Somebodys getting carabiners and a belay device for Christmas

At the beginning of the month little Gretel's crawling quickly evolved into pulling herself up onto her knees and then feet. We first found Gretel pulling herself up onto her knees in her crib and it wasn't long before she was on her feet. (just a quick note: these videos are for Gretel's grandparents - just keep that in mind for when you are watching them and think that they are a little long and/or boring!)

I was hoping that she would make it to 8 months before I lowered the crib, but when she started standing and leaning out, those plans quickly changed.

In her crib, Gretel is now most commonly found standing at the railing. She is always standing there when we put her down for a nap or for bed for the night (she hates to see us go!) And most of the time we will find her there after naps or in the morning, excited to get her play on once again.

Gretel has taken and applied her new techniques to other areas of the house. Favorite standing spots of hers include: the coffee table, the dining table chairs, piano bench, dresser in our room, etc... the list is quickly expanding. Here is a little clip of Gretel getting into some mischief with the coffee table.

Thats our little climber in a nutshell. I've already started looking through the REI catalog for Gretel's Christmas mountain climbing gift...

One last video... This is another new little "treat" from our little gumdrop - while eating she occasionaly likes to spit food back at Chels. I think she spares me because she feels bad for spitting up onto my face and in my mouth when she was younger... it was gross...

So anyway - this is a little shout out to all the Grand's out there (and other fam).