A new chapter

So I went away for 5 days and my son learned to walk. He took his official first steps maybe a month ago really, but over last weekend he made that critical decision that walking was the way to go. So when I left for NY he was still crawling around everywhere and when I came home I was greeted with this cute little visual.



He usually walks with both arms up like this, I guess for balance? He loves that his new skill allows him to carry things from place to place. He has something in each hand whenever possible.

I know I'm biased, but isn't he cute?


This is actually post #300 on this blog. I have been mulling over ideas for a fun shoot, sort of as an anniversary of Post #202, which was actually one year ago yesterday. So stay tuned. I realize as I type this that I am basically saying it has taken me a full year to even hope to get another picture with all three in the frame together. Oh well, so it goes.

Summer Fun

I started working on these images last week before I went on a short (and awesome!) vacation to NYC with two of my best friends. Coming back to them this morning made me smile sitting here at my desk.

We are very grateful to Louisa and Alex for the loan of their playset while they temporarily are without a yard to put it in. The girls had the idea to turn the slide into a waterslide and we tried it out one night last week.




She made this expression above many (most?) of them :)

Then she went and got her goggles. This kid cracks me up.



Eli LOVES the slide.

Went to a garden party

Derek brought home a cake for Eli this evening and we had a little party for him in the backyard. The girls sang Happy Birthday to him and helped him with his candle.





It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.


He liked his cake.

One year ago today...

...this little guy came into our lives. He makes us laugh every day. I can't imagine life or our family without him.







At 1, he is aaaallllmost walking. He's just about got it. He loves to eat solid food. He eats pretty much whatever any of us are eating. He particularly likes pizza and grilled cheese and all kinds of fruit. He loves to press buttons anywhere on anything. He sometimes plays games with his toys now, instead of just manhandling them. He likes to play with the girls Fisher Price dollhouse and he puts the people around into all the rooms. He likes to play the game where he hands you something and then you hand it back. And so on and so on and so on and so on and so on. And so on and so on. From this game, he has developed his first sound approaching a word. He says "da doo" for "thank you" when he gives you something or you give him something (or just randomly alot of the time). The consonant sounds aren't even close but he has the cadence and inflection and he uses it in the right place, so we count it as a word. Just in this past month he has started doing all these new things that show how close he is to breaking through to toddlerhood.

But he's still my baby.