John David's First Trip to the Beach

Weekend before last, we took John David to the beach for the first time. My parents have a condo on Panama City Beach and they were nice enough to plan a trip and invite us to join them. I always love the beach this time of year but it was especially interesting this trip. A huge storm came in on our first day there. I've never seen waves that high and the wind made it almost unbearable to be on the beach. Nevertheless, I was determined to let John David experience the sand. So we dressed him warmly in a cute little "cabana" outfit and headed for the beach. He thought it was great! He liked the feel of the sand between his toes and headed straight for the water. It was too cold to go in that first day but the storm passed and the temperature started to rise and he was able to jump a few waves on Saturday and Sunday. We were able to have dinner on Saturday night with my good friends, Cassie and Benjy and their son, Ben. It was so nice to see them, just too short of a visit.

He has been doing better at walking on his own and I thought that weekend would be the time that he just took off and really started walking. We got a few good video clips of him taking some steps, but it's just been this week that he has been interested in letting go of whatever he is holding on to. His friends at church are younger than he is and are walking so I think he is experiencing some positive peer pressure for the first time in his life.


My mom and dad with John David the first time he saw the ocean.

A day after the storm passed, we were able to enjoy beautiful sunsets again.