Hi everyone! Sorry for being MIA but most of you know why. Dad is still in the ICU after his quadruple bypass surgery, but I believe they're going to move him into a regular room later today. He'll still be in the hospital for the rest of the week.

As you can imagine, life's been a little stressful here lately. Dad's sudden surgery in addition to Brad being out of town and his mother just moving to town made for an interesting cocktail of crises. Brad's home now, his mom is getting settled in, and Dad is recovering, so life is returning to somewhat normal.

I have some pictures and vignettes of Lawson's latest antics - I'll try to get them posted later. I just wanted to check in for now.

Lawson had a big day today. We did 2 new things. First, he got to sit in the cart at Wal-Mart like a big boy. Ever since he's been sitting up so well and trying to get mobile, he's getting antsy in his infant seat in the cart. So, today I busted out my cart cover and strapped him in. He loved it! He could see everything so well and he loved the feeling of kicking his legs as they dangled. He smiled at everyone we passed and started laughing at the checkout girl as she talked to him. I guess he was ready.

The next big thing was for him to try drinking from a sippy cup. He's been going after my drink glasses with a vengence here lately and so I figured he was ready for his own cup. I put a little water in one and set him loose. It's a work in progress.... He had a rough start trying to decide what part to put in his mouth and once he got that, he still couldn't get the head tilt down to bring the water to his mouth. After lying down with it, he finally got some water. He liked it a lot, but this will take some time to learn.

The following pictures will help illustrate how to feed your child in such a way as to require a garden hose to clean up after him:

Step 1: Be sure to feed your child bright orange carrots on a night when he's especially tired. He will then proceed to soothe himself by sucking his thumb, regardless of the presence of said carrots.....

Step 2: Be sure to turn your back for a moment, so you have no way to prevent your child from rubbing his very tired eyes with the same fingers he just had in his carrot-filled mouth...

Step 3: Be sure to repeat steps 1 and 2 over and over again until your child is thoroughly coated in pureed carrots. Then, after the carrots have been completely ground into your child's face, rendering his skin a delightfully glowing orange slightly reminiscent of an Oompa Loompa, give up all hope of cleanliness and allow your child to fulfill his weeks-long dream of grabbing his spoon and feeding himself pureed peas.

Step 4: Laugh as hard as you can and prepare the garden hose, as you will need it to remove peas from the back of your child's head and carrots from his eyebrows.

My carefree Mommy days are coming to an end.... Lawson has been getting up on all fours this week. Every day he stays up just a little longer. It's still a very short time that he's up on his knees, but it's a big step. He'll be crawling before too long. He can already roll across the floor to get to what he wants. It's a slow process for him, but he does usually get where he wants to. I'm proud of my athletic little guy, but boy I was hoping he'd wait a little longer for mobility....