"it's the beginning of the end"

That is what my sister in law said when I told her that Ada was starting to climb the stairs. Her fourth baby, who is 10 weeks older than Ada has been walking and climbing stairs for some time now, really early. It's hard when your baby grows up. I caught Ada on the bottom step twice on Tuesday, just stuck there, not knowing how to repeat what she did and go further and too scared to come down. I was telling this to Stephen when he got home Tuesday night. We were standing in the kitchen and the girls were playing in the basement. I had just finished saying "we're going to have to put up the gate or do something, we'll have to really watch that girl" when we turned at a noise and here was Ada peering into the kitchen at us, from the TOP of the stairs!! Ours jaws dropped. It was SO FUNNY. She sat there on the landing, looking at us as if to say "what? I heard dad's voice, so I came up". She proceeded to climb the entry step into the kitchen and crawl right over to dad, sit back on her haunches and beg to get picked up. It was adorable- and very scary. Our basement stairs are VERY SCARY. They curve, they have sandpapery strips on them, they have no railing to keep little ones from falling off of them, they lead to a cement floor below. (but they are only 6 stairs long!) I worry about them. So now Ada is on climbing alert. I wonder if they make an ankle bracelet for that.

She has also discovered purses and knows how to put one on! Who taught her that? I keep catching her putting them on and crawling around with them, trying to keep them on her shoulder. She keeps the red rattle phone on one ear and the purse on the shoulder. Who needs to wait for the teenage years for your girls to grow up?