The Seminaras

Week 52 -

WALKING!!! This week Brady went from those 1-2 step lunges to a real first couple of steps. What a big milestone for our little guy! He now takes those few teetering wobbly steps toward you, sometimes walking more sideways than straight. He assumes you will catch him if he falls so you really have to pay attention. While he teeters and wobbles, he walks with his hands up by his shoulders like he's ready to catch himself. So far no major incidents falling forward, he's realized he has padding to fall on if he falls backwards (diaper). And now that he knows he can walk, he does it ALL over the place ALL the time. If he can walk and not crawl he will. He's gaining confidence and speed and those legs get more stable every day. Today he even chased a ball around trying to kick it. It wasn't the most graceful act but was pretty cute.

This weekend was Brady's first birthday, but not without a trip to the northeast to celebrate Great-Grandma's 90th birthday. Aunt Diane hosted the party along with Cousin Stacey bringing in siblings, relatives, friends, and classmates of Great-Grandmas to the Snowmobile Club for the party. It was a beautiful day and we got to see people we haven't seen or talked to in 20 years. Aunt Rose made a great slideshow of Great-Grandma from all the different chapters of her life. It was very special.

Since we were in Boston, we took Brady to see the Boston Aquarium. He had a great time looking at all the fish, turtles, seals, and jellyfish. Unfortunately due to major renovations the penguin exhibit and shark tank were closed, we'll just have to go back. We also had time to walk to Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall where we picked up a few Red Sox items for Brady and had some awesome Italian cookies and cannolis.

Aside from walking and partying, Brady's personality continues to show. He's a happy talkative baby, and has no fear wrestling kids bigger than him (like his classmate Jackson @ 95th percentile or 5-10 lbs bigger). He will be moving to the toddler room soon, but we're not hurrying it.

While we celebrated major milestones in our families lives this week, we also observed the tragic events of the Boston marathon bombings and the Texas fertilizer plant explosion. Uncle E was WAY too close to the bombings (only a couple blocks away) and the shootout with one suspect and eventual capture of the second suspect (again, only blocks away). Uncle E was in the 20 block lockdown in Watertown MA where we were supposed to stay the first night. Maybe we owe JetBlue the $50 inconvenience credit they gave us for our flight delay!