Do you still have to solute me?

Today it's official! Daniel is officially Lieutenant Spies! This is an amazing picture that the AV dude for the school put together. Bottom right, Isaiah and I... obviously. Bottom left, Daniel taking the oath of office again. He will do this each time he is promoted. In the middle you can see Captain Banaji and I putting on his new rank. We changed the shoulder boards on his uniform, which is a little easier and far less painful that putting on the ranks that are pined on. :-)

On Tuesday, June 10, we'll have his 'wetting down' (usually a time when the new officer would get duked to dirty up his new rank) at the pizza buffet near our house with his ward room - the other officers that he works with. Yes, I know, we're very fancy.

Isaiah was perfect his morning but as the day wore on, he got more and more fussy. It took me until tonight at about 6 to figure out why. To be at Dan's thing, he got up at 5 am, about 3 hours before he usually would. No amount of napping can erase that. So now he's in bed, fast asleep, and tomorrow is another day.

And now he claps.

If you've known me for any length of time, you know that I have a habit of clapping (some would say, like a seal) at arbitrary times throughout the day. So... Isaiah has grown up watching this. This weekend he finally gained enough coordination to do it himself. Very cute!! Especially cute when he does it when I come home from Jackson.

He's also getting better about waving, both with a floppy armed wave and with the little hand wave.

He's also walking around while holding onto the couch. He crawls. He sits. He lays on the floor, then sits. It's all very complicated and super cute. He doesn't go far yet, so it's easy enough to pen him in, but it wont be long now. And, because he can get a few places, if you're holding him and he wants to go somewhere or get something, he gets quite frustrated. I guess now is the time when he gets to learn that you don't always get when you want it.

We're having a few friends over tomorrow for brauts and potato salad. It's a nice day off.

What did you do to him while I was gone??

Twice a month I travel to Brandon, MS, about 3 hours away. I go up on Saturday night, preach on Sunday and head back after church. I'm usually gone for about 24 hours. Isaiah and Dan run around without socks on, they sleep in late and go out to dinner with the guys. It's all very exciting.

This week, when I got back, Isaiah had figured out how to push himself into a seated position and to pull himself up to a stand. He's been "walking" by holding our hands, but this was new. By the end of the weekend he had pulled himself up on his little saucer, played with one toy, took a couple of steps to the right, played with another you... you get the picture.

I should go now. He's trying to push himself up into the couch and is getting rather frustrated. The finer points of locomotion are still coming.

The Frozen Tundra

We just got back from Minnesota. Isaiah had a great trip! We all did! We went to see Dan's folks, Ron and Linda. We also took the opportunity to say hello again to a few friends in River Falls. It was SO busy, I wish we had a little more time.

We got in on Thursday, spent lunch with Grandparents and the late afternoon in River Falls.

Friday was a SUPER FUN day. We went to the Como Zoo (a small, free zoo in Minneapolis) with Grandparents, the 3 of us, Melody and Hope, Andrea and Wyatt, and Elise and Hanna. Needless to say, it's an interesting experience walking through a zoo with 11 people! It was so fun. After the zoo we went to Panera for lunch. Here is a photo of all the mom's and their little ones. Very cool and a true blessing for me, so far away from "home" to have a day with the mommies I've know before we were all mommies.

Saturday was a Spies family day. A number of Dan's Aunts and Uncles, and a few cousins came over. It was a great evening. We even snuck in our first movie in 8 months. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching Za. :-)

Mother's day was wonderful. Another quick trip to River Falls to introduce Isaiah to his sister Makenzie. They share a birthday and a piece of our hearts.

Monday was nice a quiet. Isaiah got a tour through Ron's office. The proudest Grandpapa you've ever seen!! Do you think they'll all look alike? Isaiah was trying out Grandpa's chair too.
Then, off to the airport after lunch.

Today Isaiah is going through withdrawals. He only has 2 adoring fans rather than 4. He also had a little fever at the end of the day and was super fussy... we're hoping it's either teeth or travel and that tomorrow he'll be back to his sunny self.