The snow is almost gone here (okay, it’s all gone, except for four really small patches — see right), and we had the rare Oregon winter day occurrence of blue sky and no rain. (Yippee!) While I (Jeff) was upstairs much of the day working on some seminary homework, there were breaks here and there to enjoy our precious son Dutch, and later to go for a (short) run with my beautiful wife. Dutch has become quite the walker you know, and loves to strut his stuff. With a clear day, Dutch took his walking show on the road… — For those interested, the following video was from...

Dutch loved the snow in the past few days. While there are still traces outside today, he was content to work on his motor skills walking and talking and learning new tricks. The other day we backpacked around the yard and driveway, trudging through the snow… Dutch’s newest skill is to walk, then sit down and then get back up on his feet without help or using any object for leverage. This morning was the first time I’d seen him do it, and then tonight he let us watch him do it over and over… Perhaps we should call him a walker who can crawl, rather than a crawler...

Dutch walked for the first time for us tonight! He kept walking and walking and walking… What a growing little boy! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The boy walks!", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2008/01/24/the-boy-walks/" });

A year has now passed since he was born, a miracle from God brought into our life, changing all things forever. It almost seems like we cannot even remember life without him. He stood and smiled his trademark wide grin at the edge of his crib this morning as Kari and I sang him happy birthday. What a joy to hold our son! Happy Birthday, Dutch! Special thanks to Bethany for the photos. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Happy 1st birthday, Dutch!", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/12/21/happy-1st-birthday-dutch/" });

This afternoon Dutch — for his last feat of his first year — crawled up a flight of stairs for the first time.  Nice job little man! (After my the engine in my car seized up last weekend, my Saturn essentially becoming a paperweight,  I joked that we simply needed to hook Dutch’s little motor up to make the car run again.  Our little boy certainly has a strong little motor in him.) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Look who crawled up the stairs", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/12/20/look-who-crawled-up-the-stairs/" });

Photo Sharing – Video Sharing – Share Photos – Free Video Hosting SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Dutch, the walking-behind-the-stool boy", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/12/02/dutch-the-walking-behind-the-stool-boy/" });

Our son’s hair was becoming like his Dad’s (a helmet), so it was time to chop that mullet! Before During After – all clean! After – handsome boy! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Dutch’s first haircut", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/11/08/dutchs-first-haircut/" });

Dutch is learning to clap: SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Dutch is learning to clap", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/07/25/dutch-is-learning-to-clap/" });

SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Dutch’s first pool swim", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2007/07/10/dutchs-first-pool-swim/" });