More videos...finally

Grant's been doing some fun/funny things recently so we have been lucky enough to get a few good pictures and videos. One of the things is that he has been reaching, grabbing, and exploring a lot more with his hands. There was a video that we took about a week and a half ago of him reaching for the rattle on his gym. We didn't get it uploaded at the time and well, we're learning that if we wait long enough he'll do something even better. This is a video of him actually grabbing the frog on his gym and giving a sneak peak of another one of his new talents, blowing raspberries.

Then this weekend he realized that he has a tongue (after watching his mama) and has been using it more while talking and also will occasionally stick it out.

Later on that day we got this funny video of him putting those two talents together.

In other Grant news, we started to put him to bed earlier (in his crib) in an attempt to establish a more structured bedtime routine. Up until this point, we would change his diaper, get his pajamas on, and Shannon would feed him right before we were ready for bed (typically around 10 pm) and then he would start the night in a pack and play in our bedroom. This weekend however, we decided it was time (or, probably past time...) to get a good routine going and to try to do all of those things sometime around 7:30 pm. So far he has been a little slower to fall asleep, but has actually been pretty good about soothing himself. He still isn't sleeping through the night though (still wakes up around 1 am and again sometime around 5). Maybe that will be his next big talent.

All in the family

My mom and sister, Beth, made it out to Colorado last weekend and had the pleasure of meeting Grant. We had a great time heading up to the mountains, finding deals, and of course... staring at Grant.

September in Colorado is the time of year when the aspen trees begin to change color, so we took a short trip out of the city to catch a glimpse. We drove to an area that we haven't been to before along Fall River Road past Idaho Springs. There is a hike up to St Mary's Glacier that unfortunately we didn't have time for on this trip, but we would love to do it in the future (any takers? Its a glacier, how cool is that!) We all enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery and taking in the crisp mountain air even though it turned out to be a little early for the aspens this year. Although they had not yet completely changed color, many of the leaves had started to turn yellow. We still considered it to be a successful trip because at least the leaves were still on the trees by the time we made it up this time around.

The following day the girls did some "power shopping" at the outdoor outlet mall in Castle Rock. Grant and I went along for the ride and took advantage of one of the last days of summer by hanging out outside while they went from store to store. The weather was absolutely perfect during the entire weekend, with temps in the 80s, but when my family left on Monday it was snowing! The snow was brief and there wasn't any accumulation, but it was such a dramatic drop in temperature from the previous day.

In between our outings, Beth and my mom had fun just staring at and holding Grant throughout the weekend. It's amazing that so much time can be spent on that 'activity'.

Grant has been getting much better at attempting to grab things. He keeps reaching for his frog when he is playing under his 'gym' and has successfully caught him several times. He is also clearly trying to focus on keeping his hand steady so that he is able to hit the rattle. It's great to watch his determination. Shannon has also noticed that she has to watch his hands when she is feeding him because he will hold on to her hair or jewelry (with a tight grip!).

Get in my belly

Last Friday I got a little taste of what Shannon goes through on a daily basis. I had the day off since I worked the previous weekend and so she decided to go to the Just Between Friends sale that was going on in Denver. We knew that she would be out for a few hours, long enough that I would need to feed Grant by myself. This wasn't the first time that I've watched Grant by myself (she gets out of the house to run errands probably every weekend). It also wasn't the first time that I got to feed him. However it was the first time that I tried to get something done while watching him and also the first time that I had to get the bottle ready when she wasn't here. Not complicated stuff though, right? Wrong!

My first mistake was assuming that Grant would cooperate with the schedule that I had made in my head. Most of the time he was great, but whenever I put him down to play under his "gym" (so that I could get some stuff done) he would get a little fussy. At one point I held him for a while until he fell asleep, at which time I was able to lay him down on the couch right next to me. I thought for sure that I had a good solid 45 minutes before he would wake up, but it couldn't have been more than 15. Luckily he was in a good mood after waking up so I just worked with one hand for a little while longer while I held him with the other. Since I was watching the clock, I knew that he would be getting hungry soon, but instead he decided to doze off again. So, I thought that I could just get the bottle ready as soon as he woke up, which was definitely my second mistake.

Of course when he woke up, he was overdue for food and wanted it at THAT moment. So, I started off trying to warm up the milk with my free hand (the other holding him), but soon decided that it might be a bit dangerous to have hot water that close to the baby. But as soon as I put him down he cried louder than I have ever heard him cry. I kept taking the bottle out of the hot water and would think that it was way too hot, only to swirl it around a little and find that the milk was actually not warm enough. It ended up taking me close to 20 minutes to get the bottle the perfect temperature. Brady kept looking at me with those judging eyes. I could just see it on his face, "Aren't you going to do anything about his crying? Mom never takes this long". Finally I got the temperature right, Grant got some food in his belly, and our happy baby returned. Needless to say, I will no longer wonder why Shannon is able to get only a few things done while I am at work.

Some firsts

This last week Grant had a few firsts, some more exciting than others. After the previous week's shots, he had his first fever. The doctor said that he could have a slightly elevated temperature up to 48 hours after the vaccines, but that we should not be worried unless it gets to 102 degrees... rectally (apparently that is the most accurate method at this age). On Monday night he was feeling a little hot so Shannon and I debated on whether or not we should take his temperature... rectally, or if we should just give him some infant Tylenol. I did not want to give him any medicine unnecessarily, but I REALLY did not want to take his temperature that way because whenever we are at the vet and Brady gets it done, he always makes a weird noise and then looks at me with the most confused, pitiful eyes. I thought there must be some other way, so we used a pacifier thermometer and it was slightly elevated. We then put a thermometer under his arm, and again it was slightly elevated. But of course we had to know whether or not we needed to call the doc or just give him a little medicine, so we had to do it the proper way... rectally. It was actually pretty painless (for everyone involved) and the temp ended up being only a little over normal at about 99.7.

Also at his last appointment, the pediatrician asked us how long Grant has been sleeping at night. At that time his longest night had been 4 hours between feedings, but he was still pretty inconsistent. I guess around 2 months of age is when some babies start to "sleep through the night", which she considers at least 6 hours of continuous sleep. The pediatrician said she was not worried and she wouldn't change anything until around 4 months. However just days later, Grant made a new best and slept 5 hours. Then Thursday night, he made it over the hump and hit the 6 hour mark (10:30pm to 4:30am). Shannon was so excited, but the next day said, "Why am I still tired if he slept through the night?" Unfortunately the excitement quickly faded because he has since gone back to only going about 4 hours between feedings.

The other exciting first for the week was Grant's first KU football game. He was almost as excited as me for the season to start, and we watched most of the game together and he even Waved the Wheat for the first time after a touchdown.

Our new favorite picture

A couple more cute baby pics