It’s been a long time since last I updated you. Pesky work got in the way with presentations and reviews due and all but that is behind me and I have a few things to share. I’ll work my way back.

This weekend we went up to Sea Ranch for a weekend alone. Granddaddy went to SoCal to play golf with some of the men from The Cutler Group — a loose association of businessmen who convene to do absolutely nothing terribly productive. Walker got to pet wonderful kitty Rosie Nose a lot. Apparently she was so excited to have some folks at home that she wasn’t too scared of small hands hitting her (or pulling on her ear). Daddy got a really cool baby backpack for Valentine’s Day and we thought we’d try it out on a hike to the Gualala Point. Of course, whenever at Sea Ranch, we need to have a HUGE sandwich from the Surf Supermarket and we figured we could take these on our hike for a nice beach picnic. (Walker and Daddy posed for a photo by the Deli counter and they look alarmingly like Luke and Yoda.)

We bundled Walker up and set out on our walk. Flat Frog really wanted to come along for the ride because he figured that he accompanies Walker on stroller rides. Why wouldn’t he come on a backpack hike? Walker appreciated it and chomped on his head for much of the walk. He found it exhilarating to have so much fresh air. He fell asleep. And slept very, very well. He continued to sleep even after Larry removed the backpack and placed it atop the table where we spread out our lunch and had a pleasant picnic.

Walker is enjoying being mobile. He’s rolling around more on the floor and is even starting to get his little knees under himself when he’s on his tummy. He gets quite frustrated when lying on the floor and he’s not moving around. He hasn’t quite realized he has control over his own mobility but I’m not pushing it. I figure once he gets moving, there will be no stopping him (if all the kicking he does is any indication). He’s also eating a lot. I’ve been taking to making him yummy food — tonight I made jars of butternut squash, apple/blueberry, and avocado. He’s eating more fruits and veggies than we are.

Last weekend we went down to El Granada to hang out with our friends Betsy, Jeff, Panna, and Wes. The kids are really great with Walker and think he’s a lot of fun. Betsy and I get along really well and I’m always surprised how similar Betsy and Larry are (which makes me fairly similar to Jeff). Larry and Betsy ended up chatting for quite some time about what was happening on “Lost” and, much to Betsy’s joy, Larry was able to share with her all the geeky plotlines and theories about the show on spoiler websites.

The Warrens took us to a little park by their house. It was an incredible day — clear and warm. Walker was very pleased to have his first ride on a big-boy swing. He was thrilled. He flew through the air (ok, not really by our standards but he’s a small guy and swinging a little bit does make a big impression). Wes is four and he thought it was pretty cool that he had a smaller guy to show the ropes.

Walker is also big enough to enjoy his jumpy chair. It’s the most amazing feat of engineering — a small chair you can put in any doorway that your kid can sit in and jump to his heart’s content. Walker LOVES it. The first time he tried it, he requested he wear his space jammies just in case he jumped so high that he left the atmosphere. He managed to keep his feet (mostly) on the floor but he squealed in delight. He took ducky with him and ensured he squealed his delight as he jumped, jumped, jumped. We have taken to jumping in the bathroom doorway while Mommy takes a shower in the morning.

Larry was entertaining Walker one evening while I was waylaid at work. Walker was a tad, shall we say, fussy. (He appears to be teething again — those top teeth are on their way.) They were playing with all Walker’s treasures on the floor and nothing seemed to distract him. So, Daddy started singing “This Old Man” which caught Walker’s attention. Daddy knows a good thing when he experiences it so he continued the song past ten. I’m so proud of him rhyming the following:

“This old man, he played sixteen. He played the drums with Bruce Springsteen” and “This old man, he played nineteen. He went to the polls with Diane Feinstein.” OK. Not perfect but it did the job.

And last, but not least, is a bath story. Walker appears to have an “off” switch. We don’t know where it is or how to use it on demand, but he most certainly has one. A few weeks ago, Walker was having a bath. He was having a wonderful evening, very chipper, engaged, and energetic. At the normal time, we put him in his bath and he played and kicked like normal. He decided to drink some water so turned his head, and keeping his eyes open, drank a few gulps of water. He turns to look at me and blinks a few times to get the water out. He continues to blink a few times but each blink is longer and longer until the eyes stay shut and his little arms begin to float. It was a bit disconcerting until I heard a tiny little baby snore. He just fell asleep in the bath. We woke him up and put the groggy little guy to bed. He did something similar a few days later in his crib at bedtime. One minute he was “on” and then, without warning, “off” he goes. We’re hoping we can figure out the formula as it could come in handy.

It’s 11pm and Walker is having a tough time going back to sleep. Off I go to see if I can flip the “off” switch.