First steps

Last weekend when Kate was considered exactly nine months and three weeks old she took her first steps! She did it for Daddy first. Zack calls me from the playroom saying that she took four steps! So we continued to practice holding her up and then having her take some steps towards us. She has not done more than five or six steps at a time, but she is getting better and better at standing up on her own without holding on to something. So I think it is just a matter of time before she is walking more and more. I know this is a bittersweet thing! She also looked at Zack last night and said "Dada." Zack was thrilled! We will have to continue to work on that along with saying my name.
Over spring break, which was almost two weeks ago we converted our dining room into a playroom and it has been great! I was so thankful for my brother-in-law, Rod, who came over and helped Zack move furniture. Thanks Rod! We put our dining room set on the other side of the living room. We also put up two gates so Kate can't get out of the playroom. I have absolutely loved it! She is so active, so it is nice to have a place where she can move around that is childproof. We spend a lot of time in there without TV. I can read or play with her, which I enjoy. I am posting pictures for you to see the change. The window is perfect for her to look out of, which you will see. I am also posting a picture of Kate with her lion car/walker. She really enjoys playing with it, walking with it, and sitting on it. Kate is also doing great eating more and more table food. She seems to like pretty much everything, except bananas. She really loves cheese! She is just growing up so fast!
The other new thing that we are noticing is that Kate will play for an hour at a time, sometimes more, in her crib in the middle of the night! She will take her lovie or her blanket and play with them. She likes to use them like rags to wipe down her crib, which is kind of funny. We know this because we have a video monitor now, which we also love! We can also hear her sometimes giggling while she is playing. Then she will go back to sleep. At first she would go from playing to crying for me to go in and feed her, but we have stopped the middle of the night feeding as of two nights ago. My doctor said to get rid of it before her first birthday, so I have now done that. We are still in the progress, but I am committed! She cried for awhile two nights ago, and I cried right along with her. It broke my heart that I knew how to make her happy and chose not to do it. I had to tell myself that it was in her best interest. I know that many people feel that I should of gotten rid of this much earlier, but I have no regrets. I am sure that I will do it sooner with the next child, but it was actually a bond that I enjoyed. It usually didn't take very long to feed her and then she went back to sleep.
So there has been lots of excitement and joy in the Pruett household. Thank you God for our little blessing!