Walking walking walking!

I reckon I now officially own a toddler!

On Thursday we went to Creepy Crawlies at the local leisure centre. Baby gym has finished now for the term, and now that Sally is walking she has outgrown it. So instead we are going to the soft play sessions in town. A couple of the NCT Mums who were at baby gym are also going, so it's a bit of a group effort, which is lovely. Anyway whilst we were there Sally spotted the hula hoops on the floor and she was off! She wandered around happily on the gym floor (which is very very hard, so I was hovering fairly close!) turning corners, heading off in new directions, and even picking up a hoop. She did try to walk whilst carrying the hoop but as it was about the same size as her it was a portable trip hazard I thought best removed! It took her a while to get to grips with the mats and needing to step up and onto them, but soon she had even got that sorted.

This was the first time she has really walked without knowing where she was going, and not bothered about having something to grab on to. I was so proud! Today we took her to the garden centre without her pushchair and let her walk holding a hand; this was only partly successful as (perhaps predictably) she had her own ideas about where to walk to, and they did not accord with ours! We let her do some walking by herself and she managed some good toddling sessions across the shop floor.

The other amazing thing that she did at Creepy Crawlies was to find some monkey bars and swing on them. She took hold of two of them, lifted her feet off the floor and swung a bit, much to my surprise. She didn't do it again, so we'll have to see if she can repeat it this week.

Also on the positive side is again her continued language development. She can now make a decent effort at the noises of a lion, a cat, a sheep and a cow. (According to Sally, cows go 'Mmmm' but that's close enough for jazz). With the lion, she also understands that the noise is called a roar, and if either word comes up in conversation or in a song then she roars enthusiastically! She sits down immediately when asked and understands 'come here' She can find her ears, and my toes, when asked. She does get confused between her ears and her eyes, so if you ask for the latter you get the former, but I think that's just because they sound very similar. And she can also open and shut the door to her playpen on request.

Physically her ability to pull herself up on things has improved hugely, and she looks like she is starting to consider how to stand without furniture. As she still can't sit from lying this might take a while, but again that too looks like an emerging skill.

We are still working on the clapping...