She does everything but stand alone and walk

My daughter is now nearly 16 months old - and does not yet walk, nor does she even stand unsupported. But, strangely, she can do practically everything else.

That kid will climb upstairs in less than a minute. She will reach over the table and counters, her little hand coming dangerously close to the towel on which stand an unstable mountain of drying dishes (I wonder what would happen if I pulled on this? she must wonder, before mommy sprints towards her and prevents a disaster). An explosion of vocabulary erupts from her mouth, as she attempts to repeat every word I teach  her. She can even point to her diaper and say caca. She can also pretend to be speaking on the phone: she puts her fist up to her ear (as though holding a receiver) and says hello? then mumbles something, says bye bye, and "hangs up." The other day, I was amazed at the fact that in reply to my question: what does a cow do? (incidentally, I had no pictures of cows handy, nor were there any in a nearby field, as we were, in fact, in the middle of the city) she replied, without hesitation, moooo! I had taught her that with the help of a book, only a few times before, but did not believe for one second that she would remember it, out of context!

But this is not all - she has also shown some inclination toward eating with a spoon (though she still generally insits that mommy feed her - it gets food to her mouth faster, after all). She will, once in a while, at the end of a meal, pick up her spoon and try to direct whatever food might happen to be on it towards her mouth. She is not always on target - sometimes she will get a cheek, chin, or nose-full of yogurt. She even understands that the napkin that is presented to her afterwards is for wiping her face. Sometimes she will grap it and pass it over her mouth - then insist on wiping the chin of the adult who has been feeding her.

So if she can climb stairs with perfect confidence, reach over tables and counters, learn new words each day, pretend to talk on the phone, make associations between animals and the sound they make, attempt to eat with a spoon, and wipe her own mouth, why cannot she walk, or at least stand on her own? I watch her, always thinking it's going to happen, but then at the last minute she always finds something to grab onto. She only once let go of a little table that was giving her support, and that only for a few seconds. She never attempted this feat again. There must be a reason for her being adventurous in so many other aspects of her life, but not this one.

Perhaps, because she is tall for her age, she thinks she is too far from the ground when she stands? I suppose it would be scary. Wow, that floor sure looks far away, she must be thinking. I think I'll just get closer to it before I attempt any sort of movement.

But then, how do you explain the stairs? Ooh, look, stairs, stretching up seemingly indefinitely. Wow, that sure looks high. I think I'll climb them! Hmmmm ...