A Sad Day

I'm really behind in my blogging. Things are really out of order. I took Grant for his 4-year-old check-up a few weeks ago. As you can tell, he was not pleased. I was trying to stay as calm and nonchalant as I could and I took my phone out to distract him. I couldn't resist getting a picture of his poor, pathetic little face to show Nate how our morning was going. By the end, all was forgiven and he even invited Dr. Kim to go to Disneyland with us.

Unfortunately, it wasn't over. We had to go to get his blood drawn down the hall. He didn't know what was going to happen and went into the room all happy. The guy tied the rubber tie around Grant's arm and he thought it was funny. Then the needle was put in and he was incredulous. "That hurt me! Why you hurting me???" It was so sad--I wanted to cry! Needless to say, I'm glad that day is over.

Nice Try

This is definitely the first time I've seen a sign like this: "Homeless. Need Monye Donation. Please Send to PO Box..."

I particularly like how they can spell "donation" but not "money."

"Look, Mom, It's Space!"

iPhone

I inherited Nate's old iPhone and actually use it a lot more than I thought I would. One of the apps I downloaded was a car builder game for Grant. He thinks it's the best thing ever and does a really good job of using it. Every car or truck he builds on there has to have a rainbow decal on it and he names it "Funny ____." We have Funny Truck, Funny Car, Funny School Bus...etc. They really do have an app for everything.

Art Interpretation

This was an art project that Grant and I did together before Thanksgiving. You trace your child's hands and feet then put them together to form the turkey's body. I did the first one and Grant LOVED the idea and did the second one himself. I tend to get really territorial about projects and want them to be done "just right" so I was pleased to see what he came up with without me hovering over him.

Forgiveness

I threw out my back this morning picking up Grant. One of my major struggles is being cheerful when I'm hurt. I was really rude to Grant and snapped at him over and over again. I asked for his forgiveness right afterwards, but this afternoon when I was feeling better I sat down with him and talked to him again.

Me: Grant, I'm so sorry I was unkind to you this morning. Will you forgive me?
Grant: Yes. You forgive me, too?
Me: Aw, yes.
Grant: Thanks...(you say "You're welcome.")

Then he gave me a big kiss. I'm so thankful that he's so quick to forgive and move on. Seems there's a lot I can learn from him.

Grant and Lowly

For the past couple of months, Grant's favorite books and videos have been Richard Scarry's stuff. He absolutely loves anything with Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm. I found a Lowly Worm stuffed toy for his birthday and they became fast friends. When we'd buckle him in his car seat, he'd insist that Lowly be in there, too. We would catch him holding Lowly up to his car window and explaining to him what he was seeing.

"Mommy, Can I Clean?"

Making Ornaments

I thought it would be fun to make our own ornaments and paint them together like my mom did with my sister and me when we were little. I was thinking that the painting part would be the most fun, but actually the best part was the rolling of the dough and using the cookie cutters. Do you think Grant was excited about his ornament???

The Coconut

Every time we go to Albertsons, we have to visit the coconuts. We feel them, shake them, and listen to the coconut water inside. Finally we bought one and Grant was SO excited. We had a great time cracking it open, tasting the juice, and toasting it for a snack.

Best Buddies

Grant's New Car

Grant got birthday money from Grandma and Papa Jordan. He decided he wanted to use it to make a car at Ride Makerz. He LOVES his new Lightning McQueen car. Thank you Grandma and Papa!!!

Birthday Present

Isn't this sign so fun? I love it! And I love that there are only 10 days till Christmas vacation...

My Birthday

I had such a fabulous birthday! We started at PF Chang's for lunch then went to Disneyland. It was 68 degrees and beautiful with no crowds! It was such a fun day.

Legos

Over our weekend at Disney, we got Grant a Lego truck set. He's graduating from the Duplo Legos to the regular ones. He did really well helping Nate put it together. He did even better taking it all apart at the end. :-)

He told us that the monster finger puppets at the bottom were people watching the construction. They had to stay behind the barricade.

Sigh...

So, apparently Grant was "twirling" in his room (spinning in circles) during his "nap" and had a major injury. Not exactly sure what part of his leg is hurting, but he doesn't want to walk on it. He CAN (which he proved when I said maybe we should go to the doctor), he just prefers to limp or be carried. So we'll see how it feels later. Anyway, I set him up on the couch with pillows and a blanket till he feels better and he asked for some toys.

Me: How about the hammer?

Grant: No, it's too hammery.

Me: How about the calipers?

Grant: No, they're too pinchy.

Me: What about the drill?

Grant: No, it's too twirly.

Me: Do you want this spaceship?

Grant: No, it's too big.

Me: This ball?

Grant: No, it's too dangerous! It's a floor toy.

Me: How about this truck?

Grant: Is it broken?

Me: Nevermind, just lay there and watch a video.

Grant: Why???

Halloween

We had lots of fun on Halloween. Grant put on his pirate costume from last year when we went out to lunch. Later, he switched to his much beloved new bee costume and we headed to the mall for trick or treating. Since we've never gone trick or treating and Grant tends to get really scared of things, we decided we'd start at the mall. That way if he was scared in the neighborhood we could go home and he wouldn't miss out. He was really confused at the first couple of stores and tried to GIVE candy to the people handing it out. They thought it was so cute they both gave him an extra handful of candy! By the time we were done there, he was asking about going to houses. He ended up having a great time the whole night.


He LOVED his bee costume and kept wanting to look at his stinger in the mirror. After we got home, we let him eat whatever candy he wanted for a specified amount of time and he was in heaven.

Hmmm...

No wonder he was so quiet during his "rest" time. I can't really complain. He's almost 4 and just now discovered the fun of the toilet paper roll.

Grant: Look, it's cool!

Me: What is it?

Grant: It's called fings (aka "things").

Fireman Grant

We read about firemen and fire trucks this morning. Grant dug in his shoe basket and pulled out his rain boots. There's nothing cuter that a boy in his boots. He told me a few weeks ago that he needed fireman boots and I told him I didn't know where to buy them. He said, "Target has them." Of course, he was right. But we opted to go with the boots we already owned.

Learning Manners

Grant and I were in the car today, admiring the beautiful sky.

Me: Isnt' it a beautiful day! When you see something beautiful that God made you can say, Thank you, Lord!
Grant: Thank you, Lord. (...pause...) Did he say "you're welcome?"

We've been working on learning to say please, thank you, and you're welcome. I'm glad to see it's starting to stick.

"I a Construction Worker"

He's been wearing his "hardhat" around all morning and having a great time. Who needs a real hardhat when you have a bucket?

A True Convertigle

Grant found a way to make a top for his car. He thinks it's great fun to drive around with the top on the car then flip it off and say, "It's a convertigle!"

First Annual Falling Day

Well, we will probably just call it "Fall Day," but Grant refers to the season as "falling" so he thought the day was called "Falling Day." We got out our fall decorations and Grant couldn't have been more excited. The day started out with pumpkin pancakes (actually just cut out in the shape of pumpkins) and then moved on to jumping in the fall leaves. It was rather sad that jumping in fall leaves actually takes place in the middle of the living room, but hey...you do what you gotta do.