Is she walking yet?

That's the question on everybody's lips now that Bean is 15 months old. The answer has remained the same since she turned a year old: Almost. She's been cruising around on the furniture for months now, and she'll even push a chair around the kitchen so she can get from end to the other while remaining upright.

Other than that, though, she's been quite content to crawl. This week, however, she's made some - ahem - new strides.

No longer resistant to the assisted walk, she'll now toddle around the house holding on to one of my or her daddy's fingers. And last night, she stood up from a sitting position without holding on to anything. She just stood there for a few seconds, then sat down again, pleased as punch with her accomplishment. Then, this morning, while standing up with the coffee table behind her, just in case, she made three steps into my arms.

Everyone always says, "Don't worry; she'll walk soon." I know she's on the late end of reaching this milestone, but I'm really not worried. She gets around quite efficiently now, and I know walking will just make her harder to catch. Plus I have these huge biceps from carrying her around everywhere... ;-)

Stay tuned: more updates to the walking chronicles to come...