to snuggle with my precious, sleeping girl, who prefers to take over my pillow and most of my side of the bed. As my friend wisely pointed out to me this weekend - "You haven't completely given in. You're not starting out with her in your bed every night. And really you're just trying to get some sleep for a few more hours and save some sanity." So true.

So you know how I like to have morals to my stories. WHO CARES what I said I was or wasn't going to do? It's nice to have an idea of what you'd like to do and not do as a parent. But you have to give yourself the flexibility (and permission) to change your mind when you're in the middle of it. And who has time to worry over it or beat yourself up about it? I don't know about you, but I've got a baby to chase.

Addison Mae - 10 months

This baby girl spent 10 months (approximately) in my belly and has now spent 10 months making my life complete. The best way to describe her is ... everywhere. She is on the move constantly. Even when she's nursing, she is doing toe-touches, pulling on my necklace, looking for the dog and talking (yep). Speaking of talking, Addie has about 4.5 words thus far. The one she uses the most, that she starts saying the moment her eyes open in the morning, that I swear I've heard her say multiple times in her sleep and that she must say about 876 times per day is BALL. But it's more like ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ... With a few inserted "Izzy"s every now and again. My favorite is when we go outside and tell Izzy to get her ball and Addie says Izzy ball Izzy ball Izzy ball. The girl has beach balls, bouncy balls, plastic ball-pit-like balls ... they're her favorite toy by far. In addition to her two favorite words, she says ma-ma and da-da and sometimes hi and bye. The past month has been absolutely incredible watching her hit one milestone after another after another. She also hit her fourth (maybe fifth?? I can't remember) ear infection - another double one. We've got an appointment next week with an ear/nose/throat specialist and are hopeful that will give us the go ahead to get tubes in her ears. Our ped told me he's never seen a mom quite so insistent on getting tubes in her baby's ears (I'm sure he was trying to say that nicely :)), but it just pains me so much to see her in pain, and the antibiotics practically cause more harm than good to her. So, yep, bring on the tubes. Speaking of tubes, remember that one in her eye? Yeah, she pulled it out a bit so we had to go in and have it removed completely. Thankfully it seems to have done it's job and her symptoms have disappeared. When our doc said about 5 percent of babies pull their tubes out, Jordan and I looked at each other and said that will be our girl.

When I look into Addie's sweet face, it looks more and more like a big girl and less like a baby. Exciting and sad all at the same time. Though we miss little things about her being a tiny baby, Jordan and I are just holding on for dear life and trying to enjoy every moment while we look forward to all the fun times ahead.

Weight: approx 18 pounds
Length: approx 28 inches

New things this month:

• Perfecting the army crawl and occasionally crawling up on her knees. She looks like a baby sea turtle. And she is FAST
• Pushing herself from tummy to a seated position.
• Pulling up on everything. And cruising around the furniture. Sometimes pulling up on our pant legs. Sometimes pulling up and letting go of everything and forgetting she can't quite stand on her own yet.
• Saying ball, bye, hi and, finally, da-da
• Looking up and pointing when we ask "where's the fan?"
• Clapping. So very cute.
• Waving. With both hands. At herself. Even cuter than the clapping.
• Sticking out her tongue and/or blowing raspberries when we ask where her tongue is. Baby girl's got tricks!
• Sleeping with her bottom sticking up in the air. Be still my heart.
• Wanting to eat anything and everything we're eating.
• Clearly developing a stubborn, I-want-my-way streak. We have no idea where she got this ...

Likes:

• The ball. Any variety or size. And she wants to talk about it a whole lot.
• All four-legged friends. Whether they want to be her friend or not, and that includes the two she lives with. Any and all four-legged friends are named Izzy.
• Eating. New favorite foods have been pineapple, hamburger and brisket.
• Playing pattycake. Especially since she can now clap.
• Dancing and bouncing to music.
• Swimming. She is crazy about being in the pool.
• Playing peekaboo with her own shirt.
• Typing emails. Well, really she just likes to punch all the keys on my computer.
• Watching videos of herself.
• Other babies. She's just started to really notice other babies when we're out and about, and she'll strain and wiggle to watch them as long as possible.
• Giving slobbery, open-mouth kisses. And getting slobbery, open-mouth kisses from Izzy
• Her mom and dad. It never gets old that she likes us so much. She's been reaching for us to pick her up for quite awhile, but it's much more insistent now. And if we're not paying attention or she really means it, she crawls over and pulls up on our legs.

Dislikes:

• Riding in the backseat alone. We have made this a little easier by putting a carfull of toys in the backseat with her.
• Being interrupted while playing for something ridiculous like a diaper change or meal or nap.
• Her stationary jumper. Much too confining for a girl who can crawl everywhere (hence why we want to put her in it ...)

Everything I swore I'd never do

It's so easy when you aren't a parent to say, "well, of course I'll never do that." Even when pregnant, I read the parenting books and thought of course I won't rock my baby to sleep because she'll become dependent on that, of course I won't let her play with a plastic sack because she could suffocate, of course I will take the pacifier away no later than 8 months, before she can resist very strongly. How very little I knew ...

Before my OB released us from the hospital, she looked us in the eyes and said, "Remember, you guys are in survival mode. Whatever you have to do to get through the day is OK." I'm pretty sure she just meant this in reference to our first few weeks as parents, but it has become my mantra for all time.

When I'm rocking/nursing/singing my baby to sleep instead of letting her soothe herself to sleep, I'm feeling incredibly guilty that I'm doing exactly what the "experts" say not to do. Especially because I was so sure I would listen to those experts. I do like to follow the rules. When Jordan or I have made our 12th trip into her room in the middle of the night because she's crying, I'm pretty sure we must be crazy. But here's the thing. I think back to a really difficult day when Addie was about 5 or 6 months old, when we thought the colic was gone for good and then it came back with a vengeance. I was letting her "soothe" herself to sleep, which meant she was screaming bloody murder, when it hit me. I am her mom. Those "experts" in those parenting books aren't here. I am. When you live with a baby who has colic, who cries and cries and cries for hours and there's literally nothing you can do about it, it changes anything you ever thought about the way you would parent. I made a resolution to myself, for myself, that when and if I can soothe her, I'll do it. There have been so many times that she's crying and I can't fix it, so if I can fix it, through rocking or singing or nursing or snuggling, that's exactly what I'm going to do. No matter what those parenting experts say I'm supposed to do.

Several of my friends have confessed to me that they rocked (or still rock) their babies to sleep, not because their babies need it, but because they need it. And isn't that the truth. Some day Addie's going to be 14, and I'm pretty sure not only will she no longer fit on my lap, she'll die of embarrasment if I try to rock her to sleep. Looking into my baby's sweet, vulnerable face as she is about to fall asleep is my very favorite part of the day, and not just because it's the only time of day she will actually hold still.

It makes me feel a little better to know that Addie is perfectly capable of soothing herself to sleep, and oftentimes she does just that. She is back to (usually) sleeping through the night, after battling months of teething, ear infections, etc. that took us back to square one after having a baby who had slept through the night for months before. And (warning: boob joke ahead) if she does wake in the night, and giving her a boob means I can get back to sleep in 15 minutes as opposed to her crying for another hour, take a quick guess what I'm going to choose.

As for that pacifier ... I heard a news story recently about the importance of weaning babies from the bottle at age 1 and from a pacifier at 6 months. My immediate reaction was, "did whoever make these rules actually have children?" Sure, I agree in theory that that makes sense. But , some of the time, theory and reality couldn't be further from each other. If giving your baby a bottle or pacifier past that cut-off age gives you a little sanity or sleep (extremely precious commodities in my book), I get it. (PS don't judge me if my kid still has her paci at age 10).

And about that pastic bag ... I was trying to clean our closet today, while also entertaining the baby, and after she tried to lick her 12th shoe, she grabbed a GAP bag and had the very best time with it. For like 5 whole minutes. It was beautiful. And I was monitoring very closely to ensure she didn't put it over her head and suffocate.

So the moral of the story is: don't judge my parenting skills and I won't judge yours. We're all just trying to survive.

Addison Mae - 9 months

I am so lucky to be this girl's momma. Even though every moment isn't perfect and I have plenty of moments of frustration, anxiety and insanity as a mom, I feel so blessed that God chose Jordan and me to be her parents. Addie's curiosity and need to be BUSY continue to amaze us, and wear us out. Her sense of humor, orneryness and playful spirit are becoming more evident each day. That girl's belly laugh is the best sound in all the world, and I make a fool out of myself multiple times a day just for the chance to hear it. She loves to eat, which she comes by naturally, loves to be the center of attention, ditto, and loves tormenting her animals ... probably also a ditto. She's on her way to six whole teeth, with two more not far behind. Did I mention she can get wherever she wants to go? Her method of army crawling, rolling, scooting and pulling up means whatever that girl wants, she gets. Her new love of remote controls, phones and computers must mean her parents are playing with those toys far too much. Addie had tear duct surgery in late April, which was fairly easy and took less than 10 minutes. Watching her come off the anesthesia was really rough for Jordan and me, but it was very short-lived. Two weeks after she had the tube put in, it had to come back out because she had pulled it out some (imagine that). Thankfully, that happens in many cases and doesn't mean it has to be put back in - her doctor is confident it's already done the job. A week before the surgery, this tearful momma got to go to Mexico with my super amazing husband for his reward for being a top 10 salesman in his company, for the second year in a row. It was so hard to leave our baby, and we missed her like crazy, but we enjoyed sleeping late, eating and drinking, and just lying on the beach. We were anxious to get home to our girl and so glad she remembered us!!

Weight: 17 lbs, 9 oz
Length: 27.5 inches

New things this month:

• We have a crawler. Her method is more of an army crawl, but she sure is fast.
• Pulling up. On everything.
• Saying Izzy, which she says in reference to Izzy herself, the cat and any other four-legged friend. Don't ask Jordan how he feels about her saying ma-ma and Izzy before da-da ...
• Eating almost all finger foods. Baby food is, clearly, for babies.
• Swimming! Baby girl went swimming in her Grammie and Pawpaw's pool for the first time and she was wild about it. The diaper was the only downside since it meant her little bottom kept rising to the surface ... and I'm so glad I now know just how much liquid a diaper can hold.
• Moving up to her big-girl car seat.
• Laughing when we tickle her. Which we do a lot just to hear that sweet sound.

Likes:

• Oh, Izzy and Mia. The best dog and cat around. I've been trying to teach Addie to pat them gently instead of pulling their fur out, biting their ears and pounding on their backs, but she doesn't seem to be getting the message. I've also tried to teach them to run away when Addie comes crawling, but they seem to like her attention.
• Eating. Favorite foods are avocado, cantaloupe and chicken. She also loves asparagus, black beans, garbanzo beans, pumpkin, apples, pears, green beans ... well, pretty much whatever we feed her.
• Initiating games of peekaboo.
• Washing her hands in the sink. It's the little things.
• Being outside. She squeals when we take Izzy out in the back yard. And squeals even louder when we throw Izzy the ball or she runs all around the yard. Addie will try to wrench herself out of our arms just to see where her puppy is.
• Riding in her new red wagon. I thought she wouldn't care anything about it, but Jordan insisted we get it and she thinks it's the best thing that ever happened to her.
• She loves to look around to see if we're watching before she crawls or pulls up - have I mentioned she likes to be the center of attention?
• Magazines. She loves to go get the mail with me every day, and now she has figured out that's where the magazines come from. She can rip and chew up a magazine in the blink of an eye.
• Sophie the giraffe. A gift from her Great Aunt Granny and Uncle Pawpaw. Rubbery, made for teething babies and with a squeaker. Think: dog toy. Poor Izzy does not understand why the baby has a toy that looks, sounds and smells like a dog toy, but she has been very good not to take it away. We take Sophie everywhere.
• Dancing/bouncing/jumping to music. So, so cute.

Dislikes:

• Not getting her way. Where did that come from?
• Being constrained  in any way, shape or form.
• Riding in the backseat alone.

Addison Mae - 8 months

When did this baby girl get so BIG? And so BUSY?! I've started calling Addie baby Jordan. If the shoe fits ... She is constantly on the move, wants to know where everyone is and is intent on getting what she wants, even if she can't get there on her own. Now, I realize that sounds more like me than Jordan ... but as babies I was fairly calm and content and he was BUSY. So basically the opposite of how we are now. Addie loves to eat and loves to feed herself. I love watching her sense of accomplishment when she actually gets something from her tray into her mouth. She's figured out her sippy cup, too. She's less and less interested in nursing and her bottle - usually because she has way too many things to do to sit still and eat. The best part about the past month has been Addie saying ma-ma. Whether she actually means it in relation to me makes no difference at all - still the sweetest thing I've ever heard! And the next best has been her giving slobbery, drooly, open-mouth kisses to Jordan and me. She may or may not just be trying to chew on us (see: worst part of the past month) but I'll take it either way. The worst has been those darn teeth. Poor thing has been teething fairly constantly since the beginning of February, but she does have four sweet little teeth to show for it. The other worst part was finding out that she has to have surgery to unblock the tear ducts in her right eye in late April. Though we love the doctor who's performing the surgery and it's a very minor procedure, we are going to be basketcases that day. Thankfully it's a very short (like 10 minute) procedure, but she does have to be sedated. And I'm wondering how in the world I will explain to her that she can't eat before the surgery ...

Weight: 16 pounds, 2 oz
Length: around 25.5 inches

New things this month:

• Saying ma-ma. :) I don't know that she knows what the heck she's saying, but she does say it a lot around me. And to Jordan, which is rather hilarious.
• More teeth. In addition to the bottom two, she has the matching top set.
• A little separation anxiety when we leave the room, she wakes in the night or we drop her at Starbright. And a definite preference for mom when she's sleepy/doesn't feel good.
• Trying to pull up. Seriously, we're just going to move straight past crawling to running. She pulls herself to her knees with one of her big toys, me and the arm of the couch. She also tried it in the bathtub this week and about gave us a heart attack.
• A little bit of scooting, mostly backwards instead of forwards. Have to start somewhere.
• Moving from a sitting position to her belly and then to her back. And then rolling all over the floor.
• Putting objects into a container, like blocks into a box. Most impressive is that she has a new octopus toy (yes, my baby continues to be obsessed with all sea creatures, octopuses in particular) where you place a ball in his hat or arm and it winds around and drops under one of five shoes. She can totally put a ball in the hat or arm all by herself. And then she smiles and laughs about it like she knows what a big deal she is. I am pretty sure she's a genius.
• Giving kisses. Or just chewing on our faces.
• Getting rid of her baby bathtub and taking baths like a big girl. And splashing, splashing, splashing. And occasionally taking a nose dive into the water. She does love to have the faucet turned on so she can put her hands, and sometimes her head, under the running water.
• A few blessed nights of sleeping 12 hours straight. Hoping to make this the norm.
• Moving toward longer, less frequent naps. Hallelujah.

Likes:

• The octopus toy mentioned above.
• Any and all toys that make music/sound. The more obnoxious, the better.
• Our crazy dog and cat. They have a special place in heaven for all the ear pulling and biting they take from her. At least Izzy now benefits from cleaning out the baby's highchair when I'm not looking.
• Eating finger foods. She loves avocado, banana, puffs, Cheerios, pancakes, sweet potatoes and biscuits. Yum. She asks for her "big girl" breakfast, lunch and dinner much louder than she asks to nurse or for a bottle now.
• Her sippy cup, which she can occasionally figure out herself. Such a big girl.
• Spatulas remain near and dear to her heart.
• Her seahorse toy that plays classical music. A new must-have for bedtime. And nighttime awakenings.
• Playing peekaboo and pattycake.
• Any and all animal sounds, preferably made by her super talented mother.
• Having her teeth brushed.

Dislikes:

• Teething. I think we can all agree that the four teeth she has are plenty.
• Ear infections. We've had two of those and that is also plenty.
• Being constrained in any way, shape or form. I think she's making up for spending the first four months of her life swaddled.
• Having her face wiped, nails trimmed, ears cleaned, boogers removed ... she doesn't want to be messed with!
• Not being able to get where she wants to go or reach what she wants.
• Being away from mom or dad.
• Not being the center of attention. I have no idea where she got this.  

Addison Mae - 7 months

A little late on this one, too ... I guess we've been super busy the past few months! Addie's seventh month was marked by teething, another ear infection, a cold and a fever ... so it was a little rough on all of us. But in the midst of all that, for the most part, she continued to be my sweet, happy, BUSY girl! She is moving all the time. And starting to get really frustrated when she can't move when and where she wants to. Her little body just can't keep up with her brain! She continues to change so much every day. She'll start a new skill one day and have perfected it within the next two or three. I'm pretty sure she's a genius. I think (fingers crossed) the colic is gone for good.

Weight: around 16 pounds
Length: around 25.5 inches

New things this month:

• ROLLING! Front to back, back to front and all across the floor. She has figured out that it's an excellent way to get to something out of her reach.
• Even more babbling and "talking." Loves to explore new sounds and watch our mouths move.
• Obsessing about where Izzy and Mia are. When we talk about what the dog or cat say (she's very into animal sounds and I am a professional at making just about any animal sound), she looks and looks around for those two.
• TEETH! Those suckers caused her lots and lots of pain and discomfort. The first bottom tooth came in, followed by the second about two weeks later. Boy were we glad to see them finally poke through.
• She's perfected sitting up and falls over almost never. She likes to try to sit up while she's nursing. That's fun for me.
• Reaching for mom and dad. Be still my heart.
• Starting the Starbright Children's Day Out at our church. This was, to put it mildly, slightly stressful for me. Addie had a bit of a tough time at first but she has adjusted really well and her teachers have been so sweet and patient with her. Her grammie has been missing having her at her house, though.

Likes:

• Izzy and Mia win. They are her favorites. Well, Jordan and I rank pretty high, too.
• Eating "big girl" food, which mostly consists of baby food. We've tried small pieces of banana and avocado, which she likes. Mostly she just slimes them around her tray.  
• Her puppy piano, which she got for Valentine's Day. I may or may not be able to sing every song, in the correct order, on cue.
• Blocks. On a day when she was slightly fussy and I was out of idea, I got the block set out of her closet. I thought she was still a little young to appreciate them. I was wrong. She loves when I stack them up and she can push them over.
• Loves all her bath toys.
• Crazy about her stationary jumper. Much more fun now that those feet can touch the ground.
• Swinging! We tried out the swing on our neighborhood jungle gym, and although she was pretty suspicious at first, now she loves it.
• This girl likes to be BUSY. She wants to know where every noise comes from, where everyone is located and what they are doing at all times.
• All manner of kitchen utensils. Spatulas are her favorite and now when we pull them out of the drawer she grins because she knows they're for her. And if I was thinking about using it for, I don't know, cooking, it quickly gets relinquished to the queen of my heart.
• Chewing. On anything.

Dislikes:

• Not being able to get where she wants to go. I think she's going to be running at any point. She is forever acting like she wants to get down when we're holding her, like she wants to stand/walk, etc. She has places to go and people to see!