This morning, for the first time, I went into John's room to find him standing in his crib waiting for me. :) It's a good thing Joe lowered the mattress a couple days ago!
John's sleeping has gotten a lot better over the past month. The low point was around Thanksgiving, when he wouldn't let me put him down without waking up and screaming, so I was letting him nap in my arms and spending half my nights on the couch. Finally we decided enough was enough and started "sleep training" using what I guess is Ferber's method: let him cry for a few minutes, go in to reassure him with calm voice and rub his tummy (but NOT pick him up), then leave for a slightly longer interval, until eventually he falls asleep. (We didn't read Ferber's book, just the description of his method online, so I don't know if we followed it exactly.) Joe started with it; John cried for about 2 hours the first time, but gradually less. I started doing it a week or so later, same thing, until he was going to bed with virtually no fuss! I was afraid our Christmas trip would undo everything, but am happy to be wrong; we came back from Christmas and he went right back to the pattern. We do our bedtime routine, I nurse him, and he doesn't even fall asleep on me anymore -- I put him in his crib, awake, and though he protests at first, he goes right to sleep. YAY!
We had only been doing this at night, but yesterday (since Joe is back to work and we have a more predictable schedule again) I decided to try it for naptime too. I expected a big argument, but again I was wrong. He protested for a minute or two and then went down for an hour and a half. Today, an hour. Ahhh, I am so glad we have this under control now. :) I wouldn't have done this when he was younger; I agree with the view that you shouldn't let a real little one cry, because they can't understand what's going on. John is at a point where he definitely has wants and needs and opinions (as opposed to just needs) so I don't think we are doing damage by letting him be frustrated a bit.
So that is the sleep; in the world of walking, the news is that he has been letting go to stand all on his own more and more frequently, and he's taken 2 or 3 unassisted steps a few times over the past couple of days. So, I guess technically that means he's walking? I dunno... he's getting VERY close, at any rate! :)