K, you are completely ready to walk.

But thankfully, you still reach for my hands for balance.

Mom and I were talking just yesterday about how sweet and fleeting this short window is.

You can’t roll over, and then one day, you can.

Then you learn to sit up.

One day you figure out how to hoist yourself to standing position on the furniture.

And the next day you crawl for the first time.

Right now you want to follow H everywhere she goes. You want to follow Mom and Dad every step we take. And you are ferociously interested in Huck.

But you no longer have a use for crawling. Walking is all you want.

Walking is what life is about.

But like a 14-year-old, three weeks away from their driving permit – the only problem is you can’t walk by yourself yet.

So you crawl over to our feet and look up for hands to guide you.

As we bend over to give you our index fingers, your reach your hands up and grab on.

You pull yourself to a standing position, and you take off walking with such purpose.

Every day now you are walking better, and we know that you will take your first steps in a matter of weeks. maybe days

Those first steps are so exciting.

Those steps make me sad too though.

Because you will learn it fast.

And one Saturday, when I reach over to help you, you will push my hand away and take off walking on your own.

I can remember how fast H learned to walk.

Every parent should want independent and capable children.

But it would be so nice if you stayed my baby for just a little bit longer.

I love you.

–Dad

I have seen honor be hard to find at home.

Let me explain.

• A child is born and grows up in the same town.
• They are a meddlesome child, an awkward kid, and a trouble-making teenager.
• Then, they move off to college and they grow up somehow.
• They finally get it.
• They become an engineer, a writer, or maybe a brain surgeon.
• A career follows, and one day they turn around and their peers look at them as a success.

But you know who still sees them as a stupid kid?

Everyone in their hometown.

I said that to say this.

When you are older, I hope you go to college down the street, find a vocation just across town, and live right around the corner with my grandchildren when I am an old man.

But if you don’t, I hope you are not afraid to get out of the shadow of your hometown.

I came across this passage last week and it leapt off the page at me.

Turns out, even Jesus – of all people – was treated the same.

So, I learned that website migration is a big pain.

I started my other website on Blogger.

Partly, I started it there just playing around.

…And because the Blogger platform was easy, and free.

Then I left it there because – well – it was easy and free.

The more I learned, I knew that long-term, I needed to be on WordPress instead of Blogger.

Long story short, I made that move this last week.

So, I am sorry for not writing here in a few weeks.

Just know that migrating a website is a pain.

And that I love you.

I’ll be back here soon.

I have drafts saved and ready to go.

I love you.

–Dad