These feet were made for walkin'

What is WITH me and these matching outfits? It's like I've lost my mind...forsaken all principles that I had held so dearly for my first 38 years. But these shirts were a gift. And you know, they're kinda cute. And send the right message. So let's just enjoy it for what it is right now. I won't keep doing it into their teens.


Let's start with the headline: Zach is walking. Yesterday at Dave's office he took three, four, even five steps right into Dave's arms. Zach seemed pretty pleased with himself and Luke was absolutely going out of his skin with excitement. I now realize that it took so long for Zach to walk because he wanted to be able to walk while carrying a ball or something heavy. So there's no experimental tottering for him - he's moving straight to the big tasks.


Here's a funny thing about Zach, and I'm not sure if I can find the right way to say it, but...I'm starting to really like him. I mean, it's not just maternal devotion at this point. He has a little personality and it is beginning to be a lot of fun to interact with him. Here's an example: He loves being in the bath when the faucet is running because he likes playing with the stream of water. Sometimes when he's super-dirty I'll fill the bath, then let it drain a little so some of the dirty water runs out, and then I'll turn the faucet back on to refill. Zach is hip to my little strategy, so he tries to con me into turning the faucet back on. He'll pull out the drain stopper, let a little water run out, then put the stopper back in, then look back up at me with a grin, as if to say, "So are you gonna run the water again or what?" Last night we must have done eight or nine rounds of this, and every time I turned the faucet back on he did a little sitting-down victory dance of glee in the tub.

Luke is swept up in hero worship of his big-kid friend Sean. We had a chance to see Sean a few nights ago at a picnic at the big kids' school and Sean (who is just a sweet, funny, all around great kid) took Luke under his wing and had him running all over the playing fields, doing big-kid things. Prior to that, Luke had been clinging to my shirt throughout most of the evening, but once he worked his way into Sean's orbit he wasn't even looking for me. Perhaps a sign of days to come. Sigh.

Slice of life from the hair salon where Luke got his hair cut yesterday:

Luke to hairdresser Linda: "Do you drive a Nissan?"
Linda (gasps): "Yes...how did you know?"
Luke points to the keys on her beltloop and apparently one car key has a tiny Nissan logo on it. Linda starts laughing and laughing. Sandra, the hairdresser next to her, pulls out her keychain.
Sandra: "What kind of car do I drive?"
Luke: "Mercedes!"
More laughter. Sandra and Linda call over to the hairdresser next to them to pull out her keys.
Teresa: "OK, what kind of car do I have?"
I am thinking, Luke is never going to get this one.
Luke: "Infiniti!"
By this time everyone in the salon is gasping and murmuring. I think we're going to have to take this show on the road.

I'm going to add one more little picture in here; this one of Dave, who has been working himself to the bone day after day and night after night. I call this the "JFK" shot because it reminds me of a certain Oval Office picture. He's been gone a lot - working, to keep us afloat - but now he's home, and when he's home, the house just hums with happiness.

Last night, to welcome the beginning of summer, we made pizza on the grill outside (Swiss chard and pepperoni, of course). Luke had his chef's apron on and was in an absolute frenzy taking orders and preparing the pizza toppings. The pizza was beautiful, all four of us were home for dinner together, Zach was cracking himself up over something, and there was a nice cool breeze on the back patio. Today we got soaked and covered in sand at the beach. In other words, it's a perfect weekend so far. Let the summer begin.