The milestones they don’t put in books

We have hit the following new exciting, sometimes frustrating, very entertaining stages:

• No safe places: She can reach pretty much everything; everyday a new place where you thought you could safely stash items becomes available to her sticky little fingers. 
• Stashing and hiding: You never know where you might find something.  Joseph’s missing sunglasses were finally located in one of my ceramic pots.  My glasses were found in with our extra toilet paper rolls, after weeks of searching.
• Climbing, climbing, climbing:  climbing everything.  For months she has been climbing onto the seat of Joseph desk.  Yesterday we found her sitting right on top of it.  And on top of the coffee table. 
• Tantrums: when thwarted she pulls out the good old fashioned crocodile-tears-screaming-flailing-chocking on snot type tantrums.  She’s got it down.  Awesome flailing skills.  Putting her in the car seat is my wrestling practice.
• Electronic fascination:  cell phones top the list of desired items.  Cords, computers as well. She pretends all sorts of things are phones.  We let her play with calculators and the TV remote and she spends hours toting each one around, pressing buttons, and holding it to her ear.
• Anything big brother: what he has or does, she wants to have or do.  She loves anything with wheels.  She looks at books all the time.  If he has a snack, she must have it as well.  He get’s loud and dramatic—suddenly there's two of them; he’s hyper and silly, her too…(Btw, two grumpy kids is exponentially more trying then one, but two happy, loving kiddos is way better!)
• Nudist/escape artist: She is all about taking her diaper off these days.  I’m the kind of mom who likes babies in as little clothes/paraphernalia as possible.  She spent most of the summer in just a diaper.  But it is no longer safe.  Numerous times I have gone to get her after a nap to be surprise by nakey-buns.  The other day she even had unzipped her pajamas and had her diaper half off!
• Careful what you say and do:  She is a serious mimic these days.  I noticed that she was often making this little growling noise.  Then I realized that she was copying my exasperated noise.  Which I guess I do a little to often?  She thinks it’s hilarious and does it with a big smile.  Speaking of which, if she does something she’s not supposed too—and then you laugh a little because it is hilarious to see tiny little people do anything—she knows!  And learns….
• Goodbye crawling:  She took forever to start walking, but suddenly it’s all walking, almost no crawling.  Kind of sad.

Maybe she is a toddler???  Ack!