Ashley is (really) crawling

I know this looks like a strange blog title, because Ashley is really close to walking and has also been "crawling" for months, but Ashley finally started to crawl normally. She has been doing the "army crawl", and had mastered that and got around pretty fast, but she would never really crawl even though we'd show her and practice. The past couple of days she'd crawl a few inches then go back to the army crawl. Today for whatever reason, she decided she was going to stick with regular crawling and already gets around pretty fast. She even figured out how to do this side-crawl thing. I guess she is the type who likes to do things in her own time, in her own way. I like someone who is a leader, not a follower ;)

Couple other quick updates while I can think of them. Ashley is pointing at all sorts of things (which she has for a while now), but now she tries to copy each word we tell her. It's cute.

Also, I forgot to mention, for the past month now Ashley has been cuddly which I absolutely LOVE! She has always been a very sweet baby, and no doubt loves her mommy and daddy, but she was more about having fun and discovering than she was cuddling. I've always given her lots of love and affection, but I'd never force it on her because I want to respect her for the person that she is. Well, now she is a nice combination--she still LOVES to explore and have fun, but she also likes to give hugs and kisses and love on us, especially her mommy. I love it!

Another thing I've noticed is that Ashley is showing more negativity toward things. It's funny, when we go for her doctor well-visits, they always give you a paper with things your baby might be doing at that age. Sometimes I swear it's as if Ashley reads it and starts doing it immediately. Haha. For instance, it mentioned that babies at this age start showing negativity toward things, or even have mini temper tantrums. All of a sudden, Ashley starts doing this. If she is getting into something that she shouldn't be, or if she is having fun with something and we have to move on to something else when she doesn't want to, she now starts to cry and have a little mini fit. Thankfully it's not too often.

I think there is more, but I can't think of them at the moment...will post more if I remember.