Finally An UPDATE!

Hi there friends and family who have been patiently waiting for an update for about...oh, 5 months. Needless to say, life remains as crazy and busy as ever. And Walk-man is SO BIG! We celebrated his 1st birthday on Sept. 24!! How has it been a whole year? It's been a wonderful year for us, and we continue to revel in every sweet moment we enjoy as parents. He just had his 1 year appointment and is almost 20 lbs and 30 in. His weight and height are very average, but his head size remains a whopping 75%...ha ha! I'm posting several different updates in the following postings so I can share lots of lots of photos from the last 5 months. It will be an exciting reminder to us of how much Walker has grown and changed since the summer began. So...here goes!

First, here are a couple of our favorite things that Walker is doing now:
1. TALKING -- saying words like dog, ball, duck, frog, bird, flower, stop, sun...and others (although he calls most animals "dog"). Notice that "mama" isn't in there yet. He does say "dada" but has only said "mama" two or three times.
2. Singing...okay, so he's always been a singer. But I love hearing him hum along to "Jesus Loves Me" or "I love little Walker" (hopefully you know that one) or "ABC's".
3. Getting excited to see certain people...family and friends that he loves so dearly. It's adorable to see him get so excited to see the grandparents, for sure.
4. Looking at books...he has always loved his books, but now they are one of his favorite activities of the day.
5. Chasing the dogs...whether it's Livy, Mei-mei or Belle, he likes to chase 'em! He likes to walk around with his push cart thing and he literally rams it into Belle...she's not quite fast enough to get out of his way.

Here's the little man @ 8 months.

He always so proud when he rides his frog or elephant. He makes sure you are watching!

Getting harder to photograph every month...but still adorable and fun!
Here's the missing 10 month photo.

So, not sure where the 10 month photo is, but I know I took it (I even remember the outfit, of course). Must be on a different camera? Here's 11 months. And 12 months is coming soon.

My friend Bailey is getting married next month! I've known Bail since the 7th grade. This was her shower over the summer. On the right is my friend Laura (from college).

Here's Matt's first Father's Day! He got a sweet rod and reel for his fishing trips with Kyle.

Walk-man loved his first watermelon...and made a lovely mess.

How cute is he riding in his wagon at my parents' house?

Love those chubby thighs...and his naps with Papa John.

And you know life is good when you fall alseep WHILE eating...this is midway through bites of carrots.

Walk-man with cousins Kenzi and Sydney.

Just thought this was a cute pic of us from back in July.

Are those not the cutest feet? I just want to bite them!

Okay, so we are working on proper table manners, but we couldn't help laughing at Walker putting his feet up "at the table" (or the high chair if you are an infant). I told him his Granddaddy would not approve.

Not surprisingly, Walker loves the beach. He loves the water, the sand, the openness and being able to crawl (or walk) around. I had to stop him from eating too much sand.

He is so close to walking on a consistent basis! YAY! He has taken lots of steps and does it every day, but he doesn't consistently walk on his own all the time yet. I know it's close, though!

Brushing his teeth came naturally to him. I think it's because he loves to watch us brush our teeth. We're trying to make sure the toothpaste isn't a "main food group" as our pediatrician puts it.

Not sure why, but Walker loves to spit! It is hilarious. Luckily, it's only randomly (and not all the time).