Steps!

Grrrr.  I am the Ellie Bear and I am coming to get you!

That's right people.  I said "steps".  As in the plural of steps.

Am I possibly talking about another one of Andrew's DIY projects?  Nope.  We are not adding on a second story or anything like that.  Or at least I hope not. Do NOT get any ideas Drewbie.

I am talking about the Ellie Bear.

The Bear took 3 as in THREE, tres, trois, drei steps without, let me repeat that, without holding on to anything during therapy today.

Of course, we had to trick her into doing it, but she did it and I hugged her and cried.  Yes, I cried during therapy.  In front of Jan.  Tears of happiness and proud mommy-moments.  My little girl is doing great things. . . even if we did trick her.

Afterwards, I was naughty and continued to coax Ellie into walking a few steps throughout the afternoon and upon Andrew's return from work.  A little Bear-Bear performance for Daddy.  He didn't cry, but he was excited.

Jan showed me how to give Ellie a sense of security by having her stand with her butt propped against wall or in this case, a full box of Costco diapers that are sitting in her room.  I then sit a short distance in front of her with an enticing toy.  The key word is "enticing".  As she reaches for the toy, her butt will move off of the box/wall and I am to move the toy further out of her reach.  In her excitement, she forgets that she has no butt support and that she is not holding onto anything.  She will (and does) take those few independent steps forward to get the toy.

Enticing Toy--this is actually one of those things that goes on the bars of an infant carrier. 

Another one of our developmental things.  Trying to get Ellie to stand, stay standing, and play.  Not stand, grab toy, and sit, but like I said stay standing.  This is a weighted down laundry basket with toys. It works some of the time.

Goofball

At this moment, I would like to shout out hello and thank you to everyone who reads this blog and follows Ellie's exploits.  Also, Andrew and I love reading all of the comments so please comment away!  The flag counter on the blog is not entirely accurate, which is a bummer because everyone should be fully represented.  Looking at the stats through Blogger, we have blogger friends from all over the United States in addition to Canada, United Kingdom, Venezuela (hi Malula!), Croatia, Slovenia, Denmark, Sweden, France, and as of today Indonesia.  Welcome everyone and I hope that you continue to check in and celebrate with Andrew and me the triumphs of one special little girl.

Many of you have enjoyed learning about my fabulous Aunt Peg.  She is an extraordinary woman who tonight informed my dad that he was acting just like her father.  Hum. . .I can see that.