Happy 2009!

Seeing as Walker is capable of eating pretty much anything considered "grown-up" food on his own these days, we thought he'd be able to maturely handle eating a cupcake without assistance. Wrong. I don't know what I was thinking...at least I had the great idea to remove his shirt beforehand...but only because it was a new shirt and he's pretty messy with any food...just not THIS messy!















We had company and he was putting on a show...he was playing "Where's Walker" with his hands covering his face, which is how it got all over his face. He just decided to "paint" his belly for the fun of it, I suppose. :) With Crystal, Angie & myself flashing cameras, you can be almost certain his kindergarten teacher will be calling home to report the exact behavior we so CLEARLY reinforced this evening. Oh well, it was fun. :)



















I recently got this baby chair back from Kim, who borrowed it when Katie was younger. Walker didn't care much about it when he actually weighed little enough to get in it, but it's been a big hit since I unloaded it from the car. It got put away this afternoon, much to his dismay...

We had a wonderful New Year. We split the night between our Sunday School party at the Day's home and our family party at my uncle's home. Fun times were had by all...and sleep was definitely lost!

Unfortunately I developed the worst sore throat of my life...no ordinary sore throat, as I've coined it, and spent a majority of two consecutive days in bed. Yesterday, it was a "normal" sore throat and manageable and today it's all but gone...thank God for antibiotics!

Walker continues to be the nut & entertainer that he is. He has developed a plethora of new words and phrases the past week or so. I don't know where he comes up with half of what he says.

Earlier in the week, Aunt Ashley (one of my college roommates and dear friends) came to spend the night and catch up on all things Walker. It was so great to see her and spend some much needed time catching up. It took Walker a while to warm up to her and I had warned her of the certainty that it would happen this way. I also warned her to give him his space and just play with his toys, talk to him from a distance, etc until he gave in to her charm...but Aunt Ashley likes to play by her rules, which included tickling, teasing, etc and Walker just wasn't having any of it. The very first interaction he had with her was to swat her in her pretty little face. Ugh. What do you do? She was warned. :) Eventually, he warmed up to her and she understood that his swat wasn't a form of aggression but rather a response to something that was traumatic for his little shy self at the time. If there's one thing you can say without doubt about Ashley, she might be the most understanding friend I have, no matter what the circumstances...she's just that way. He didn't say many of his words for her (as it goes) but he sure pulled out all the charms and his winning personality later in the night and had a great time playing with her. He even held her hand (voluntarily) while they watched tv the next morning together. So sweet.

The next day, we dropped Walker off with Aunt Christie & Uncle Marshall and headed to our friend Kim's house for a much needed girls night& slumber party! We had a BLAST. It's been ages since I've seen Kim and it was so great to just spend time together talking, being silly, etc... We all keep in pretty good touch over the Internet or phone but there's just something so irreplaceable about face time. It was an evening well spent! During this time, Cliff was on a "golf retreat" and having some guy time of his own. We both enjoyed our refreshing get aways, but as always were very ready to be home and have our little family unit back together.

Walker has entered the stage of not being able to be left alone for even a millisecond. I'm not in the practice of just leaving him unattended but we went through a stage where I could leave the room for a minute or two, and he'd be fine. These days however, I'm not sure where I'll find him when I return. I lost count on how many times he got on the kitchen table today...he did this once before a while back but the "event" seems to becoming quite the entertainment for him. He can get up on it in seconds flat...before I even get across the kitchen to him...and my kitchen's not THAT big!

Yo Gabba Gabba has reclaimed a spot on our tivo season pass. Recently, Walker has decided it's once again the best show on TV. He will sit and watch an entire episode. This has definitely resulted in less tv time in general...but when he is watching it, he's very interactive. If he's not pointing and naming, he's answering their questions or dancing the dancy dance with the gabbas. Broby is his favorite...ironically, we think Broby is a little special. They never come out and SAY that, but watch the show and I'm sure you'll have the same thought... I walked in the living room a few days ago and he looked up and grinned at me and said "dig dig" while "digging" his hands...it was the dancy dance of the day and he had it DOWN!

We go back to work Monday and we are both dreading it...though thankful we have jobs to return to. We wish each of you a very happy & healthy 2009. More soon!