Overnight Changes

Esther amazes me. She goes from one step to the next overnight, literally.

Yesterday she decided to do a lot of new things. I don't know what made her decide to try these new things, but she literally woke up a different baby (in a good way, I would say).

Here are her most recent developments:

• Separation Anxiety has Kicked In. Tim and I are officially the top people for Esther. She dealt with a form of this when she was younger, but now it is even more pronounced. She has been clingy for the past week and cries whenever we leave her. I have to admit, it is really sweet and cute!
• Reaching Out. For a month now she has been reaching out when she wants to be held by someone or picked up. She does it all the time now!
• Babbling. She has moved to consonant sounds. As of May 12, Esther started adding consonants to her speech. She used them within her speech before, but she's now starting her words with them. She says "Mama," "Blah Blah" (her new favorite), "Dada," and a few other sounds.
• Clapping. Also as of May 12, Esther discovered how to clap. She did it completely unsolicited by me. I was holding her before bed and she started doing it. We got her to do it a couple of other times. So cute!
• Crawling and Standing. For a couple weeks now, Esther has been crawling in the true form for two weeks now (she's been crawling in her own way for a couple months...more of a scooting action). She has also been pulling herself up to standing for two weeks. On May 12, she stood up against me, pushed off, and stood, unassisted, for about 15 seconds. She only fell to sitting, because I got so excited :)

Those are just a few milestones reached. She is reaching them so fast, I can hardly keep up! Such a cute, smart little bug!

Tonight our family leaves for a ten day vacation to Oklahoma (would much rather be going somewhere cool, but, hey, I can't wait to see some old friends and watch my brother graduate!). Flying with Esther will be even more interesting than the last time, judging by how active she is now. She wasn't inactive the last time, but now days she can hardly sit still :) It will be an adventure! I can't wait until our plane leaves!!

Well, take care everyone! I'll update later!