Step by Step

Mark is growing up and there are the inevitable mother-son conflicts. Dana gets all excited when Cody says he can get her a date with Brad Pitt, and J.T. becomes very protective of Al when his friend wants to take her on a drive-in date.

Al, Dana, and Karen realize that they must set aside petty differences and work together to babysit Lilly.

Cody thinks that the new neighbour is a jewel thief from New York. Dana moves into a college dorm and Carol seems to be the only one who misses her. Karen and Al visit her a week later and are shocked at the change in her.

Cody gets Lilly to sleep when Carol is unable to do so, which makes Carol think she hates her. Dana is forced to work with JT at a family helpline by their psychology professor, much to her chagrin. A potential suicide shakes them up.

Karen is trying out for head cheerleader, with Carol's help and very competitive spirit. The Lamberts decide to hire a housekeeper. JT is smitten when an aspiring model applies and gives her the job. Cody goes into the fitness business.

Cody accidentally ends up with a middle-aged mail-order bride. Frank and Carol get fed up with the kids' endless petty demands. Karen attempts to be a country-singing star.

Al gets a job at the mall at a cookie outlet called Mr. Chips. She is annoyed at having to work alongside the restaurant's eponymously named mascot, a chimpanzee ... and is further embarrassed when she is asked to take the chimp home.

Cody proudly announces he got a back-breaking 'dream job', as 'stagehound' (roadie) for Mark's idol, rock band singer Christi Rose and Petal to the Metal, and gets the geeky kid to meet her backstage. Impressed with kind, cool Cody's way to handle fans, Christi asks him as her personal body-guard. Meanwhile, the four eldest kids' constant begging and fighting for the family car convinces Carol and Frank to buy another car for them. The kids' enthusiasm over Frank's car choice, a Mustang convertible, cools when it seems to be his baby, rather too precious to be left in their hands... Fleeing a horde of pushy fans in Cody's arms and on his Harley, Christy stays the night as his guest in the Lambert house and asks him to come along on her six months tour...

Cody joins Dana's feminist group, over her misgivings. They are to have a meeting but there is competition from a toga party. Frank and Carol have a spa night together. Mark is flying solo to the school dance and ends up on the wall.

Dana was eager to see 'the Amazing Codini' perform, but realizes too late he takes her into the magic box, hasn't fixed the necessary link to get out again and has no back-up plan, even knocks it over- they are trapped indefinitely, to her absolute horror, while he enjoys the closeness; yet salvation is within reach all the time... Meanwhile Carol dragged Frank to a beauty convention (a fake temperature doesn't fool experienced parents), then told him to entertain himself as she couldn't interest him in the least, only to finds Frank enjoying a female participator's manual hair-care too much... Reading about a cash price for the baby chosen at a Yum-Yum baby-food commercial audition, Lilly's babysitters J.T. and Al dashed off thereto but are too excited. When their parents return, Lilly has been switched with a baby-boy.

Cody manages to electrocute himself adding Christmas lights to his van. JT works part-time selling Christmas trees and gets a lesson in the true meaning of Christmas by a co-worker. Frank sets Al up with the son of an old family friend.

Dana is asked to model for a melodramatic campus artist, naked. JT is interested in Karen's lab partner but she is well out of his league. There is a rat in the roof and Frank is determined to get rid of it, with little success.

Mark's teacher wants him to go to an academic academy for gifted students. Frank and JT will win Super Bowl tickets provided they dress up as cheerleaders, but there is a catch. Cody invents clothing made out of food.

Frank is caught in the middle of a dispute between Carol and his well-meaning but overbearing mother, Helen, over the rearing of baby Lily. He wants to stay out of the argument, but realizes his marriage is more important when Helen announces plans to move to Port Washington to be Lily's nanny.

Cody has a bad case of the hiccups and nothing seems to cure him. Carol persists in reading a horror story before going to bed and Frank knows what's coming. Al is worried about her boyfriend going on a ski trip with 'The Love Boat'.

It's almost Valentine's Day and Dana is again having boy trouble. So Cody writes her a fake love letter but Dana thinks it's somebody else. Frank tries to please Carol with a fake Rolex watch. This is okay until she tries to return it.

Carol and Frank go to a baby playtime class and find out they are the oldest parents there, which they find unsettling. JT thinks that two men would never fall out over a woman but Dana is determined to prove him wrong.

When Cody is wearing his cheese-head he guesses the lotto numbers. Mark and Karen try to take advantage of it. Dana has a new boyfriend who believes in honesty, which irritates everybody. JT pretends to be Lilly's father to pick-up a girl.

JT receives a probation note for poor results and Frank warns him that he needs to buckle down or get a job. He does better but is under suspicion of cheating. Al wants to get her hair shaved and a tattoo in order to stand out.

Rich gives out 20 chain letters and gets good luck, but the Lamberts who don't believe in it receive bad luck. The girls go to a ski lodge looking for boys and Karen ends up going out with a Prince, who is going incognito for the weekend.