He's Walking to Me, Mom!!!

There have been a lot of happenings over here lately. Probably the most exciting is that Tommy is WALKING! He started taking a couple 4, 6 and 8 steppers over this past weekend. And then...he just started going for it the past three days! Now he is trying to walk everywhere. He's walked across the entire family room quite a few times and pretty much is practicing 24/7. He is so proud of himself - he opens his mouth into a wide smile and takes his little "tippy toes" across the room. When he lands, Lucy and I cheer and clap and he smiles and beams with pride! My little guy is turning into a toddler. It feels strange.
This past weekend, if he walked a few steps in a row, I would call to Matt in the other room "He just did 4 steps!" Well, of course, Lucy caught on to that one, and every time Tommy does anything, she'll run up to me and report, "Tommy took a STEP, Mom!" At one point this afternoon, Tommy walked right over to her and landed in her arms for a big hug. Lucy yelled out, "Tommy just walked to me, Mom!!" She was truly excited about it. One of those moments you wish your video camera was instantly on and in your right hand. Ah well...that's why I write about it, right?
Lucy continues to kill me with the things that come out of her mouth all day long. She's also perfecting some great "looks." Today I was letting the dog in the house and I told her to go lie down and Lucy said, with a squint, "I don't mind her, Mom. It's o.k. She doesn't bother me."
Yesterday at lunchtime, she was testing me by doing something (like refusing her food), and she said, "Mom, did I hurt your feelings?" I mean the kid is 2 1/2 for god's sake.
She's starting to look more like a 3-year-old and it makes me sad. It is going by too fast. She's taller, thinner, and her face has changed a little bit. She has opinions about her hair and clothes now. She goes to the bathroom completely on her own now. But she still kisses on demand and still lets me tickle at any given moment. She still gets cranky if I'm not the one to get her after nap and she still wants to snuggle. And she still buys it when I say with a smile, "Whatever you do...don't get your boots on so we can go on our trip!"
And in other news...the. basement. is. done. tomorrow. It will be like Christmas morning for me tomorrow night when we can actually go down there and bring toys down, let the kids flail, etc. Let's just all pray it happens.