Better Late Than.....

It has been awhile since we updated this blog.  Natalie started it, but with two jobs, two kids, and an adolescent husband, she has enough going on.  I am going to give it shot.  Since we don't have any family for almost 200 miles, my hope is to keep all of you connected to what is happening in "whine" country.

So the last 18 months have been hectic.  Anyone that has made the transition from one child to two knows the deal.  We thought one child was life changing, well the second has shown us the true meaning of change.  I no longer have any sympathy for our friends that only have one child.  I know it is a challenge, but now I think "there are two of you and one of them; advantage adult".  Talk to me when you are home alone with a napper and a non-napper in the same house at the same time.  Not that we would trade it for the world.  Everyday presents an opportunity for me to hone my mediation and negotiation skills.

What to say about Walt?  To say the least Walter has been an active baby.  His favorite game is "What To Fall Off Of", or what I like to call "WTF" for short.  He started climbing before he could walk.

Here he is climbing his changing table.







I questioned the wisdom of taking this photo before rescuing the baby from himself, but I was told that no one would have believed her without photographic evidence.

If nothing else, we were put on notice this day that Walter had entered that phase that all babies go through;  mobile enough that that they can't be left alone even for a moment, but still lacking even the most basic self preservation instincts.

Here he is in the fridge....

and going up the slide....

and climbing on the dishwasher.



The most dramatic climbing photos have been omitted for fear that some liberal child advocate would turn us in for child endangerment simply because our child began training to summit Everest at age 6 months. You know who you are.  (tangent stopped short for Natalie's sake)




Campbell has flourished at Grandma Chris' preschool.  She has expanded her network of friends, although Gracie remains her bestie.  She is beginning to read sight words and has eclipsed the kindergarten standard of counting to 100.

She has developed her own sense of style and routinely dresses herself for the day.

She has embraced her role as Big Sister.  She is always willing to pitch in and help Walter achieve his objectives.

It really is amazing to see the way they interact.  Just in the last few months Walter has moved beyond self awareness and has started to take an interest in what Campbell is doing.  So far, they seem to be bonding pretty well.  However Walter still lacks the self control that is required to be a good playmate;  his chosen method to express displeasure is hair pulling.

Campbell has remained the consummate professional sibling and tattled instead of retaliating in kind.  It remains to be seen what happens when she views him as a physical equal  instead of a "baby".

To be continued....