I'm A-Walkin' Daddy!

Enjoying the fall colors in Lamb's Canyon, via Millcreek Canyon.



"I'm a-walkin' daddy..." The lyrics of a favorite Craig Brown tune come to mind! Coinciding with almost exactly with 14 months, Michelle took her first steps last Saturday and within 5 days, she was running. I will post both videos here to compare. It is amazing how fast they master a skill once they put their mind to it!
And 5 days later...


In other news, it appears that Michelle is initiating the weaning process by chomping down on my nipples. Yes. OUCH! She is losing interest in nursing during the day all together, but she does seem to take one long nursing at night without a bite. I am glad she is initiating the process. It has been a very special bond and I am so grateful for the 14 months of sharing those special moments. I hope to hang on to that ONE nursing at night for a little while longer, but we'll just see how it goes.

There goes August!

Blowing bubbles in Grandma's pool in Phoenix.

It has been a month since my last post! I guess I am finding that adding little snippits to Facebook is a little less time consuming than actually sitting down to write something. Easier to upload photos to FB too. But here are some pictures of the month of August. A month of momentous events with Grandpa Bert's funeral, Io turned 10 years old on the 28th, followed by the 10th anniversary of my mother's death on the 31st. Michelle is not walking yet, but will stand up unassisted if she doesn't realize she is doing it. I know one day soon she will just be up and walking and that will be it. I will be chasing after her, wondering why I encouraged it. Barry is now actively looking for work, tuning up the resume and talking to recruiters. Financially, it will be good for him to be working again though with that opens a whole new can of worms: Childcare. Since my work schedule is so sporadic, flipping from days to nights to days, we can't really plan too much until Barry knows what kind of job he will have, especially if it requires traveling. I can't very well work a night shift if Barry is out of town unless I pay up the nose for an overnight babysitter. So one step at a time. Once Barry finds work, we'll address the other stuff then.

Hiking to Dog Lake with auntie Cory.










Michelle attended her friend Tegan's First Birthday party.









Michelle plays cowgirl, driving the cattle home the pick-up truck in Wyoming.










Dave and Charlotte's place. Where Barry and I fell in love 7 years ago. 4 years ago we were married across the valley. Now we bring our baby girl to this beautiful place.