I am amazed at the number of life lessons Holden is already learning. Take falling for example. Monkey is getting into everything and can now pull himself up on anything without any help. So naturally, he's going to have some mishaps. Recently, while playing with his cousins, he took a spill and cut open his lip. He, of course was crying, and in a second, I knew how I reacted could make all the difference. So I somehow stayed calm (although I wanted to freak out), comforted him, dabbed up the blood, gave him his woobie and put him right back down on the floor with kids, so he could continue to play. And he did, getting right back into the action! 
It was a great reminder to me we are all going to have falls in life. What is important is that we learn from it and then get right back in the game. I can't wait until I can teach Holden that falling (or failing for us big kids) can potentially be a good thing. It gives us the opportunity to learn something valuable about ourselves and gives us insights into ways to succeed in the future. The amazing thing about infants, no matter how many times they fall, they get right back up again. Faith and determination that I find inspirational!
We spent last weekend in Destin, FL for our friends Jeanine and Joey's wedding. We stayed on a condo right on the beach and had an amazing view! Holden continues to do a good job handling all of our recent travels. I think the kid is more flexible than me. He did much better at the beach this time. We actually sat at the shoreline and let the water tickle our toes. We did a bit of digging in the sand, but he was by far, more interested in people watching. He even let me take him in the water. He's still trying to figure out the waves! At this point, I would say that Holden definitely prefers the pool.
Sunday we went to Jeanine and Joey's wedding on the beach. Holden was having a great time with all the other kids and loved watching everything that was taking place - especially Aunt Jeanine walking down the aisle to the music! At the reception, the Chunk-a-Monk crawled around (when we let him) and even danced with Mommy and Daddy and the kids on the dance floor. It was worth letting him get off his schedule, to see him having such a good time.
He continues to amaze me all the time. His eating improves daily and today he made huge progress with the sippy cup. He is taking steps as he holds our fingers and on his own, holding onto furniture, etc. We have also had success weaning him down further on this oxygen at night. I'm certainly no doctor, but my Mommy perspective is that our little Monkey is growing up and slowly getting healthier day-by-day. I feel like we're being flooded with blessings and for that I am so thankful!
