Summer swims, first scrapes and first steps!

Well, okay, step. 

Summer is finally showing itself in Portland.  Matt, Grady and I took advantage yesterday with a trip to our local community pool.  Grady took swimming lessons back in the winter, but hasn't been in a pool since.  He took to the pool - well, like a fish to water I guess!  Or, at least a fish who doesn't like to get his head wet.

The pool is great, because rather than steps or a ladder to get into the pool, the pavement just goes gradually slopes down until you're in the pool.  I think Grady will love it even more once he is stronger on his feet, because he pretty quickly runs out of navigable water when on his belly.  As you can see, Grady was also quite taken with the fountains.

We stayed in until Grady started shivering - it was a definite success!

Today at daycare Grady had his first real spill.  They have a little mini-skateboard there that Grady loves to scoot around on.  Apparently it got out from under him and he face planted on the driveway.  (This was prefaced to me by Amy when I got there as: "Grady had a little skateboarding accident" - I certainly didn't think I'd hear that statement at 14.5 months!)  Poor little kid was pretty scraped up, and I think the scrape under his eye might turn into a little shiner. 

Here I told him to look sad when I took his picture.  Even though you can't see the scrapes that well, I'll include it since he looks so... sad!

And a less adorable shot.

Grady has been doing lots of exploring out the driveway down the street.  He likes to push his little shopping cart or just abandon it and do the bear crawl.  I think all that practice has really helped his walking.  He's been walking holding on to just one of our fingers. 

Then tonight he was playing against the striped couch with the cat toy with Bessy.  Grady put the cat toy in his mouth and was quite pleased with himself and wanted to come over to show mommy and daddy how silly he was being.  The problem was, the couch he was leaning against wasn't QUITE within stepping distance of the couch we were on.  Now normally he would get on the floor, crawl the step, and stand back up.  But today he very carefully let go and took a step over to us!  It was pretty exciting.  I was actually just getting out the video camera to video him playing with the cat, but I missed it by a few seconds. 

One last thing before signing off.  I was giving Grady a bath yesterday and got up to blow my nose.  A few moments later, Grady started blowing raspberries while putting his washcloth up to his mouth.  It took me a minute before I figured out he was imitating me.  He must have thought I was pretty strange for doing that, but I guess he felt who was he to judge!

Father's Day in Seattle

This past weekend, we all headed to Seattle to catch the Phillies play the Mariners.  Well, all of us except the kitties, who tried extra hard to be cute to get us to stay.

All in all, it was a successful trip  - or as successful as can be hoped for with a 14 month old.  Grady slept half the way there and all the way back and, despite a little trouble falling asleep, stayed asleep through the whole night.

After a long car ride, we were all pretty excited to check out our gorgeous views!

After that, we lounged for a bit and scoped out the room service menu

before heading to Pike Place.

It was a short trip, because Grady wasn't a fan of being confined after 3 hours in the car seat.  It was still fun to walk through the market and sample some delicious chowder.

The next morning, Grady and I let Daddy sleep in (since it was Father's Day and all).  I asked at the front desk for a nearby park, and they pointed me in the direction of the Seattle Center, which was about a mile and a half away.  We decided to brave it - no way Matt would be able to sleep in with us in the room.  The "park" was huge, but unfortunately there was no playground in sight!  We made due with this incredible fountain.

Grady was pretty impressed by it, and soon decided to try to figure out how to get down there.

 It's a long trip - and steep!  Can he do it?

He's down!  What next?

He made it!

Then it was back home to see Daddy and wish him a Happy Father's Day! Oh, and change clothes.  Grady and Daddy enjoyed some quiet time reading the paper

before we all headed out to the Aquarium!

Grady LOVED the fish - lots of DAT-ing.

with a few short breaks for mandatory photo shoots.

And THEN it was time for the big game!

 Heckling Ichiro

We were really hoping that Grady would be worn out enough to be calm and nap through the game.  Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.  Grady amused himself for the first two innings.  Then I amused him for half an inning by feeding him puffs (like fruit-flavored cheerios).  Then he was done.  JUST done.  So Grady and I walked around the stadium and shared a pretzel until he finally fell asleep around the 6th inning.

We decided to leave then to maximize Grady sleeping in the car (which was successful - he slept the whole way!).  Luckily, there was not a Phillies no-hitter going on, or Matt would never have forgiven his first born!

So what else is going on.

Grady continues to expand his vocabulary at an amazing pace.  He's added "NO!" complete with grabbing whatever object he doesn't want to let go of closer to him.  Oddly, I'm usually completely on the other side of the room when he does this and am not really that interested in taking his toy from him!  He also said "read a book" at daycare, and then said it again that night!  It was very distinct!  Also swing, shake, and possibly dinosaur among some others.  The most fun thing about this is the babbling.  Here's a sample as he "reads" an advertisement for shutterfly photo books that came in the mail.

Grady continues to practice his standing.  He's trying more frequently and going for longer periods, but still is not interested in moving from his carefully orchestrated pose.  He is very careful that one.

Grady has always been independent, but I'm continually amazed (and amused) at how willing he is to explore boundaries.  Today I let him on the driveway while we waited for Matt to get ready to join us for a jog.  He bee-lined down the driveway, turned left, and crawled straight past the neighbor's house before even checking to see where I was.  Then he continued to the end of the sidewalk, onto the street, turned left, and would have kept on going if I hadn't stopped him!  That kid wants out of this hell hole!

Okay, and since I posted a photo of Fuzz up above, here's one of Bes.  She sure likes to be part of the action!

Another late post

I'm hoping after this week, I will be better at posting in a timely manner!  We had our annual conference at work these past few days, right on the heels of getting a draft of an amicus brief out the door.  So, it has been very, very busy.  Plus Grady has had a nasty cough, which involved an emergency trip to the doctor's on Sunday (he's fine, just nasty sounding) and subsequently a day home from daycare to recover from a fever.   So anyway.  Here we are.  Apologies.

I'm going to be pretty minimalist here, since it's been a long week, and mostly just show a few videos and some photos.  Again, I'll aim to do better!

Grady continues to make good progress with his standing.  He will stand up for many seconds at a time -

 before very deliberately sitting back down.

Grady has also gotten pretty handy around the backyard.  He has become quite the gardener.

He's also decided when it comes to his pool, he will take matters into his own hands when mom is taking too long to fill it up. 

Grady continues to explode verbally.  He now knows a few animal sounds - woof woof for dog, moooo for cow.   He even said "Thom" and "Gun" at daycare, the names of two of his little playmates over there.  He recently started making "choo choo" noises for his little toy cars that he likes to push around everywhere.  Not technically accurate, but I can see how it would be confusing.  I think it comes from his love for the larger push train that Grandma and Grandpa got for him for his birthday.  He has taught himself how to sit on it, and can even push himself while sitting (although only backwards).  No video of that, but here's one of him choo-chooing.

He understands a lot more than he can say.  If you say "Grady, do you want to go outside?"  he drops whatever he's doing and makes a beeline through the kitchen, down the back stairs, and then tries to get the screen door open to get out.  He also knows every iteration of do you want to eat (are you hungry, do you want a snack, do you want breakfast/lunch/dinner). 

Speaking of food....  Dad, this video is for you - but you may want to close your eyes at the end to avoid the disillusionment.

And one final video before I sign off and get some rest - next stop The Masters?

Standing

Just a quick post to share the photographic proof of Grady's new trick.  We went to a barbeque yesterday at my coworker's house, and Grady found the perfect standing perch in a plastic wagon.  He hasn't wanted to stand again today but I'm sure he will keep working at it.  He is certainly pleased with himself when he does it!

We had a little trip to Sauvie Island today to see some cows.  I really wanted to get a video of Grady saying and seeing "COOOOOW," but it was not meant to be.  While there were cows along the roadside, there wasn't really a good stopping space to park and get out.  Ah well, the search continues.

We did get to go to the beach while on the island.  Grady was sort of indifferent about the sand.  Didn't like it, didn't hate it. He pat it a few times, and let the sand run through his fingers, and then was kinda done. Surprisingly, he didn't try to eat it. 

He stands!

I haven't been in a rush for Grady to walk.  I always figured he would do it when he was ready.  And then all of a sudden he was 13 months and he didn't seem in the least bit interested.  He'll push his cart and furniture surf, but just doesn't seem motivated to take the next step (so to speak).  So I've been a little anxious for him to get moving (so to speak).

Well, he still hasn't walked, but today Grady very deliberately and decidedly stood on his own.   Matt was playing guitar and Grady and I were playing on the floor.  Grady crawled over to me, pulled up, and then just let go.  He was just standing there, looking very pleased with himself, for several seconds before gently landing.  It was surreal and very exciting!  It was just a few minutes before bedtime, so no repeat yet.  Hopefully he'll repeat this weekend and I'll take a picture.

So, since I have no pictures of this, I'll include some pictures of our Monday adventure to Mt. Talbert in nearby Clackamas.

We'd never been to Mt. Talbert before but I expect we'll be back.  It's only about 15 minutes from home but you feel pretty submerged in nature when you're there.  Grady was very interested in exploring the trees.  All of them.  (Dat!  Dat!)

We took a short break so Grady could get out of the carrier and play.  He enjoyed the pine cone.

But he REALLY enjoyed this stick.  It survived all the way home and now lives in our backyard.

Much to Daddy's chagrin. 

Afterwards, Grady posed for some photos on a giant squirrel.

 And also didn't pose.

What a fun little trip!