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.