A Time of Rapid Changes

Around 6ish months, it seemed like we were at a standstill developmentally for awhile. Nothing new seemed to be happening. Lately, we've had the opposite occurring- it seems like every time I turn around, Sam or Anna has some new Something to share with the world.

We decided that Anna has officially said her first real word now. She has been repeating words we say for a while , but this word is one she says on her own, and in an appropriate context. She has been enamoured with our dog for a long time, so it makes sense that "Bella" is Anna's first real word. She understands what it means and says it often when she tries to get Bella to come closer or pay attention to her. I like this newest development much better than the barking she's done for the past few months (although cute to see her bark like a dog to get the dog's attention, it is much cuter to hear her voice say Bel- ah.)

Anna is getting better at army crawling, but really excels at turning around. That girl can turn 360 degrees like on a dime and in speedy fast time. Although she can army crawl, she prefers to turn her body the way she wants it to go and then roll in a direct path to her destination. It's hilarious to watch her turn and roll, turn and roll, turn and roll all over the room to get from one toy/person/dog to another in succession.

She has been back to waking frequently at night lately, and I think it is because she's rehearing crawling on all fours in her mind. Whenever we see her awake in her crib, she's on all fours rocking back and forth. I think she's really trying to figure it out and her crawling days won't be far behind...

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Sam has now shown a huge amount of interest in climbing. His favorite thing to climb is our fireplace mantel. He loves to climb up there and try to open the doors. We have put a rubber bumper around the edge of the mantel for spills however I am not quite sure how to baby proof the fireplace doors though...

Along with the climbing, Sam is pulling up on everything. He can pull up to his knees and maintain that position and pull to stand. This new development allowed him to learn how to sit on his own too- although he spends very little time sitting in one place now since his adventurous spirit takes him all over our house...

Also today at 9 months 1 week and 4 days old Sam's first tooth made its grand appearance. His first tooth is his bottom right, while Anna's first tooth was the bottom left.

That's the latest in our world right now! Some photos from this weekend: