Howie Welcomes His Dad Home By Name

Howie's First Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

This video was taken on a very important day in our house... Howie's very first peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which was a HUGE hit!! Howie, there are many more where that came from, my friend!! This was also the day where Howie first took significant notice of the train that runs behind our apartment several times each week. It's a good example of how Howie is growing up so much!!

"YUM!! This stuff is GOOD!!"

Labor Day Fun

This was an eventful Labor Day! We spent a lovely morning at the zoo, soaking in the wild animal vibe, until it was just too dang hot and the Labor Day crowds were too big, at which point we headed home. Howie thoroughly enjoyed visiting with his grandparents and Aunt Liz, as did Josh and I! We all had a wonderful time. Vacations always come to a close too fast.

Visit with Nana, Bible Bill, and Aunt Liz

Josh's mom, dad, and sister Liz are in town with us for Labor Day weekend!! We're having a blast!! Here are some pics from today- fun in the sandbox...

Howie vs. Spaghetti: Spaghetti Wins

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!!

Howie Pets A Goat, and Other Things

My new haircut: I'm trying to grow my hair out for the 900 millionth time. It's hard to see in this pic, but it actually does look pretty good for an awkward in-between phase.
Our new jogger stroller, courtesy of our neighbors Jen and Chris! I had wanted one so bad, and this practically rolled onto my doorstep! Add this to our stroller fleet, and hopefully my pathetic fitness will improve.
My herb garden- I'm so proud of my little basil plant taking off!
This is our tomato jungle- Josh and I aren't exactly "master gardeners", as it were, but there are actually some tomatoes growing in that mess.

This has been an eventful few weeks! We went to the St Louis Zoo on Tuesday afternoon and had a wonderful time. It's huge and free, so we plan on going back to catch what we missed- Howie didn't have enough energy to see everything since it was so big. He especially enjoyed petting the goats, seeing different kinds of reptiles and amphibians, and lots of other animals.

I think his clear favorite was the meercat exhibit. He couldn't get enough of the meercats. Not sure why, but he kept leading me back over there.

Howie is currently on vacation with my parents in Illinois, where he's been since Wednesday night. It has been so quiet around here!! Josh and I could barely remember a time when we didn't think about grabbing diapers, a cup and snack, and a change of clothes when going out the door. It's so easy to leave the house when you just have to grab your keys and purse. It has been weird to leave the house to do something at 8:00 PM and not think about a babysitter!! No naptimes to think about, no lunches or dinners for a hungry little person, no food getting smashed into the kitchen floor that was once on a highchair tray- we're back to the days when we can basically do whatever we want to whenever we want. Now that we have so much freedom, we can't wait to get Howie back!