Milestones, expected and otherwise

Cheerio?

Here is the very brief post I was going to make today: "Everything is going very well. Blaise seems able to tolerate wheat, which opens up the door for pasta, toast and lots of other goodies. We are also delighted to report that Blaise has a new friend, Josie. She was born Wednesday evening to our friends Chris and Aurora. Blaise is interested in, but slightly intimidated by, Josie's big brother Max, who is almost 3, so maybe the two girls can team up once Josie is able to lift her head." That seemed like enough exciting news for one blog post.

But now I also get to report that Blaise knocked down two milestones today. First, we're finally giving her credit for a stable, reliable first word: Madeline. It comes out "Madai," but it's very consistent. She still says both "mama" and "dada" but not exclusively for me and Ben. Her therapist thinks it's very funny how strict our criteria are for giving Blaise credit for words. Apparently other parents would have claimed "mama" and "dada" a long time ago. Madeline, though, is clear and definitely refers to her doll and only her doll.

Now for the unexpected milestone: Blaise took her first unsupported steps today. This was unexpected because she doesn't stand independently for more than a second or two and she hasn't taken more than a few dozen supported steps. She's not walking by any means. She had pulled to stand at one of the boxes in her room, Ben asked about the toy she was playing with, she turned around, took her hands off the box and took two lurching steps toward him before falling on him. They were, as he reports it, uncontrolled and treacherous, but steps. Steps! Yikes!