working with it

Ill be writing a post about Alikah's birthday vacation once I have more time!

The treadmill we got off Craigslist works great except for the fact that the display screen doesnt work. (It just says 0 for everything for a few minutes then shuts off.) Which sucks big time because I like keeping track of miles/speed/calories I always did when I went to the gym. I looked online and we did both things they suggested: changed the batteries and check some wires. Neither worked.

So Ive just been figuring it out myself. The speeds are 1-10 mph. Its a turn nob (youll see in the picture) so I figure 5mph is in the middle. When I went to the gym I would walk for 5-10 minutes around 3.4, then run at 6-9 depending on how I was feeling.

Anyway. I time how long I walk - gotta work my way back into running! - and then I use Google to figure out the miles and calories and plug it all into RunKeeper which I have used for years.

These are my last 3. The first one I was just walking while watching SVU haha. 

2nd one proved that yeah, this is gonna have to be a when-Spencer-is-home thing!

The control freak in me really hates that the treadmill wont just do all this shit for me so I know *for sure* but Im just gonna have to get over it....maybe eventually I can buy one of those watches or arm bands who knows! 

first steps

Harper has been so close to walking for awhile. We had thought he would be walking by his 1st birthday...then by his birthday party...and now we are going to guess the end of July ;)

When hes alone, he will randomly stand up. If you watch him you can see on his face how hard he is concentrating. He looks down at his feet and thinks about what he has to do.
The times I have caught him doing it he usually takes 2-4 steps then squats. Sometimes hell stand back up, but most of the time he just crawls away. His official "first steps" were on July 15th.

If we acknowledge it - "Harpers walking! Ya Harper! Good job! Come here!" - he gets really shy, goes ahhhhh, and sits down. Or he'll hold his hands out and wave them around talking trying to get us to just come closer so he can grab on to us.

He can effortlessly walk all over, as long as there is something to hold on to. 
He just needs to work up the courage to let go.

Although he hasn't mastered walking, I need to apologize to him for all the times I have said, "He thinks he can swim, but he cant!"
He pretty much can.

He walked around in that tube for hours. He was so happy. 

He would have swam across the entire lake if we let him. 

Even when he lost his grip and fell through the hole, he would get back up. All by himself. It was pretty amazing to watch. 

Near the end we put a life vest on him and let him go deeper (where his feet couldnt touch) and he did no problem. We would try to hold onto him or help and hed just kick away like, "You guys, I got this!"