Well trained

Grant has Kate so well trained. Yesterday I caught him playing doctor on her. She did everything he asked of her including when he held a flashlight to her mouth and prompted her she said, "ahhhhh." Earlier today Grant took Jim's sock and hid it in the dining room. Jim asked Grant to go get it. Grant turned to Kate and said, "Kate, go find dad's sock." Kate then left the room that all of us were in, headed to the dining room by herself and retrieved the sock, all the while running back to us with a giant toothy grin.

He's not always so bossy. He obviously cares so much about her and shows it by saying things like, "close the door so Kate doesn't fall down the stairs," sharing his toys and always slobbering her with kisses. Tonight after we tucked the kids in I could hear Grant whispering through the monitor, "mom, mom, mom...you forgot my pacifier." It took me a while to get up there, but he never spoke above a whisper because he said he didn't want to wake Kate. What a sweetie!

Sassy Kate

Mr.Wiggles

It was 2:30pm. Grant had not eaten, napped or moved over moved for a very long time.It wasn't even so much that Grant wanted to move, but that he wanted to talk. And, when he talks he is very animated. So after the nurse "shhhhhed" us several times she finally concluded that Grant needed to be sedated to finish the echo. But, in questioning me it came out that I gave him a protein bar that morning. (The nurse whom I talked to the night before said he could have a "light snack." Protein bars are light snacks, right?) They disapprovingly told me that that is considered a solid meal. So, it was not possible to sedate Grant. :) It was an accident, I swear. So, the doctor told the tech exactly what pictures HAD to be taken and between sucking on a lollipop and me singing show tunes (much to my humilation) we got the job done.

The conclusion after the echo and EKG was that his veins and heart looked great. They were specifically looking for no narrowing of any veins and from what pictures they did get there was not any. Doctor was encouraged that Grant never seems out of breath and has no trouble keeping up with other kids. He was a little concerned about Grant's recent pneumonia, so he sent us up to x-ray to get pictures of his chest. But, since we had such a long day already he said he'd call us with the results.

Grant did great today. He didn't cry once. For the first time ever I let him play with the gross, dirty toys in the corner of the cardiac waiting room. I remember last year at our appointment thinking I would never let my kid touch those toys even if he was 100% healthy. We've come a long way.

Big Day

Thursday is Grant's annual cardiology visit at U of M. This is the day that they do an EKG, Echo etc. Up until this point they have always had to sedate Grant to do the tests. This year I have requested to do the tests unsedated. If you know Grant then you know that he is a very active guy, so this could be challenging. They will give it one try and if he is not cooperating then they will have to put him out. We know that with God all things are possible. Would you please join us in praying that he will not have to be sedated? We don't expect them to find anything wrong with his heart, but we'd appreciate your continued prayers for a healthy heart!

What they're in to

Grant- Loves his "yown time (alone time), which consists of sitting quietly in his crib reading for about 45 minutes a day. Is amazing at sharing with Kate. He constantly asks where she is and wants to give his toys to her (not his favorite ones, of course). Is into nuts and protein bars. Thinks they are as good as cookies. (Like father, like son). Is super sensitive. When Elmo lost his blanket in a movie the other day he cried. :)Loves the slide at the water park but still hates to get his hair washed.

Kate- Loves to climb up and down stairs. We do this every morning from about 5:45-7:00am while Grant is still asleep. Is a great eater. Loves to kiss any pictures in books of babies. Loves purses. She has several play purses now and slings them over her shoulder and walks around. Is super tough. She gets shoved, pushed, hit and falls all the time but she never cries when she is physically hurt. She gets right back up and fights back. Roars at the stuffed lion every time she sees it in the playroom. Doesn't need much sleep.(boo)Loves to snuggle and "honk" noses. She gave me a nose bleed yesterday because she accidently shoved her finger up my nose before I could stop her.

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?