{it's not always just an expression... we literally stopped to smell the roses} + {some very big news in the world of isaac!}

it was supposed to be a day of working... packing up my son and driving in to the city to help a sweet friend {and former coworker} pack up her charming old flat {so sad to see her move from there... but happy because she is on to bigger and better things}. she will be moving into a newly remodeled 1930's condo flat. so all her worldly possessions needed to get wrapped up and boxed so they could travel along to her new home.

i was concerned that i would be of little help with my baby boy in tow. and i was right. he's at the age where he wants to get into everything... especially when in an exciting, new environment. so i felt like i was more distracted by making sure he was not tearing her place apart than i was helpful in getting things packed away.

still, it was a nice time... she got to see isaac again. {she had not seen him since the day he was born.} and her mom got to meet him, too.

but all work and no play will make for a not-very-balanced day. so off to play, we went... nourishing and sustaining ourselves at the same time. we walked over to one of the best thai food restaurants in town and shared three diversely-flavored dishes... all delicious! it was isaac's first experience with thai cuisine... and maybe his last for a while... i now know to expect some gassiness after such a meal.

fueled up from our late lunch, we headed back to the apartment to dive into working. and as the restaurant was several blocks down and on the other side of the main street from her place, there were a number of places we could have crossed to get back to her place.

had we crossed on the way back at the same corner we crossed on the there, we would have missed it. but something told us to press on further east before heading south again.

or maybe, rather, it was a fragrance in the air that subtly drew us there. and fragrant they were!... hundreds and hundreds of beautiful roses on several bushes that were much taller than i am. a few blocks down, right there in the middle of that great big city. and to think... we would have missed them if we had crossed any sooner.

so we stopped...

to smell the roses {isaac's first time ever smelling a rose}...

but also to see them...

to take some pictures in front of them.

lovely. so lovely.

and then, after we had heeded that age-old sage proverb... taking time to stop and smell the roses... we continued on, crossing the street to get back to the apartment and work.

how glad i am that we did, because i got some keepers for photos from our brief stop {as well as a few shots back at the apartment}. disappointed with myself in how much {or rather, how little} of a help i was, i drove home that night at least feeling filled up and happy to have seen my friend, and happy that her mom and she were able to see and become acquainted with isaac. oh, how he loved her! he has a thing for blondes... especially blondes who wear dark-rimmed glasses. he was pretty fond of her braids, too. and i'm pretty sure she likes him just as much... i have this sneaking suspicision.

how often do we say or acknowledge expressions and phrases, but never really practice them literally {or even figuratively}. i've discovered that actually following the advice of this phrase has given me a whole new appreciation for it. you should try it some time.

and now for the big, big news!...

my baby boy walked last night... the real deal. he had taken a step or two or three here and there in the past, but never continued on after three. but last night, he took about twenty-five steps {total}... about ten first. then a little bit of standing around. then some coaxing to get him to walk again. then another ten or so steps. more standing. more coaxing. then about five more steps.


i cried after i put him to bed for the night... when it really sunk in. it's just one more step toward him growing up and seemingly away. i'm excited... don't get me wrong. so excited for him and proud of him. but it still made me cry.

anyway, it's o.f.f.i.c.i.a.l!

at this point, i consider him walking. taking more than three continual steps without holding on to anything constitutes walking in my book. he did a little more today, but not much. i suspect it will be a slow process of gaining confidence before he is off and "running". but it is here. and just like after he started crawling, i think my life is going to change a whole lot... especially when he gets really good at it!


i have no walking-isaac photos yet. but i did get some video. i will try to post it soon!


i hope your weekend was swell... and that you got {or get} some time to stop and smell some sweet, sweet roses.