What's New Since Terminal 4

Whew! What a day!
We woke up at 8 (hooray!) and went downstairs for breakfast. Markus’s phone rang as we went into the kitchen for the cereal. It was the movers, on their way to the house. Fifteen minutes later, they were in the door, bringing in boxes and packing tape and paper and bubble wrap… Ten minutes after that, they were spread throughout the house, packing almost every room simultaneously. For those of you who know how Jennifer feels about moving day, you can guess how thrilled I was about this process; however, I have to give it to them for their professionalism and efficiency. With all the to-ing and fro-ing and on-again-off-again planning surrounding this move, the actual moving day snuck up on us. We weren’t quite ready for the packers, but they came and it all worked out fine. They will be back to finish tomorrow, so we’ll check into the hotel tomorrow afternoon. In a couple more days, we’ll be off on vacation! Yippee!

Last night, we went out to dinner at a pizza place we like in a nearby mall. After dinner, Ellie, as usual, wanted to go for a stroll. This usually involves a hunched-over Markus supporting her with both hands as she makes her little steps anywhere she finds interesting. Last night, however, they came back to the table with Markus holding Ellie by one hand only! She was soooooo proud of herself! She went walking all over the mall holding just one hand (actually, her hand was holding one of our fingers…so sweet!), taking such confident steps. The look on her face was priceless. She kept stopping to grin at everyone who passed and give them a little wave with her free hand.

Today, she was eager to practice this newfound skill. She walked and walked and walked around the club and again at home after dinner. Just before bed, Markus had her by the hand while she was walking around our room, but she let go to pick something up. She didn’t seem to notice that she didn’t have his hand when she started walking again—this time all by herself! Markus had her by the back of her onesie, and she tottered around for a few minutes all on her own! Our baby girl is starting to walk!