Yeee Hawww!

Grant's birthday present from his Grandma and Grandpa in Washington arrived today. They were finally successful in finding a toy that Jeremy couldn't play with more than Grant! It's a bouncy horse that also spins. It plays music and once we get the correct batteries, he will be able to play along with games on the TV - learning shapes, letters, colors and numbers. It's pretty cute. I'm actually happy that he doesn't know about the TV part yet. For now he's just enjoying sitting, spinning and bouncing on it. Once we get it fully functional, it will be a whole new toy and he'll have renewed interest!

Since it just wouldn't be right to let Grant pretend to be a cowboy without a hat, I made one for him.

BUT.... he always has his own way of doing things.

Even though Jere can't sit on the toy himself, he still puts it to good use!

Grant starts learning his ABC's

I'll Love You Forever

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be...

But please, PLEASE............

QUIT PLAYING IN THE TOILET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was the scene I found this evening after Grant dissapeared towards the general direction of our bedroom/bathroom and I thought I heard splashing. Again, does it make me a bad mother if I grabbed the camera before snatching him up and throwing him in the bathtub?

This little video is pretty close to how long his naps actually last! He's really starting to understand some of the things we say to him.

Tracy Aviary

We went down to Liberty Park and the Tracy Aviary last Saturday. Grant put his sign for "bird" to good use!

We saw a condor, golden and bald eagles, flamingos including their eggs and chicks, black swans, pelicans, a kookaburra and many more.

After the Aviary tour, we stopped at Liberty Park where they have a ferris wheel and an old wooden merri-go-round.

Were was Grant in this picture you ask?

Disappearing between us of course!

It had been a pretty warm and humid day and we were ready to head home but for some reason we thought that Grant needed to ride the merri-go-round. One of these is pretty fuzzy, but the look on his face is clear. He would look incredibly worried as we went around until he saw Jeremy and then he'd start crying. Our parenting plan is as follows: torture builds character.

July 24th

Jere had a 4 day weekend over Pioneer day (only in Utah). After letting Grant smear chocolate pudding all over his face...

we decided to go up to Ensign Peak Park to watch the fireworks in the valley. What a beautiful evening!

Our little Flash Grant! Faster than Mommy and Daddy's eyes can handle!

Visitors from the west...

My parents came from California for a visit over the 4th of July. As you can see, Grant brings out the goofiness in my dad.

They were on the hunt for the PERFECT toy for Grant. One they found was a small keyboard with a microphone. As you can tell, he hasn't figured out that the mic doesn't go IN your mouth. I have no doubt that he'll drown the thing before too long.

We made a trip down to Provo and my mom (BYU Alumni) enjoyed spending some time on the campus.

As with most of our adventures, naptime couldn't come any too soon (sorry Mom, I had to post it - too cute!).

Grant enjoyed having the a couple new cell phones, I mean PEOPLE in the house to play with. Ok so I really did mean cell phones. One afternoon we noticed him sitting on the couch pushing the buttons on my dad's phone with his toes. I'd say that he's a baby genius, but I'm not sure this qualifies. He's just one curious little kid!

We were planning on Britt ariving for a visit on July 16th, but her crazy summer itinerary changed and we welcomed her a week early. We usually only get to see Britt once or twice a year and I'm glad that we were able to spend a bit of time together.

Sleepy Head II

Grant fell asleep in his high chair the other evening, and without putting much of a dent in his sandwich! Prioritize kid!

Katie, our sons are on the same wavelength!

Lagoon

Jeremy's summer company work party was held at Lagoon so we got some friends from our ward to come with us. My friend, her two daughters, Grant and I planned on camping out at the pool while Jere went on some rides with his coworkers. We got there just before the swimming area opened so we took the kids on a few kiddie rides.

Grant seemed to enjoy the tame ones,

but not anything that made his stomach do flip flops.

By the end of the day, we were all ready for a nap.

What Grant is up to...

In the past few months, Grant has started showing a distinct interest in music and rhythm. Whenever he hears music, he starts to bob his head and wave his arms like he's conducting. Often times, I won't even realise that there is music playing when we are out somewhere until he starts "dancing".

We've been going to the park almost on a daily basis. I try to time it with his naps so I can walk a mile or two while he naps and then when he wakes up, I turn him loose in a wide open space. There are just so many things to explore!

Grant continues to love bathtime which is a blessing! He has figured out that if he holds a bottle underwater, it will fill up and so he can dump it out again. It's just so fun to watch his little mind work.

A few months ago we finally moved Grant's crib away from our bed. It's still in the same room, but independant from us. There have been quite a few rough nights still, but he is getting used to the fact that when we put him down, it's time to sleep. He has the ability to crawl out and every early morning wakes up and crawls up on my side of the bed to nurse, but we're taking steps to better sleep for us all!

California Trip - a little overdue

Back in March, Grant and I (Honor) took a trip to California to visit my family.

We played at the park...

My mother bought Grant a light saber filled with bubbles. He had WAY too much fun with it!

My mother brought out the set of blocks that we played with as children and Grant learned how to topple anything that looked like a tower.

It was fun hearing my dad read to Grant in the same way that I remember him reading to us when we were kids.

Aunt Cammie made sure that Grant had his teeth brushed. Why does there seem to be a tradition starting with taking pictures of our family brushing their teeth together? Grant learned quickly how my dad's headphones worked and kept plugging them into the radio and listening for himself.

We finally met little Cash! I was hoping for more interaction between he and Grant, but they're just not on that level yet. It was a lot of fun anyway.

Here's the only pictures we managed to get with the two little munchkins together.

Uncle Clay playing with the bubble saber (he has more fun with these things than the kids do)!

I think Grant is starting to learn how to pose and be cute instead of constantly grabbing for the camera. Well come to think of it, it's only when he's restrained and the camera is out of reach.

I feel like I have so few pictures of Grant and I, and when I actually get them, they're usually still taken by me anyway.

We visited with Beth and her son Cole. The kids were in the back seat, facing opposite directions. Grant seemed to love having the company, but it had been a long day!

Wondering what Grant is wearing? It's Beth's nursing pad of course! It was just the perfect size for his head!

I know Mom will probably kill me for actually posting this picture, but it was just too funny to pass up. My parents had just bought a brand new plunger and Grant took an immediate interest in it. We had removed the vase from the table by my parents front door so Grant wouldn't break it. We walked into the room later to find that Grant had put the plunger on the table, in the center of the doily. We decided to leave it there until Cammie brought her friends over and see if they would even notice.