A co-worker of mine has a 3.5 year old girl and a 10 week old boy. She’s coming back to work on Thursday and invited Larry, Walker and me for dinner. I figured we go over and have some pizza (perhaps gourmet pizza knowing her good taste) but we were treated to a FANTASTIC homemade lasagna (with homemade pasta), farm-fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and basil, and the most scrumptious chocolate chip cookies with a dash of kosher salt (it’s true, it really does bring out the taste). Not only was I shocked at the meal but I was astonished to find that Walker loves tomato and was interested in mozzarella. Devon was very good to Walker and shared her toys (as much as a 3.5 year old may be expected to). Walker’s favorite was the sit-and-spin. At 7:15 Walker promptly informed us that it was time to leave. He dug into his bag to get the baggie where we keep his pacifier. It also had some crackers in it earlier in the day — he prefers Multi-Grain Club crackers — so the paci was covered in cracker crumbs. Two of his favorite things at once. And the crackifier was born. He was in heaven.

Did I mention Walker is walking on his own? Oh, silly me. I must have been distracted by the homemade cookies that were packed up for us and are now lovingly placed at my side by my adoring husband. But back to the walking. Yes, Walker is ambling on his very own. This first real steps were yesterday morning after a brisk morning walk/run with Mommy (Walker rode in his Jeep stroller listening to the Barenaked Ladies). Daddy was watching Walker while Mommy got cleaned up and just as I was about to get presentable, Walker started toddling down the hall. We’ve been waiting for this day with cameras at our fingertips and ironically, we couldn’t snap photos because I was, well, unpresentable. We knew folks would want to see this incredible milestone so we went to the playground and let him walk around on a nice cushy surface.

Yesterday was a very big day. Walker also got his first haircut. I resisted this for some time but every morning he’d sit in his highchair and pull his hair out to the sides as if to say, “Mommy, I just can’t think with all this HAIR.” After doing some research, I decided to take Walker to Kids Cuts where he could be groomed by professionals with little-kid experience. And they have chairs in the shape of race cars, so how could we resist? We went in and there was a little boy about 2.5 who was SCREAMING at the top of his lungs, face wet with tears and beet red. His Daddy was sitting in the chair (a regular chair, not a car chair) holding him and he was not calmed. Walker didn’t know what to make of it but he went in and played with the toys they have in the waiting area. When it was his turn, he got in the car chair (covered with hundreds of stickers), had the little smock put around him and sat quietly as the hair dresser used the clippers to get the length off and then shaped his handsome locks with the shears. Walker played with a toy and didn’t look happy but certainly wasn’t upset. He seemed to sit and reserve judgment. The whole process took no more than 7 minutes. Walker had a very handsome haircut. We got his hair in a little handmade envelope with a Batman sticker. There were tears, but they were Mommy’s.

In the “marketing run amok” file, I have to mention that this morning when I was feeding the fish, I noticed one of the benefits of the fish food we use is that the fish get important Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Gosh. I’m glad to know that. I wouldn’t have bought that brand of fish meal otherwise. My 25 cent goldfish deserve the best.