Grant vs. Amminadab

In general, the cats haven't been wild about Grant recently....he's started to notice them and reach out to grab them in this past month, and they definitely aren't crazy about that! But they ARE interested in him, especially when he's playing with a toy that makes a lot of noise and gets their attention. Grant's favorite things right now are plastic and paper (just the things he's NOT supposed to play with!). But I opened a Cool Whip container the other day and let him play with the plastic covering while I sat there with him. Amminadab and Scooter were watching him play with it, and Amminadab actually came up to Grant to take it from him! I think it was the closest Amminadab has ever come to Grant (aside from the times he comes to lay on my lap while I'm nursing). And Amminadab did win; he grabbed the plastic from Grant's hands and took it under the table to play with it! Here's a picture of Scooter watching Grant play, and another one of Amminadab grabbing the plastic.

Lunch Dates

Grant and I went to Sugar Land last Tuesday to have lunch with my good friend Susan. He had so much fun...he even let Susan feed him a bottle, a job he normally allows just Mom or Dad to do! And afterwards, he sat in the restaurant highchair (for only the second time) and tried to grab everything he could on the table! I've gotten to the point where I have to put him there while I try to eat, because he'll grab my food or anything else he can while I'm holding him! But the highchair has troubles of its own....every toy I bring ends up on the ground after a few seconds, so sometimes he'll get bored after a few minutes (and he lets me know it!).Then on Wednesday, we had lunch with another good friend Sierra and her son Jacob, who just turned a month old. We went to Subway, where Jacob slept the entire time (typical for a one-month old) and Grant pulled everything off the table that he could (typical for a six-month old)! I had just unpacked my sandwich from the wrapper and we were just about to start eating, when I turned my head for a second and saw my sandwich flying off the table when I looked back! Luckily Grant's carseat was sitting right below, so the sandwich landed there and I was able to salvage everything except a tomato and some lettuce. Anyway, after lunch, we tried to take a walk in Sierra's neighborhood, but it was Jacob's turn to wake up and be hungry. So we just made it down the street before turning around to come back. We're learning that with two babies, we have to be very flexible with our plans! Here are the two babies sitting side-by-side on our walk.

Eating Routines

At Grant's six-month checkup, our doctor also talked to me about how much we can (and should) be feeding him now. Before the appointment, we had started giving him solids a little bit more regularly....usually for a mid-morning snack, and again at around dinnertime. But some days (like today), he only gets it once. It just kind of depends on when we're out and if it seems to fit into our schedule, as bad as that sounds! Dr. Thomas told us that by 9 months, he should be eating three meals a day of baby food (and also 20-25oz of milk per day), and suggested that we slowly progress towards that. We can also start feeding him the Level 2 foods, which we tried late last week (and they don't seem much different than the Level 1!).

He's really liking everything we've given him; so far he's had peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and squash. Here are a couple of pictures where he's thoroughly enjoying his peas last week!

Grant's Six Month Checkup

I took Grant for his six month checkup last Wednesday. He's doing well....he weighs 19 lbs, 7.5 oz (75th percentile), is 27 1/4 inches long (69%) and his head is in the 90th percentile! I didn't think his head looks as big as it apparently is!

Anyway, he did great with his shots....he had stopped crying by the time I took him to the room next door to nurse him, even before I started feeding him! And Dr. Thomas asked if he's rolling over yet....he rolled over a few times in early March, and hasn't done it since! But he's sitting up perfectly and grabbing things, so she said that he might be one of those babies who goes straight from sitting to pulling himself up, and may skip the crawling/rolling stage altogether.

Here's a picture after his shots with his little band-aids on!

First Trip to the Beach

We had a beautiful weekend here in Houston, so we decided to go to Galveston for the day on Saturday and take Grant to the beach! We had a great time....we went to the strand first, where we ate lunch and went to an amazing old-fashioned soda fountain for ice cream afterwards. This place, called LaKing (I believe) makes its own saltwater taffy and fudge, and they have boys wearing little white suits with hats and ties, ready to make your malts or shakes. I got an apple pie ice cream cone, and Dean got cheesecake ice cream (and Grant slept through the whole thing!).

Afterwards, we went to the beach, and Grant's favorite part was definitely the sand! We could hardly get him to look up for a picture; he just kept grabbing at it and feeling it! We did take him out to the water, but he was a little timid....he cried when we put his feet in, as you can see in the picture below. And after about an hour, he was getting tired (and very messy, as you can see in the last picture!), so we packed up and left. But since we only live about 25 minutes from Galveston, we said that we'll have to come back every month or so this summer....I think he'll just get more and more excited about (and interested in) the water every time we go.