Sacked out with his "woobie." He's been carrying this gray piece of foam matt around for about a week now. I'm not sure what the attraction is, but he plays with it all day, then tries to take it to bed with him at night.

Moving the chair.

Then moving it back again. What a busy day.

He loves this rocking horse now. I need to find his cowboy hat.

Ryker was distraut that Tigger was hanging from the cupboard.

He tried to get him down....

But was soon distracted by the paper towel holder. Paper towels no longer hang there. I decided after about the sixth time of rolling them back up, that it would be much easier just to move them. I don't learn nearly as quickly as Ryker.

" Big Gulps."

Who knew our couch was convertible?!

About a month ago, I turned our couch into a jungle gym. Ryker goes nuts crawling up and down it.

This is his favorite spot to stop and rest. He often takes a book up there with him and "reads" it. He also likes to drink his milk there.

Moving right along

Yep, still finishing tongue and groove.

Geothermal coils before they went in the ground.

Foundation forms. Notice all the vents. Those had to be removed. Ooops. There will be no vents since we are having a clean crawlspace put in.

Chacon wondering where the foundation for his new dog house is.

Foundation after it has been stripped.

Geothermal heating coils. Two down, two to go.

Our back porch will be where the columns are.

Geothermal Trenches. 3 feet wide, with 3 feet between each, 80 feet long, 5 feet deep.

View from the back window of our existing house.

Busy Saturday

Cosmos, Abby, me, Chacon, Ryker after the Doggone Walkathon.

Ryker flossing for the first time. I helped him out, then he practiced a little on his own.

He sits and looks at books by himself now. He'll talk while he's doing it. He has a favorite perch on the couch to do his "reading."

Ryker got up early in the morning and decided to move his rocking chair over to the counter so he could reach stuff. Great, the last place I could keep things. Now I have to childproof my countertops too.

Chacon, Audrey, Cosmos, and Abby. Audrey was nice enough to take Cosmos for the walk, so I didn't look like the crazy lady with a stroller and TWO dogs. Thanks Audrey!

Where is that phone....again?

Picking stain colors is so hard. Even Ryker can't decide.

Eventually he gave up and put them away in the Recycle can lid. It pretty much lives on the floor now, because every time I put it back on, he takes it off. I've given up.

Soon I found out he was hiding stuff in it too. I looked all over for the remote one day. I finally gave up because I assumed he had put it somewhere and it would show up eventually. Well it did, along with a bunch of other stuff. He puts things in the lid and then closes it.

Here's today's stash. Lego car, phone, stained wood sample, raspberry teether....you know, everything you'd expect to find in the recycle bin lid.

He takes stuff out and puts it back for hours, opening and closing the lid. Oh what fun!

Goofball!

Two Wheelin'

I'm calling it. Ryker is officially walking now. About 3 weeks ago he surprised me by taking 3 or 4 steps between 2 objects. I couldn't believe it. I don't even think he knew what he had done. I had pictured his first steps with him reaching and stretching from one object to another, but he just went for it. I was so excited. I thought this was it. He was going to be walking soon. Then pretty much nothing for 3 weeks. Just the same old walking hanging on to things and pushing things. Then last Wednesday, I was doing dishes and I heard him coming up behind me. It sounded like he was walking. I turned around and there he was with a big old grin, standing behind me. I knelt down and he continued to me. Of course then I tested him to be sure it wasn't a fluke. He walked from the couch to me about 5 times. Every since then, he's been walking. He's not good and not fast, but he definitely walks as of August 12th.

Sometimes he walks AND shakes his maraca. This kid has skills.

Who knew we had hot chocolate? Thanks for emptying that cupboard Ryker.

Whooooaaa. Sometimes you have to concentrate on your feet.

And sometimes, you just have to go for it.

And sometimes you need to celebrate your new found skills with a little music!

Construction Underway

The foundation started last week and I couldn't be happier. I have been working my butt off for months, but there was no physical evidence of it. Finally, we are underway. So far, so good.

Ryker trying out the big rig.

Steering wheels are SO FUN!