Bodie has walked! Last night he decided to just stand up and take 5 steps across the office floor. Sara and I we're both pretty stunned, even though we've seen him take one or two steps before. It was the first time he just 
stood right up in place and sauntered a good distance, with purpose! The look on his face was priceless. It was a mixture of joy and bewilderment, as if his legs had involuntarily carried him across the room like a magic carpet ride.

At the sound of our loud cheering and clapping, Gavin and Garrett came flying into the room to see what all the hubbub was about. Gavin is always extremely proud of his littlest brother and showered him with kisses, while Garrett immediately looked for something unique he could do in order for him to get the same  applause. He grabbed his little Backyardigans karaoke machine and said "Now I will listen to a song and you can clap for me!" As if that were his greatest talent, just listening. Not singing along with it or dancing, just listening to it! Garrett's a funny kid. He doesn't know it but his greatest talent so far is his ability to make everybody laugh and brighten up any room.

Bodie's greatest talent is definitely his ability to hold his own against his big brothers. He's a real scrappy little 11 month old. If they try to take a toy away from him, he doesn't passively let them have it, he holds on tight with both hands and a menacing glare. When they do pry it from his tiny fingers, he doesn't sit and cry for mama, no sir. He lets out a determined grunt, puts his head down and crawls after the villain as fast as his little hands and knees can carry him. I love his personality, but I'm afraid he's going to be pretty headstrong.

Surfers Healing was pretty incredible this year. Gavin and Garrett both got to surf! Gavin was so sweet with his little brother. He wanted Garrett to go first so he could stand on the beach and cheer for him. It was a really cute moment when Garrett was heading out into the waves, and Gavin was standing on the shore shouting "WOO Garrett! Great job! High five!" Izzy (the founder) took Garrett out and caught some really good waves, Garrett even got to ride in the tube for a minute! I asked him if it was fun or scary he said "It was fun! Lets go again!" Gavin did really well, too. He actually put his feet on the board this time and got to ride high on the shoulders of Puna Moller. For a couple of the rides in, the boys were side by side! That was pretty cool. In the picture you can see Garrett looking over at Gavin.

The local news was there and interviewed Gavin, but he didn't cooperate very much. He wasn't in the mood for paparazzi, and the reporter was asking questions like "What do you think you'll take away from this experience?" That's a pretty puzzling question to a five year old with autism. I should've asked the reporter to tell me what she knew about autism, I bet she would've been equally puzzled! In the news clip, they just show Gavin at the beginning talking about jumping over the waves, his new favorite thing to do at the beach.

I guess Oprah's crew was there too, she's going to do a series on Izzy and Danielle Paskowitz and Surfers Healing. That's some good exposure for this awesome cause! 

I ran across this inspirational video by a poster to the forum over at Startup Nation. I thought it was spectacular. Just the thing I needed to put a skip in my step and begin the week. My fellow mompreneurs are sure to appreciate it as much as I did, so I wanted to share. This was created by Grasshopper - a business phone service company (that I do not use). I had never heard fo them before, and now I have. What a clever marketing approach.