"Definitions": 17.5 Months Old

Just within the past few weeks Grant's speaking and learning new words have really taken off! Now with some words it just takes a few times of Grant hearing it before he will say it himself. Such a smart little boy! Here are a few of the newest words...

AAoo: noun

1. Grant's word for "apple". So cute!

AAdee: noun

1. Our yorkie, Abbe's name. He says it constantly and really loves to be around "Aadee"!

Turtle: noun
1. Grant's word for turtle. It sounds very much like the real word.

Steeky: noun

1. Grant's word for sticky. He likes to say he is "steeky" after eating.

2. He also uses this word for "stinky".

Rarara!: adverb

1. Grant's lion sound. (So cute!)

Keys: noun

1. Grant's word for car keys. Again it sounds very much like the real word.

Deese: noun

1. Cheese - Definitely Grant's favorite food

Kitty: noun

1. Grant's word for kitty-cat. He says it over and over when he sees a cat.

(When it was Halloween at Sonic Drive-In they had black cats painted on the windows, Grant loved to see the "kitties" and said it over and over whenever we got into the car...whether we went to Sonic or not.)

Mo: adverb

1. Grant's word for more. We are still working on getting the word 'please' in front of it.

Momo: noun

1. The funniest little red muppet ever - Elmo! (Grant loves to watch "Momo" every morning on Sesame Street)

This is such a fun age with Grant and we are treasuring being able to understand him more and more each day. Pretty soon he will be talking in full sentences and using words that we don't even know the definition for!

Impromptu Backyard Photo Session

A cute son is a very easy subject to shoot!

A Little "Aggie Adventure"

We decided that it was time to show Grant what being an Aggie was all about, so a couple weekends ago we took a trip up to College Station to do just that. We started off by picking up Uncle Andrew and having lunch at our favorite restaurant, Rosa's Cafe. Next we took a trip to the Campus Bookstore to pick up an Aggie shirt for Grant....we figured since he was going to be on campus that he needed to look the part. Then we set off to explore the A&M University campus. Since Grant loves water we started off with the fountain at the student center.

He loved to walk around the outside of the fountain holding daddy's hand. He even tried to get in a few times! Next, we moved onto the grassier part of campus, walking by all the dorms and classrooms. Since it was a Sunday afternoon, there were not a lot of students on the campus...but there were a lot of squirrels. Grant is completely fascinated by squirrels and loves to chase after them.

Once we pulled Grant away from squirrel watching we decided to introduce him to an Aggie tradition....putting a penny on the foot on the Sul Ross statue for good luck on exams. There were many times that Matthew and I placed pennies on this foot believing it would bring good luck on exams. Sometimes when I really didn't study I would place a quarter! :)

Since everyone was getting hot and tired we finished up our A&M tour with some dorm step climbing and playing in the grass on the Simpson Drill Field.

Grant sure loved walking around the campus! One day he might be walking there as a student!

Family Pictures

This past weekend we traveled to New Braunfels to have a photo session with the Oekerman side of the family. The last time we did this there were only four Oekerman family members and it was 10 years ago. Now there are 8 and a half including spouses, children and a kiddo on the way due in December. The photo session set was the beautiful backyard of my parents house. They have a huge, gorgeous huge tree and wonderful grass so it was the perfect backdrop. After we took the professional pictures we were able to get our own camera and take some pictures....hopefully one of these can be used for our Christmas cards this year.

Washable Markers?

Washable markers...let's hope so!! :)

2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch Trip

This weekend we all took the 2nd annual Crump family trip to the pumpkin patch. Last year Grant was only 6 months old so, needless to say, this year was a lot more exciting for all. (Not that last year wasn't precious and memorable...it certainly was!) When we got there Grant headed straight for one of the large piles of pumpkins and climbed right in.

He loved climbing all over the pumpkins! After the pumpkins we moved onto look at the mommy and baby goats. Grant was greatly upset that he could not get into the area with the goats. I know that he was thinking "but I do it at the petting zoo?".

We all had a great time and everyone was pretty worn out afterwards. Many fun things to explore and fun photo ops for mommy.....we can't wait until next pumpkin patch season!

Channeling our inner "wiseman"...

Yes, that is Grant and I and yes, we are riding a camel! At the Fall Festival that we went to this weekend they had "Larry the Camel" and he was giving rides to all! So Grant and I channeled our inner wise man and took a seat upon the camel's back. I was really nervous because the camel was really big and we were really high up on it's back. I only had one hand to hold onto Grant with and the other hand was holding us onto the camel. The ride went well though and the camel was nice and gentle (and the ride was short...thank goodness! :))

Grant seemed to enjoy it and waved to everyone that was watching. Now I can show Grant the pictures and tell him that when he was 16 months old him and mommy rode a camel.

This child LOVES animals!

We have always known the Grant loves animals! He likes to make the sounds" that they make, look at their pictures and even pet them, so today was such a joy for him! We went to a Fall Festival with Grant's Nanny and Pop and much to Grant's delight there was a petting zoo. He nearly jumped out of his stroller to see the animals.

At first he was very smitten with the calf or "baby moo cow" as we called it. He ran right up to her, gave her a nice pat and looked her straight in the eye and said "Moo!" Way to cute! He stood by her for several more minutes patting and mooing before moving onto the duck.

The duck was not so sure he liked the way Grant was running to see him so he took off, with Grant in hot pursuit. Grant never did catch that duck but laughed really hard while running after him.....good enough.

Next he moved onto the funny looking chicken with feathers on it's feet. It happened to be cornered by the water bowl so Grant got to sneak a quick pet before the chicken hopped off. Then in true boy fashion Grant stuck his hand in the water bowl. (Mommy though yuck - every animal drank out of that!)

The goats and sheep are always popular with the Little Mister too. They are have always been the nicest and the most tolerate of the many "loving child pats". This proved true today too. All the goats and sheep stood by patiently as Grant "patted" their fur and loved every minute of it!

What a time fun time we all had today. Thanks Nanny and Pop for going with us and for the tokens!