Carissa wore her first pair of shoes last week to church. I spent most of Sacrament Meeting putting them back on her feet and trying to convince her that it’s a good idea to leave them on.

She is 11.5 months old now and can stand on her own, and sometimes she takes a few unsteady steps by herself.

She is getting more personality and playfulness. She’ll pull herself to standing on the couch, and then plop herself back down and laugh, and do it over and over again. Sometimes she’ll make a noise, and I’ll make it back, and she’ll make it back to me, and we’ll go on like this for a while.

She has her two front upper and lower teeth, and is getting two more teeth on top.

Since she gets kind of upset when I try to feed her baby cereal or food, and since I won’t let her feed herself because I’m not willing to give her a bath after every meal, I’ve been giving her more baby crackers lately. She can feed them to herself, which she likes, and they’re not too messy, which I like. Wesley will have to adjust, since I give them to her in what has previously been known as his “pretzel cup.”

Today for church I dressed her like this, in a froo-froo skirt, flower for her hair, and a bracelet on her wrist.

You can see she’s already taking off the bracelet, and the flower came off next. She ended up just in a dress, but at least she had that.

She turns one in a couple of weeks. I look at her and can’t even believe that just a year ago I was still pregnant with her. Here she is, practically a lady already.

Wes finished up two weeks of swim lessons today. It will take many years, I think, before the kid learns to swim for real. But he had fun!

Every time his turn with the teacher was over he’d stand on the pool steps, face his “audience” (the parents) and clap and cheer for himself, saying “Yeah!”. The other parents called themselves his fan section and clapped and cheered with him.

Here’s his GQ shot.

At the end of each class the kids can go down the water slide and jump off the “high” dive. The first couple of days he wasn’t scared and jumped right off. But after that he got more timid and had to be pushed/dragged in. But he always liked it once he was in the pool.

Here he is standing in line.

And preparing to jump.

Here he is jumping in, before he lost his nerve.

Today after class I took him (and Carissa, who was asleep) to the drugstore downtown for an ice cream cone. I’m not sure he’s ever had his very own ice cream cone before. After he threw it on the counter face down I showed him how to lick it, and then to crunch the cone, and after that he was fine and ate nearly the whole thing, occasionally pausing to say, “Num! Good!”

One day this week the kids and I started an afternoon in Salt Lake City by going here for lunch (with a coupon).

It was bustling. And oh-so-tasty looking.

We got our food to go and ate in the car. I pulled Wes into the front seat (such a special occasion for him) while Carissa snoozed in the back. Wes helped eat the salad.

I ate this gourmet grilled cheese.

After feeding the parking meter we walked to Temple Square.

We paused at the fountains across the street.

Once in Temple Square we talked to many sister missionaries. One from Belgium in particular liked meeting Wesley. She said she has a 10-year-old sister like Wes back home. She and her companion kept trying to give Wes high-fives, but since he was running on a short nap his response was consistent and loud: “No!”

The feeling on Temple Square is extremely peaceful and relaxing. I didn’t want to leave.

I took the kids to an outdoor mall called The Gateway. We went to Old Navy (a special occasion for me). I planned ahead and brought a change of clothes for Wes in case he wanted to play in the dancing water fountains in the plaza, but he wouldn’t budge past the edge.

I was about to head home when I remembered one place I’ve always meant to visit: Tony Caputo’s Food Market and Deli. It’s just north of Pioneer Park as you come off the freeway, tucked away into this lovely little alcove.

They specialize in Italian and southern European foods. They have over 100 kinds of oils, a bunch of mustards and vinegars, plus a terrific selection of fresh meat and cheese. Oh, and did I mention the 325 varieties of chocolate bars? Between the chocolate and the cheese, this place was made for me. I got John some smoked Gouda and a little chocolate to taste.

As we came out I noticed another place next door:

We enjoyed some of this:

And some of this:

And then we came home. A nice day with the kids in the city.

Life slowed down today. We went to the park. Carissa sat on a pink blanket in the shade while Wes played in the playground. He mostly stood and watched other kids. I wasn’t sure why he was watching more than playing, but he seemed content. After a while he discovered a girl from his preschool class. She was with a small group of kids, and they were running around together. He joined in and was finally having a blast, laughing and smiling as he ran after them. It made me happy to see him so happy.

After a minute or two they raced around a giant evergreen tree on the far side of the playground by the road. It’s so big that they all disappeared from view for a few seconds. I saw all the other kids emerge on the other side, but not Wes. I squinted and saw another little boy playing inside the hollow space beneath the branches, and I wondered if Wes was in there, too, but I couldn’t see him.

I left Carissa and walked over (had I known better, I should have run) just in time to see Wes in the street. A man stood in the street next to his minivan, holding up one hand to stop traffic, and using his other hand to push Wes back towards the sidewalk. I don’t know if this man had been pulling out of his parking space along the side of the playground when he saw Wes, or if he had been one of the cars driving down the street. All I know is that I saw my little, unassuming boy narrowly escape what could have been a devastating accident.

When we left the park and drove down the same street where he had been found, I pictured what it would be like for me as a driver if a little kid ran out onto the street from between the parked cars. I knew the kid wouldn’t have a chance.

I pray for my kids’ safety, and today a prayer was answered.

As I took Wes home I thought about how different things could have been. It could have involved a hospital, or much, much worse.

I held him tighter today. I gave him extra kisses. In a split second things could have been different. But I’m so glad they weren’t.

Mornings are the freshest time, and there is always a ton of things to get done from the get-go.

But sometimes it’s better to pause and snatch a few memories with camera instead. Bed head and all.

The thing with having kids and no (other) full-time job is that you really can make your day what you want, but you have to be willing to do it more patiently and usually at a slower pace, accepting that you’ll probably accomplish a smaller portion than you would if you were on your own, when you have your kids in tow.

I’ve decided that it’s silly to wait around until my kids have had all their naps and it’s convenient to go someplace, because by then the day is better than half gone. So we go when I’m ready to go and take things as they come.

This week we spent a long afternoon visiting Parade of Homes houses. Wes took a nap in the car (within close sight) while Carissa and I ate a rather leisurely lunch at My Dear Lizzie. We (I) had a nice salad and croissant sandwich while Carissa played on the floor.

I didn’t buy any sweets here, but don’t they look good?

Today I took the kids out for lunch and a stroll in the Riverwoods shopping area.

And I discovered the best-kept secret of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory. John never wants to go in when we’re in the area together, but since he wasn’t there I figured I’d do what I wanted for once.

Did you know they sell this?

Chocolate dipped frozen cheesecake.

No, I am not making this up. Such heavenly dessert fare actually exists here on Earth. They fresh-dip the frozen slice in melted chocolate so when they hand it to you it’s still wet and takes a few minutes to harden.

It was so yummy.