Wow! Time flies and the boys are WALKING!!!

So I am looking at the date of our last post and realize how fast the last three weeks have gone by. Here we are at the tail end of July and it feels like the 4th of July was just last weekend. As you can guess we have been busier than a "one legged man at a butt kicking contest". (I learned that from my grandpa and it just always makes me laugh...I know...it is not PC but it is still kind of funny) I have a few others but they really are not proper to repeat nor type out on a blog :-)

Anyway, back to updates on the dynamic duo. Our "little" babies are now WALKING!!!! Christopher officially took his first step all by himself Friday July 24th and Nathan followed on Saturday July 25th. Christopher is now walking half way across the room and then he gets so excited he flaps his arms like a bird and falls right down on his bum. Nathan continues to walk about 4 steps at a time. He tends to "lunge" forward so he is still mastering his balance. Christopher has really mastered the walker. He can go every which way...front, back, sideways. He almost pulled a wine bottle off the rack the other day. That would have been a HUGE mess but luckily I stopped him just in the nick of time. All the wine bottles and glasses are now out of his his little reach....at least for now. I really need to baby proof the downstairs ASAP since before long they will be spending more time downstairs. They are both babbling up a storm and have really started to develop their own little vocabulary. They both say something that sounds like "Eddy". Christopher and Nathan apparently are very clear on what this means. Will and I look at each other and just shrug our shoulders. I guess this will be one of the many secrets between the dynamic duo. Maybe they will let us in on the secret as they get a little older.
They also have both discovered the loud toddler ear piercing scream. I was hoping they might skip that but no luck. They both are laughing all the time. I really think there is nothing better than hearing a little baby giggle...it just makes my heart swell with love, joy, and pride.

Teeth report: Christopher has his 8 teeth and Nathan is now up to 6 teeth! We are really enjoying the toothy grins. Both boys have really taken to our twice daily teeth brushing sessions. They let us do it first and then they will take over and start attempting to brush their teeth. I am just amazed at this. Who would have thought a 10 month old would figure out how to use a toothbrush!!

Another new trick! Christopher has discovered how to shake his head back and forth as if he is saying no. The good news is that he is not saying no, at least for now. He just starts laughing and shakes his head back and forth. Now we can tell him to show us how to "rattle his brains" and he will start doing it and laugh hysterically. Nathan has now also learned this new trick. They both love to do this during meal times since it makes it quite a challenge to hit the target when feeding them. Nathan has figured out this is one of the best ways to make his brother laugh. :-)

Peek-A-BOO!! They are both playing peek-a-boo with each other with anything possible. Walls, boxes, toys...you name it. They just giggle like crazy and just seem to have a great time.

We have officially had our first extended time away from the boys. I had to go to Boston for a conference so Will came with me and the boys stayed home with Valerie. I was gone for 5 days and Will was only gone over the weekend. My heart broke into a million pieces when we left for the airport. I honestly didn't know how I was going to make it 5 days without holding my sweet little boys, but somehow we all survived. The boys had a great time with Valerie and then with Daddy while I was gone. I am hoping this is the last time I will have any extended time away from them for quite some time.

We continue to enjoy the red wagon which was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa during their visit over the 4th. The boys are having a great time tossing the bottles out and watching them roll to the curb. We have almost lost one bottle but we set off for a search and rescue mission and eventually found the discarded bottle laying on the side of the street. The boys are also HUGE fans of the little "spacerocket" shopping carts at Wholefoods and Publix. They are recognized as regulars at wholefoods. They also have been enjoying the attention at CostCo during our much more expensive trips to get Diapers and Formula. Will and I just laugh when we talk about the days of our bimonthly trips to CostCo when the bill was maybe around a $100. Those days are over!! We figure we should try to buy stock in CostCo as these boys grow and eat us out of the house. We wouldn't want it any other way. :-)

I guess that is it for now. We have about 5 weeks until the dynamic duo will turn 1 year old!!! I just can't believe it. This time last year I was laying in bed 24 hours a day and praying these little ones would just stay in until at least 35 weeks. Every morning we get up and the first thing I do is say a little prayer thanking God for all the blessing he has given us. I then just stare at amazement at how much they seem to have grown just over night. They are so excited by all the new discoveries each day.

To all our faithful readers...I hope all is going well. Enjoy the rest of the summer...it is going by so fast!!
Love
Robin, Will, Christopher, and Nathan