Israel finally arrived home yesterday.  It was doubly exciting because Imanuel was able to recognize him and right when we got home, for the first time EVER, he walked on his own over to where Israel was sitting.  It was about 6-7 steps away.  Imanuel had been taking a few steps between Alanna and I, but only with a lot of encouragement.  He never tried walking anywhere without us asking him to.  So it came with a lot of shock and amazement when he just decided to walk from the couch to Israel on his own.  He was giggling with excitement too.    We’re very happy that he’s ALMOST there. 
Anyway, Israel came back with 2 new stuffed animals to add to Imanuel’s collection – one from Iceland and one from England.  Israel made it a tradition that whenever he goes on an international trip, he brings a stuffed animal back for Imanuel.  It started when I was pregnant, so Imanuel has two from before he was actually born.  I must also note that he didn’t get a stuffed animal when he went to Korea.  I don’t know why.  And now that I think of it, we didn’t get one when we went to Mexico.  So, he’s missing two. 

Well, here are some pics of Imanuel’s international stuffed animal collection and some other miscellaneous pics from the past month.

a hare from South Africa, koala from Australia/New Zealand, exotic fuzzy bear from Ecuador, teddy bear from England, and a real wooly lamb from Iceland

Imanuel giving Bentley an ear inspection

Imanuel handing me a little toy puppy

Imanuel and his daddy (with his favorite stuffed animals)