This weekend

We went to Madisonville this weekend to visit my good friend Margaret, her husband Doug, and their new little boy David. He is two and a half months old , weighs over 16 pounds (wow!), and is SO cute! And he's also a very good baby....he'll just lay in his bouncy seat and look around, completely content. I don't remember exactly what Grant did at that age, but I'm pretty sure that he never was that easy!

Then we all drove to College Station for a reunion of our accounting program at A&M. We saw a few of our friends from college, which was fun. I was blown away by how modern and state-of-the-art everything was in the business building now. It's hard to believe that technology changes so much in less than 6 years!

Here are a few pictures of David (and all of us):

More pictures

Here are some more pictures from New Year's weekend. Grant has started to get really excited about bubbles when we take him to the library, and once in a while we'll pull them out at home too. The kitties also have fun with this....they usually sit perched on the couch and try to pop them too!

During New Year's weekend, Dean washed one of the cars outside, and Grant had fun being out there with him for a while.
Oops....the sippy cup fell underneath the car!
Doing his fish face....he likes to do this because he knows it makes us laugh!What a cool kid!
Licking a spoon with peanut butter.
During bathtime....
One of Grant's favorite things to do is running around naked after bathtime. Surprisingly, we haven't had many accidents when he does this!
He loves to run from room to room, and he just laughs and laughs when we chase him and catch him!

Pictures

Here are some pictures from New Year's weekend....we've had quite a bit of cold weather for the past couple of weeks (aside from these past couple of days), so I went out and bought Grant a warm jacket the day after Christmas. It seems to keep him really warm.....we'll go outside with him and freeze our tails off while he's sitting comfortably in his swing! Here's the jacket and gloves I bought for him....the gloves are WAY too big, but he actually doesn't try to pull them off like I would have expected. And at least he'll get to wear them next year! I love this picture....
Grant giving Daddy a kiss....we couldn't get him to do this when any of the grandparents were here, but he does like to give kisses. Sometimes you'll ask him to give you one, then he'll keep doing it over and over again without being asked!
It's time to come inside, and Grant doesn't enjoy that part very much!
In his A&M jersey, before the A&M/Penn State game. Unfortunately the Aggies still lost!

Terrible twos....at thirteen months??!

We've had a rough time for the past few weeks! I don't want to say that every hour of every day is horrible (far from that), but we definitely have a curious and headstrong toddler on our hands! Grant is discovering so many new things and makes up his mind about things he wants to do, and it's becoming hard to find things to distract him anymore. For example, he is very interested in electrical outlets; we've baby-proofed them, but any time something is plugged in, he sets his mind on pulling it out! He especially wanted to do this with the Christmas tree. Any time Grant disappeared for a couple of minutes, you could pretty much guarantee that's where he was! And as we're telling him "no," it's hard not to smile because he looks so darn cute.....he goes up to it, then looks back and forth with a little sly smile on his face because he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to do! Aahh! That little stinker! Dean has been slapping his hand quite a bit, but I don't think it hurts or scares him much, because he goes right back and does it again!

So....it's just been one of those months where it seems like nothing is going right. I definitely don't want him to learn that he can play with things that are dangerous, but it's so hard to know how to discipline at this age. I know that consistency is the key, so I think it's just a matter of staying on top of him. He knows what's wrong; he's just trying to see if we'll stop him every time!

Another thing we're dealing with is fits. He loves to be outside (even in this cold weather!), and no matter how long we stay outside, he cries and gets mad when we come in! Also, if we're out doing errands and it's time to get back in the car, sometimes he makes it almost impossible to strap him in! He is so strong!! And if he wants to go into a room (i.e. laundry room/kitty litter box room) and I shut the door before he can pull it open and walk in, he will sometimes clench his fists and fall down on the floor crying!

These situations are easier to handle....I just walk away from him and let him cry for a second (that's usually all it takes), and quite often I also laugh because he looks pretty cute when he gets really mad like that! I think all of it comes down to curiosity- at this age, he wants to explore everything. And by putting him in his carseat or bringing him back into the house, he's taken away from a place where he wants to be at that moment!

But....all this to say, I am completely amazed by him and have a wonderful time with him most of the time. It's just that this stage is a little bit harder (in some ways) than when he was five months old! I read in a book that one-year-olds are very selfish....they still want to make sure that mom and dad are there, but they're mainly interested in exploring their world. And they're not happy when they aren't allowed to do that!

Pictures from Christmas week.....finally!

Wow, Christmas went by in a flash and I have had such little time to do things on the computer, even though Dean has been home for much of the time! Anyway, here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Dean's first day off was Dec 19 (Weds), and we made a trip up into town to visit the Galleria (I always love to go there at Christmastime to see the giant Christmas tree and all the decorations). Grant was NOT a very good boy on this trip, and this picture somewhat indicates his frustration! He wasn't happy being pushed in his stroller, and wanted to walk everywhere, which is hard when you're in a crowded mall! So we ended up leaving earlier than we'd planned. We let him sleep in the car, then ate lunch at Niko Niko's, one of our favorite restaurants from our dating days. Grant enjoyed sitting and eating outside, so the entire trip wasn't a complete loss! But at the Galleria, there's an entire wing almost filled completely with expensive children's stores, one after another. I was in awe at some of the prices for baby clothes, and I felt completely out of touch with the people in there, who were actually really shopping for their own kids (and not just looking at the price tags in amazement!).

Mama and Grant next to our Christmas tree:
We bought a SwifferVac, and Thursday was the first day we tried it out. We have a lot of tile in our house (almost the entire downstairs), and I am horrible at finding time to take out the broom to sweep (and it's not very effective anyway). The SwifferVac is great! It's motorized but runs on a charge (so no batteries), and it's a perfect little vacuum for hard floors. Here's Grant trying it out. He loves to walk with us and talk to it when we're using it.
We went to the park that day too. Here's Grant on his favorite playground equipment (I still can't think of the name, darn it!):
He also loves to swing....here he is on the park swing:
Then he sat on Daddy's lap and they both swung together (he likes this too!):

Yikes! You're going too fast, Daddy!
On Friday, the 21st, Dean's family came to town. We went to lunch at Boudreaux's cajun restaurant (another favorite) after Corie and Steve flew in. Then we tried to drive down to Galveston, but we had a horrible time just trying to get to the interstate (people leaving early from work). So we ended up staying home and just playing outside for a while. Here's Grant riding down the slide in our backyard with Daddy:
Getting sugars from Nana!
Grant really likes Corie; he usually likes for her to hold him, and for more than just a few seconds!
Grant riding on his swing the next day. Nana was making faces at him and he loved it! He LOVES being on this swing....even when it's really cold outside (like the past couple of days), he points to go outside and could sit on that swing for an hour. Every time we bring him in, he cries and throws a little fit because he doesn't want to come in. Fun fun!
Drinking some water from Nana's glass:
Grant got some great gifts for Christmas; he got a little SpiderMan friend (basically, a doll for little boys!) from Steve and this Sesame Street couch/bed from Corie. He has great fun on this couch! While we were opening gifts (he still doesn't really get the point of that), he laid down on it, as if he was completely bored with this whole present-opening thing! The couch also folds open into a little bed, and Grant loves jumping and crashing into it.
Here he is sitting on his couch the next morning:
When my parents came to town on Christmas Eve, it was a beautiful (but cold) day. We took a walk to the park, and here's Grant flying through the air in our driveway (a little too high for my liking, but Grant enjoys it!):
With Grandma:
With Grandma and Grandpa. We had a good time that night, opening presents and eating seafood gumbo for dinner.
Christmas morning. This box was Grant's favorite toy; a few days before Christmas, he discovered it under the tree and loved to carry it around and chew on it whenever he saw it. It was a gift for me! There was also a present (for Grant) that was just wrapped in a colored box, with no paper covering it. Two or three times before Christmas, Grant went for the same box and took the top off, then tore the tissue paper out and left the present just sitting there!
Wearing a new big-boy froggy towel he got for Christmas!Grant and Daddy went out to play and swing that evening while I made dinner. Here he's coming back inside on Daddy's shoulder (and not throwing a fit.....yet!):

In front of our Christmas tree that night:
Oh yeah, Scooter really likes Grant's couch too!