Last weekend Shayna went from taking 1 or 2 steps then falling down on Friday night, to taking about 5 steps on Saturday afternoon, to running around the house full time on Sunday. Me, Brooke and the folks at her daycare have been working with her for a number of months now, trying to help her get her footing. We all knew she could walk if she wanted, as she could stand fairly well, though shaky, on her own, and with someone holding her hand, she could almost run. Well now she's doing it on her own and isn't so interested in anyone helping her. It's awesome to see. She's getting more and more independent all the time. She can feed herself, walk, and communicate in lots of ways, if not using full words.

A few days ago, I asked her to find her shoes for me as I didn't know where they went. She walked over to one shoe, picked it up, handed it to me, then went over to the other one in the other room, picked it up and handed me that one. If that wasn't the clearest sign yet that she understands what we say to her, I don't know what would be. Just cause she can't communicate back yet with full words, doesn't mean she isn't processing what we say to her. I have memories of being very young, maybe even a few months old, and understanding what the people around me were saying, but being frustrated that I couldn't respond back. It's nice to be validated in some way that they are real memories.