Outside Fun

Finally! A beautiful spring day for Grady to enjoy the outdoors. He played with his train, "walked" out to the rhubarb with me (did you know old rhubarb stalks make amazing instruments for banging together?), picked up twigs, attempted to eat a dried worm from the sidewalk (thankfully, I saw it happening), and played with the rocks in the driveway.

After clearing away the bigger rocks on one little section of the driveway, Grady bent over and LICKED the dirt! I'm telling you, he tastes everything. He wasn't so sure of the flavor. This is the first night that he actually needed a bath - dirt under his fingernails (I love it), in his ears, and all over his face. What fun!

Where there's a will...

"Climbing on objects that move" seems to be a new pasttime in our house.

This little trailer for Grady's train is on four wheels. He usually walks behind it and pushes it all over. On this night, he wedged the hitch end under the couch and started climbing. He was extremely proud of his accomplishment!

I read in Grace-Based Parenting that you can tell a child, "Don't climb on the wet rocks; they're slippery." But until the child experiences the wet rocks on his own, he won't believe you. It's such a fine balance between wanting to protect Grady from all potentially "dangerous" situations and encouraging his profound curiosity. This night, encouraging mama won out. I was, however, close by to catch him if he fell. My heart continually bursts with joy!

Coloring?

Grady drew a couple of squiggles, but he was mainly interested in eating the crayons.

Cuddly Bear

Grady enthusiastically hugs and kisses (with a loud "mmmaa") his bear. Once the bear was off the rocking chair, Grady proceeded to stand on the rocker and climb the rungs on the back, trying to get to the handle of the deck door.

Screen Door

Our good, little scientist loves to taste everything - including the screen door! Grady also enjoyed opening and closing the screen door, crawling out to the deck and back in to the house, and telling us stories each time. His speech now has recognizable intonations - he raises the ending inflection when he's asking a question (it often sounds like, "What's that?") and he talks at us much of the time (usually accompanied by hand gestures). It's fascinating to watch his development. There's never a quiet moment in our house!

A Nice Saturday Outside

It was a beautiful day, and we all loved soaking up the vitamin D!

Water, Water - ANYWHERE

As I was chatting with my dad on the phone, Grady crawled down the hallway, toward our bedroom, I thought. Suddenly, I heard giggling and splashing - and this is how I found him! I nearly passed out laughing. The kid loves water - even toilet water!

St. Patty's Day at Grandma's House

Waiting for corned beef and cabbage, Grady sits in Grandma's chair. Tackling the baby tripper ledge, Grady made it down safely. He was a bit perplexed by it, however.

An Afternoon's Entertainment

Admiring the handsome guy in the mirror.

Smiley beautiful boy

Walking behind his train, Grady motors through the entire house.

Playing Catch with Daddy

After a bit of a hiatus due to technical difficulties, we're up, running and posting pictures to the blog again. Whew! Grady loves to play catch with us. He throws with both hands, but he has much more control with his right hand - those balls actually go forward toward the person playing with him, unlike his left-handed throws which tend to go straight up in the air or behind him. It doesn't matter to him though, he's equally excited about all throws.