Allow me to introduce....

"Mr. Hollywood!"

Such a sweet boy! He loves sunglasses (actually any kind of glasses) and loves to put them on.

"Definitions" - 14.5 Months Old

I have to give credit where credit is due here......I read a cute blog every now and then with a little boy who is a few months older than Grant and his mommy records the progress of his first words in a really cute way on her blog called "Definitions". It is such a cute idea that I am going to use it too. Thanks The Poe Fam Blog for the idea!
Dada: noun
1. What Grant says every time he see Matt. ( I keep wondering when the Mama word will come!)

Doo: noun
1. What Grant say when he sees Abbe our yorkie.
2. What Grant says whenever he sees a dog anywhere. (I have a shirt with a dog on it and he even says it and points to the shirt)

Nana: noun
1. What Grant says when he sees a banana.

Shoo: noun
1. Grant's word for shoe. (He even understands that the shoes go on his feet and he tries to put them on.)

Yaa! (followed by clapping): adverb
1. What Grant says after a song is finished or he does something that he knows is good. Ex. When he turns off the light to his room he says "Yaa" then claps)

Ooo Ooo (with mouth in a perfect "O" shape)
1. What Grant says when we ask him what sounds a monkey makes. (So, so cute!)

Everyday Grant learns something new and we are so impressed. He understand lots of more words than he says. Just this week he has learned to "help" us buckle him into the car seat. This is such a fun stage with him and we are treasuring every moment of it.

Fun with the Family - Part 2

When you go to New Braunfels what is one of the main attractions?? You got it...floating the river! And that is just what we did! It is especially nice for us because mom and dad's subdivision has it's own private river front park where you can drop your tubes into the river. So we all got on our swim suits and water shoes and away we went. When we got there Grant was very anxious to get into the water.

The water was super cold when you first got in but Grant didn't seem to mind at all.

Here is a great picture of all the boys in the river.

After playing for a bit in the water off the dock we decided to take off in our tubes. Grant stayed and went back to the house with his Grammy. He was just a little to young for his first tubing trip.

We tubed down the river for about 2 hours and that was long enough. (We all said afterwards that we don't know how anyone can float all day for 8 hours.) The river was packed with people and since there had not been much rain this year the river was quite low and we had to keep our "bottoms up". All in all it was fun and and great experience to share with the family.

Fun with the Family - Part 1

You don't choose your family.

They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

~Desmond Tutu

This past weekend was filled with lots of family fun and laughter! Matt, Grant, Abbe and I loaded up the car and headed for a family reunion of sorts in New Braunfels. There we were going to be staying with my parents and joined by Mark, Katie, my Uncle Mitch, his wife Stacy, and my Nanaw for the weekend. We got there a day earlier than everyone else so we had a day to spend with mom and dad. Dad just recently had new sod put in the backyard and a brand-new swing for Grant. Let me tell you, this swing was awesome! It was hung from a branch of a huge tree in their backyard and it swung super high! Grant loved every minute of it and squealed with delight every time.

This is the type of swing that every little boy would love!

Grant also got to practice his walking in the new, soft grass. He is so close to walking by himself it is crazy! Sometimes he forgets that he isn't holding onto something or someone and takes a few steps by himself. So I'm sure that it will be any day now.

The next day Mark and Katie arrived and we spent most of the day lounging around catching up on what has been going on with everyone. Katie is 18 weeks pregnant and the whole family is anxiously awaiting the doctor's appointment where they will find out the baby's sex. (The appointment is in 2 more weeks). That night we all decided to go fishing at the pond by the house....so we loaded Grant up in the wagon, sun hat and all, and headed off.

Eventually it got really hot outside and Grant decided that the shirt was going to have to come off.

The fishing didn't last long....we got caught in a rainstorm. Everyone was soaking wet so we decided to call it a night.

Splish, Splash Grant was takin' a bath...

Bath time is, by far, one of Grant's favorite times of the day! He loves to get in the tub with lots of toys around him and splash around. He has a basketball hoop in the tub that has three little balls with it that he loves to play and "dunk". Ever since Grant was little bitty Matt has been in charge of bathtime. It is their special time at night that they can play together and get some father-son bonding time.

Like father, like son.......such silly, happy boys!

We have a blogger on our hands.....

Grant is always interested in the computer when we sit down to type on it. He is always wanting to type and look at what is on the screen....so one day we decided to let him try out his computer skills. He just laughed and giggled away...do they make computers for toddlers? :)

Our Sweet Penny Girl.....

Today we had to do something that I knew was going to be hard but now that I sit here and think about it my heart really hurts. We gave Penny away to a new family. She now lives with a women named Jo Lynn, her male dachshund Slinky, and her four cats. Penny was a great dog and we love her dearly but having a child sometimes changes your view on things. Dachshunds are known for being a breed that is not good with small children and she was starting to show the signs of being "annoyed" by Grant and his petting too hard or being curious about her tail. She would sometimes growl at him and we knew that this could only lead to trouble in the future. We knew that we wanted to find her a nice new home that she would be happy in so we put an add in Matt's companies classified adds. Not 15 minutes after we placed the add Jo Lynn called and was very excited about meeting Penny. She said that her dachshund needed a playmate. It was a perfect match from the start.

When Penny went over for the introduction today she was a very good girl and loved to explore Jo Lynn's house and the cats. (She has never been around cats before!) She was looking at one of the cats under the sofa and the cat pawed at her and scared her...so that is going to take some getting used to. She was also very good with the other dog...they sniffed at each other and ran around the backyard together. Then we all went inside and Penny discovered the doggy toy and chew bone basket! We didn't have many doggy toys around because she would destroy them....so she was in squeaky toys and chew bone heaven! She immediately picked one up and started to play.

Although this was a very hard and stressful decision we think that Penny could not be in a better place. She is with an owner who will love her dearly, a new dachshund friend, and a few cats to run and play with.

The Lord totally blessed us by sending us Jo Lynn and her sweet heart for our, now her, Penny.

Those first toddling steps.......

Grant took his first real steps yesterday!!!!

"When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble." Proverbs 4:12

The weeks during which Grant was beginning to transition from crawling to taking his first tottering steps were an exciting, excruciating time for everyone involved. While holding onto furniture, Grant improved his coordination and balance. Finally, the moment arrived when he loosen his grip and make the great leap to freedom! He walked around 4-5 steps from Nanny to me in the blink of an eye! We were all so excited! As I began to blog about it tonight I came upon an article that made me think. As wise parents we prepare the path across the floor by removing potential hazards so that our children will not stumble as they begin to walk. As parents we must also, more importantly and purposefully, keep our children's spiritual path safe with practical instructions to prepare them for adulthood.

I can only pray everyday that the Lord guide Matt and I in teaching and keeping Grant on the correct spiritual path to salvation and a relationship with our Lord!

Fantastic Fourth!

We had such a nice and restful 4th of July weekend. Matt actually had 4 days off from work so we spent lots of quality family time together. The long weekend started off on Thursday with a family trip to the pool. Grant loves to go to the pool! We have found that he loves to take balls that float and throw them across the pool and "swim" with us to go and get them. This time we took three different sized balls, a mini one that sucks up water and squirts it out the mouth, a small basketball, and a larger blue plastic one. Grant would just squeal and get so excited when we would throw all the balls at once.....he wanted to "swim" to them all at one time.

After swimming we had a tired little boy on our hands so we turned in for the night to await a fun filled 4th of July tomorrow.

To celebrate the 4th our neighborhood puts on a little mini parade complete with a fire truck! So that morning we loaded up the wagon with a very cute little Grant, complete with American flag t-shirt, mini American flag for Grant to wave, sunglasses and hat and we set off to enjoy the festivities.

We got there a few minutes early and everyone was standing around so we took that opportunity to play on the playground.

Moments later we heard the unmistakable sound of the firetruck siren! At first Grant looked a little shocked at how loud it was but eventually broke into the "very-Grant-like" smile and point. The firetruck pulled up and the parade started behind it. When the parade was over the firetruck came back and pulled to the side of the road. That is when the real fun started...it started spraying all the kids with the fire hose!

Not directly of course! :)

We decided that playing directly in the water spray was too much for a little Grant so we choose to play in the run off water in the street. Yes, not the cleanest of idea but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little soap!

After the parade we all went home for a much needed nap. The neighborhood festivities were so much fun and I know this will be a Crump family tradition for many 4th of July holidays to come!

Grant's new favorite place to play......

With all the toys and all the books that Grant has available to him all day every day, he has found something that he find even more entertaining......playing in the dog's crate. Every morning Grant has made it his job to go in and let the puppies out of their crates for the day. He absolutely loves it and squeals loudly when he sees that they are in there. He will stand next to their crates and "talk" to them for a little while before letting them out. (I like to think he is asking them how they slept the night before!) He will pull the levers and let them out all by himself....then he crawls right in and closes the door behind him.


It has gotten so funny because when I am chasing him during the day saying "I'm gonna get you.." he laughs and crawls right into the dog's crate. He has even been know to take what he is playing with into the crate with him. Various things I have found in the dogs crate include door stopper, rubber ball, remote control, my slippers and my cell phone. No wonder I couldn't find my cell when it was ringing! :)

He seems to have a ball in there so I have no problem letting him play in there....although Abbe looks a bit confused when she comes to get in her crate for a nap! :)

First "Real" Haircut!

Ever since Grant was born he has always had very little hair. It is funny because when he was born he had a full head of very blonde hair that was so pretty. After a few months all the "newborn hair" began to fall out and we had a little bald baby on our hands. Slowly but surely his hair started to grow back in and, much to our surprise, it was the same platinum blonde that it was before.

We have gotten Grant "mini" haircuts before where he would go with Matt when he got his haircut and the nice lady would trim Grant's hair for free. This time was different...we were going to have Grant's one year old pictures taken and he needed a real haircut. So we went to the Cool Cuts and waited our turn.



We played with the train while we patiently waited and when it was our turn Grant was very brave. He sat in my lap and watched a Baby Einstein video while the nice lady gently worked on his hair. He had more hair than I expected and i was a little sad while those sweet baby locks were falling in my lap. We did save them for his baby book so he can look back on that when he is older.

He looked so nice for his one year old pictures, big boy haircut and all!