Playmates

Beau took Erica to The Melting Pot tonight for her birthday! So we are keeping Elijah at our house for the evening. Elijah has been telling us all about his day at the zoo and both boys are really enjoying each other's company. What one does, so does the other!

Bathtime was a hoot! We need Ligy to come play with Grant in the bath every night! They both had a great time. "Take a cheese, Aimee!"

Elijah chasing Grant.

We had group storytime tonight. After Grant went to sleep, Elijah and I continued storytime in the living room. We have so enjoyed having him over here tonight. What a sweet boy!

Paint Me a Picture

Elijah is now in his Big Boy Room, so Erica is working on getting Sadie's room ready. I went over one afternoon last week so that we could put the first coat of primer on the walls. The boys do a pretty good job of entertaining themselves while we work. At one point Grant was getting a little fussy, so I brought him into Sadie's room and gave him a few toys to play with in the middle of the room. We continued priming and finished without incident! Just as I fnished painting the last corner, I turned around to make sure I didn't miss any spots. I hear Erica gasp and I turn around...

Grant rubbed his hands and face in the wet paint! "Seriously, guys, what's the big deal?" I am still trying to scrub paint out of his eyebrow and hair. Side note: paint is very difficult to get out of baby clothes.

The One We've Been Waiting For

Drum roll, please... I finally got his steps on video! His furthest to date is sixteen steps! I think we can officially say he is a toddler.

I can not express how excited and proud I felt watching him do this! I managed to hold in the tears this time, but I just love being there to encourage my boy to grow, explore and learn.

Face Art

Grant's favorite thing to do right now is to put his face against the glass door to look outside. I'll sit on the other side of the door and do the same thing. He just cracks up laughing!

Grant making his "face art" on our front door.

Leaving Town

Grant, Gary and I packed up our things and got ready for a weekend apart. Grant stayed with his Tippi and PawPaw. And Gary and I drove five hours to visit Greg and Jen. Jen turned thirty this week and it was a bit of a surprise that we were there! We went to a great dinner with her family and friends and then spent the rest of the evening playing games. We had a great time even though we were there for less than 24 hours!

Greg and the birthday girl! A night without our boy - we missed him, but we had a great time!

Grant did great with his loving grandparents! I know they all enjoyed their time together and we are so grateful that they would sacrifice their weekend to take care of our sweet boy. But now, most importantly, my boy is comfortably back in my arms!

Conversations With Toddlers

Aimee: "Say dada." Grant: "Dada." Aimee: "Say mama." Grant: "Dada." ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scene: My car. Grant and Elijah are both in the back seat. We are on our way to run some errands. I gave Elijah my garage door opener so that he could use it as a 'phone.' Elijah: "Hi, Aimee." (Holding his 'phone' to his ear.) Aimee: "Hi, Elijah." (Holding my cell phone to my ear.) Elijah: "(Watcha) doin'?" Aimee: "Driving." Elijah: "Ok. Talk to you later. Bye." Aimee: "Bye, Elijah." Ten sconds later... Elijah: "Hi, Aimee." (Holding his 'phone' to his ear.) Aimee: "Hi, Elijah." (Holding my cell phone to my ear.) Elijah: "(Watcha) doin'?" Aimee: "Driving." Elijah: "Ok. Talk to you later. Bye." Aimee: "Bye, Elijah." And again and again.

A Walk in the Park

Grant and I skipped playgroup today. He had a horrible night of unrest, so I let him take a two hour nap this morning. I told Julie not too long ago that I hardly ever felt sleep deprived. Here lately, I have felt like a bit of a liar (and a zombie). I think it is just because he has had a bit of a stuffy nose, but I am certainly ready to get back to our regular routine. Since we didn't go to playgroup, I thought we should at least go to the park. So, we took the mile or so walk to our local park. It has a small playground, swings and oak trees, so it is perfect for Grant. Unfortunately, he still does not quite get the concept of a slide.

"I'm supposed to climb up it, right?" "I'll get the hang of this soon."

"Oh, wait! I see dirt that I can eat!"

The swings were a little more in our league. He never smiles or giggles when I put him in the swing. But he gets this very thoughtful, far-off gaze. I still think he enjoys it.