Samantha was pretty cute yesterday. She was babbling da da sounds quite often. That's new. Da is supposed to be one of the syllables that show she is gaining a mastery of language. I also saw her sitting quite steadily on her butt with one arm on the floor. We were in the kitchen on the tile floor and I kept expecting to hear the thud of her falling backwards, but she didn't fall once. Not even when she got up on hands and toes, then switched to hand and toe. She is such a strong girl!

We went outside and I put Samantha down on the terrace near the dog park gate. Ella stood next to her and wouldn't leave until I had picked her up. I know Ella wanted to go into the backyard pretty badly, but she wouldn't leave until she knew Sam was in my arms. Samantha loves going on hikes with us, and regularly laughs with delight at Ella's apparent joy at being outside. It is a wondrous thing to watch Ella with Samantha.