red letter day

...that is what it has been. Ari is walking! I was working in the kitchen while he played in the living room this morning and heard him coming through the doorway with a giggle. I turned around and there he was, walking, not crawling. Now, that's not an entirely new thing. He's been walking up to 10 steps on his own for a couple days. However, this morning he walked through the kitchen door as if he had been a toddler forever, grinning like crazy. Sat down and proceeded to stand up on his own (that was a first), walk further, sit down again, get up again, etc. etc. until he had covered the entire kitchen. He giggled the entire time, he was so pleased with himself. It probably helped that I was cheering him on like crazy...

He also managed to scoop his oatmeal onto his spoon by himself today and take a few very accurate bites. It's so funny how he knows he's done something special...he gets this little lopsided smile and his eyes tilt up at me as if to say, "hey, ma, ya checkin' this out?" Funny little man.

I'll sum this post up by apologizing for the lack of material lately. It's taken me a while to recover from the flu, still coughing like crazy and losing my voice, and both I and the Little Man have had some rough days...him with whining and me with homesickness. I pledged, since my last rant, to not write here unless I was in a somewhat good mood...hence, several days can go by :). I'd better cut this short, bed calls. Oh, and for those of you who watch the news...no, we did not get caught in the La Jolla landslide...we can't afford to live near La Jolla...but thank you for caring about us. It is a little ironic, though...hmm, not sure "ironic" is the correct word. That same hillside slid down the mountain (along with several homes) around 50 years ago. The city encouraged the residents not to rebuild as that mountain is prone to this condition. Yet, there it is...million dollar homes on a foundation of sand.