A day at the zoo

This is the first fall that Grant is officially allowed to be out of the house. We're taking full advantage of it going to the zoo, gym class, swimming and the mall. I even went to the park with him the other day without hand wipes. :) It is hard for me to believe that last winter I couldn't take him places. Someone asked me the other day what I have done inside the last two years. I don't remember. It is all a blur. God got me through it though and now I'm just thankful that Grant's health has improved so much.

Scratch and Sniff

Both of our kids did some scratching this weekend. Grant got ahold of a sharp rock and "colored" all over the back of my car. It looks like someone keyed the car. Jim took it really well and recalled a story of when he was little and found himself in a room with a can of paint and a brush. He said he remembers thinking this probably isn't okay, but he kept doing it anyway. When I told my brother, Bryan, he recounted two stories of coloring on walls growing up. One was with a can of spray paint. In one instance he used a marker to write his name on the walls and when he was asked if he did it he adamantly denied it. Boys.

This weekend Kate noticed a new tattoo on Derme's leg. At first it looked like she was blowing on the tattoo but then we realized she was sniffing it. She thought it was a scratch and sniff sticker!

Grant's mouth

So...last night I finally decided to take Grant's complaint seriously and I looked in his mouth. Much to my surprise I found a giant white sore in the middle of his tongue. Ouch! I took him to urgent care this morning and they think it is a yeast infection. Poor guy. He's not up for eating, so it is a good thing protein shakes flow like rivers over here.

This morning, I saw a very concrete of how different girls are from boys. Kate and Jim were quietly having a tea party when Grant found them. He came blazing through with a hanger, knocking every cup and saucer over yelling, "I'm Captain Hook and I'm going to wreck you."

Grant also has this new saying if you ask him to do anything. He says, "I'll try my best and that's all you can ask."

Peter Pan

Grant seems to be having a lot of ailments lately. I can't tell if he really is in pain or he's just saying it. Every time we are in the car he says his stomach hurts. I pretty much ignored this until he puked in his carseat the other day. Lately he is saying his mouth hurts when he eats. I wasn't really taking this seriously either but yesterday he was sobbing saying he couldn't eat. Please pray for Grant to be healthy and for wisdom for me.

On a different note, Grant and I watched Peter Pan last night. The kids are going to be Peter Pan and Tinkerbell for Halloween so I thought they should at least see the movie. When I was taking Grant up to bed he asked, "Mom, why is Captain Hook so mean? I want to throw the hooker in the trash can."

Hugs

Grant loves to give Kate hugs and say, "Kate, you are such a cute yittle (little) baby!" I love this picture where she is trying to escape his hug.

Samuel

It makes me smile to hear Grant talking about God and the Bible. Last week at Community Bible Study Grant learned all about Samuel and how God spoke to this young boy. I was able to tell Grant that his middle name is Samuel after this boy and just like Samuel answered, "Here I am Lord, your servant is listening," we want Grant to follow God's voice. He thought this was very interesting and asked what Samuel's first name was. I said, "Samuel," so he said, "oh, his name is Samuel Samuel?" I guess he only thinks Samuel is a middle name.

Last night I had a really bad headache and I said, "Let's ask God to heal my head." He said, "Just like Hannah asked God for baby Samuel?" Yes! So, he prayed for my head and then he said, "Aunt Lindsay prayed for Jesus to make your headache feel better." (He had just been at my parents with Lindsay.) Later when I was talking to Lindsay I thanked her for praying with Grant for my headache. She laughed and said that she never prayed with Grant for my head. What a cool imagination he has!

Overpacked

Thank God for dads. Me? I just play with whatever toys we have in the basement. Jim gets creative and last night it took the form of putting Kate in various compartments of the suitcase and zipping her around the house. She's having more fun than it appears.

Time Out

Grant thinks it is funny to put his feet on the table during dinner. We have repeatedly told him not to do this so tonight when he did it he got an immediate time out. I didn't want to unstrap him from his booster seat so I just pushed his whole chair facing into the wall. He was very composed during this whole process and when I went to get him he calmly told me that he was busy thinking about his day and would I please leave him alone. I didn't know what to do with that so I just left him alone. A few minutes later he called for me and said he was all done. Who is giving who a time out here?!

Doctor Visits

Last week Kate would not stop crying for like 24 hours. I took her to the doctor because I was convinced that something must be wrong with her. Nothing wrong- just cutting 6 new teeth at once! She had a rough few days but she seems fine now. While she was at the doctor's office they gave her a flu shot and told me that Grant is old enough for flu mist. We went yesterday, and what a treat! No tears. I wish we had that option with all vaccinations.

Our little chatterbox is back from Disney. (Thanks grandma and grandpa!) Here are a few things he's been saying:
Grant: the snake told Eve to take the apple
Mom: Why did he do that?
Grant: He was hungry.

Mom: Did you know that I have a mom, too, just like you? Who is my mommy?
Grant: Derme.

Mom: Grant, you'll do it right now because I said so and I'm the boss.
Grant: You're not the boss. Dad's the boss.

Where's Grant?

I was wondering how Kate would do without her sidekick around. She's surprisingly joyful. She now calls me "mom" instead of "mama," so our days have been filled with her yelling, "mom," and running over to me with a big wet kiss on the lips! I think she is really loving all this attention. I hate to admit it but Grant often takes center stage because of his larger-than-life personality. It is great to get to know Kate in a whole new way!

Hello Disney

Grant left for Disney World this morning with Grandma and Grandpa Koss. I'm not sure who is more excited. I'm pretty sure the grandparents since Grant has no clue what Disney World is. However, he had a huge grin this morning when we woke him up early and told him he was leaving for Disney World.

Jim is working a lot this week so that leaves Kate and I with a lot of alone time. To be honest, it started out kind of rocky. She woke up several times in the night screaming. She would quiet down as long as we were holding her but whenever we put her back in the crib she would scream. I thought something serious must be wrong with my sweet child so I took her to the doctor's this morning. The culprit: 6 new teeth, including 2 molars. Thankfully, after a dose of Tylenol things got better and Kate and I had a great day. We went shopping, watched Beth Moore on tv and went out to dinner. Daughters are great, even at one year old!

Dot

Kate has a name for Grant. It's Dot. Kinda funny, but it's what she came up with. In the above picture Jim is walking out of church with Kate and Grant. It is so much fun to be able to go to church now with the kids. Kate is not sure whether or not she likes it yet, but if they stuff her with graham crackers she usually stops crying. Grant loves his classroom and equally enjoys playing on the band's drums after church. Whenever he sees a cross he says, "Do you know what the cross means? It means Jesus loves you."

Haircut

Yesterday Kate got her first haircut! When Grant was little and couldn't leave the house because of germs we had a hairdresser come to our house to cut his hair. She has been gracious enough to continue doing this. It is so much easier than a salon because the kids can watch movies. Last night they actually ate dinner while watching tv and getting their haircuts..until Grant told me he didn't want to eat his chicken because it was hairy! Whoops!

Scrapes

My active children keep getting bumps and bruises. On Grant's face there is a cut from falling face first onto his guitar, and a bloody lip from tripping over a tree root at the park. Kate is in tears from slipping on the bathroom floor. Hopefully this is just a stage.

Question of the Day

Grant is into asking "why?" Today he asked, "Mom, why can't we eat poop?"

On the way home from the park...

Grant: Where are we going?
Mom: Home, to eat lunch.
Grant: I want to go to a restaurant.
Mom: I didn't bring any money with me.
Grant: Check your wallet.
Mom: We're not going to a restaurant.
(long pause)
Grant: I miss Grandma and Grandpa.
Mom: You do honey?
Grant: Yes. They would take me to a restaurant.

Close Call

We've had a couple of close calls lately. Last night Derme found Kate in her crib with her stretchy blanket wrapped around her neck and over her face. Thankfully, Kate didn't seem to mind and was breathing fine, but we did take the blanket away.

This morning I was at the park with Grant and he was climbing up this 6-7ft "corkscrew" thing when his foot slipped. He was right at the top so it was quite a fall. He landed on his back and sort of bounced back on to his head. I think it knocked the wind out of him but that was it. What a miracle. When we got in the car I called Jim and told him the story. At some point in our conversation I said, "thank you, Jesus." Grant heard me and asked, "mom, are you on the phone?" I nodded. "Can I talk to Jesus?" :)

Naked Baby

I have been praying for God to enable Kate to sleep in later. Since she was born Kate has woken up around 6:00/6:15am for the day. Grant doesn't wake up until 7:30ish. I feel like I'm a much better mom if I can just sleep until 6:30am. :) So, I've been asking. And guess what? He answered. Now, I don't think Kate is actually sleeping much later (maybe a little), but she has a new way of entertaining herself when she wakes up. She takes off her pajama shirt. Yes, it is a struggle. It is hard work. She grunts and groans, but she finishes the job. It takes about 30 minutes. I love walking into my naked baby every morning.

Fun with words

Kate is starting to talk. A lot. Might I have two chatterboxes? She can say doctor, dragon, up, down, in, mama, dada, hat, all done, dog, duck, ball, milk, sock. It is funny what they pick up isn't it? Despite her large vocabulary most everyone is doctor or mama.

Grant's latest phrase is, "you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man.." Spoken as he runs away from me. It is a very convenient phrase to use to avoid diaper changes, bedtime and mealtimes.