From crawling to swashbuckling

This week Sam decided to walk.  One day (Thursday in fact) he just stopped crawling and walked all around the room.  Now nothing can stop him - not even a little swordplay.  

P.S. This is Ethan's greatest dream realized.

Teamwork

I only walk when no one is looking.

Sam has been a bit of a late bloomer in the walking-and-talking department.  He started standing in mid-May and took one or two steps around Memorial day, but has only just started willingly walking from one place to another, maxing out at around five steps.  But it definitely counts as walking in my book.  Here's the proof:

This is what "talking" (and eating yogurt) looks like:

Sam's First Bike Ride

While Ethan was at pre-school we snuck away for a ride along the Connecticut River 

and Sam took his first trip in the Burley!  Here's how it went:

BEFORE: Sam is not exactly thrilled about the bike trailer.  

AFTER: Sam is blissful after a head-bobbing nap along NH dirt roads, 

torrential downpour and steady supply of raisins and cheerios.

As for me, it felt INCREDIBLY good to be on my bike again.  I was reminded of the hundreds of hours I've spent in my saddle over the years, quietly reflecting on life, enjoying the breeze, struggling slowly uphill, flying downhill.  So much has changed in our lives since we used to spend days on end riding around rural Wisconsin, but we still love to bike.  What a treat to find a way to enjoy it with our boys.

-Jody

5th Birthday Party

We spent a gorgeous day at Riverside Park celebrating Ethan's 5th birthday.  

I feel so lucky that we have (finally) found a sweet little community here.

 

 

 

In case you were wondering, river + playground + shelter + skate park = best park ever.  

 

 

Turns out it's kind of hard to light candles in the wind.  

Good thing I had a crew of advanced problem solvers to help me figure it out.

Thanks to Marcy Hogan for the incredible photos (and good company and cute kids)...