One step at a time...

Yesterday, December 22nd, Sage took her first independent steps. She walked from the couch to her grandma Alice, and the whole room erupted in cheers and applause! Then she repeated the feat two more times that evening. Mommy and Daddy are so very proud. Here's a picture Grandma took yesterday to commemorate the occasion.

Doesn't she look like a big girl? Just a few more steps and she'll really be a toddler.

I know that in my excitement about her learning to crawl some months ago, I hinted that walking wasn't a very big deal because she could get around just fine by crawling anyway, but I may have to change my perspective at this point. There's something about walking upright that makes a child seem more like a person to others... and to themselves. Sage is obviously quite proud of herself, and seems to be thrilled to move more like her parents (and grandparents, and aunts and uncle, etc). She's been very interested recently in comparing her body to our bodies, imitating, our movements, and having us copy hers (like chewing on her toys for example. She loves that!). This is certainly a new stage in her little life--one characterized by a new awareness of herself as a person, and culminating in her learning to walk.

I also want to add that Sage's second word is "Dada." :-)

Christmas Tree Hunting

Here is a sweet picture of Sage and mommy from this past weekend when we all went Christmas tree hunting with dada, my parents, my sisters and uncle Erik, who was visiting from Minnesota. If you look close enough you can see snow in my hair, because yes, it was actually snowing. It made for quite a nice holiday experience.

Almost 10 months and...

Sage's first word is officially Mama. How sweet of her to do that. She's also signing "more" at mealtime when she wants another bite. I'm so proud! On the level of motor skills, she's working on putting the rings back on the post on her little fisher price ring stacking toy. Here she is with the toy. Look how grown up she is sitting up on her knees! She almost looks ike a little toddler!

She has also put another round-shaped toy on the post of the ring toy, which was even more exciting! I take that to mean she's sorting toys by shape, and making inferences about them based on their similarities. What a smart little baby we have!

Oh, I also must point out that her hair is finally long enough to have her first case of bed-head. This is how she woke up this morning:

She's so cute!