first solo steps!

that's right, little baby maggie took her first solo steps last night! i was cooking dinner and nick was sitting on the floor while she stood next to him. then she took 3 or 4 little toddling steps, all by herself! we all got to see them, and maggie was so proud of herself. she's only 8.5 months!

nina actually took her first solo step at the same age, but she didn't go beyond one step for a month. she took 2 steps at 9 months, and 4 steps on july 4. within a few days of those 4 steps she was walking across a room. maggie's been walking very well holding onto hands or furniture, so we were kind of expecting this, but it still is so soon!

she's also pointing, waving and saying "hi," and playing with toys like a much older kid. she'll pretend to eat and feed me and nick with nina's toy cutlery (this is one of her favorite games), plays with dolls, and likes puzzles and sorting toys. i haven't been keeping a vocabulary list, but she says mama, papa, nan-nan (nina), and hi on a daily basis. there are lots of other words she's repeated or said just a few times (like, yesterday she said "all done" after i'd said it. and of course, there was the time she said "not bad" when we asked how her day was).

so that's an update on maggie, our 8.5 month old toddler!