Thursday, July 16 - Already walking!

We've gone for a few walks now, and I think it's safe to say that Ezekiel feels the same way about his stroller as he does about his car seat: he hates it at first (usually lots of crying is involved), but then seems to get used to it and ends up being okay during the trip.  TongJie has been enjoying being outside and riding his bike and stuff; we all really missed that when we were in China.

In the stroller for the first time - this is after Ezekiel had calmed down :)

TongJie on his balance bike

All of us on our first walk together, photo taken by Lisa Stroming as we were walking by their house

We also set up our slack line in our backyard the other day, which is another way for TongJie (and me and Jeff) to get some exercise and work on balance and coordination.  It was a Christmas present from my parents and is really fun!

TongJie walking on the slack line (he used to call it the "snack line," but now he says it the right way)

Ezekiel is wearing the little shoes that TongJie used to wear.  I thought they might be too small for Ezekiel, since he's quite a bit bigger than TongJie was, but apparently his feet are not as big as the rest of him.  If the shoe fits . . .

Ezekiel wearing the shoes - his little legs are a bit chubbier than TongJie's were

This is a photo I found of TongJie wearing the same shoes when we very first bought them.  They looked a little newer back then.  They've gotten some good use I'd say.

The big news from the last couple of days is that Ezekiel is walking now, all of a sudden!  It's kind of weird, like it just clicked for him and suddenly he knew he could walk on his own.  With TongJie, it was like a couple steps at a time between me and Jeff, and with a lot of coaxing he slowly worked up to being able to walk more than two or three steps.  With Ezekiel, I think developmentally he was more ready to walk, but the reason he wasn't trying much was because of his low vision.  Once he got the layout of our house figured out, he got brave enough to walk where he wants to go.  The only place he's walked so far without holding onto someone's hand is in our living room and kitchen.  I'm trying to post a video, so hopefully it will work.

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Speaking of videos, I'm going to try to post one more because it cracks me up every time I watch it.  TongJie got out his collection of musical instruments this evening and put some bells around his ankles and then proceeded to gather up all the jingly instruments he could hold in his hands and was doing a very loud and silly dance.  The funniest part is how Ezekiel is just sitting in the background looking so serious and confused.  He wasn't really scared or anything, it's just funny how he looks in the video.

Finally, a picture of both boys this evening sitting on the kitchen floor, each with a light-up baby toy that plays music.  They were each holding the toy up to their ear to hear the music, and it sort of looked like they were trying to talk to each other on the phone.