Evie can WALK!

So we just returned from a two week vacation in Utah, where we had LOTS of fun.  But I think Evie had the most fun, because while we were there, she took her first steps.   That's right folks, 8  1/2 months and our Miss E is walking.  Gary says she was motivated by his beer.  Which doesn't surprise me, because she's our kid.  She likes to mouth the beer bottles, it must feel good on her gums.  Gary was holding his beer, and she let go of the table she was holding on to and took 4 steps over to him. Grandma Carole, Gary and I were all there to witness it!  I thought it was a fluke, but since then she's been getting more and more brave, taking more and more steps.  And when Grandma Susan saw it, she's declared it a walk.  So it's official!  Evie can walk!  She usually takes a few steps before sitting down and crawling towards her destination.  (For now...i know how quickly this will change, and she'll never crawl again..sniff sniff!) And she is into EVERYTHING! But most importantly, she is SO DARN HAPPY!  She even claps for herself all the time.  (Mostly I think that she's just excited about knowing how to clap, so she does it all the time.  So darn cute!)  And the other latest and greatest Evie accomplishment is a new noise...da da da da!  And of course, the high pitched, 'i'm SOOOO  excited' Evie scream.  Oh and one last thing...she can say 'uh oh' when she drops something.  It doesn't sound exactly like that but she's doing it!  She will intentionally drop something and say 'ah ah'.  She's getting it!  I can't stop her!  She is changing too fast!

All this Evie growing up on us stuff is pretty exciting for Marea, because she now has a playmate.  Evie isn't the perfect playmate yet, because she likes to get into or destroy whatever Marea is doing, but Marea is enjoying her bigger little sister.  The hardest part is making sure Marea knows her limits when interacting with Marea.  She tends to be a little bit too much still.  But it's all starting to come together, and my girls are developing their own little relationship.  Just like everything else i've experienced on this parenting journey...This is going to be Good.  

Speaking of relationships-It was so great to watch Marea and her Grandma Carole out in Utah.  Marea is particularly fond of her, and just enjoys following her around, discussing whatever is going on in nature out there, and having Grandma prepare her snacks or meals.  They seem to have great conversations.  What a beautiful thing.

Other Utah fun....having Jackie and Emily out! It's so funny when the girls all get together and do their 'run in circles and scream and giggle' thing.  It's not a designated activity, and they arn't really interacting, but they are excited to be together and they love it.  Pretty soon it will get one high pitched girly scream louder.  It was so nice to see Jackie and Emily get as excited about the outdoors and nature as Marea does.  They got into watching the wildlife, hiking up to dancing rock, and playing at the sand dunes.  We also had fun at the indoor water park, the community pool, and Gary built them an awesome fort that they just loved.  It's always a little more hectic with additional kids in the mix, but they have so much fun together.  

Marea shocked us by enjoying a great BIG waterslide at the indoor water park!  The first time I took her on it we were both giggling the whole way down.  And then at the end, I forgot to hold her up so she wouldn't go under...but she didn't mind too much, and was game to go again and again.