BLAKE IS WALKING!!

We are home sweet home and there is nothing better. There is so much happening that I don't even know where to start. Forgive me if this post is all over the place because it's 10:30PM right now and I'm tired, but so eager to let you know about life back in Washington!! First of all, many people ask us how Blake has adjusted to being in a new country. The answer is, beautifully. He sleeps and eats well and is doing everything he needs to be doing at age 1 (we think)! He is happy, full of life and into everything as usual. And, the most exciting news is HE IS WALKING!!!!!! About 5 days after his first birthday on February 7th (the day after we got home), Chris and I were sitting on the couch watching TV and all of a sudden Blake just took off with this arms straight out in the air like a mummy. We knew he was close, but it was so funny how he just decided to go one day!! It has been quite humorous watching him walk. He now thinks he is way cool and opens every drawer, tries to take everything off of shelves within his reach and pull the dogs tails (so far so good with the two dogs). The babbling is now turning into more defined babbling so the random "ba, ba, ba" is now "dada" or "do" for dog. He tends to leave off the last consonant. Let's see. We celebrated his first birthday party the night after getting home (actually on his birthday) and we had dinner and cake with close family. Chris and I opened gifts not only for Blake, but ones missed from Christmas. My sister, Melaine printed out our whole entire blog in color and put it into plastic sheet covers and then into a large 3 ring binder (see the picture). It is one of the best gifts we've received as it will be so special to share with Blake when the time is appropriate. Oh, we took Blake to the snow on Snoqualmie Pass on Friday and that was a hoot. Chris' sister Heather and two of her three kids came to visit for a week to see Blake so we took the clan up to the pass to sled. As you can see by the pictures, Blake wasn't too sure about being in the cold sledding, but you have to admit he looked so darn cute dressed in camo two sizes too big for him!!!!!!!!!! Today, Chris, our friends from Malibu and I went down to Pike Place Market in Seattle. We had a blast and had to get pictures of Blake with the famous fish throwers (men in orange). Jody and Nik, our friends, loved Blake and we will spend one more day with them tomorrow before we bid them farewell. Last night, Chris' parents hosted Blake's welcome home party and it was so fun to share Blake with friends and family whom we hadn't seen in ages. We had Mexican (close to Guatemalan) food that was delicious and my sister-in-laws worked hard to decorate the house to look Guatemalan. We even put the Mayan guipiles around the chair backs! It was beautiful and we had fireworks on the dock after dark. Blake did great being passed around the crowd, but of course crashed immediately after returning home. Anyway, enough blabbing, let's post the new pictures!!! We love you all and are SO GLAD to be back in the beautiful Northwest!