She's Got It!!!

Much to my disbelief, Anna has decided that she will not skip the crawling phase and go straight for walking. I gave up on her crawling about 5 days ago when she became obsessed with trying to walk while holding my hands. It's been hard on my back, but I've been giving her as much practice as possible since she IS NEARLY TEN MONTHS OLD AND NOT MOBILE!!! Everyone says, "Oh, you wish she could get around until she is into everything and then you wonder why you didn't enjoy it when you had it easy." Sorry folks, but you couldn't be more wrong. Not only could this child only sit and watch the world pass her by, but it infuriated her. Charlie crawled at 6 months and was happy to explore, so I didn't experience this "frustration phase" with him. I really was at my wit's end. And then, just in the nick of time to save my sanity, she crawled! She had spent the evening in her usual fashion, screeching every time I pried my fingers out of her hands to do something, (you know, something selfish, like prepare dinner or wipe Charlie's rear) and then we headed upstairs for bath time. I stripped her down and left her on the floor in her room to start the bath water. Then I came back in and watched in amazement as she crawled her naked little bottom across the floor to retrieve a pacifier lost by her crib! She nearly jumped out of her skin when I began my cheerleading session from across the room, but I couldn't resist. She keeps her left foot flat on the floor in walking position, and drags her pudgy right knee along the ground. I love it. These things always happen when you least expect it. Now I'm just cringing at the number of stairs in our house. Any suggestions on where to get gates that don't look like they belong in a pet store?