I Offer This as Proof

Some days I really do think that I have the best baby in the world. While this is really more of an example than a rigorous proof, it illustrates a typical bedtime with Grant.

Seriously, this is how happy Grant is most nights: he lunges into the crib, grabs for Fox, and kicks and giggles as we put the blankets on him (he needs several because it is freezing in Pennsylvania). We turn off the lights and close the door and don't hear from him again until early morning (usually between 5 and 6). If only nap time were this pleasant . . .

Still Enjoying Thanksgiving Leftovers

I let Nathaniel be in charge of the stuffing this year. If I allow Nat to prepare more than one dish, we end up with way too much food. Unfortunately, I did not do a very good job of limiting myself and we still ended up with too much food. We're still enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers thanks to:
14 pounds of turkey
20 cups of the most delicious stuffing ever
6 cups of mashed potatoes
3 pies (my apple pie was amazing)
3 1/2 eaters (Tenille, Nat, Candace, and Grant)

Grant wasn't much help around the kitchen, but Candace did an excellent job keeping him from climbing in the drawers by distracting him with the camera. Here's Grant in what we affectionately call his Charlie Brown Sweater.

Another cute video

I recorded this video of Grant while we were visiting family in Utah. He loves having his feet tickled and always asks for more.

13 months: does this count as walking?

Nat got Grant to do this on his first try.
Nat: "Hey hon, look what Grant can do!"
Tenille: (rolls eyes) "I've been trying to get him to do that for weeks!"

3 Reasons I'm a Slacker Blogger

3. Nat's little brother Josh returned from a mission in India
Josh had a long layover in New York, which resulted in a quick trip to the city for our family. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of Josh on our trip, but we got some cute pictures of Grant pointing at the dinosaur bones.

2. Tenille's little brother Preston returned from a mission in Brazil
Tenille and Grant flew to Utah to see Preston; Nat got to stay home and go to school. We had lots of fun visiting family and eating Mexican food. Grant changed so much over the week and learned so many new things: crawling down stairs, saying new words, and sliding down ramps.

1. We are going to have another baby in April
Hopefully this explains why I look a little fat in the pictures :). We are very excited to have another sweet spirit join our family. The baby is expected the end of April (Tenille is currently 16 weeks). Many of you are probably wondering if this baby was planned. The answer: it depends. We wanted our first two kids to be close together in age (2 years), but it took four years to get Grant and we weren't sure how long it would take to get another one . . . so the kids will be 18 months apart and we couldn't be happier! And happily, Tenille is almost feeling better.

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.