Sweetheart n Sunshine: TTT: Season 3, Episode 27

1. This week has been a little bit of saying goodbye to visitors, a little bit of back to life as normal, and with the 4th of July, of course a little bit of celebrating! G-ma left town on Saturday and we were so sad to see her go. Visits from G-ma are much anticipated and thoroughly enjoyed by both the boys and me. What little kid wouldn't love cramming all the fun things you normally do in the summer all in to one week!?! And what mama wouldn't love ending the week with absolutely no dirty laundry to do!?! G-ma is awesome and she sure does love her grandbabies. Now the countdown begins until Thanksgiving when we travel back to Lubbock for our next visit!

2. On Friday we all took Grant to his pediatrician for his one year check up. He weighed 23.5lbs and was 31" tall. Still in the 80th percentile for both, though I think it's funny how he was over twenty pounds at six months and only managed to gain a few more in the second six months of his life. If you were around this child and saw how ~~wild~~ active he is, you probably wouldn't be surprised! At one year old, Grant is quite the little man. He says 'mama,' 'dada,' and 'baba' (bye-bye). He waves, claps, blows kisses, gives high fives, and loves to dance. His absolute favorite activity is climbing stairs. And while he'll readily carry on a conversation with you in baby talk, his favorite method of communication is to scream. The boys steal his toy; he screams. He wants down from the high chair; he screams. He wants a drink; he screams. His shaggy blondish brown hair is wispy with just a bit of curl on the ends. And with just two top teeth and two bottom teeth, he has the most winsome baby smile ever. And oh, those blue eyes! Grant is our best laugher and worst crier. He doesn't cry that often, but when he does it's total devastation. End of the world! And he's by far our best sleeper and eater. For someone with so few teeth, he sure does know how to take down just about anything you give him. He hates purees and has always just wanted to eat whatever we're eating. His favorites are bananas and peeled grapes. He's got an awesome baby tan and has finally given up his favorite past time of spitting up. Grant has been our slowest to start walking. Both Kolbe and Rudy were full-on walking at this age while Grant still prefers to crawl and does it at lightening speed. He'll take a step or two from here to there but if it's long distance, it's back to being a quadruped. Really, we love everything about Grant. He's just the sweetest, most lovable little guy around and Mark and I are reminded daily how blessed we are every time we catch a smile from our little Grant.

3. Mark had to work yesterday on the Fourth of July (yes, people still need heart surgery on holidays...), but we still had a good time celebrating. We practiced singing patriotic songs, and with the Olympics just around the corner, I'm determined to teach my kids the national anthem by the end of the summer. By the way, I'm beside myself with excited that the Olympics are almost here! Eek! I'm one of those people who are super obsessed, follow every event, and watch every. single. day. Thank goodness for DVR or no one would see me for two weeks. Including my kids. Ha! Anyhow, the big boys had their first experience with sparklers and loved it! Of course they were very cautious with the first few but then once they realized they wouldn't get burned by the sparkles, they were in love. Mark had to head on to bed, but my mom and I decided to load Kolbe and Grant up and take them to see the real fireworks show in The Woodlands. We took a tip from a friend of my dad and just went to the Home Depot parking lot near our house. We were able to see the fireworks really well and didn't have to fight the crowd! Independence Day has always been one of my favorite holidays, especially as a child. I can't wait until the boys get just a little bit older and we can really go all out with the festivities.

PS:
- I had Thai food this past week! We went to dinner with some of Mark's co-workers at a restaurant down in Houston. I went with something garlic-y instead of spicy and loved it!