Moses has been taking one step here and there for a couple days, but today he took 4 steps! He stood up and then walked towards his Daddy. He was so proud of himself!

This morning the boys and I, along with another woman and her daughter, got stuck inside an elevator in the church where our Bible Study meets. We were trapped for half an hour. Being the kind of person who steers clear of the long tunnel slides at water parks, it was quite possibly one of the longest half hours of my life. Neither of our cell phones got a signal, and after the other woman frantically pushed all the buttons multiple times in vain, I discovered a hidden door that opened to an emergency call box that connected us to an operator somewhere across the country, who then dispatched a repair man to the church. We breathed a huge sigh of relief, although we still had no idea how long it would take him to find us, especially considering rush hour traffic on a weekday morning. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. The boys and I bided the time reciting Psalm 91 and some other Bible verses we’ve memorized and thanking God for delivering us out of the elevator. I knew I had to maintain my composure for the boys’ sake, and as far as I could tell, they didn’t have a clue that anything was amiss. It probably helped that an elevator seems like a much larger space to a small child, and that they are yet unaware of what would happen if six people in a small airtight room ran out of oxygen. Needless to say, I don’t care how heavy Moses is getting… from now on we will be taking the stairs!

After that, I knew the day could only get better, and it did. This evening, Moses took his first step! I was in the kitchen rolling pizza dough at the time, but Joe witnessed him stand up all by himself in the middle of the living room and take one step forward. He was so proud of himself. Maybe he will be walking by his first birthday after all!

There’s no doubt about it–Moses has got great skills! While he may not have nunchuck, bow hunting, or computer hacking skills, he does seem to be somewhat advanced in certain areas. But it’s likely that we are just biased, so we’ll let you be the judge. Here’s a brief run-down of the kinds of things Moses has been doing that have impressed us:

• Moses can hold a pen and scribble. He enjoys drawing on the Magna Doodle.
• Moses likes to play “catch” and is quite good at throwing and catching a ball.
• Moses is very talkative, and unlike his brothers, who even to this day will speak nonsense in their own “twin language”, Moses speaks a few real words that actually make sense. For example, he can say and accurately identify his ”Papa,” and he says “ow!” when he hits something hard.
• Moses can feed himself with a fork or spoon. For example, the other evening during dinner, he grabbed Joe’s spoon and helped himself to soup. This morning, he used a fork to eat pancakes (putting to shame his 4-year-old brothers who were eating their pancakes with their hands). Moses is adamant that he should be the one maneuvering the utensil, and will forcefully yank it away from you if you don’t surrender to his grasp right away.
• Forget sippy cups. Moses prefers to drink water out of a glass that he is holding without anyone else’s assistance.
• Moses is very inquisitive and regularly uses his index finger to point to objects of interest and asks what they are by saying “deh?”
• Moses can crawl up the stairs, walk up the stairs while holding the railing, and he can scoot down the stairs on his tummy. We don’t have stairs at our house, but he has picked this up during the few hours a week when we’re visiting Mimi and Papa.
• Moses will eat just about anything. Some of his recent favorites have been chili, spaghetti, cantaloupe, honeydew, french fries, carrots, bananas, fried eggs, yogurt, and oranges. And don’t bother pureeing any of these delicacies for Moses–he wants to sink his eight teeth into big solid chunks.
• Moses pays close attention to detail. For example, the other day he removed the stem from a cherry, then carefully tried to put it back in the “hole” from where it came. Similarly, he removed a drinking straw from a Chick-fil-a cup, then diligently tried to re-insert it through the ”X” in the lid.

This last point is particularly noteworthy because Mimi likes to tell the story of my first birthday nearly 29 years ago, when I tried to re-insert a birthday candle into the tiny hole where it had pierced the cake. Legend has it that my Great Aunt Sinnie was so impressed that a 12-month-old would be captivated by such a subtle detail. Considering Moses’ interest in the proper placement of cherry stems and drinking straws, Mimi is convinced that Moses will take after his Mommy in more ways than just physical appearance, heavy birth weight, being a good sleeper, and having a calm disposition. She predicts he’ll also be scooping himself grapefruit with a spoon at 18 months… we’ll just have to wait and see!

The boys and I have started attending a Bible study at a local church one morning a week. It’s the same Bible study I have fond memories of attending with my mom when I was little, so I was excited to have the opportunity to participate again. Caleb and Joshua are enjoying learning about Jesus’ boyhood, singing songs, and eating goldfish crackers in their Bible class. I am enjoying reading the book of Acts and participating in a Bible study group for the first time since college. And then there is sweet Moses, who has not been so fond of being away from Mommy in the nursery. The first week, he was happy to explore his new environment and play with new toys, but the second week he knew what was going on and wasn’t too thrilled about it. I think next week I’ll try to minimize the trauma by waking him up extra early so that he’ll take a nap during most of the Bible Study.

Two of Moses’ classmates in the nursery are adorable identical twin girls who are about a week older than him. This past week I found myself staring at them and thinking, “Oh my gosh, that would be crazy to have two babies at the same time,” and then I quickly reminded myself, ”oh yeah, I had two babies at the same time!” I can’t say enough how nice it has been to just have one baby this time around… it has truly felt like a vacation!