Some Rory happenings

1. Yesterday she took her first unassisted step.
2. She sings with songs she hears a lot--like one of her toys plays the alphabet, and you can tell she's singing with it, and knows all the places to stop.
3. She actually sings with quite a bit--she and Ryan sing notes back and forth to each other, she sings with the radio sometimes.  We might be doing baby voice lessons soon. ;)
4. Baby Gym class was a great decision. Our girl is kind of used to doing her own thing all day, with breaks for meals and naps. Having to do what the group did has been a change for her. She doesn't have problems sharing, yet. And she does not like trying new things until I insist on it, and then she has fun. She's not scared, she just doesn't want to.
5. Her eating has slowed down, but we've started doing a third short nap the last few days. Growth spurt coming.
6. She's not a giggly child, but she's sunny and smiley. Her mood goes down hill quick when she's tired. She's also a very cautious kid. She makes sure she is holding on to something and tests her foot before she puts weight on it.
7. We're in two phases I'm looking forward to leaving. 1--she hates being put in her car seat. 2--it's mommy mommy mommy all the time. She wants to be held and carried around. It's like she already senses her babyhood leaving and wants to maintain as long as possible.
8. And so, whenever (and only whenever) she is upset, she cries "MAAAAAAAAAA!" That's the only time she's uses the m consonant. Ever. She'll babble 'dada' and 'bopbop' all day. But when she cries, it's Mama. I think that counts as an official first word, but Ryan might disagree.

In some other news, a family we know, who adopted a baby girl at her birth, has lost their custody battle against the birth father, and has to relinquish her to him in 30 days. I can't imagine the pain they are in. The family could use your prayers and well-wishes as they say goodbye to their daughter.