Hi,
It has been quite some time since I have updated you all on Grant's life, so this one might take some time to read. Things are going pretty well - busy as always. Well here you go . . .
I can't believe how time has flown these last few months. We have been out of town a lot lately. First we went camping at San Rafeal, then to St. George while Paul was in China, then camping at Moab, then Paul and Grant went to the ward campout and then to Denver without me.
Grant loves the outdoors. He is in his element when he is outside. In fact, he fell into a rose bush when we were in St. George and just jumped up and kept playing. It wasn't until later that night that I noticed the scrapes on his hand and knees. Thus camping has been the highlight of these past two months. The first two times we camped in the sand and he really enjoyed looking at bugs, lizards and rocks. Of course, he was drawn to any body of water we came to because he loves to throw rocks and sticks into them.
When we went to Moab, we camped near a dried up creek which was filled with sand. He really enjoyed jumping and climbing up and down that creek. He also hiked some of Arches National Park and found lots of sand to play with there. At night we would spend some time around a campfire and he loved to get close to the fire, however, several times he would trip and fall right next to it. So, we decided to start the fire after he was in bed or just keep him far away from it.
My favorite part of camping was that when Grant would see any type of flower, he wanted to pick it for me. Once I tried to share my flowers with my sister Sara and he was not happy about that. He sure enjoyed having Aunt Sara (my sister) and Uncle Matt with us. By the last hike, he just wanted to hold their hands and have them swing him. Most of that hike, I was trailing behind quite a bit and so Sara would make sure Grant was holding her hand on certain parts of the trail. Of course my independent child was less than happy about that and told her, "It's not dangerous." (I only make him hold my hand when we are crossing the street and I always tell him the reason why is because it's dangerous.) I think it's cute that he was able to put the two together and try to reason with Sara.
Grant also enjoyed being at 'Baba Debi's house' for two weeks while Paul was in China. Again we spent a lot of time outside at parks, Red Cliffs, feeding the ducks and swimming in the backyard pool. He really enjoyed playing with Braxton. They would often chase each other around and hide in a cubby. Sometimes they would take turns spinning each other in a chair. Even now Grant tells me that he wants to go to Braxton's house or Baba Debi's house. Well, usually the conversation goes something like this . . . We are driving in the car and Grant says, "Mommy where are we going?" I respond with our current destination and he always says, "I don't want to go to ______." I say, "Where do you want to go then?" He says, "To Baba Debi's house" or "To Braxton's house". Sometimes he actually says the place we are headed to, but usually it is one of those two houses. Paul left us a video for Grant to watch each day. The daily video was a 'dance of the day'. They were very creative dances and sometimes Grant would even do the dances with the video. When Paul got back from China, Grant would not let him out of his sight for three days. He sure did miss his Daddy.
Grant is such a Daddies boy. The other day, Paul was taking a nap and Grant wanted to play marble toys with his daddy. I offered to play with him and he informed me that boys are better at marble toys. So, I tried to defend my gender and tell him that Mommies were better. He came back and said that Daddies can jump. Well, he got me on that one. I tried to explain that most Mommies can jump just not when they have babies in their tummies. We had just gone to a bouncing center and I guess me not bouncing with Paul and Grant made an impression on him. Last Family Home Evening we went to Chucky Cheese. I think Paul liked it the most but Grant had fun too. He especially liked playing with Paul in the ball pit. Grant would jump in full force and Paul would hide himself in the balls. They sure have fun together.
A few weeks ago we began moving furniture around to make room for little Ella's arrival. I put the highchair into a swing and Grant really wanted to get in. I told him it was for the baby and he said that he wanted to be the baby. I tried to tell him all the good things about being a big boy and he seemed okay with it. One of the things I mentioned was that he would get to sleep in a big boy bed (although we hadn't purchased a rail just yet). That night he informed Paul that the crib was Ella's bed and that he got to sleep in the big bed. Paul was confused at this new demand and when he questioned Grant, Grant said, "I'm a big boy, Daddy". Well, I took that statement as a clue that he was ready to switch beds and now he is in the big bed. We were so worried that he would get out and play that we told him if he touches the carpet with his foot he has to go into the crib. That threat seems to be keeping him from getting out of his bed, even in the mornings. Although, being the smart little boy that he is, he looks for exceptions and one afternoon decided to climb out of his bed onto a chair and then to a nightstand. Of course, he did not let even one foot touch the carpet. We've since moved that chair. Well, I think that is all for now.
Love,
Kate, Paul and Grant