Michael's first steps

Michael's motivation came from walking in the swimming pool. This morning he stood up on his own and took a couple of steps. He is still unsure on his feet, he keeps them very stiff and I can't tell if he needs to work on his balance of strength of the muscles used for walking.
Sonja lately experiments with walking on her tippie toes.
Both seem to understand much when I talk to them--when I check if they want certain food or water sometimes I think they even say 'da' (yes) or 'ne' (no). Sonja is actually funny-she learned to say something between no and ne and she waves her hand 'no' while she is saying it. They get excited when they see that I'm getting the stroller ready to go for a walk or to the swimming pool and sit right in. Now they go through the books with me in my lap, pointing at things and babbling.
Nikolas finally calls Sonja-Sonja, not Soyna.
Sonja likes to challenge her balance. She'll go up and down the steps just for the fun of it. At home they would all spread all couch cushions and pillows all over the living room and she'll step on top of a cushion and off of it keeping her balance.