Drunken Sailor

Riesling has been standing & "cruising" around for a long time and just before Christmas she started taking some solo steps.  Then she entered my least favorite stage so far, what I like to call the drunken sailor.  First off, she gained the strength and confidence to stand straight up from sitting in the middle of the floor.  Before she needed the assistance of a chair, couch, wall, etc.  So she would crawl over to whatever she thought best, pull herself up, then attempt to take a few steps away from the object.  This wasn't so bad because I could see her in motion toward the couch or chair and have time to prep myself for the walking which always resulted in falling.  Once she started standing straight up it was all over.  Up she goes followed by 10-12 wobbling steps in ANY direction, ending in either with a heavy smash onto her bum or mostly forward.  She seemed to know that she couldn't make it very far and was always reaching for a place to land, which meant that she was slightly leaning forward.  It also meant that she was reaching for places to land that were not great options, like hard pieces of wooden furniture, unsteady baskets that won't hold her wait, the dog, my leg.  Not only was she walking around all crazy, she wanted to do nothing else.  

I couldn't get a single thing down during this phase.  I could barely pour a cup of coffee or take a pee.  I felt like one nano second away from her would result in direct head trauma. Of course the stage passed by rather quickly (as do all things with babies) and she is doing some serious walking now.  Today was by far her best day.  She's still a little unsteady but we've definitely turned the corner.  She can slow down, stop, pick up a toy, stand back up and start moving again without falling.  It's so darn cute (and exhausting!).  It's hard to believe that her birthday is just over a month away.