Milestones!

Wow I didn't realize it had been a month since my last post! Time flies... Grady's 3 month birthday was yesterday. He has grown so much and is becoming really interactive now. He smiles and giggles a lot, and enjoys his play mat and other toys with lights. He loves his changing table and the giraffe that plays "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and moves. He smiles at it and tries to put it in his mouth!

Justin has always loved penguins. Not only the Pittsburgh Penguins, but also real penguins - we always spend lots of time at the penguin exhibit at zoos and aquariums. For Halloween, I did some online searching and found a baby penguin costume for Grady! I couldn't resist. We told our friend Caleb, and he happened to have an adult penguin costume from a couple of years ago! Chris and Sarah had a halloween party so we dressed up for it - was a big hit! On Sunday, Jonathan and Lesley came over with Lily for football and we dressed them up together. One of the cutest pics ever! 

The last Asheville Affiliates event of 2010 was a couple of weeks ago, and Justin was a good sport and brought Grady for a while. He did great! We carry him around in the front pack carriers a lot and he is quite content - plus it give us free hands. The Affiliates event was at Highland Brewery in their new tasting room and worked out really well. I had to do a speech since I'm the president (just thanking everyone for the year etc) so I had to stay late.

The next morning we got up and drove to Buckhannon - Amy's baby shower was on Saturday and we got Grady baptized on Sunday. It was a great weekend! I helped Sue get set up for the shower, and my mom (Grandma Loftis) brought Grady with her. Then we went out to Grandma and Pop Pop Hunter's for the evening, and had Grady's baptism on Sunday morning at First United Methodist Church. The pastor is pretty new and had not done a baptism there before so we were not sure what to expect. It was REALLY sweet - they had his photo printed on the front page of the bulletin, and the baptism was close to the beginning of the service. He called us all up - Justin, Grady and I, both sets of grandparents, Great Grandma Purbaugh, Great Aunt Becky and Great Uncle Keith, and Kevin, Carolyn and Katelyn. We did a little response, then the pastor held Grady and walked him around the church - then the choir sang a song with his name in it! The chorus was "Grady, Grady, God made you. He helps to protect you and loves you too."

After church we went to my parents' house and had lunch, then headed back home to Asheville.

Everything else is going pretty well. We have good days and bad days at work. Sometimes Grady is content sitting on his own for long periods, and other days he wants to be held and walked around all day. I feel like I don't get much accomplished on those days which can be frustrating, but I think overall I am keeping caught up with everything. Catherine has offered to watch him periodically when she is off work, so I'm trying to save up some milk so we can maybe try that one day this week - meet for lunch and her take him in the afternoon.

We have a really nice swing, and a bouncey seat, and a play mat... and Grady's favorite place to sit??? In the small rocking chair Grandma Loftis bought for $3 at a yard sale. Whatever works! He has gotten more tolerant of the other contraptions - he will sleep in the swing in the morning so dad can get a little more sleep in the morning. I think the play mat is going to be great soon. He will lay on it for a little while now, and likes to watch the lights and watch if I shake the rattle on it.