Feeling hot and not so hot.

This weekend has been HOT hot hot.  Compound that with Grady having a reaction to his measles vaccine (fever, spots) and Matt being out of town for a Bachelor Party, and this was not Grady's favorite weekend ever.  Or mine for that matter.

Much of the weekend was spent like this.

 And this

 And this

Until he finally had enough.

At least he does always say "By-eee" before he makes his escape attempt, which is nice.

In between feeling fussy, we did manage to have some fun.  We spent a lot of time at playgrounds - including one meetup with Jada and Rose.  Grady did some really good exploring.  One of his favorite things to do now is to try to climb the rungs on ladders.  This usually involves about 10 minutes of putting one leg up, resting on his tummy and kicking both his legs, and then getting back down.

As always, he also likedto experiment with the wood chips.

He also navigated the bouncy bridge at the local elementary school pretty impressively.  In fact, he was a bit too cavalier about the whole play structure, which caused me to reassess going back there until he has a better sense of spacial awareness.

Grady also cheered up a bit with bubbles, one of his favorite things to do and say.  ("Bub-ooo? Pop!")  It is, unfortunately, quite difficult to capture this on camera when you are the one blowing the bubbles and taking the pictures. 

Pop pop pop!

And he thought he was quite clever for offering Besa some of his morning snack. 

We also managed to get out to see a really fabulous children's musician who was traveling to Portland on tour.  (Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players for parents looking for a CD for kids that won't offend parental ears.)   Although Grady was at the peak of his fussiness during the show, he did give a big smile when one of the band members brought out a giant puppet.  

Other developments this past week.  At daycare, Reiko told me that Grady was up on a raised platform playing with a broom.  He then took the broom stick and started using it like a flute.  Reiko clapped, and Grady completely lit up.  He started doing yoga moves, gesticulating, and just generally being a ham.  His classmates who were watching clapped him on.  Soon after was nap, but instead of falling asleep, Grady and the other boys-still jazzed up from the big show-kept giggling and the boys kept trying to hold his hands.  It sounds like it was quite a performance.  I'm sorry to have missed it. 

Grady's vocabulary continues to expand.  He surprises me with thewords he throws out - many of which I haven't actively taught him.  For instance, he was going through my purse last night (I know, more to come), pulled out my keys, and said "Keeysh."  He also said "hose" when he noticed the garden hose outside yesterday. 

He seems to also understand the concept of the number two.  A few weeks back, when I went into Grady's bedroom to get him up for the day, Besa followed me in.  ("Cat!")  Then Fuzz followed and he said "Two!"  He's done it enough times now with other objects - most recently, two pieces of cucumber at dinner tonight - that I think it's not coincidence. 

Although Grady feeling sick and hot has not been fun, it has been interesting to see how he responds to it --which, unfortunately and unexpectedly to me, is by acting out. For instance, by slapping me whenever I have him on the changing table with his diaper off (leaving me with no exit strategy).  I've tried "No."  "Stop."  "That hurts mommy."  Putting him down on the floor after his diaper is back on and leaving the room....  Nothing seems to stop it.  I definitely welcome feedback from the moms and dads reading on how to address this.  There's also been a lot more "Noo-OOOO" in general, even for things I know he wants to do (taking a bath, eating his cheese, whatever).  I'm just hoping this fades as he starts feeling better and it's not an early start to the terrible twos.  In any event, I'm hoping to take him in for a sick child visit tomorrow to get him officially diagnosed and on the way to recovery.  And Matt is now back, which also makes a big difference!

Beach vacation and a visit from the Grandparents

Last week Matt, Grady and I all took the week off from work and school and headed out to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast.

Grady's reaction to the water was one of unbridled joy.  He saw the water, got down on all fours, and crawled as fast as he could until he reached the water.  He didn't stop until a wave hit him in the face.  A bit less unbridled joy at that occurrence, but he rallied. 

Here's the aftermath of his first jaunt to the beach.

The other trips were just as successful.  Grady especially liked playing in the tide pools that formed on the beach during low tide.  Although he wasn't crazy about getting sand on his hands!

But he also loved hanging out on the shoreline with Daddy. 

After completely drenching himself in freezing cold water, we warmed up in the sun a bit and made some sand castles.

Soon Grady came over to check out what Daddy was making.

 Unfortunately, I didn't catch the moment when Grady actually destroyed the castle - he did so by shoving his face into it and taking a big bite.  Yuck!

You must try this.  It is so delicious.

Our other activities included checking out neighborhood playgrounds, eating lots of unhealthy food, and checking out the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  Lots of cooowwws!

Grady did remarkably well this trip - way better than our trip to Bend.  He had a rough night the first night, but did well for the next two.  It was a great family trip and has inspired us to try some more. 

The day after we left, we were so excited to welcome Grandpa and Nana (nee Grandma, nee Goomy).  The grandparents let me catch up on sleep, but we still got to take a few excursions.  The most fun one was to Sellwood Park during Sundae in the Park.  There were 50 cent sundaes (which everyone enjoyed), music, and of course the playground was still there.  

Unfortunately we did not do a good job of documenting this visit, but here are a few pictures. 

 (Even with the horrible lighting, I think this one is cute.)

Grady was quite taken with his Grandpa, and would point to him whenever we asked "Where's Grandpa" and also "Where's Grandma" - hence the name change.  (He will now raise his hands in bafflement when asked where Grandpa is.)  It was such a treat to get to see them and for them to get to see Grady.  He has changed a lot since they last saw him in April!  Although I think everyone was tired of the animal book by the time they left.

A few other Grady-related things of note.

Our pictures from our photo shoot are available here!  Go to clients, and then type in "wilkinson."

Reiko - Grady's teacher while Briana is on leave - told us a cute story about Grady and his friend Santi.  Reiko was putting Thomas down for a nap, but Santi wanted to read a book and Reiko wasn't available.  Santi then realized that Grady could "read" and so brought the book over to him.  Grady "read" the book to Santi.  It was about animals, so every so often he would get something right, and when he did, Santi would nod his head authoritatively.  When he finished, Santi asked for more and Grady read it again!  Even when Reiko came back, Santi preferred Grady.

Grady had his 15 month doctor's appointment today - we got off a month somewhere.  He had quite a growth spurt, coming in now at 33 inches (85%) and 26 pounds, 10 ounces (74%).  His head circumference is 49.5 cm.  Not sure what percentile that is, but I'm guessing high.  I thought he seemed heavy!  He is doing great, although he was not pleased at all with the appointment.

Finally, some sad news.  My friend Donna, who I went to visit in Boston earlier this year, lost her fight to cancer yesterday.   Her humor, grace, vivacity, kindness, and generousness even during such a debilitating illness were inspiring.  She will be incredibly missed not just by me, but by the many, many people whom she touched.  For those who are interested in honoring her memory with a donation, her family is accepting donations in lieu of flowers to Sterling Animal Shelter, the shelter from which she adopted her dog Lulu.