Grant in a new form, Swim Lessons, a birthday party and more!

Well, it turns out Grant would have made quite a cute little girl, ha! There is a back story to this picture and Luke will probably kill me for posting this one. So, I found the cutest little dress for Sloan in a size 2T, for an awesome price....yes I officially have a shopping problem when it comes to girl stuff! I was showing Luke this dress and he said "that looks huge, she won't be able to wear until she is like 4 years old". And I said no, it is actually a 2T, so when she is Grant's age she can wear it. I got a doubtful look. So, Grant was looking at it and I said "do you want to try it on?". Grant was all over that as he loves to do about anything. And it fit him perfectly, ha ha! I had to grab my camera since it was only on for like 2 seconds!

Sloan can turn herself all the way around the exosaucer now and loves to eat whatever she can get into her mouth!

Grant found a big fire hydrant in the parking lot of a restaurant and was so excited!
At our friend, Noah's, birthday party. He had a great time!

Grant and Sadie having fun with the party favors

Grant's first time back in swim lessons. He did great and remembered almost everything from last year. Parents are not allowed in the water this year.

Easter Morning, Sleeping Issues and New Skills

We had a great Easter and Grant was overindulged to say the least! He loved coming downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny brought him. He immediately started opening everything and proceeded to spread it out all over the house. Then, about an hour later, he went back over to the couch and said "uh oh, where are all my toys", LOL! He forgot that he had moved almost all of them and then wanted more, go figure.
Sleeping has been rough this week but improving drastically after our baby boot camp. Sloan has been rolling over from tummy to back in the middle of the night once or twice consistently. We have to go in her room, roll her back over and put her pacifier back in and she passes out. Then, the smart little baby that she is, decided that she liked getting her pacifier whenever she woke up in the middle of the night! So, she got up 6 times in one night! Ugh! The next night, I put her against the bumper so she couldn't roll as easy. Sure enough, she woke up crying but was still on her stomach.....ahhh parents 1, Sloan 0! She cried for about 15 minutes and then passed out. Every night since has been perfect with no rolling over or waking up! Problem solved just in time for kid #2 (Grant) to have an issue! A few months ago, Grant tripped in the den and went face first into the coffee table. An ER visit later, we found out that his nose was not broken and he was fine. However, I think it made his blood vessels sensitive in his nose. In the wee hours of the morning, he starts to pick his nose if he feels like he has a booger. And his nose starts to pour blood. Then, he screams "blood, mommy, blood"! It has happened 4 or 5 times now. I need to take a picture next time because it looks like a murder scene, blood everywhere and just what you want to do at 6am! Now, we are putting Vaseline in his nose at night to keep it from drying out.
Sloan is also now rolling over both ways a lot! She is still not sitting up without support yet but we are working on it.

Rolling over

Bored with the pool, he decided to sit in the middle of the yard and play

Happy Easter!

Playing with box to one of Grant's toys

Easter Fun and More

My computer crashed last week and I just got it back so I apologize this has taken so long to post. We were really busy this past weekend with Easter activities. We went to the GA Governor's Mansion Annual Easter Egg Hunt, our neighborhood easter egg hunt, the Easter Bunny at the Mall and we died easter eggs!
Grant has a couple of new obsessions this week: he points out EVERY fire hydrant as we ride down the road and I can honestly say that I never realized how many there were until he started this. It is probably my fault since he asked me what one was in our neighborhood and it all started after I told him.
He also has a new favorite word: "LOVE"; he will say "I love my blue shirt mommy", "I love cheese dip" and he told Luke "I love your boxer shorts daddy" so when we were at the Mexican restaurant Luke asked him if he "loved" beans (which he doesn't) and he said "I don't love beans" in a very serious tone.
We were playing outside in a new little pool that sprays water up high and he started singing "rain drops keep falling on my head" out of the blue. I think Kasie, his nanny, taught him that one.
He is still extremely observant. We were walking around the neighborhood and we saw an AT&T truck and it has their logo on the side (the round circle with stripes) and out of no where he looks at me and says "daddy has that on his phone". Sure enough, he does since our cell phones are with AT&T. Crazy!

Sloan is starting to eat really well now. She eats a bowl of oatmeal with a fruit in the morning, bottles throughout the day and then sweet potatoes at dinner. We are going to be trying out new stuff every few days now. She is also starting to get into a nap routine a little. She slept 2 hours this morning and an hour this afternoon. As soon as she can get on food at lunch, she should stretch out that afternoon nap. She is obsessed with her pacifier now....she will pull it out of her mouth and stare at it and talk to it. She tries to get it back in her mouth to no avail yet. She is consistently rolling over on her back in the middle of the night and we have to go and put her back on her stomach. I can't wait until she can do it on her own!

Easter Bunny at the Mall

The bow didn't stay on long.....

Holding her pacifier out and looking at it

She LOVES Grant and will smile at him no matter what he does

Our neighborhood bunny

Dying eggs! He had to crack a few open afterwards to see what was inside

Starting to sit up on her own a little better

Grant found the escalator at the mall and he had to go up and down several times

Bunny mask he got from the easter bunny

Clifford the Big Red Dog at the Governor's Mansion

Finding eggs at the Governor's Mansion

"Can I please have my bottle back now!"

Papa Bill's Birthday and Adventures with Cousin JW

We went to Easley this weekend for Papa Bill's birthday and had a great time. Grant had a ton of fun with "a whole lot of people" as he says. He got to use a real gas blower too. It scared him at first but then he liked it....it was just too heavy to do on his own. I didn't get a picture but Grant also blew out Papa Bill's candles and opened his gifts, lol!

Sloan and Jon Walter (a week older than her) played bumper cars in their walkers. JW is much more advanced in his walker skills!
Sloan is still being very difficult on the food front! I have switched to Oatmeal and even put applesauce in it and she still clinches her mouth shut tight and will put her tongue in the way if I try to stick a spoon in her mouth. I have to hold the bottle up to her face for her to open up and the I shove the food in....so crazy. But she doesn't gag like Grant did. Not sure which is worse at this point. I have moved on to Sweet Potatoes this week and getting the same reaction. Hoping it gets better soon.

New Shoes/Words and The Jumper has Returned

We pulled out the Jumper for Sloan. The first time, she didn't have a clue what to do and just sat there. So, we had to show her how to do it by moving her up and down softly. Grant was amazed with this toy and wanted her to go higher. We have had to watch him since he tries to push it up and down to get her jumping faster. She has it down now and can jump really well.

Grant's feet are growing fast, he is now a size 8. I will preface this story with the fact that Papa Bill only wears New Balance shoes that are white leather. Grant is very preceptive and doesn't forget anything, especially details that most people would dismiss. He got a new pair of New Balance shoes this week (in the picture below). When he saw them he said "Oh, those are like Papa Bill's". To which I laughed out loud and responded, "yes they are".

He is also starting to ask questions in the right format. Some of them have been "What did you say mommy?", "What is that?", "Where did that go?". It's pretty interesting to see his little brain working. One other interesting thing he says.....if he is referring to something that happened in the past (i.e., last month, last week, yesterday), he says it happened "last night" no matter how long ago it was.

Sloan is 5 Months Old - Food Time and St Patty's Day

Sloan is now 5 Months Old! She went to the doctor this week for her DTaP, Hib, Polio shot and did great. She actually didn't cry at all this time since it was just one shot. So we are done with the 4 month shots. We started rice cereal this morning and she was not a fan! Grant gagged when we gave it to him the first time. She didn't gag but just cried and wanted a bottle. It was sad but funny too. I ended up giving her some of her bottle and then she did manage to eat some of the cereal. We took a video and will get it uploaded onto the blog soon. Grant was still asleep this morning when she got her cereal. So, we tried to give her more at dinner and Grant thought it was great. He wanted to eat some of her cereal.....or he thought he did. I gave him a spoon of it and oh how I wish the camera was rolling....he gagged and almost threw up! He will never go near her food again, lol!

Then, I put Sloan in her St. Patty's Day attire....and yes, the bow is about as big as her entire head. She can actually sit supported a little now. We are working on that skill.

The End of the Crib is in Sight for Grant

Grant can now get out of his crib without any help! However, he hasn't done this yet without telling us first. So, when he wakes up from sleeping he still yells for us to come get him. When we go in his room, he says "Grant can do it" and he gets out on the side of the crib. Not sure why he chose the side instead of the front. Selfishly, I am ready for him to get in a regular bed so I can get the queen bed out of Sloan's nursery. But I am obviously a little nervous about that transition. He has always been a great little sleeper so I hope that doesn't change when the bed changes.

Daylight savings time has thrown us for a loop this time for some reason. Grant talks to himself in his room at night now for about an hour or so before going to sleep. And Sloan has been a bit difficult to get down at night the past couple of nights. She rolls over now onto her back and we have to go and flip her back over so she will go to sleep. She also takes her paci out of her mouth but can't figure out how to get it back in.....and she gets really mad. It has added about an hour onto our bedtime process which we are working on getting back to normal soon.

Grant and I made Easter cookies this weekend. He loved it and enjoyed eating the dough about as much as he did the decorating.

Playtime with 2 Kids

Grant is getting better about not squeezing her to death when he holds her.

She is getting stronger everyday but she is still so little that we have to surround her with blankets in the exosaucer.
Grant had to have a bow too! Both of them with their bows!
We were trying out a new baby item that my friend, Leigh, invented. It is a sunshade for baby seats. She seems to really enjoy it so far and it does keep the sun out of her eyes. You can check it out on www.jaybeebabyshade.com if you want one.
We were out to eat and he was making her laugh a lot at the table. She loves watching him all the time! I think it is because he is in constant motion and never stops!