Happy 4th!

Yesterday we got into the holiday spirit by attending the 4th of July parade in neighboring Eastmoreland.  Grady really loved it.  Being as he is heavily into trucks right  now, the firetruck was a definite highlight.  LOTS of pointing!

There it goes!

The parade was huge - it went on for a good 30 minutes, and everyone was decked out in red white and blue.  It was a good start to a Wilkinson family annual tradition!

The evening was a bit dramatic.  Grady has two windows in his room, both of which looked out on two separate, loud parties.  The one going on closer to his crib included about 90 minutes of setting off firecrackers.  Grady woke up several times, but never cried.  He just sat up, looked annoyed, and then went back to sleep.  Definitely could have been much worse.  Matt and I (and Besa, look closely) got to enjoy fireworks from our living room couch, which is always a treat!

Grady continues to make small strides with his walking.  He took three deliberate steps on Sunday to get from me to his toy shopping cart: He spent about 10 seconds thinking about it, then did a quick three steps to the cart.  He is really enjoying walking holding onto our fingers, and has gotten good at walking just holding onto one of them. 

Grady has also been really into climbing into things - boxes, carts, etc.  Here are a few shots of him setting up camp in his cart.

He loves to read, that Grady. 

He also loves taking things apart - otherwise known as making a mess.  Here, I let him hold onto the (sealed) box of tea on our way home from the store.  Here's what I found when I looked down!

Grady's new trick is saying "Hi-eeee!" to anyone (or anything) within shouting distance - strangers, Besa, a robin, etc.  Other favorite new words include Ca-do (avocado), and cheee (cheese).  (Hmm, I'm seeing a pattern.)

I think those are the highlights for the week.  Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend!