Steps and balance

Emma stood, on her own, several times this evening and took about 3 falling forward steps towards whoever was nearby.  We got her on video standing in place unsupported for up to a minute at a time...she was SO pleased with herself and we kept having to calm her down so she could re-establish her balance.  She is not going to crawl, she is going straight to walking and it wouldn't shock us if she wasn't walking by the end of this month.  Today there were lots of giggles, smiles and some dancing...she has a fondness for pop/rap music.
 
I made chicken, noodles and peas mixed with mushroom soup for dinner and she LOVED it...between bites she banged on the tray demanding more.  After dinner she got really vocal and active cracking herself and us up.  We finally have the bottle portions under control by adding more table food.  She should only be consuming about 30oz of formula but was taking as much as 48-56oz while in China and the amount of wet diapers has dramatically decreased...YAY...we were going through 10-12 diapers a day. 
 
The cats are really coming around which is shocking.  Sport actually approached the highchair tonight, raised up and let Emma pet his nose.  The cats just lounge around in the sunroom amongst the toys and observe her every move.  Miah actually climbed up and took a nap with Emma and I yesterday.  I ran an errand after dinner and when I returned, Doug said she was saying cat now...no "t", but she was saying "ca".  She now says mamama, dadada, ca and has said em-ma about 5 times.  She is a progressive machine and we are taken by suprise everyday with something new.
 
We were sitting with a book this afternoon and I was pointing to the colors and pictures, saying the words aloud.  After several repetitions, she grabbed my finger and would force it to the pictures, words and numbers she wanted me to say aloud...too cute!