walking on sunshine

huzzah! on sunday, at fourteen and a half months exactly, afton took her first steps.  the video camera came out shortly thereafter, and the following clip is of steps 15-25:

daddy daughter date

a new wheeler family tradition is born.

so while momma went out and enjoyed herself immensely at the relief society broadcast on saturday evening, bryan stayed home and tended to the wee ones.  and though his responsibilities were pretty straightforward and lowkey (as well as specifically typed up and printed out -- c'mon, i'm nothing if not neurotic), he decided to up the ante and took the girls on a little excursion (his first! outside of trips to the park) to the grocery store.  there, the girls picked out a special treat: their very own pez dispensers.  our babes thought these were about the coolest inventions of all time (and they just might be), and summer gave them her utmost seal of approval by taking both to bed with her.

when we're helping

we're happy, and we sing as we go.

and we like to help mother, for we all love her so.

where we live

you're totally jealous, i know.

ready for bed

right before bed, the girls love to pile on

momma and drink their white gold.

(psst: momma loves it, too.)

good night!

a toast!

as a parent, sometimes i'm amazed at the nonsensical string of words that comes out of my mouth as i try to explain the finer points of life to my children.

like:

"summer, when someone cheers's you, you need to clink.

little miss monkey

summer is afraid of heights.

afton, it seems, not so much.

(nope -- still not walking).

do the puyallup

the wheeler's adventures at the puyallup fair:

(to remember summer's caricature, go here.)

national day of service

if i can stop one heart from breaking,

i shall not live in vain;

if i can ease one life the aching,
or cool one pain,

or help one fainting robin

unto his nest again,

i shall not live in vain.

--emily dickinson

above/right: bryan participating in the national day of service with the big rock ward at acres of diamonds, a transitional house for homeless women in duvall.

progress reports

so i know that school has started for most of the older-kid crowd. and though my lovelies are not yet beholden to institutional learning, i still can't shake the spinster teacher out of me. so while summer and afton are a bit far off from toiling over dotting their i's and crossing their t's, here's where they stand on the developmental milestones they have been working on:

summer, potty training: nearly complete

yes, it's been awhile since i've updated on her comings and goings (which i'm sure her sixteen year old self will just *love* that the entire world wide web knows about), but after we got back from our trip to utah, we started potty training anew. she has taken to it quite well with little effort on my part and stays dry 98% of the time (the 2% accounting for nights which we have yet to tackle). she still refuses to, uh, eliminate solid waste in the potty and instead requests a diaper every time she has to go. but hey, that works out just fine for me -- definitely not going to look a gift horse in the mouth here.

afton, walking: not quite

now, i understand that not walking at fourteen months is still well within reason, perhaps even average. but it is my personal belief that afton can walk, she just won't. (bryan and i, we breed 'em stubborn as mules). anyway, she can go up and down stairs faster than summer, she loves to stand, she loves to squat (and in fact, she really loves to stand-squat-stand-squat-stand), she is a master at cruising and climbing and a regular mario andretti maneuvering a walker. but i have never, ever, not once seen her take or even attempt an unassisted step. even still, she can't pretend to be unable to walk forever, and i feel we're getting closer everyday to outing her secret ninja walking skillz.

a sunday psalm

i wish you could hear the beautiful music the girls help
bryan play while waiting for mama to get ready for church.

For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart;
yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me,
and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

Doctrine & Covenants 25:12

oompa loompa

our little baby sure eats like a little lady.