For weeks, Blanden has "walking" with us, slowly making progress while holding onto our hands. We know it's not actually making him stronger (he needs to learn to find the balance on his own), but he loves doing it so much, and we admit that we do too, we've all been enjoying it, and noticing that his grips are getting lighter. Sunday afternoon he let go of the door to his play space and took seven or so solid steps toward me. Since then, he's steadily getting braver, walking five to seven feet or so at a time, which is about halfway across many of our rooms. Let the real exploring begin!
In other news, Blanden's vocabulary is steadily expanding as well. He now clearly says Dad (the first word by far), Bob (his first attempt at Mom, which Ed thinks is hilarious and sometimes still encourages), Mom, dog, duck, yuck, his own version of Ella, and a steadily improving attempt at slide, a new favorite activity at the park. He's also trying to say love. When I was introducing Blanden to homemade granola mixed into his yogurt the other morning, Ed shook his head and said it's official, we're raising a little hippie (a child after my own heart) whose first words are Dad, Mom, dog, and love. 
