So much going on these days!

1. We have a walker! Carter started taking steps here and there about 2 weeks ago, but in the last couple of days he's really upped his walking. Last night he walked from the guest bath door to the gate at the top of the steps and only held the wall once for a couple of seconds to steady himself! That is about 8 feet! We'll have a full-fledged walker in no time. Perhaps by their birthday!

2. Grayson is on the verge too. He's taken a step here or there, but realizes he can move a lot faster when he is on all fours - and speed is important to Gray! :) Last night while we were all playing in their room, he was smiling really big at Leanne and then took 4 steps to her. he was so proud of himself!!!

3. When we got back from Tennessee, the boys slept horribly. They were up several times a night. They were cranky. They were fussy. Grayson wanted to be held all.the.time. Gray is cutting his molars (as evidenced by him sticking his finger as far into the back of his mouth as they will go) as well as 5 other teeth. Carter's also cutting a bunch of new teeth. So we chalked it up to teething and sleep regression around a milestone birthday. But after several days of little to no sleep (on any of our parts) I decided we should take them to the pediatrician even though no one had a fever, they were generally happy during the day, no one was pulling on their ears, and no one seemed sick. Lo and behold, Grayson has a raging ear infection and was put on antibiotics for the first time. Carter's ears were clear and of course the night after we took them to the doc, he slept through the night. Go figure. :) Gray's on the mend. He's back to his 1-2am wake up call. And we're back to bringing him to bed with us. :( Sometimes he'll transition back to his crib around 4 so we can sleep a bit more comfortably (why does every kid sleep perpendicular in the bed?!?!?!?) sometimes not. Once we have the ears cleared, we'll work on him sleeping in there all night long. Again.

4. I took (and PASSED!!!!) my social work licensure exam last weekend. I was sweating bullets, but I passed and NEVER HAVE TO TAKE IT AGAIN!!!! Whooo hoo.

5. We tried to celebrate my passing with a trip to Mangos (our fav mex place) so I could have a margarita, but it was thwarted by Carter's love of screaming. LOUDLY. He's happy as a clam, but SCREAMS/SHREIKS all the time. Not appropriate restaurant etiquette. So just as the food was served, Leanne had to take him to the van to scream in private. Gray and I finished up, packed up Leanne's food, and headed home.

6. We are getting ready for their birthday party next week! We can hardly believe that they'll be a year old! Time certainly has flown by. We can't wait to see everyone and celebrate!