A Perfect Day

(subtitled: Look out world!)

What a perfect, amazing, incredible day!  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at one of our favorite Crested Butte restaurants, met some puppies on the street (Xander insisted, with his ever increasing vocabulary), chatted up some of the locals (with Xander charming everyone) and got some advice on local trail conditions from the Alpineer.  When we got back to the house, Jake and I talked landscaping and painting with neighbors and put together a new gas grill (works great and was a bargain!) while Xander got himself thouroughly dirty playing in the yard.  After a good nap for Xander, we headed out to hike the Elk Creek trail, where we saw an absolute wealth of wildflowers.  We saw glacier lillys and candytuft, lupine and dwarf lupine, corn lilly (known locally as skunk cabbage), bluebells, and a small 5-petaled white flower with 3 pink stripes per petal growing in clumps which we don't yet have a name for.  The water was running high, and there was still snow, so we got a little wet, but we didn't mind at all.  It was lovely!

In the late afternoon, Jake took a run and I got dinner ready.  Then, after dinner, the day just topped itself!

We've been saying for months now, that Xanader is on the brink of walking.... but today he proved that he just needed to do so  in his own time.  He started our his walking career with 10 whole steps on his first try!  There have been hints, but we weren't sure what to expect.  Jake and I were able to watch him together, in utter amazement, jaws down and holding our breaths, trying desperately not to destract him from his triumpant moment and monumental achievement.  When Xander sat down again, we erupted in a loud and spontanteous cheer for our son, our incredible child, who has once again made us the proudest parents on the face of the earth. 

With Xander asking for MORE MORE! we spent the next twenty minutes shuttling him back and forth between the two of us.  Mostly, he walked, but occaisionally he lunged or crawled into our laps, giving us a huge hug each time, and delighting us with his infectious grin.  There is simply no better feeling in the world.