Maggie got a training toilet for Christmas! We know it's a bit premature to go into potty training mode, but it doesn't hurt to get acquainted with Doodie Duck a little, right? She's actually used Doodie Duck for his intended purpose a handful of times already. When the removable cup thingy has any weight in it, a little fanfare plays and he sings a song. The first time she didn't even notice the hullabaloo, but every time since she's at least had a "hmm, interesting" look on her face when her chair plays music. She has some pretty predictable times of day, so we can set her down, read a few books, and skip a really messy diaper experience. It truly is much easier to clean up a baby that way. I guess there's a reason we get toilet trained, huh?
At our Texas Christmas, Maggie became very interested in walking around with someone holding both of her hands. Although she still prefers her knee shuffling as her primary mode of transportation, she asks to be walked around a lot more often now. Yesterday we spent probably 45 minutes in Home Teapot walking her around, stopping at this dishwasher and that shower stall. Doodie Duck is actually the perfect height for her to practice standing up from sitting and the momentum encourages her to put a foot out. Maybe we should start looking for some tiny furniture. (This is not a suggestion for packages to start arriving in the mail, by the way. No tea tables with matching miniature chip and dale chairs, please.) She got really close to walking a step from the couch to the coffee table the other day. She stands so she can lean her back up against the couch and then she can shift her weight forward and lean her belly up against the coffee table. When we moved the coffee table progressively farther away so she couldn't just lean, she seriously thought about making a move. Instead she just made a trust-dive toward the coffee table and barely made it with her chest, ending up at this wonderful 45 degree angle. Which was close enough to drop to her knees and scoot along again. So one day there will be a video here with Maggie's first (or close to) step.
