A Weekend of Firsts!

Last weekend me and the little man headed to Florida to spend some time with the grandparents and Aunt Dee. We left on Thursday and came home Sunday night. This weekend was full of many firsts for our sweet baby boy! His first first (say that 5 times fast) was our lovely ER visit Thursday night, after only about 45 minutes at the hotel. This was probably the worst night of my life so far, but I had to hold it together for the little guy. I was bathing him in the hotel bath tub and turned around for literally 5 seconds to get a towel (NEVER will I do that again) and as I was turning back around out he comes out of the bath tub and smacks his head-it was so hard it made the loudest noise I have ever heard and even thinking about it still makes my skin crawl-on the tile floor. I called my pediatrician's office (keep in mind this was like 10:30 at night) and they transfered me to the on-call doctor and she said to go ahead and take him to the ER because it would be hard to tell if he was acting different because he was already so tired and it was way past his bed time. So Grandma Karen, Grant, and I headed to Tampa General Hospital. I was so nervous/scared/anxious/exhausted but was a little relieved when we got there and the ER staff didn't seem extremely worried about Grant's situation. The doctor came in and looked at him and said that everything looked good, and his soft spot was still open and soft, so that meant his brain wasn't swelling or anything like that. We were only there for about 20 minutes waiting for the doctor and when the doc said we were good to go, it took FOREVER to get our discharge papers to go home. 'While we were waiting for them to bring in the papers for me to sign, Grant was climbing all over the hospital bed and jumping up and down and in such a good mood. Except for the huge red spot on his forehead, you would have never known this little baby had just suffered a minor head trauma. We finally got back to the hotel about 1:00a and we were both so exhausted from the long travel day and then our ER visit. I don't think Grant moved once during the night until he woke up Friday morning at 10 o'clock. I was so happy that he slept that late, it gave us both enough time to catch up on our rest.

Our little patient

The bump was a lot worse right after it happened

(this picture was taken when we were about to leave the hospital)

His next first was a trip down to the beach. At first he was very skeptical of the sand and was kinda hesitant to touch it. But then after he sat in it for a few minutes he changed his mind and he loved it. Well, he loved it until he took a big handful and shoved it in his mouth. His face was priceless when he realized how yuck it was. But when we went back to the beach the next day, I think he learned his lesson the day before, and he didn't put any in his mouth.

1st time in the sand and not so sure about it!

Um, the sand doesn't taste so good!

Doesn't he look just like a little man with his hat on?

He loves to walk while holding onto some one's fingers. Each day he gets faster and faster! But, I am sooo not ready for him to start walking yet!

I thought this picture turned out really cool!

When you ask him, "Grant can you show me your pretty eyes?", this is the face that he gets. It's so adorable!



Grant loves drawers, doors, and cabinets. He loves to open and close them and if he opens a drawer, he loves to pull everything out of it and then try to put it all back in again. He has even gotten to the point where he knows if his fingers are to close to the inside of the cabinet door, he moves his had over so that he doesn't smash his fingers in the cabinet door when he closes it. At home, whenever I leave our bedroom door open he gets a huge smile on his face and heads for the bathroom. He loves to go in our bathroom and open the cabinet drawers and pull everything he can out of them. Needless to say, he ALWAYS keeps me on my toes.

Emptying the drawer at the hotel

You caught me, mom!

Overall we had a great vacation and it was fun to spend time with my dad, and Chris' mom and sister. But, I was sooo glad when we landed back in Houston on Sunday night. I was exhausted and excited to sleep in my own bed. I don't think I will be traveling with Grant by myself again for a little while. It was a lot of work, especially the plane ride coming home when he didn't sleep at all! Here is a picture I snapped on Sunday afternoon of the little man. He was sooo worn out after a few days at the beach!

Spring Break!

This week is my spring break, and I am loving the time off from school. It has been so nice to not have anything to do or anywhere to go. We have all just been hanging out around the house and enjoying the super nice weather that we had earlier this week. I think we are going to try and take Grant to the rodeo on Friday for his first time! I am so excited about this, but bummed that its supposed to be cold. Oh well, I know we will still have fun. This boy hates being hot anyways, so I am sure the cold weather won't bother him!

Tomorrow we are getting hardwood floors in the living room and the hallway that leads to the guestroom. I am excited because this means no more vacuuming the dog hair out of the carpet over and over again! I will post pictures after they get it finished :)

Grant loves the laundry basket. I hope this is a sign of good things to come...but probably not :) Usually its in our closet, but the other day was laundry day so I had it out (also using it as a barrier because he has figured out how to push over the gate and crawl around them). It kept him entertained for about 5 minutes, but so does everything else. But at least it was long enough for me to snap a few cute pictures!

"Here, mom-I'll help!"

He is learning to stand by himself. He is still a little unsteady and can only stand for like .5 seconds (but still its progress)! I am not ready for him to start walking yet! I know we are still a little while away from that stage, but I haven't prepared myself! :)

I love it when he's in a good mood-he's sooo much fun!

A couple days ago we moved Grant to his "big-boy" carseat! Its a little bittersweet because I know this new carseat is so much more comfortable for him and he doesn't have to lay down like he did in the infant one. He can now sit up straighter and can look out the window! So yay for no more screaming whenever we are in the car. But its also sad because again it means that he is growing up! But look how happy this makes him, so I am all for things that make his and my life easier!!

I love this little cheesy smile!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Grant is sooo busy these days! He is crawling faster everyday and is always getting into something. He pulls up on EVERYTHING and doesn't even hesitate anymore. So today we decided to go get a couple baby gates. We got the Superyard and I felt bad about putting him in a "cage" so we just wrapped it around his play area in the living room. This was the best idea ever-to get a gate-now I don't have to keep chasing him if I am trying to get something done and I don't have to worry about him pulling the TV down on himself. He doesn't seem to mind being in there and Oakley can get in and out just fine, so Grant never feels lonely! I'm sure soon he will be trying to crawl over the gate, but for now it keeps him in one area! We also got two smaller gates, one to keep him out of the kitchen and one to keep him out of our bedroom, when he is not in his play area! The only thing I don't like about the smaller gates is that you have to step over them instead of walking through them, but that's ok because they are not that tall.

Hmmm...now how do I get on that side?

Okay let me out now!

Well, I guess this is not so bad!

He is growing up waaaaaay to fast. Just last week he starting holding his bottle all by himself. Chris said that he was able to do it a while ago, but I didn't want to believe it because I still want him to by my little baby! But it does make it a little easier for me, because when he is hungry and I have something I need to do, I can give him the bottle and he can feed himself! :)

If you know my family or have ever been to River Oaks to eat with us, you know how we feel about our melba toast and thousand island dressing (don't judge until you tried it)! It is something that we have been eating since I can remember. Everyone in my family loves it (Chris, doesn't really like it-but we still love him). Well, last weekend it was time for Grant to have his first taste and he LOVED it! I didn't doubt that he wouldn't like it, he is my son and part Marshburn! :)

Yummy!!

Grant has been spending a lot of time over at Nonnie and Poppy's lately. They are sooo sweet to watch him for me while I go to work for a little bit, go get my hair done, or even just run to Target by myself (always nice to have a little time to myself). I know that he loves going over there because he has two people there (sometimes three if my mom is there) who give him their undivided attention! The picture below is his mode of transportation while he is over there. He loves to sit in this buggy and walk the halls and see all people that are out at Non and Pop's. If they pay attention to him long enough, they will probably get to see his patty-cake and a HUGE smile! Thanks again Non, Pop, and Mom for all that you do to help me on days Chris is working (or fishing)! :)

Hope everyone has a good weekend! I am so glad that its finally here!

9 Months Old!

Since February doesn't have a 30th day of the month, I decided that Grant turns 9 months old today :) We went for his 9 month checkup yesterday and the doctor was very impressed with the way that he was growing and with his development. He is a big boy, but we already knew that! He weighs 23.11lbs (95th percentile) and is 29 inches long (85-90th percentile)! He didn't have to get any shots but did have to get his blood drawn to check for anemia and to see if he had been exposed to lead-I guess this is routine at all 9 month check ups. The nurse told me that it was just going to be a finger stick, but when we went to get it done it turned out they had to draw two tubes of blood. I don't know who was more upset, me or him :) Time has flown by so fast and I cannot believe that the little man is already 9 months old and in just three short months he will be a year old! SO sad! He is crawling faster and faster everyday. I can turn my back for 2 seconds and he will be gone! He loves doing patty-cake especially when its bedtime to change the subject! Its really cute! He's pulling up on everything and is starting to move from one piece of furniture to the other! He is waving more and more, and we are working on making it a more smooth wave! And his favorite game is still peek-a-boo!

working on waving bye-bye!

ALWAYS smiling!

helping mommy unpack from our Florida trip!

still loves his puppy!

Puppy love!

Our weekend started out a little crazy last weekend. Oakley some how sliced the pad on the back of his leg wide open. We took him to the vet on Friday morning, and she decided that he needed to put under so they could cut the part off that was dead-I know, gross-and she said that she felt something in there so she also wanted to see what it was. So a couple hours later, we went back to pick him up. The surgery went well and there was nothing stuck in there-it was just dried blood and hair. Oakley wasn't feeling too hot Friday night-so Grant took some time to help cheer his puppy up! Who can resist a precious 8 1/2 month old (wow-I can't believe he is that old already) crawling all over you-it definitely made Oakley feel better! And it didn't bother Oakley one bit that Grant was crawling all over him! The get along really great!

Come on-let's play!
Grant helping clean Oakley off (Grant's new thing is pick up the littlest things (from anywhere)and examine them-things that I can barely see when he has them in his hand)

Look mom-I made him feel better :)

We are headed to Florida on Thursday to spend the weekend with Chris' family. This is going to be Grant's first plane ride so say a prayer for us, PLEASE! I know he will do fine-I hope! :)

Oh Boy!

Our lives have just gotten more busy! Grant is now crawling! This happened about a week ago, but I am just now getting the chance to post about it. He is so proud of himself! But now I can't keep the floors clean enough. No matter how much I sweep or vacuum he still can find something that I didn't see and of course that goes straight in the mouth.

Oakley has been so cute with Grant while he is exploring this new milestone! Oakley is never more than 5 steps away from baby G and is always ready to lick up any drool that has fallen on the floor (gross-I know). Grant loves his puppy so much. Whenever Oakley comes around the corner, G makes the cutest high-pitched squeal. It is too cute! Oakley is so gentle with him, and I haven't seen him once show any aggression or jealousy towards the little man. He just lays there when Grant pulls on his tail/hair, or when he tries to crawl all over him. They are going to be good buddies for a long time!

Here I come!

Loves his paci

Also this week Grant learned how to do patty-cake. Poppy has been teaching him this for a while and this week it all just clicked. It is soooooo cute and it makes my heart melt whenever he does it! Whenever you ask him-"show me your patty-cake"-he puts his fists together and bounces them off of each other. While he is doing this he has a HUGE smile across (as do I)! I haven't gotten a picture of it yet because he usually doesn't do it for long, but when I do get one I will post it.

His favorite time of the night-bath time!

Anything and everything straight into the mouth!


Playtime with my puppy!
Hey dude-whatcha got there?

Escapee!

So this morning I went in to get Grant from his "nap" and this is what I saw when I opened the door. Oh joy-the things we have to look forward to! Keep in mind yesterday I lowered his mattress to the 2nd lowest setting-guess its time to go down to the lowest.

hey mom!

soo proud of himself!

look at those chubby little fingers :)

trying to figure out how to get out of here!

I love those big blue eyes!