Memorial Day

We've had a great Memorial Day weekend! Grady is getting big enough to play with other kids - and this has been a great weekend for it.

On Friday we went downtown to meet Chris, Sarah, Chris Blood (visiting from Mass.), and Jamie and Jesse Daugherty for dinner. Jamie and Jesse brought a babysitter to watch their kids - they have 3, so Grady was the only kid on the town! We had a great dinner at Mellow Mushroom. Grady most loved crawling on the table.

We went down to the White Squirrel Festival in Brevard on Saturday afternoon - they are thinking of having road bowling there next year! Then we went to Stacie and Tripp's house for Oliver's first birthday party. There were about 5 other kids there Grady's age! They played in the ball pit, in bubbles, on the water table (we need to get one for Grady - he LOVED it!)... it was great to see him interact with other kids his age.

After the party we went out to Chris and Sarah's for a cookout. Jamie and Jesse's kids had a great time with Grady - Shelby (se is 11) even changed Grady's diaper and fed him.. She kept saying "you take a break. I'll take care of Grady!". I was surprised that I had a bit of a hard time with it. I'd find myself back with him in just a few minutes. Had to consciously try to stay away! Chris Blood played guitar and everyone sang along - including Grady! It was so funny.

Yesterday we had a cookout at our house, and had about 20 people here! I got a baby pool for the kids to play in, and it was a good thing. It was like 90 degrees outside, so we all wanted to play in the water.

Chris, Sarah and Lucille came and brought the Daugherty's (all 6 of them including the babysitter), Jonathan, Lesley and Lillian, Davis, Katie and Myles came - Katie is just a few weeks away from having their baby girl. Catherine, Aaron and Caleb came a little later. We had a full house! All the kids played great together  - I don't remember a single squabble. We played cornhole and watched all the races... it was overall a great day! Everyone was gone by around 7, and I fell asleep by 10.

The best part is we have today off also! Not sure the plans yet, but it's just great to have another full day with Grady before having to go back to work.

Standing

In the last few days, Grady has learned to pull himself up to standing all by himself! The first time he did it.... was in the bathtub; not exactly the safest place, but we do have a cushy bathmat and I was right there with him.

The bath is one of Grady's favorite places. I put about 2 inches of water in there, and he just splashes around and laughs. He'll crawl to one end and splash his hands, then crawl to the other end and splash some more. He loves being sprayed with the bath nozzle. One time Justin accidentally sprayed him in the face. Justin expected him to cry, but he busted out laughing instead! Then they did it like 10 more times for me to see.

In this video, we are at Target shopping for a baby shower. I gave Grady one of the registry printouts and he crumpled it up. I tossed it to him (ok, more at him), and here's what happened!

Springtime

We have had an eventful few weeks! Grandma and Grandpa Loftis stayed in Forge/Gatlinburg for a week around Easter in April, and drove the 1 hour 45 minute trip to Asheville about 5 times in the week. We had Easter dinner at our house on Easter Sunday, then they came back on Wednesday to watch Grady for the day and take him overnight to stay with them at the resort. Aunt Catherine went too, and they had a fun time exploring - even went to a petting zoo!

That Saturday we went for a visit, and had lunch in Pigeon Forge at The Old Mill restaurant. They had some nice shops there too... of course one was a toy shop so we bought Grady a robot stuffed toy named Kale.

Then we went to Gatlinburg and spent most of the afternoon at the Ripley's Aquarium. It was really nice! Very interactive, with tubes underneath the huge tank so we could walk underneath the sea life. They had Sawfish (sharks with saws for noses), a couple other kinds of sharks and lots and lots of fish. In the kid's play area, you could pet horseshoe crabs and had some other interactive things for children, including a big tree to crawl through which was PERFECT for Grady. There were 3 large fish tanks that you could crawl into and pop your head up in the middle, so the fish were swimming all around your head! Justin and I both got in there with Grady - the best one had fish in it like on Finding Nemo.

The last (and probably best) exhibit was the Penguins, of course! It had one of those crawling tubes and an open space inside the exhibit so it was like you were in there with them! Very cool. We had a fun time watching them splash and swim around.

Grady continues to grow and mature every day! He can pull himself up onto his knees and I'm sure will soon be standing on his own. He has learned (likely from the dogs) that he can carry a toy in his mouth and crawl at the same time. It is quite entertaining to see! We vacuum every day and mop at least 2 times a week, and his knees still are always covered in dirt and hair.

This past Sunday was my first Mother's Day! Justin made me blueberry pancakes in the morning, and then the boys went on a little shopping trip and came back with an orchid and a card that "Grady made" with his handprint. We went for a hike in Bent Creek and had a picnic, THEN went to the Tourists baseball game! I am very lucky to have such a sweet, happy family. It's only been 9 months and I can't imagine NOT being a mom.