::walkin' boy::

So I have a ton of stuff to post about, namely:
Sandy's early walking
Swimming in Phoenix
Slight living room remodel
Max baptism and family visit
Disneyland

Holy cow, that's a lot! But I'm going to do it (hmmm, we'll see I guess.)

So without delay I am going to post a bunch of pictures I took of some of Sandy's early walking. I was waiting to edit these photos, but I'm just biting the bullet and posting them as they are so that they get posted. They're too cute to leave behind.

It took him forever to even think that walking was worth trying, and when he finally started he was pretty good at it. He started with his little push toy. When he got really interested in that I knew he was close.

And it was just SO so SO cute. And I was afraid every second that he was going to fall and smoosh all his teeth on the bricks. He was so unsteady at first! But he's pretty great at it now.

Anyway, on to the photos. Lots and lots of photos.

Monkey shoes help anybody learn to walk.


This was me trying to catch Sand as he walked/fell towards me and take a picture at the same time. He was walking between Max and I and having a blast.

A few days later here he is on Valentine's day looking very Bigfoot-esque.



It's hard work with that tongue sticking out.

This one cracks me up.



He's going for the good stuff cabinet.


He obviously knows he did an excellent job.

And finally, here are a few shots from Max's birthday. Max was playing with his new car tracks and it was very fascinating to the baby.



He really just doesn't look that well balanced, does he? It's a crack up.

The little hands in the air is my favorite.

Concentration.

What a little doll-baby. We're so proud of his walking, although it does make him much less happy to just sit in my lap during church, darn it! Now of course he just wants to walk around and peek and flirt with everybody. Little stinker.

::::

One of the little boy's favorite spots is at the table. Well, until he's DONE with it that is. Then he pushes himself away and pulls at his straps, hoping somebody will just get him out already!

But this point of this post is actually to show you his cute little fuzzy ducktail.

I'm going to have to cut it off this week because it keeps getting sticky and tangled and disgusting. But it's just so cute. Just like the little guy himself.

::climber::

My little guy could turn into a bit of a scary climber.

He's always trying to climb up on the couch, and anything else that seems accessible.

I'm probably exaggerating a bit though. He's not like some kids, truly climbing on everything. Sandy's so easy going you really don't have to worry too much about him. He's mellow and measured. So the climbing is happening, but not at too extreme of a level.

But when he gets up on something he's SUPER psyched. Like the couch. He bounces and chortles and looks like he's going to pitch off straight backwards.

And yes, he got too enraptured by Sesame Street and fell off the box at some point. Before that though, when I tried to push him bottom onto the box more he looked at me like I was SO RUDE.

Babies are ridiculous.

::more st george pt 1::

Here's some more fun from our St George weekend.

First, a photo of Sandy on the way there. He's such a good sport. He and Max (and Sultan) all do a great job in the car. And poor Sandy has nothing to entertain him really, except the mirror and whatever toys I think to hand him. At least Max has movies and books and stuff.
Anyway, he's a great little guy.


One of the beloved things about staying in St. George is the pool. And the fact that it's usually warm enough for swimming to be tolerable. Sadly, the day we took Sandy to the pool it seemed way colder than usual, so he had to get into the hot tub, which was also cooler than usual. Still too hot for him to stay in for long. Too bad because he was having a blast.

He was splashing and giggling and getting very startled when he accidentally splashed himself right in the face.

He's not a serious as he looks.

But the bigger kids, of course, got to have the best time. They don't have to quit and go home for nap because the pool is too warm/cold. They play and play and play.
Here's Max and Parker comparing heights. We're not exactly sure how Max is suddenly a head taller.



These guys basically have WAY too much fun together.
And KC looks on, as usual. I'm sure he'll get over there and start pinching somebody at any minute.

And some launching:


What else are dads good for really?

In other news, we got to eat at In & Out Burger and Cafe Rio. We went to a movie with all six of the kids and survived. We put them all to bed every night and they stayed and there was actually some grownup time had. It was rather amazing--probably a blessing that we all needed!

More to follow--the drive home has some rather interesting events worth reporting!

::skills::

Some people have math skills, some people have nun-chucks skills, some people have dentistry skills. Some people have eating and forking skills. The latter would be our Sandy.
And you want proof?
Here's a video. He actually gets a banana on his fork completely on his own, and eats it! Am I just a biased mom thinking he's brilliant, or is it impressive for a barely one year old to use a fork functionally (albeit one time out of 100)?
Enjoy:

::and even more::

We were at the park the other day with some friends, and we were chatting and sitting in the "grass" (meaning dirt, wood chips and sharp splinters and cactus spikes).
Here's how the little man was sitting.


Hah!!
Cute little crossed ankles.

::more on sand::

Just a little more evidence of how tidy my little Sand is. I really hadn't noticed it until after the birthday cake.

Any moms out there ever given their kids these gross things?

(Can you see his worried look? He's afraid that I'm not going to actually give him the food, but just take pictures all night.)

These things are gross. I usually don't buy these types of things because they are expensive and he eats them so darn fast. But I was at Target today and feeling generous--or just overwhelmed by all the merchandise--and I got this tub. I was actually thinking it was the cheetos type things. Anyway, I got home and got them out and realized they were the gross huge wagon wheels.
Sandy didn't care though, he was ready for them.

"Give me the DARN FOOD!!"

I got these things for Max one time and that was the last. He made such a soggy slobbery slimy mess out of them. So I was rather dreading it tonight.

Here's Sandy post first wagon wheel.

Looks perfectly clean to me really. A little on the bib, but nothing else.

And 2nd wheel:




And there he is with the leftovers--at some point he decided the wheel was kind of gross on his own. He thought real dinner sounded better.

Anyway, such a funny boy. And the differences and similarities between the two brothers is hilarious to me.

::sandy's birthday part 2::

A little more Sandy for you.

At the end of the day we got to have cake and a few more presents.

Sandy loved his little space shuttle--way more than I thought he would really.


I like to see him concentrating so hard. Max of course wanted to play with it too. He did a pretty good job controlling himself--Max did. He tried to let Sand get all the attention. It didn't always work but he tried.


The crazy candle on the cake came from a lady at work. When you light the candle in the middle, it opens and lights up like a sparkler and plays the happy birthday song. Plays the song forever and ever and ever until someone (Max) reads the instructions and cuts one of the cords.

To end this post about such a lovely and joyous day, we have a cake devouring series.
Sandy was very careful and neat with his cake. He tried to eat most of it with his fork.
It was adorable and took about 40 minutes. It may have been one of the best moments of his little life, considering how much he loves to eat.







Cute, right? Have you ever seen a cleaner baby after eating his first birthday cake?
(You can see that he's in his new high chair with a five point harness. The restaurant high chair just wasn't cutting it anymore and I didn't want to end up with him on his head on the bricks.)
Happy birthday to our sweet Sandy! We're so glad to have him!!