Howie is Walking!!!

We can't believe it, folks- Howie is walking! It is the most amazing thing!! He came home from his vacation at my parents' house walking like a champ!! This has completely changed our lives, as you can well imagine... suddenly nothing is safe in our house! We used to not worry about piles of stuff sitting around or basement doors being left open since Howie was relatively immobile, but now he's walking, so we've had to pick up piles lest he slip on them or wreak havoc on them. So this is actually a good thing. It's so heartwarming to see him on the move. It seems like overnight he's transitioned into a toddler, and I'm so happy for him. He's loving life in the fast lane. And he's so easy to entertain now!! Just set him loose and let him entertain himself. We're definitely having to keep an eye on him- the other day I saw him casually carrying my cell phone around with him. I have no idea where he found it, but I know that we are not those parents who are getting their 3 year old a cell phone, so that is one toy I made him ditch. We're so happy for him and so thankful to the Lord for this huge development! He's still having frequent falls, so expect to see him looking a little banged up for the next few weeks.

In other news, Howie has had the privilege of hosting his cousin John over the past few days! My sister Emily and little John stayed with us for a couple of days, and it was such a funny thing to watch the two boys interact. They did their fair share of poking and following each other around and taking toys from each other, etc. John is also walking, so there were several times when Emily and I both held our breath as the boys walked around, weaving like drunk people (they're still quite wobbly). You get the point. Today Em and I took the boys to Great Clips for hair cuts. Picture us walking in with 2 toddlers- actually, Howie walked himself in with in his Cardinals shirt, diaper, and bright green Crocs. I asked the man behind the counter if they cut such small people's hair, and he asked me, "Do they sit still?" I thought, "Is this a joke?? Do they LOOK like they ever sit still for more than 30 seconds? Does this man have any contact with children??" I probably stretched the truth just a bit and said that they could sit still well enough- after all, they had both gotten haircuts before, so it had happened in the past... we got all ready and he took Howie first. Howie was supposed to stand up in the chair, and he did not like that at all. I think he thought he was at the doctor's office or something, so I held him and the man started cutting. This was obviously a difficult job since Howie kept trying to alternately crane his neck to see what this stranger was doing and also swat at the man's hands to keep the scissors away. I pinned down Howie's hands and tried desperately to interest him in National Geographic, but that was basically in vain. After much struggle and many attempts at distraction, Howie was done. Now it was John's turn. John was also instructed to stand in the chair, and the barber got out the clippers to start on the back of John's hair. John obviously wanted to look at and hold that mysterious thing making the whirring noise, so needless to say, John's haircut started out pretty rocky. John then decided to start jumping up and down in the barber chair, which didn't help matters. Somehow the barber managed to finish cutting, which was nothing short of a miracle. Em and I left, both amazed that somehow we had loaded everything into the car and accomplished our goal of getting haircuts for the boys. We got dinner at Pei Wei, which is this really yummy Chinese place- that was also a circus, but lots of fun. I'll summarize that by saying that Howie had such a great time that he walked out with 3 pieces of rice on his leg, a sesame seed on his forehead, and some more rice in his shoe to be found later. We had a wonderful time together- the fun to be had with a cousin!!