the sword has two edges...

I look forward to each new milestone. I shared with you that she can roll. I shared with you that she's making sounds that closely resemble "dada". She's moving on to all sorts of veggies and fruit combos as meals and scaling back to only 3 to 3.5 bottles a day (compared to 6!). And now we have a new one.

Alexis had been trying to sit. You'd put her down on her butt and let go. At first, no control whatsoever. Maybe a split second of balancing, then sideways she'd keel. Slowly, we moved to her being a bit closer to success. She'd keep better balance, but we still had to make a little ring with our hands around her lest she tip over (which happened regularly). And then, suddenly, we put her down and there she was, balancing on her own with very little weebly wobbly. There are still moments where the large head pulls her to the side, or she gets excited about something and kicks, not realizing that doing so knocks her off her butt, but she's pretty steady.

So many things have improved as a result of her sitting. You can put her on the floor and let her play with toys. You have to sit with her and make sure she stays upright, but she can entertain herself much longer. When you change her clothes, you can sit her up on the changing table and get her shirts on and off easily. We don't need to wrap a blanket or towel around her in the high chair to keep her level. Though the chair is still much too roomy for her, she can sit up sans towel.

But it's a double edged sword. For example, she was in her little bouncy-rocky chair thing. Jamie and I were going about our business, and I looked over and her and she was sitting up in it! We never strap her in...where was she going to go? But now she'd utilized those tiny little wash-tub abs and pulled herself into a sitting position. With a little more forward momentum, she'd go headfirst onto the hardwood. She sits, great, but now she can topple.

Sitting brings her more frustration too. She knows what it's like to sit. She knows she can. So if she's on her back, she'll sometimes get mad, because she's seen the world from a prone position and likes it better. She also gets annoyed if she's sitting on the couch, playing, and then suddenly drops to her side, she complains. "What the hell...I was sitting and now I'm not, and I can't get myself back up, so help me will you?"

I know this is going to continue. Will be great when she crawls, but then everything is at her disposal (and the floors need to be clean). When she begins to cruise, everything needs to move up to a higher shelf lest she grab a candle and shove it in her mouth. When she starts talking, she'll be adorable until she says something embarrassing or won't shut up. I guess it all comes with the turf. You can't have one without the other. I know we'll love each and every new moment, even if there's another edge of the sword waiting to knick us!