...And The Crowd Goes Wild!!!!!

Tonight Amelia, with dogged determination, mastered walking (for all intents and purposes). She's able to get up off the floor and walk about 20-25 steps before she sits down. Amy and I watched her first learn to stand up, which she practiced for almost an hour, and then get more and more comfortable on her feet. She rocks my world!!! She loves to be cheered on as she walks by and then wants hugs when she falls on her bottom. Watching her triggered such a "Mommie moment" within me...what an exciting feeling to watch your children take their first steps! It's such a monumental milestone...the beginning of true freedom and independence and the leaving-behind of "babyhood". I'm so proud of her...and she's extremely proud of herself! As we near her first birthday, I'm selfishly trying to hold onto everything "baby" about Amelia-- but she is such a quick learner and is so interested in everything Ainsley does that not a day goes by that she doesn't learn something new and "big-girlish". So as I pack up yet another bag of baby clothes, I remind myself that in some capacity, she will always need me to pick her up when she falls and that she'll always be my baby ;-)