An update...

I've majorly slacked on picture taking since the beach, as you will notice from the one's below that I chose to post. He is just keeping us so busy, it's hard to find time!
He is doing SO much that it's hard to remember all the things that I want to post. The biggest two deals are walking and sippy cup progress! Since my last post, Walker has really steadied up in his walking. The video I posted reminded me of one of those bugs that runs across water. Now, when he chooses to walk (which still is sporatic) he is much more balanced and secure in what he's doing...and also slower. I'm enjoying that part because I know once he really gets the hang of this walking thing, slow won't be a part of our life anymore! He's very cautious with his steps and thinks really hard before taking them. The other day he was holding onto the couch at Dad's house and no one was really talking or playing with him. We were all just sitting around chatting and he let go and took about 5 steps on his own out into the middle of the room. We were just floored. That's the first time we'd seen him walk unprovoked and without someone standing in front and reaching for him. Since then, he's done it several times but still recognizes that for the time being, crawling means SPEED. He claps when he's done walking and sometimes while he is. He's come to recognize the things that earn "reward" and definitely reminds us if we forget. :)

Sippy cup...my goal when I left work in May was to have Walker off the bottle when I went back. Well, I go back on Friday and about 3-4 days ago, he randomly picked up his sippy and went to town. He's begged for it ever since. Today we decided to just try his "bottles" in the cup and he took right to it. So far he's had two different types of cups and done fine with them both. Now, they are never far out of his sight and he sips on and off throughout the day.

It amazes me how you will work and work at something and then when they are ready, they just pick it up and run with it. With everything that he's done, it seems that once he grasps it, he's all about it. Sippy cup being a prime example.

We have been MAJORLY having some bedtime/naptime issues again. This child does not like to miss out. It's been a very emotional and trying week with his sleep issues, mainly because we don't know the root. We don't know if he's scared or if it's a battle of will. We know he's not hurting b/c as soon as we walk out of the bedroom he's fine-laughing, etc...
He has started to recognize the signs of sleep and startings fighting hard..and loud...
However, the past two nights have been WONDERFUL. He's gone down great and he did great with his naps too. Hopefully he's starting to accept his role as NOT being the boss. We'll see!

One of the most fascinating areas of development for Walker right now in my opinion is how he is really understanding alot of what we say. Some of the things (short list of much, much more) that he understands are: "where's your ball?" "where's your football?" (yes, he knows the difference b/w the two) "where's daddy?" "where's mommy?" "go get your bus." "do you want to take a bath?" (crawls to the bathroom door) "do you want to go outside?" (crawls to the outside door in any place we happen to be in if he knows where it's at) "yay!" "clap your hands" and "patty cake" all to which he responds by clapping, "phone" (gets the phone)...

He's also been clapping at himself when he gets in trouble. This has been the funniest thing to me lately. If I use my stern mommy voice and redirect him, he will often clap and smile. I guess he's learning early that sometimes there are ways to get out of being in trouble. :)

He's still not saying a whole lot-Papa, Dada, puppy, bye bye are the things he is saying pretty consistently. He can say "up" "duck" "puff" and "bus" when he feels like it.

He's working hard to go from sitting to standing without using any objects for help. He's getting close!

He has a few new shows that he likes. FINALLY something besides Yo Gabba, Gabba! Don't get me wrong, we love Gabba...but we are also enjoying Dora, Diego, Wonder Pets, Back Yardigans and Ms. Spider's Sunny Patch Friends...

A few other random things since my last post:
*Walker got shocked. We won't get into a long explanation (mainly because I was at fault...) but he's fine and needless to say, we've baby proofed a little more than we already had.
*Our air condition went out on Sunday night. We've stayed at Dad and Kathy's since then and came home this morning. We are so thankful for close family and the ability to stay cool, but it sure is nice to be home!

Now, on to the pictures!!
He just really likes to get under things...















Still making the "mean face" on random occasions...




















And we're still on this too...only about 25 times a day.




















Under yet another something...















And, something else...