Bath Time

The other day Derme gave Grant and Kate a spaghetti bath...

Feeling Better

Grant is feeling so much better! The antibiotics are working and Grant's fever is gone. He is still really grumpy, but I think that is to be expected after all he's been through. Thank you for your prayers!

Sick Grant

Just got back from getting chest x-rays at the hospital. Grant was diagnosed with atypical pneumonia. This means that instead of having pneumonia in one area of the lungs he has it in three. He is really miserable. We start two antibiotics today. Please pray for quick healing.

7 seconds

Kate and Grant started swim lessons about a month ago. At the facility there are two pools side by side, so Kate and I go in one pool and Grant goes in the other all by himself. This was really tough for him at the beginning, but last week he actually earned a ribbon that said, "I put my face in the water." For a kid who screams getting his hair washed this was a big accomplishment. He is fine being away from me now and is learning great skills like taking turns, in addition to learning how to swim.

In addition to being part monkey Kate is part fish. Today she went underwater for 7 seconds! She isn't phased in the slightest. I think I could probably keep her under for longer but I couldn't handle it. She loves the baby slide the best but hasn't learned yet to close her mouth when she goes down it so she doesn't get a mouthful.

Detroit

This weekend we spent the day in Detroit at aunt Lindsay and Uncle Josh's new house. The kids adore Lindsay and Josh and had a blast exploring in their house and yard. For his nap we put Grant in a pack and play in their bedroom. At one point while he was supposed to be sleeping we heard a really loud noise coming from the bedroom. After a few minutes we went up and Grant had jumped and rocked in his pack and play so hard that he managed to travel about 6 feet to Lindsay's nightstand. There he grabbed the pepper spray and Tylenol bottle. Even the pack and play can't contain him. Close call.

Fun with Words

I've been trying to get Kate to watch "Baby Signing Time" videos for months now. (They were so helpful in teaching Grant to communicate.) She has no interest. In fact, she has no interest in any children's videos. She only likes HGTV. I'm serious. So, I've been trying to teach her to sign on my own and she's finally got it! She can sign more, all done, night-night and milk. It is great to finally be able to understand a bit of what she is trying to communicate.

Grant, on the other hand, has no trouble expressing himself. The other day we were waiting in line at the Troy Aquatic Center (waterpark type place) and he was getting impatient. I told him we had to wait in line to pay money. He must have thought I said we were waiting to "get money" because he marched right up to the window and said, "Excuse me, we need money please to buy food and clothes and toys." The women at the counter just laughed so the persistent little fellow went to the next window. The mom there was holding her credit card out to give the cashier when it was swiped by Grant. He gave her a huge smile and said, "We need money." Then he nodded his head a few times and attempted to walk off.

What they're up to

Grant- Before every nap/bedtime he requests, "sing about my day," so Jim and I change the words to familiar songs to recap to Grant what he did that day. Has also learned to use "my tummy hurts" as a form of manipulation around bedtime or if he doesn't want to eat something.

Kate- Has learned how to kiss. If you ask her to give you a kiss she'll lunge forward with her mouth wide open and plant a wet one on ya. Loves to play hide and seek. In the mornings while Grant is still sleeping I hide in the kitchen/dining room and she runs around looking for me. Every time she finds me she belly laughs like she's never done this before.

Rock Star

When we went to a garage sale the other day I told Grant he could pick out a few things. He chose a top hat and a guitar. He has not put the guitar down since. Here's him playing one of his songs. It is called, "Bringin'" and the chorus is "bringing balls and blinds" in case you can't understand him.

Smiles All Around

My favorite picture is the one of Grant wearing my silver heels. He walked all over the house in them and Kate followed him around like a little puppy. When he finally took them off she tried to eat them. Okay, I guess she's more like a puppy than I first realized.

"Talk about it"

This post may not make sense to anyone, but I have to blog it so that 20 years from now we can look back at it and laugh.

For several months now Grant has been requesting that we repeat a sequence of events that happened in the past by saying something like, "The flood. Talk about it." He has three main events that he wants repeated:
1) "Do not walk on it. Talk about it."- Grandma and Grandpa Ned, this one would make you smile. It is about the shuffleboard court near your house with the sign that said, "Please do not walk on court."
2)"Man fall down." A few months ago Grant when started his obsession with car washes Jim played a video on the internet of a man who went into a car wash and slipped. He wants a replay of exactly what happened to the man with the soap, blow dryers etc.
3. "The flood." Our basement flooded last month and they had to rip up all the carpet, baseboards and do many other things involving all sorts of tools that little boys want to get their hands on.

The funny part about these stories is that Grant literally asks to hear them 20 times a day. ANY time there is a moment of silence he chimes in, "Tell about 'Do not walk on it.'" Sometimes I just talk about other things without a breath so that I don't have to repeat these three series of events. :)

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Storytime

New Bike

The other day my sister in law suggested that Grant is old enough to ride a bike. This really excited me because I imagined hours of fun in the driveway this summer. So, all weekend long we told Grant that mommy was going to take him to pick out his very own bike. When we finally arrived at Toys R Us Grant was thrilled. However, the idea of a bike quickly got lost in the rows of balls, trucks, hammers, spaceships and legos. Why did the bike section have to be at the back of the store? We finally made our way back there and he picked out his very own 10 inch florescent green bike. When we got home I jumped out of the car, ripped the tags off and sat Grant on the seat. I was pushing him around in the driveway for a few minutes when he jumped off the bike and went running for the garage. By the time I caught up with him he had a broom in each hand. "Let's sweep, Mama!" So much for the bike. If it's not vacuuming, it's sweeping the garage.

From Grant's mouth...

"Kate, you look so pretty today!"
"Mom, why does dad call you honey?"
"Mom, watch out- Kate's trouble."
"Let's keep our eyes peeled for car washes."

Quirks

Every kid has their quirks. Grant's had quite a few of them, but one of his most recent really cracks me up. You see, he's had a sound machine in his room that generates white noise since he was a baby. Recently he's discovered that the sound machine also makes other noises, most notably a heartbeat. He calls this "mup-mup," and wants it on constantly. When we're reading books in his room he requests "mup-mup" on in the background. When he's playing with toys he quietly goes over and turns the dial to "mup-mup" and then looks at me with a wide grin. Isn't it ironic that our little boy with the repaired heart loves the sound of a healthy heartbeat in the background?

We call her spiderwoman

Kate loves to climb everything. Here's what happened yesterday when Jim was trying to get something out of the fridge while holding her. She's a little monkey.

Remember when...

Today Grant "graduated" from the Early On program. Since Grant was 3 months old someone from the program has been coming to our house on a regular basis to evaluate Grant and work with him on various goals we set. Today his teacher announced that he has met all of the goals and she was going to close his case. This makes Grant officially "normal" in every area. He's right on track in all areas, he can be in group situations that may have germs and he doesn't have any further medical treatment. (He does have to have tests done on his heart once a year as a preventative measure, but no further surgeries are needed.)

Over dinner tonight I sat with Jim delivering the good news and he began to play, "remember when...", thanking God for how far Grant has come. Remember when he laid unconscious in the hospital bed? Remember when he was on 14 medications? Remember when we had to pin him down to do his breathing treatments? We went on and on. He has come so far. We are beyond thankful. Go God!

Doctor's Visit

Kate went to the orthopedic surgeon today for a more complete examination of her leg/foot. The doc was really positive and said that she will most likely outgrow both the bow-leggedness and the intoeing. He even said that physical therapy isn't necessary. Yippee! That give us much more time to do fun activities of our own.

We've been playing at the nearby parks as much as possible. Grant loves the slides and the tire swing. He also loves to jump out and say "peek-a-boo" to all the older kids. I think it is adorable but the kids think it is a little weird. Kate loves the baby swing and could sit in it for hours. She loves to watch the kids, especially the other babies. I am starting to love having the kids so close in age. It is really nice to do the same activity with both of them.

Random Pics

Here are a random smattering of pictures that I've been meaning to post. We have everything from Charleston to a visit from Uncle Hal and a few pictures in between.

Walking

A peek at baby Kate's first steps..

Milestones

We hit a couple of major milestones this week. First, Grant started gym class at the YMCA. The reason this is such a big deal is that it is the first time he's offically allowed out with no germ restrictions. He touched all the same stuff as the other kids and I didn't even have to talk to the teacher about his "special needs" because he really doesn't have any anymore. I still sanitized his hands a couple of times, because no one likes a sick kid, ya know?

Kate started walking this week! She's not even 9 months. The scenario often looks like this- she walks, we cheer, she looks at us cheering and starts crying and then she falls down. We're learning to have poker faces. :)

Wedding picts

Going to the chapel...

No pictures for a few days because we are in Charleston, South Carolina for my brother's wedding. This is the life! We are staying right on the water and the kids are in heaven. There are sand dunes in front of our house and Grant can entertain himself for hours going up and down the dunes. I read a flyer that said you have to pay $500 fine for climbing the dunes. Hope we don't get caught. :) Grant loves the excitement of having so many friends and family around. When he walks into a room he yells, "Hi everybody!" Kate, on the other hand clings to me for dear life in the midst of the crowd. What different children I have. Tomorrow is the rehearsal and the wedding is on Sunday. It is extra exciting because Jim is marrying Bryan and Kristen and Grant and I are in the wedding too. We've been reviewing Grant's role with him daily so hopefully it will go off without a hitch. If not we're sure to get a few laughs.

Physical therapy....again!

Kate continues to want to be like her big brother. So much so that she will be starting physical therapy in a few weeks. :) The last couple of months as she cruised around furniture we noticed she was kind of pigeon-toed and would step on one foot with the other. Today I took her to the doctor and they diagnosed her with tibia torsion. Please be praying that her leg would straighten out and that she would walk normally.

Other than that the kids are healthy and doing great. Starting in May Grant will be allowed to be around kids with no restrictions. This is so awesome and unbelievable to us. It has been such a long journey keeping him inside. We have not gone to church as a family ever because we couldn't put Grant in children's ministry. We feel such freedom and excitement.

Peek-a-boo

We've been busy moving so I have not had time to blog lately but we are finally starting to get settled. Although our new place is much larger, the kids are sharing a bedroom for the first time. I was dreading it and heard it might take months before they learned to block out each other's cries. Thankfully, it has turned out great. The first night was a bit long, but other than that they are doing great. It is actually easier to get them dressed and put them to bed having everything all in once place. Bedtime is extra fun because Kate sits on my lap and Grant sits on Jim's and the four of us read stories. It has become a special time for all of us.

Easter Eggs

The high point of Grant's day was dying Easter eggs. Kate wanted desperately to get in on the fun and worked hard to dodge Grant's foot as he tried to kick her away. She ended up tearing off a piece of newspaper that kept her busy for a bit.

The low point of Grant's day was naptime. We took the pacifier away on Friday and he still has not learned how to soothe himself to sleep during the day. He has not napped since Friday. Yikes! We are praying he catches on soon.

Potty time meets dress up time

Funny Grant Phrases

Two year olds say the funniest things. Last night a good friend came over to babysit Grant. When she tucked Grant in at night he yelled, "Peggy, call me!"

This weekend Grant and I were doing an art project, which consisted of cutting faces out of magazines and gluing them on paper. Grant kept wanting to stick his finger in the gluestick tube and mush it up. Although he is only two I told him that this wrecks the glue stick and I asked him please not to. To which he replied, "grandma said it's okay." (I'm positive he and grandma have never used glusticks together..)

The other day I gave Grant his lunch and said to him, "Grant, what do you say?" Without so much as a smile he replied, "donkie." (This is how you say thank you in Afrikaans, which is Derme's native language.) When we were at the pool in Florida someone asked him when his birthday was and he told the man in Afrikkans! He hears Derme speak it and has just started incorporating it into his vocabulary. Pretty cool.

The faces of Kate

Together Forever

Grant and Kate are officially easier to take care of when they are together. They entertain each other, play together and sometimes Grant even shares with his sister. :) Grant is trying to teach Kate to talk. He gets in her face and yells, "say MAMA, Kate, MAMA!"

Grant is also in the midst of potty training. Our au pair, Derme, is taking the lead on this one. Grant does not want to sit on the potty for anyone but her. He has had some success in this area the last couple of days. He gets an almond when he sits on the potty and an M&M when he goes. Hopefully it won't be long and we'll be rid of the diapers for good!

Florida Pictures

Snot

The kids are both getting over colds. The good news is that Grant weathered this cold really well. I mean, really well. He fought it off in a short amount of time (usually it hangs on for about 14-16 days and this one was gone in 8) and it didn't slow him down a bit.
They both still have slightly runny noses. Yesterday after the kids' naps they were playing in Grant's crib when Grant looked at me and said (with a hint of disgust), "Mom, please wipe Kate's nose!" I left the room to get a Kleenex and when I came back I overheard Grant explaining to Kate what a bugger was while he was picking her nose. She was just sitting there smiling all the while. She is never that happy when I wipe her nose!

Teething

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Florida. We were able to visit both sets of grandparents and enjoyed trips to the zoo and farm, catching bugs, building sandcastles and swimming. Actually, Grant enjoyed all those things. Our sweet Kate didn't care where she was as long as there was something to chew on.

"fall down"

After Grant's nap everyday I take Kate up to Grant's room and put her in his crib. They wrestle and play for a while before one of them has enough. In this video Grant is a bit rough, but be assured that the noises coming from Kate are happy noises. She is such a good sport.

Sunday

Picture this scene: It is Sunday afternoon and Grant has just woken up from his nap. Dad entices Grant out of his crib by asking him if he wants to vacuum. Dad secretly loves lines in the carpet so this is a treat for dad too. They go to the closet to both get vacuums out. Meanwhile Kate and I are sitting on Grant's bedroom floor. Then, around the corner appears two very loud males with very loud vacuums. Kate looks like a deer in headlights. I think she was shaking. She grabs onto me and I hold her tight. All this vacuuming is a bit much for both of us. But, our guys love to clean.

Let me back up to yesterday. Yesterday Grant saw dad ironing shirts. (Right now you are thinking that Jim is a super husband or I am a housewife who doesn't do her job.) Grant is thrilled to have a new hobby and now we have an ironing board in the playroom. Stay tuned for photos.

kate stands

The Vacuum Never Dies

As you can see by this photo Grant is still into vacuuming. We use a variety of vacuums so that we never get bored. In the morning it is usually the dustbuster, in the afternoon the Oreck and in the evening the pretend kids vacuum. In between we sweep. We could eat dinner off the floor.

I don't know if you can tell in this photo of Kate but her exersaucer is piled high with toys that don't belong there. When she was in it this morning Grant decided that she needed more toys so one by one he piled toys around her and eventually on top of her. She laughed the whole time. It has been fun to see them interact more. They played their first "game" together last night. Grant was taking a bath and Kate was standing outside it (yes, she can pull herself to a stand now- we think she's superwoman) and he would line up shampoo bottles on the side of the tub and she would knock them in. They would both laugh and do it again. It is fun to get glimpses of what they will be like playing together a year from now.

Kate's funny crawl

Welcome Derme

Last Friday our family welcomed Derme, an au pair here on a cultural exchange program. She came all the way from South Africa and will be living with us for a year. She will be taking classes, helping with the kids and learning about American culture. We have had so much fun already in such a short time. We know God hand picked Derme for our family. Here are a few pictures of Derme with the kids.

Recovery

Grant is out of surgery and is experiencing a "normal" recovery (alternating between crying and sleeping). Below is a verse God spoke to me yesterday when I was praying for Grant:

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. Oh Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" Psalm 30:11-12

We are so thankful for God's provision.

Surgery

Tomorrow morning at 9am Grant has surgery for his hernia. We have been preparing him for several days now by pretending to do surgery on his doll, Lucy. He loves hearing the little skit that I do with Lucy and the doctor and often says, "more surgery!" when I finish. Please pray for his surgery tomorow, and for peace for me too. It's funny because my child has had open heart surgery and this surgery is no big deal compared to that. But still, the word surgery still brings back painful memories at this point. Thanks for your prayers and support.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Grant:
food: sausage patties. Precooked and frozen.
activity: hiding in bathrooms and closets when I'm not looking.
toy: blocks. He loves to build tunnels and towers and put his little people in them
book: The Little Engine that Could.
person: daddy. He can't get enough. Today dad put him on a raft and let him slide down the stairs. I played a counting game with him. I don't have a chance. :)
Phrase: "Grant do it. All by self!"
Least favorite thing to do: Drink milk at meals.
Favorite dessert: cookies and M & M's. Yesterday when he woke up I asked him what he was dreaming about and he said, "cookies and M & M's."

Kate:
food: sweet potatoes. The only solid she'll eat.
toy: anything of Grant's
person: Grant. She laughs when he jumps, she laughs when he laughs, she even laughs when he takes her toys away. She is totally captivated by him.
activity: eating books. Bedtime stories have been taken to a whole new level.
dislikes: loud noises and loud people. She cries when people talk loudly.
bedtime: 7:30pm
waketime: 5:30am. It was 7:15 until this week. Not sure what is happening but I'm not a fan.

The Inchworm

Kate is a little inch worm. She has not mastered crawling yet, but she is determined to get across the room. So, she moves by thrusting her butt up in the air and then flinging herself forward. It is really quite a sight. I don't think it will be long before she is crawling because she already wants everything that Grant has. Grant's favorite line is, "no Baby Kate! Grant's!" :) Welcome to life with a two year old.

Actually, I think Grant is pretty sweet for a two year old. He always reminds us not to slip when we leave the house and says "God Bless you," whenever we sneeze. The other day we pulled into our driveway and I realized that Grant couldn't walk into the house because he didn't have shoes on. (Long story) So, I told him he had to stay in his carseat while I quickly ran baby Kate into the house. I said, "By the time you count to 10 I'll be back." I sprinted Kate in to the house and when I came back out to get Grant I asked him, "Did you count to 10?" He looked at me with a totally straight face and said, "No, forty." How does he even know the number 40? Was he trying to be funny? I get a kick out of everything that comes out of his mouth. Okay, almost everything.

Florida Pictures