up, up, UP!

Now that Alli has mastered the art of pulling herself up on anything that she can grab (and some things she can't grab that well), she just wants "up". She hasn't started saying "up!" yet (I know it's coming), but she's to the point now where she realizes how much nicer it is up off the floor. Even though she's just over two feet tall, life is much better up there than it is when you're six inches off the floor crawling everywhere. It's really not so much that she wants to be picked up and held, but more so that she just wants to be up and moving around.

When she's at home with Mommy B on her days off, that's all she does... just crawls to the nearest piece of furniture, large toy or human leg and immediately uses it to stand herself up. Of course, the only problem is that she's stuck there once she stands up... unless she's standing against the front of the couch or bathtub - in which case she shuffles herself along the side like a tightrope walker. If she wants to get somewhere, she has to lower herself back down and crawl to her destination.

When she first started pulling herself up on things, it was a two-handed, hanging-on-for-dear-life type deal. She would stand there looking around, but never let go of whatever it was that was holding her steady. Now, she resorts to the one-handed, holding-my-other-hand-out-so-you-can-tag-me-like-we're-in-a-WWF-wrestling-match pose. You know, kind of like you did as a kid playing tag but didn't want to let go of "base". This is a good thing because it means she's gaining more balance and is more steady on her feet.

Yesterday, I actually caught her free-standing for about three or four seconds while she was trying to eat her plastic phone. She did great for a few seconds, but then she realized that she wasn't holding onto anything to keep her steady and it was down to the butt again. I know that in time those few seconds will become a few minutes - and it'll be game over after that. I can already tell that she's a curious little one and that once she starts walking on her own, I'm going to be in big trouble.

Either way, she just wants to be up and moving all the time now. She has reached that awkward phase where she wants to be able to walk, but hasn't put it all together yet. She went through the same phase before she started crawling, and now it's happening again. I hope for her sake that she ends up with her grandparents' genes and is tall, because I think she likes how things look from up there.