What Have I Been Up To?

We went to see the lights at the zoo!

Playing with my new things.

Miles wanted to take a bath with me!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

You Can Stop Checking Your Mailbox

I'm not getting any Christmas cards mailed out this year, so enjoy these pictures instead!

Kisses for the Kitty and a Special Present for Mommy

Almost every night before bed we read Brown Bear Brown Bear. Sometimes we read it, sometimes we just look at the pictures as Grant turns the pages. Everytime we get to the purple cat he gives it a kiss (right on the face too, he knows where kisses go). Tonight was no exception. We turn to the purple cat, Grant leans forward and as he kisses the cat he spits up all over. All over the purple cat and all over me. As a special bonus it smelled especially wonderful. Grant was feeling generous tonight though. Brown bear and the white dog also got kisses, while the red bird and the black sheep got their eyes scratched.

Let's Go to the School

This is Grant's favorite toy. He usually only presses the button that says "Let's go to the school." Over and over and over.

10 Months Old

Early Christmas Present

Thanks G and Paw Paw!

I Love Miss Spider

Today my library had a special celebration in honor of the
renovation completion and our new website. I was supposed to work 4 hours, but Troy was really sick and we didn't have another babysitter. I took Grant to the library anyway for storytime and to see the costumed characters. He loved Miss Spider. He smiled and kept trying to touch her. And he'd wildly kick his legs when he saw her walk by. It was pretty cute and everyone thought it was funny. Looking at this picture though, Miss Spider looks kind of creepy. At least he wasn't scared of her.

Crawling

Grant finally crawled on his hands and knees yesterday! He's still doing the army crawl sometimes, but he is actually going from room to room on his hands and knees. Funny how one day he just starts doing something new.

Bad Night

Yesterday the sitter called to tell me she couldn't watch Grant today because she was sick and the other baby's parents had it too. Great. Last night before we went to bed Grant woke up twice. Not a good sign. He woke up again when we were getting ready for bed and when I went in I found him and the bed covered in puke. So we got him and the bed cleaned up and got in bed ourselves. I heard him get sick again so I went in there, and a little later while I was holding him he got sick again. I decided to just sleep on his floor so I didn't have to keep getting out of bed, but he didn't get sick again. I've been trying to give him fluids today but of course he doesn't want to drink that pedialyte I went to the store for. He is in a pretty decent mood but I can tell he still doesn't feel great. Maybe after this nap I can get him to drink some more.

Good Day

Today was my day off and Grant was such a happy baby. He smiled at everyone when we ran errands and didn't fuss a bit, and he went right down for both of his naps (with no standing up or jumping in the crib). At lunch he ate really well and laughed when I wiped off his face. He played with his toys and laughed when I "chased" him and gave the baby on the cover of Parents magazine kisses and tried to catch Miles. He thought it was hilarious when I put his hat on my head and let it fall off. He's starting to point at things with his pointer finger and shake his head no. I put the mini Christmas trees on the mantle last night and Grant gave a big smile when he saw them plugged them in this morning. And yesterday when Troy picked him up fromthe sitters, he walked to Troy pushing the walker! Hopefully he's just as good tomorrow as he was today.

Kisses

Thanksgiving Day I was on the couch with Grant when he opened his mouth, leaned towards me and put his slobbery little mouth on my cheek. He did it three times in a row and it dawned on me that he was giving me kisses! The next day we were looking at a new board book with large photographs of babies and he kept giving them slobbery kisses. He keeps getting cuter and cuter!

Go Bucks!

Growing Like a Weed

Grant had his 9 month check up today. He is 19 pounds 3 ounces (30th percentile- up from his usual 25th) and 30 1/4 inches (90th percentile). He screamed during the exam but was fine once it was over. He is free to eat anything he can chew, but with only 3 teeth that won't be much!

My Favorite Things

Standing, playing with a box, reading stories, being a cheeseball, drooling and crawling around.

9 months old

Waving

Grant waved at Troy today! A few times before when we've tried to get Grant to wave he would slowly wave his fingers in front of his face while staring intently at them moving. Tonight Troy was in the next room and Grant held his arm out towards him. When Troy waved Grant waved back, not once but several times. Too cute!

Puffs

We've been trying to give Grant those Gerber puffs periodically. In the past we put a piece in his mouth and he would make a face and sit there like he didn't know what he's supposed to do with it. Yesterday was a turning point. He actually picked a piece up (which he had done before) and worked really hard until the puff was in his mouth (previously he seemed to forget a puff was in his hand once his fingers were in his mouth). We knew the piece was in his mouth because he would give us his huge cheeseball grin and kick his feet wildly. Every single time. It was the cutest thing ever. I did get the video camera out, so maybe some day I'll get a video of it posted, but really, it was so cute I couldn't stop laughing at him.

I Can Do It All By Myself

Grant is a pro at pulling himself up now. We were finding him standing up in his crib all the time so we lowered it a few notches. This morning when I went in to get him he was standing up again. He did it in front of me later and he has figured out how to grab on to the rails to pull himself up. He also pulled himself up using the couch and our ottoman today. And we've both seen him stand on his own not holding on to anything, but just for a few seconds. He's also smacked his head a few times this week, but at least he doesn't have any marks to show for it.

Socks and Shoes

Grant wears these little slip on leather shoes with elastic around the top (which are super cute by the way). The elastic on one of the shoes is a little looser than the other, and he manages to get it (and sometimes both) off all the time. He usually gets the one off when he's in his high chair, but he's starting to lose them in public. A couple weeks ago Grant and I were at the store and when I got in line I realized he was only wearing one shoe. We had been all over the store, I had no idea where to look. So we get out of line and wander all over, and I don't find it. I get back in line and a woman in the line next to me tells me she found his shoe and put it on the shelf with the buns. So we get back out of line and go grab the shoe. Today we're at the store, in the canned goods aisle, and Grant is kicking up a storm. Next thing I know, both shoes are flying off at the same time, and one lands on the very back of a shelf behind some cans. If I hadn't seen it fly I never would have found it. I decide to leave the shoes off so we don't lose them again. A few aisles later an employee tracks me down with Grant's sock, which I apparently didn't realize had come off. That boy sure likes to kick! Guess I need to start doing frequent socks and shoes checks when we go shopping.

Moving on up

Grant loves to stand. He hasn't figured out how to do it on his own or by using the furniture yet. He always wants to use our hands so he can get on his knees and then up on his feet. After that he can use some furniture to stand. He'll scoot up to us and pull on our pants and whine until we put our hands down for him. He really is starting to master the whine! Yesterday I was trying to get him to use the bottom step to pull himself up to his knees. Miles went up a few steps and stopped to watch. Grant absolutely loves Miles, so he pulled himself up to his knees with the first step, stood up, reached for the next step, got up on his knees and was trying to make it to the second step. I couldn't believe he was actually climbing the steps. I stopped him from getting to the next step but I think as long as Miles would have stayed there Grant would have kept going. Guess we'll have to install that baby gate sooner than we thought.

Don't Say That!

This weekend we stopped to eat at Qdoba and Grant kept wanting to eat the edge of the table. Gross! We repeatedly told him no no and he would stop for a little while. I saw him going for the edge of the table again so I said no no before he got his little mouth on it. He looked at me with a shocked expression, and in slow motion I saw his mouth turn into an exaggerated frown and then the huge tears started to roll down his face, followed by a heartbreaking cry. It was so sad. And what kind of mommy am I? I couldn't stop laughing. It was just the funniest saddest thing. I did stop laughing and pick him up. Apparently he had been told no no one time too many.


On Sunday we went to watch Uncle Adam run the half marathon. Here's Grant all bundled up ready to go out in the freezing cold at the crack of dawn (I think he looks like a totally different baby in this picture). By the middle of the race he was well past his nap time and when Troy yelled at Adam running by, Grant started in with the giant tears and sad sad cry. This happened two times. Other than that he was really good, fell asleep in the car on the way home and didn't even wake up when Troy took him out of the car seat and put him in his crib.

8 months

He looks so long!

Big Boy

Books are yummy!

Smiles

This morning I showed Grant some pictures we have framed around the house. Everytime I showed him a picture of Troy and me he would get a big smile on his face, touch our faces and start talking. He knows his mommy and daddy!

The Picture Drought is Over

Hi Mommy

Hey, it's Miles!


This giant tree was knocked down in the wind storm.


Jared and Jill came to visit.

It's so fun to play down here!

No No!

Grant has mastered the army crawl and he loves going all over the place. Sometimes he gets so excited to be moving and going somewhere he just kicks and doesn't end up moving anywhere. He especially loves the outlets, power cords and Miles. Now I'm not too worried about Miles, but why does Grant have to go right for the things he can't have? We've had to pull out our stern parent voices and the repeated no no. Surprisingly he listens a good deal of the time. I know it won't last, but it surprises me everytime. He'll look at the outlet/cord, think about it, and usually after 2 or 3 no-no's, he turns around and goes the other way. What a smart boy!

Pictures