Henry isn't walking yet

Henry has such strong legs and has been standing for so long that we thought he'd easily break Luke's record of walking at 11 months. He still has a few weeks so he might make it, but he's not walking yet. He does love standing up, and he pulls up on things that are pretty wobbly at times (like grabbing my pants instead of my legs). He also enjoys standing up on unstable surfaces, like mattresses and the couch. On the mattress, Henry makes a game of standing up, letting go with his hands, holding still for a few seconds, and then plopping down on his bottom. He'll do it over and over, having a great time. Walk, Henry, walk!

Fighting their true nature

(subtitle: Emmett is naturally cautious with his body so learning new physical skills can be a challenge. Luke is wary of people until he knows them pretty well. )

Last week David took Emmett to Brighton for his first ski lesson. Emmett had a great time, telling me exactly how many times he went up the lift (5 times with his class, 3 times with dad). His instructor said he has very good speed control, which is the nice way of saying he's so careful that he never goes fast. I'm sure speed will come with confidence, so we're on the right track.

This week we started ice skating lessons at the Olympic Oval. We had gone skating once before, and it took us more than an hour to go around the oval one time. With all three boys, there's no way I can take them skating until Emmett and Luke are able to skate independently so we decided to get lessons.

Emmett did great today - he's not exactly gliding on ice, but he's not afraid anymore and he's willing to shuffle around. We did a little roller skating in the past week and I think that helped his confidence, and maybe a little with skating skills.

Luke's class focused on learning how to get up off the floor in skates, first on the floor and then on the ice. He pretty much won't look at his teacher (and actively looks away if she talks to him), but he did stay near the class most of the time. During the practice time after the lesson, he practiced getting up off the floor with me, and then he did it once on the ice all by himself! That's no easy feat for a little kid - remember what Bambi looked like on the ice and you'll have some idea of what it's like for Luke.

The short-term goals are for Luke to be willing to talk to his teacher (I'll settle for looking at her to start!), and for Emmett to get comfortable enough skating that a family trip to the oval during the public skating times is possible. Here's hoping!

Extra lives

From playing video games, Luke knows all about earning extra lives. Recently he asked me, "How many lives do we get?" I was confused, but after talking with him a bit it was clear that he was talking about real life. I told him we each get one, and that right now he's little and he's going to live a long long time. The next day he mentioned it again, so this is clearly something that's on his mind not just flashing through.

In other "worrying" news, Luke has been noticing fire extinguishers all over the place when we're out and about. And he's also interested in the fire hydrant that is between our house and the neighbor's. He doesn't seem as worried, though. He mostly seems pleased that he's figured out that fire extinguishers are all around.