Funny pictures with Uncle Cliff

We are running out of memory on our camera (what can I say, the kid's life is well documented!).  I was deleting some pictures and came across these funny ones from when Uncle Cliff came out to visit.  I don't know why I didn't post these the first time around - I guess I was still trying to impress everyone then with how well-behaved Grady was (and is).

(this one is my favorite - pirate day!)

Anyway, thought you all might enjoy!  Doesn't he look so tiny!

Oktoberfest, Swimming

This weekend, Oaks Park had an Oktoberfest.  Neither Grady, Matt, nor I had ever been to one before, so we decided to go.  I think we went a little too early because it hadn't really geared up yet.  They did have some weiner dog races, which were pretty funny, and a Polka band (although, is the chicken dance a classic German song?).  The two best things about it were Matt's bratwurst and this picture:

Grady and I met up with Rose and Jada for a walk for the first time in a long time since Jada has started back at work full time.  It was nice to catch up, and Rose has gotten so big!

Grady had his second swimming lesson today, and even went under water twice!  He was, to quote the instructor, "a pro" (not that I'm bragging).  He was a very brave boy though - no tears or fussing.  He wasn't as excited this time as last time, I think because he is teething.  One of his bottom teeth has poked through, and the other is just about to - I would guess tomorrow or the day after.  Anyway, here are some shots.

Here's Grady showing swimming is still pretty fun, even when his mouth hurts:

I'm not sure why we had to put the fins on, but they looked cute!

We practiced balancing on the noodle -

Not THAT kind of noodle, Grady!

Here's Grady practicing getting up on the ledge:

And going down the slide:

All in all, a fun lesson!  We were very proud of him!

More adventures with food

Grady has really taken to eating solids.  You're supposed to wait a number of days before introducing the next food, but Grady was happy to continue with the rice cereal for a while.



What?  Do I have something on my face?

How embarassing!

Last night, though, enough time had gone by to introduce a second food, so I made some pureed sweet potatoes.  Boy, was that tasty!

Wait, this stuff goes in the mouth??

And I shouldn't try to use my hands to try to get it on my face faster?

Oops.

I wish you'd tell me these things before I eat!

The video

Here's the promised video.  And I'm sure it's partly coincidence, but Grady slept from 6:30 to 4:30 straight last night, and then another 2.5 hours from 5:30 - 8! 

The first supper

We were planning to wait until 6 months before introducing solids, but to be honest, I'm tired of getting up twice in the middle of the night.  And hey, we're only two weeks away.  So, today Grady had his first supper - rice cereal with milk.  You will be shocked to know it was a well-documented affair. Unfortunately, there seems to be a bug in the video upload, but I will share the pictures.  Hopefully I can get the video up later.

He wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first, but he really quickly decided he liked it.  A lot!  He also liked getting it on his face, his fingers, his shirt, his bib, and just about anything else within reach.

 

He's got a grip on that spoon!  He's really got the flinging action down too - and on his first try!  He sure takes after his dad!

You'll also be shocked to know that Besa wanted to be part of whatever this new family activity was.

And he's done.

Anyway, a huge success - he probably ate about 70% of it.  Way better than I was expecting. 

All the moms I know have been saying not to expect a miracle with the sleeping.  And I'm not.  I'd be totally fine with 11 straight hours.  :)

Tomorrow:  Must buy high chair.

Playground

Today we took Grady to the playground, where he got to swing on the swing and go down his first slide with Daddy.

He had to admit, the swing was pretty fun.  Here he is showing off his new coughing laugh.

The slide however - that, he's not so sure of!

Not much to report

How's that to reel you in?  The weather has turned rainy, which makes it harder to get motivated to do fun things.  I know I have to post though, to avoid Goopy wrath.  So - here are some cute pictures! 

And look everyone!  The backsplash is done!

Here's Grady trying out his splashing techniques.

Here he is trying not to laugh at how soaked he got mommy!

And drying off.

Here's Grady before we went for brunch this morning with our friends Jay and Joanna.  He is giving daddy a big smile!

He's been saying a lot of "da da da" noises, although he's not associating the sounds with the "da" himself yet.

Hopefully all these pictures make up for my delay in posting! 

Good news

We met with the urologist today to hear the results from last week's procedures.   Normal kidneys have 50% functioning on each side.  We needed to have Grady's functioning on the right be greater than 25% or else we would have to think about removing it.  Grady's came in at 36% - well over what was needed!  Plus his overall kidney functioning is even better than average.  So the doctor wants to just keep him on antibiotics for now and not mess with anything.  He did think he would eventually need surgery for the reflux, but not for a while.  We are all very relieved!

Swinging, swimming

Grady did a couple of firsts this weekend.  He sat in a swing all by himself.  He thought that was pretty fun!

Then today Grady had his first swimming lesson.  Here he is in his little diaper speedo.

He loved it.  Oh my gosh, he had so much fun.  He had his mouth wide open in a huge smile for pretty much the whole 30 minutes.  We did some splashing and some moving through the water, and he even went down a slide all by himself (I caught him at the bottom).  Next class is in two weeks and Matt will try to come so he can take pictures. 

Grady and I went to family story time yesterday and he was a big hit with two little girls there.  One quote from the 6 year old "I get his left hand, you get his right hand."   Grady seemed pretty okay with all the attention. 

Grady has been working on his pensive look this weekend. 

Why is it that with a finger in one's mouth, one looks pensive - but extend it to a foot and....  Well, it's just not the same.

Finally, here's a shot of Grady with his little baby dashboard.  He had a grip on his rattle, and I figured he would drop it once he started playing with the dashboard.  Not our son - he figured out how to hold on to both!  Besa is duly impressed.

He's back!

Looks who's back and happier than ever!

A couple things I failed to mention yesterday.

Grady got his first taste of food other than milk yesterday.  Prior to the procedure, Grady was allowed to have milk until 5, and then clear liquids (among which they included apple juice) until 7.  I started by offering pedialyte, which Grady did not like.  I don't blame him - I tasted it and it was nasty.  So then I offered him apple juice, which I thought he would absolutely love.

 Boy was I wrong!

One of the side-effects of the sedative is "poor judgment."  I'm not sure how long that's supposed to last but Grady has made a few judgment errors.  One, he tried to grab Besa's face.  Two, and even worse, he stepped in his dirty diaper.  Like, #2 dirty.  45 wipes later, I'm still not convinced it's clean!  Hopefully this poor judgment clears up soon.  I would think it would be 24 hours tops. 

Grady is getting stronger and stronger.  Here's a shot of him today at book babies.

Look at him sitting up on his own!

Here he is at tummy time today - he's really getting up on his arms.

He's also gotten pretty good at standing!

What, you didn't know I could stand?

Seriously?  What do you think I am, 4 months?