Hello friends and family,
So, I know you have all been wasting away in anticipation of Grant's holiday experiences. Now that I have built up adequate suspense - here it is . . .
It has been nearly a month and so much has happened. First of all, Grant is going to be a big brother in about 6 months. I showed him some pictures of what the baby looks like and told him it was in my tummy. He has been cute and will give my tummy kisses and 'lovies'. Sometimes he will even sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" right at my stomach. Of course, with a bare tummy, Grant can hardly resist giving me raspberries in addition. A few days before our vacation, Grandma and Grandpa Nelson came out to visit and it took Grant a few minutes, but finally he warmed up to them.
Monday the 22nd, we went to St. George to celebrate the holidays and got to share Grants' birthday with most of my family. Rachel made him his own cake to destroy and he opened lots of presents. We actually arrived on the day of Grant's party and during the drive Grant decided to not take a nap. So, you can imagine his state when 7:30 rolled around and his party was just beginning. I have one word . . . delirious. He, of course, loved opening all his presents and playing with his toys; but when the cake was set before him, he really enjoyed destroying it. At first he calmly picked off the candy and stabbed it with his fork. But, given some time, Grant discovered the feeling of cake and frosting oozing through his little fingers. It was fun to watch. Christmas was a little more sane and Grant actually got tired of opening presents before all of his presents were even opened. We took turns opening gifts with all of my family and after an hour Grant was done.
Grant got to spend lots of time with his two cousins and had a lot of new experiences. One experience is that Grant became less shy and began to discover how big he really is. For example, one afternoon at the park, Paul was playing football with Grant and Braxton (his older cousin by 7 months). Of course, Paul was tackling Grant and Grant would tackle Paul. But now with a new player, Grant began tackling Braxton. He wouldn't run to begin his tackle, he would just go up to Braxton, give him a hug and then stand up on his tip-toes. Down Braxton would go and Grant would land right on top of him. Perhaps, Grant thinks that all people play ruff because Paul plays so ruff with him. Unfortunately, Grant's aggression did not stay at the park and combined with his competitive nature led to a bit of meanness and lots of time outs. Examples of such events were: pushing, hitting, splashing, laying on toys (to keep Braxton from playing with them), refusing to take turns, and hogging toys. Needless to say, I will have my hands full when he becomes a big brother. However, Grant was super cute and sweet with Braxton's younger sister Kyla.
She is nine months old and not really mobile yet, so a little less threatening than her brother. Grant loved her. In fact, a couple of days after we got back we were talking about Kyla and Grant said, "See Kyla?" He loved to take off her sock and see her feet and touch her cute little pointy ponytails on top of her head. Sometimes he would ask to hold her and since the back of her head was in his face he would just kiss her head and her neck until he was done holding her. One time after he was done holding her, I had gone in the next room and suddenly heard a little squeal from Kyla. When I went back into the room, I found Kyla laying down on her back and Grant straddling her across her tummy. I think he just wanted her to hold him. Another time, I think Grant wanted her to give him a raspberry, because he lifted up his shirt and tried to put his tummy close to her face. However, most of the time he would just lay face down on the floor and let her pat his head. A couple of times I heard him tell Kyla to, "be nice".
Grant got to spend a lot of time with dogs on this trip. He got licked a couple of times, once on the face. Now Grant has become our little 'puppy-boy'. He gets down on all fours and barks or pants. He even gives us 'puppy kisses'. It's very cute. Grant had his first pony ride and did pretty well. Paul put him on the smallest pony and he was really excited at first but then just held on for dear life. He actually lasted about half of the ride before deciding that he was done.
Grant has become VERY independent, except he's not always sure when he wants to be independent. So, consequently, I am never really sure when he wants to be independent. One sure way to tell is when he uses the phrase, "do it self" or, "my do it". But sometimes he doesn't really decide until I've already done it. I got pretty frustrated because everything seemed to be a battle at first - I felt like I was being a horribly irritated mom. But then I caught on to the situation and now I just take a step back and let him decide before I try to help. Well, I think that is all I have to write.
Love,
Kate, Paul and Grant