We're Walking

I am so far behind. And everyday that goes by I fall further behind and the thought of trying to catch up becomes more of a challenge. So, to sort of catch you back up.....

The in-laws (I don't think they take offense to me calling them this... I actually really love my in-laws and they know it!!)... left after two wonderful weeks. We went to Seoul for two days and the water park, and the DMZ, etc.... I'll try to post another "Best Of" blog with pictures from the end of their trip.

Two days after they left, my mom arrived. We've also been very busy sight seeing (an update on that and pictures also to come, soon).

While my in-laws were here we took them up to the Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul. This is a nice hotel on the Army Post right in the center of Seoul. While we were there we let Caden play at the cool little play ground they have. There were lots of round things that spun so Caden as in heaven and at this point his prefered mode of transportation was crusing and no longer crawling.

It was at that playground that Caden decided to let go and walk all by himself! He had been taking steps alone for a few weeks and we had seen his balance improve greatly, but he would only walk when we stood him up with nothing next to him to hold on to and then lured him to take a few steps. That day he did it all on his own and he hasn't slowed down since. It has been impossible to do anything because he no longer has much interest in his toys... and why should he when there is a whole world out there to explore! His favorite games right now include opening and closing cabinet doors, finding the stroller in the entry foyer, pushing the kitchen chairs around the house, pulling things out of the canvas storage drawers that hold his bottles/sippy cups/etc, and walking laps around the house holding on to a toy/book/spoon/bowl/water bottle/etc. We often lose him.... we turn our eyes away for one second and when we look back he is no where to be found.

I compiled some video footage of his different stages of learning to walk. The first clip is at the playground where he took his first steps (didn't ge the actual first steps on video, but tried to recreate it afterward with lots of cheers and lures), the second clip is about a week later, and the third was a few days ago.