Grady Boy Version 1.25

 Our ever curious Grady trying to figure out how this thing works.

We had to reschedule Grady's 1 year appointment and due the extreme popularity of our Dr., we ended up blowing through the 1 year apt. and going when Grady was 14 months.  We love our pediatrician and he is definitely worth the wait.  He's always put my mind at ease when I tell him things like "Grady is not like the other kids we know his age because he doesn't know how to be still, EVER."  Dr. Godfrey then goes into a story about one of his 4 kids and always makes me feel better.   I always walk out of his office feeling good about Grady and like a more confident mother and for that reason I will wait two months to reschedule an appointment anytime.  

The stats for Grady at 14 months.

Height: 31.7 inches (80%)

Weight: 22.56 pounds (52%)  (thank you mac & cheese and hot dogs!)

Head:  18.5 inches (59%)

 "I don't know why I cannot manage to sit and be still, that is your problem, not mine."

I never expected a Dr. to show so much love towards his littlest patients. 

And shots, no problem when you get a sucker at the end.  I put G in the car with a wrapped sucker, drove the 2 minute drive home and found him proudly enjoying his treat when I got home with wrapper in hand.  I am always one step behind this kid!

• Grady's vocabulary is really taking off.  We've stopped keeping track of how many words he has and just love hearing what comes out of his mouth.  I am pleased to announce that he has added yes (rather than everything being "No") to his vocabulary and he says it in the cutest way, "yesh". Some other favorites are "beep beeps" for cars,  "baybay" for his cabbage patch kid, "mecin" for medicine and of course "meez" for please.
• Words are really helping us figure out what our strong minded kid wants.  "Yes" has been so helpful so that he can tell us what he wants.  He also announces, "nigh nigh" now when it is time for nap. When those words come out, we b-line it for the crib to avoid the pre-nap meltdown.
• When you ask cousin Cameron what Grady says, his response is "no no no".  Even kids his own age pick up on Grady's defiance - ha!
• He has a love hate relationship with Bella asking for her every morning and getting the biggest smile when she comes, but also telling her "no no no" at least 10 times a day when she barks or tries to lick food off of his face. 
• He is an outside kid and happiest when he gets to run free in the fresh air. 
• Speaking of running, the kid has pretty much ditched walking and runs everywhere he goes now. 
• He gives us kisses more freely now sometimes starting his kiss runway from across the room puckering up and saying "mmmmmmmmm" connecting with us a good 10 feet later. 
• He has learned to jump with feet off the ground on the trampoline and in his crib!  He has always jumped while holding on to the side of the crib, but now he does it without holding on and he has destroyed his mattress in the process.  Again, Dr. is this normal?!?!?
• His favorite word is definitely "hi".  If dad has his head in his computer and Grady wants attention from his high chair, "hi-eee", if we are driving in the car and turn around to see him "hi-eee", if he is in a restaurant and the waitress approaches, "hi-eee".  Every guest at Home Depot and the grocery store is greeted by our Grady and if he doesn't get a response, he is relentless with repeated "hi-ees" until those patrons respond.   
• He has learned most body parts, the best is of course the belly button, which he refers to as "butt" when lifting his shirt to show it off. 
• When learning body parts at little gym, the teacher said "nose" and Grady promptly went up to her putting his pointer finger on her nose and not removing it.  The sweet teacher finished the lesson with Grady's finger on her nose. 
• He loves his little gym class and is quite the adventurous little boy. 
• He is super tickelish and has the best laugh when getting tickled to the ground. 
• He has his mamma's sweet tooth and begs for candycorns on a daily basis. 
• He makes grandpa proud  and loves to brush his teeth, we are hoping that combats the candycorn consumption at least a little bit.
• For as busy as he is, we love that he still wants to be rocked at night.  His happiest, most giggly time is the time we spend with him right before bed.  What a sweet time that is for us. 
• At almost 15 months, Grady is full of fire, active, independent, curious, vocal, shy in crowds, hilarious and the love of our lives.  Love you buddy!

Pumpkin Patchin

We took in the season with the Whitfield 4 this year by visiting our favorite pumpkin patch together. Expectations were high and Grady started out the day with a bang by getting caught in the pumpkin vine and smashing his face into a pumpkin cutting his mouth.  Those pumpkin vines are tricky for the little guys. Good thing he had a quick recovery (not always the case) so we could enjoy the rest of the day - phew disaster averted!  After that minor incident, I was in pumpkin patch heaven.  I could spend all day there, I swear.

We enjoyed the hayride, lots of pumpkin viewing, good cousin time, hot mini donuts, and of course a short visit to the petting zoo (how could we let G miss out on that!).  All in all the day was a success complete with picking out a little white pumpkin for Bella, a flat red one for me, a big daddy for Chris, and a perfect little Grady size pumpkin.  I love the pumpkin patch, I wish we could go every month!!

Views of the patch from my phone:

I couldn't help by remember Grady's first visit to Linder Farms last year all snuggled up with me.  What a difference a year makes.  Grady was so happy to explore this place on his own.  Our outside boy appeared to love the patch as much as his mama.

After learning last year that the max price any customer pays for a pumpkin is $9.00 no matter the size, Chris was determined to get a big one.   He worked quite hard to collect this one.  It is hard to find the big ones that actually stand up and I must say Chris was quite proud of his perfect pumpkin.

Our little animal lover.

Off with his pumpkin loot!

Bundled Grady

About five minutes after I whined in my previous post about Grady not wearing hats, I walked out to see him decked out in a hat and mittens ready for a morning walk with Ray Ray.   So maybe I should try whining about all of his toddler behavioral issues on this blog or asking Mrs. Ray Ray to fix them, wait she already does. 

I think little bundled kids are just about the cutest thing ever so I can't help but share pictures of our bundled, pine-cone collecting Grady boy.

Full Swing of Fall

As much as I love September, I think that my favorite two weeks of the year may be the first two weeks of October.  I especially love this time now that I have a little buddy to share in the festivities with me.  This weekend the Idaho Botanical Garden did a fall festival.  Most activities were better suited for a kids a little older than Grady (pumpkin painting, kid corn maze, face painting, and the like), but Grady was happy as could be to sit on a tractor and test his strength by trying to pick up all the pumpkins and squash.  We'd been on a cold walk the morning before and ending up being way overdressed for a hot October Day.   It was absolutely gorgeous and Grady had the red cheeks to prove it.  Passersby would comment to me "red cheeks".  I felt like a bad mom, but he sure looked cute in his overalls. 

Drums. 

"Do you think they'll notice if I take this one?"

 Tractor drivin'.

  Two boys enjoying their beverages.

There were various themed scarecrows throughout the Garden, this one happened to be my favorite.  Maybe it is a throwback to my own childhood love of teenage mutant ninja turtles, but I thought this was pretty cute. for the record Rafael is and will always be the best. 

I never knew the Garden looked so beautiful in the fall. 

Grady had an unusual obsession with  this squash.  It was pretty funny to watch him lug it around like it was his job.

"Apple?"  He still calls pumpkins apples.  We've got three weeks to figure out that these are not called apples and not appropriate for eating like an apple. 

We also made sure that baby number one got some special attention this weekend.  We went to See Spot Walk (the sister event to See Spot Swim).   This is a dog town for sure.   We met Shada and her mom for the event and had a nice walk with several thousand other dogs and picked up some nice treats for Miss Bella along the way.  Afterwards in true fall spirit, we hit up the farmers market and called it a day.

Walking to the market.  Look at my new office building changing the skyline of Boise.  I cannot wait to get in there this winter!

The weather is cooling down and we are breaking out the jackets.  I am hopeful that before it is zero degrees outside, Grady can get over his extreme dislike for hats. 

Somebody has a pretty big obsession with the fireplace.  He is completely mesmerized by the flames and asks for "more more more" every time we turn it on.

 I love my little "monster"!  We also love all the hand me down clothes that he's gotten including these adorable jammies, his Caharrt overalls and his Patagonia down jacket all pictured here.  Lucky boy!  Lucky us!  

We love fall!

Some of these pictures are a little out of focus.  The weekend ended with the official breaking of my camera, boo. It has been sputtering for a while, but it officially gave up this weekend.