One Final Bottle - by Mommy

Note: I wrote this entry a few days ago when we were using up the last of our formula. I just assumed that it would be Grant's last bottle since he is on whole milk now and uses a sippy cup. Come to find out breaking "cold-turkey" from the nightly bottle is not as easy as I thought it would be. So technically this was not Grant's last bottle because we still give him a whole milk bottle at night. But the memories and feelings from that night when I thought it was our last bottle together are so precious and special I thought they should be recorded.

Tonight was just a regular night, Matt was giving Grant his bath and I was in the kitchen making his nightly bottle. When I went to pour the formula in his bottle my heart sank a little.....there was just enough formula for this last bottle. There would be no more running to the store for more formula tomorrow morning, this was it, my little baby did not need formula anymore. So I poured the bottle and it began to warm up. As it warmed out came a freshly cleaned Grant in his daddy's arms. He always looks so cute after his baths. His wispy blonde hair was slicked back and his face was bright and shiny from all the lotion we lather on him ever night. He smiled at me with his tired eyes and streched out his arms toward me as I came closer. I engulfed him in a huge bear hug and off we went to get his bottle.

Usually, for Grant's nightly bottle, we sit in the living room on the couch and watch whatever reality show is on TV, but tonight was special. So I took my little mister into his room, closed the door and turned off the lights. There, in the glow of the nightlight, we sat in the rocking chair and he enjoyed his last bottle blissfully unaware of my sadness at this milestone. I watched him as he put his little thumb in his ear then gently rubbed his hand over his eyes, a sure sign that sleep is near for a little Grant. I started to reminisce about all the times we sat in this rocking chair at 3am and I would think “is he ever going to finish this bottle so I can go to bed”. Tonight that bottle was finished all too soon.

After he drank the last drop I turned him around to face me so I could pat his back and he immediately started to point at things around the room, first the book on the nightstand, then the buttons on my shirt. He likes for me to name the things he points at so he can hear the words and begin to learn them. It was with that I realized that I should not be saddened by my son’s growing up, but I should rejoice in the fact that he is becoming a bright and beautiful little toddler who is so eager to learn new things.

Tonight I made a promise to myself to try not to be upset by what we may never do together again but to look forward everyday to what new things Grant and I are going to experience together in the future. I love you Mister!

Playing with the Big Kids!

Since it has been so hot and muggy outside the past couple of days we decided to take Grant to the mall playground and let him play out some energy. This was only the second time that we had done this. The first time he really enjoyed it! We also thought this might help him to practice his walking skills. He still has yet to take his first steps by himself but is doing really well walking if you hold his hands. When we got there he was hesitant and did not want to leave mommy's side but he watched all the other kids very closely. Eventually he crawled away from me to play on the slide.....but always kept one eye on me.

He crawled up the slide then turned around and slid down all by himself! I was so impressed at how brave he was. It made me realize even more that he is not a baby anymore and turning into my little boy.

Once he realized he could do it, all he wanted to do is crawl up and slide down. He must have done it ten times! :) After that he moved onto the play things on the walls. He stood there for a long time and played.

By the end of the playtime Grant was completely comfortable playing around all the other kids. I'm sure that this mall playtime will become a common theme this summer.

Grant's Favorite Things - Part 1 (12 Months)

These are just a few of Grant's favorite things. Many of them are ongoing favorite things but some of them are things that we have just discovered.

1. Amy Coe Chenille Blanket - Grant loves these blankets and we think this would qualify as his "lovey". Every time he grabs it he nestles it up to his face and falls directly into it. He sleeps with one and has ever since he was little. He has one in the car and another spare one for just around the house.

2. Fisher Price Musical Crib Aquarium - we put this on Grant's crib when he was about 6 months old to help him fall asleep on his own. When we lay him down we turn it on and he likes to watch the fish swim in the bubbles and listen to the music. He has gotten so attached to it that if he is not asleep at night and it goes off he immediately gets up and pushes the button to turn it back on. He also turns it on first thing in the morning when he wakes up.

3. Carter's Child of Mine Musical Monkey - This was one of Grant's first toys that he ever smiled at! When he was about 3-4 months old he would love for us to push the monkey's tummy and the music would play and the monkey's cheeks would light up! Even at 12 months old Grant still loves the monkey and gives it many smiles. We bought a back up monkey in case the batteries ever wear out.

4. Johnson's and Johnson's Bedtime Bath Products - On one of our first sleepless nights at home with Grant we were pondering ways to get him to sleep better. We thought that we would try these products because they claim to "help baby sleep". Boy did they ever! Ever since that night they have been a regular in our bath time routine. Grant smells so great afterwards too!

5. The Wonder Pets - one night while giving Grant his nightly bottle we were flipping through the channels and a catchy song from the Wonder Pets came on. Grant loved it immediately! He likes to listen to the songs and "dance" along with the music. For his birthday he got a CD with all the songs on it that we listen to in the car. He loves the first part of the main song where the "phone is ringing"! This will be a favorite for a long time to come.

6. Ten Little Ladybugs book - This is one of Grant's favorite books! He always brings it to us so that we can read it to him. The book counts backwards from 10 to 1 and with each number a ladybug disappears. He likes to point at each of the ladybugs on each page and help us flip the pages.

7. Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli - When Grant was starting table food we decided that this would be a good starting food. So we would mush it up really well and feed it to him. He loved it and eventually he did not need us to feed it to him anymore. He is a big boy now and can feed himself......albeit not very cleanly :).

8. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - Everyone likes a grilled cheese right.......you betcha! Grant is loving all this new table food that he is getting. He loves grilled cheese sandwiches and is very easy for us to make at home and to order when we go out to eat.

9. Cheerios - This is actually a new thing. We never thought to give him Cheerios but we are so glad that we did. He likes them in his "Snack Trap" cup and will carry them around all day eating them. He also likes to feed them to us and the dogs.

10. Our Puppies Abbe and Penny - Grant has really enjoyed watching what the dogs do very closely. He has made it his job every morning to go and let them out of their crates. He crawls into the bedroom and peeks at Penny between the door opening and immediately squeals loudly. Next he goes and stands up on Abbe's crates and opens the lock. They both give him lots of wet doggy kisses and he loves every minute of it! We have been working on saying the word "dog" and he is getting very close. He makes the "D" sound when he sees them now.

Just a Lazy Day at the Pool!

Today was the first day that our subdivision's swimming pool and you better believe that the Crump family was there. We had been waiting for to take Grant to the pool for a long time. We took him last year when he was around 3 months old...he was less than impressed with it all and kept his eyes closed the whole time because of the sun.

3 months old......

This year we were prepared! We got him all lathered up wth sunscreen and bought some baby sunglasses so that he could look around in the bright sunshine. He enjoyed floating around the pool in his floaty seat. His legs would stick out the bottom and he would kick away. There were lots of other kids at the pool that he enjoyed watching and smiling at.

After we had been there a little while we decided that it was time to wear the sun hat so that Grant's little blonde head did not get sunburned. He actually did not mind it and kept it on the whole time.

We all had a great time at the pool and were hot and sleepy afterwards. Grant loves the water and I'm sure there will be many more times this summer that we will go.

Memorial Day Weekend Project - Completed with no Cursing!

This holiday weekend was dedicated to a few projects around the house that needed to get done. Matt is leaving for a business trip to Norway in a week and he wanted to get a jump start on a few things. Number one on the list was putting together a new swing set that Grant got for his birthday from us and Grammy and Papaw. He had already started last week by organizing everything from the swing set in the garage so he was ready to start assembly.

Grant was very curious about all the noise that was coming from the garage so he went out to investigate. He was so excited to find out that it was his swing set he grabbed some tools and was ready to help out. The garage was so hot inside so a diaper was all the clothing that was necessary.

About an hour into the project Pop came over to lend Matt a hand. He was very grateful that he was there to help out. The two of them went to work and quickly finished putting together the main structure.

After that Matt and Pop moved the frame into the backyard and called it quits for the day. That left Matt with only a few things to finish up the next day. Grant was once again very eager to "help" daddy with a project so we moved his pack n' play outside so that he could watch everything. That was short lived though.....the hot Houston weather finally got to him and he came into play with his car.

About an hour and a half later the swing set was completed and it was beautiful! Matt was so exhausted after tirelessly working on it for a day and a half. He was very proud of his first construction project though. And it looked great in the backyard! Now all it needed was a toddler swing fit for a little boy!

That very same day we found a toddler swing and let Grant enjoy the fruits of his daddy and Pop's labor. He loved the swing! He squealed and smiled endlessly!

That afternoon was filled with lots of playtime on the swing set. Grant tried out the slide numerous times with many smiles every time. He also enjoys being high up in the fort and watching the dogs down below.

So we would say that our Memorial Day project was quite a success and will be enjoyed for many years to come!

Grant's Actual First Birth"Day"

We decided to have Grant's first birthday party a weekend earlier than his actual birthday because all of our family was going to be in town that weekend. So on Grant's actual birthday we needed to make it special. Not because he was expecting it or that he would even realize what day it was but for us to celebrate our accomplishment of getting through the first year with our first child. The Grant's first year was definitely different than anything we had ever experienced before. We gave new meaning to the word "teamwork" as we took turns with nightly feeding and 3 am diaper changes.

We decided that one of the best ways to celebrate was to eat at one of our favorite restaurants Chuy's Mexican Food. We love the chips and dip and Grant loves the tortillas and beans! We decided that since Grant was now a big 1 year old boy that he should get some crayons so that he could "color" while we waited for our food. He was very excited to play with the crayons but, as most everything else does, they ended up in his mouth.

After we ate lunch we took Grant to one of the best parks. It has a duck pond and lots of toddler swings. We walked arounds and looked at the ducks for a long time. Grant enjoys watching all the people walk by with their dogs and is fascinated by other kids. It was extremely hot that day so we did not spend alot of time there. So we came home and ended Grant's first birthday with a late dinner of pancakes with a special candle for a special "not-so-little-anymore" boy.

If this past year is any indication of what is to come in the future then we are in for such a treat! :)

The first days of summer.......

It always seems to get so hot here in Houston much earlier than most places. Last weekend the high was in the mid 90's so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to break out one of Grant's birthday presents....a splash pad! So we changed Grant into his swimsuit (his first one ever I might add) and out we went. Grant was very hesitant about it at first...crawling around the outside and not really wanting to get in.


So to encourage him along Matt got into his swimsuit also to test the waters with him! It was really cold at first but after a few seconds they but got used to it. Grant really enjoyed putting his hands into the sprays of water!

I think this water thing is going to take a bit of getting used to though for Grant. He only wanted to sit on Matt's lap and did not want to get into the water by himself. Funny thing because he is such a water baby in the bath tub.

This is only the first of many times this summer that we will get to splash around outside in the water. Grant will be a splash pad pro very soon!