I THINK Sophie is the most determined person I have ever met. When she decides she wants something, nothing will get in her way. Unfortunately for me, what she wants is usually something I'd rather she stayed away from like electrical wires, bits of dirt she's found on the floor and important paperwork which she enjoys trying to screw up.

At the moment all her effort is going into standing. About 90 per cent of her waking day is spent pulling herself up to standing. She will use anything in her bid to stand on her own two feet – the sofa, her high chair, her baby walker, the wooden double decker bus she got for Christmas or, more embarrassingly, other babies. And once she gets up she is getting more ambitious – she likes to stand up while holding toys – the more the better – and she has started using just one hand to keep herself upright. She even had a go at standing without holding anything at all. This was fantastic for all of two seconds before she realised she had nothing to support her. Sadly it all ended in tears when she bumped down to the floor. But was she discouraged? Heck no – she was straight back to pulling herself up on something else before the tears had even dried on her cheeks.

Sophie has even been on a mini cruise. No, it's not as glamorous as it sounds (there are no sunbeds and formal dining involved), for the uninitiated, cruising is when little ones walk around the room using the furniture – a bit like how I skate around an ice rink – clinging to the edge, frightened of falling over. Sophie hasn't started full-scale cruising yet, but she has made it from one end of a two-seater sofa to the other.

I really admire her try, try and try again attitude. It's what got her crawling and I am looking forward to seeing her take her first steps. But sometimes after several hours of trying to stop her falling over, I wish she would give it a bit of a rest and enjoy playing in a sitting position for a change.

But sitting still wouldn't suit Sophie's fearless never say die attitude. I hope she is always this ambitious and determined. I am proud of the way she doesn't let anything put her off. She'll crawl right up to bigger kids to play and give as good as she gets in the toy snatching stakes. In fact, most of the time she finds toddlers and their rough play pretty hilarious, which they in turn either find puzzling or equally funny. Still laughing in the face of adversity has got to be a good thing – now I just hope she doesn't laugh off all my attempts to discipline her when she gets older!