One Year and Some Change

We are now the proud parents of a one-year-old. Grant has such a happy spirit and is joy to have in our home. To celebrate his birthday, Grant and mom went on a walk to enjoy the fall foliage and play in the (somewhat damp) leaves. We got some great pictures of our camera-loving Grant and the beautiful autumn colors.Grant's current hobbies include making a mess and trying to clean it up, hiding his food and toys in unexpected places (shoes, baskets, under couches, bookshelves), eating, coloring, reading, and babbling.Grant is an expert babbler, but we are still working on saying words. He can find and point to mama, dada, fox, ball, belly button, toes, and bunny when asked, but the only word he actually says is "book".We made Grant a blue caterpillar cake, which is not pictured because both the cake and the picture turned out poorly. I am definitely not a baker. Grant loved playing in the cake, but it took him a minute to figure out that he could actually eat the cake. Here is a video of Grant not eating his cake. I'm not sure that I would actually recommend watching it; it's just four minutes of Grant making a mess. I posted it for the grandparents to enjoy.

Here's another video of Grant actually eating the cake. Again, it's fairly boring unless you are a parent or grandparent, but Grant makes the cutest face at the end of the video.

I Looked at the Window and What Did I See . . .

Grant climbing on the sill and smiling at me! Grant loves to play by the window in the front room. His initial window play took the form of licking and blowing bubbles, which later evolved when he discovered that it was the perfect play place for his toys. The window sill worked well for small toys like Baby Fox and Bunny, but it presented a challenge when it came to larger toys like his laptop. There were many frustrated cries until he finally managed to get his laptop on the window sill for optimal toy enjoyment.But the many uses of the window sill do not end with toys. Yesterday, I watched Grant climb onto the window sill and announce his great achievement to the neighbors as only a one-year-old can: in a squeal of delight and satisfaction! He was so proud of himself.

Cereal Prizes

I fondly reflect on the good-old-days when boxes of cereal contained exciting prizes such as miniature action figures or glow-in-the-dark whistles. Nothing quite compares to the thrill of finding a prize as you fill your cereal bowl. The free prizes of long ago have now been replaced with "free" mail-in offers, but only if you collect 25 proofs of purchase and send $5.95 for "shipping and handling".

Today I discovered that some boxes of cereal still contain a hidden surprise. I was preparing my usual breakfast of Raisin Bran and milk. There was barely a serving of cereal left in the box, so I had to dump the box into my bowl. The vigorous shaking yielded quite the surprise: a large, harry SPIDER. Needless to say, I did not have Raisin Bran for breakfast this morning.

Photography Requires Patience . . .

. . . which is something I don't have. Grant has taken to towing his toys as he crawls. He reminds me of a mama cat, holding his stuffed bunny or rubber ducky in his mouth as he crawls around the apartment. I really wanted to share a video or a picture of these adorable moments with you. I set up the camera, gave Grant a toy, and waited for Grant to stuff the toy in his mouth so that I could capture the moment. Unfortunately, three days and many hours later, I have been unable to snap a picture at the right moment. These were the best I could do. You will have to use your imagination if you want to see Grant's impersonation of a mama kitty.

New Adventures

Nathaniel and I received our first visitor, Candace, this weekend (you may visit her blog for more pictures and a detail description of my Wii boxing skills). As hosts, we planned an educational excursion to Hershey's Chocolate World where we learned about the importance of milk in chocolate making from three singing cow puppets as well as how to see, listen to, smell, and taste (but not eat) different chocolates in the delectable Chocolate Tasting 101 course.











We also explored downtown Harrisburg where we strolled along the banks of the Susquehanna River, visited City Island, ate fried veggies at the fair, and cheered the adult rowing team to victory against the youth team.

Moving Supplies

I'm sure that most of you have given up on this blog, but it has not been abandoned. I was simply swamped with moving chores. I have now unpacked most of the boxes and can breath easy in middle-of-no-where Pennsylvania. Just in case any of you are preparing for a cross-country move, I've compiled a list of a few must-have moving supplies.

1. Lots of boxes2. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers
3. Super glue for the moving casualties4. Wood glue for the other moving casualties
5. Expert packing friends (you know who you are)
On a somewhat related note, I am running out of bookshelf space. Our three small shelves are basically full of books, but I still have to find a place for all these remaining books. Nat wants to save our money to buy some nice Amish bookshelves (and do who-knows-what with all these books in the meantime). I think I'll go insane if I don't find a place for all these books soon. ;)

Uinta Camping Highlights

Nathaniel, Grant, and I went camping with my family in the Uinta Mountains this weekend. It was one of the best camping trips ever!

1. Eaten by mosquitoes
Tenille's mosquito bites: 27
Days of itching: 3
Camping memories: eternal

2. Trying out our new baby backpackHours searching for backpack: 12

Number of stores visited: 15
Exploring nature with our son: priceless

3. Hiking Bald Mountain
Elevation: 11,943 (highest peak in the western Uintas)
Round-trip miles: 4
View at the top: breathtaking

4. Spotting Ute Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis)
Number of Ute Ladies' Tresses in the world: ??? but they're a threatened orchid
Number of Ute Ladies' Tresses we spotted: approximately 50
Nat's excitement: unparalleled
(F.Y.I. Nat would love to study the evolution of different orchid species at Penn State.)

5. Finding a nesting Bald Eagle on our hike to Hoover Lake
Number of Bald Eagles: ??? also threatened
Miles to the lake: 2
Times I said I would miss the Utah Mountains: infinitely many