Pumpkin Carving

The Great Pumpkin Caper

Our squirrel friend is back and has brought a little friend with him. The two visit our porch quite frequently, trying to impress Emma. Lately, they've taken to eating my fall decor.

They stole my pumpkins, ate all the Indian corn, and finally discovered that the white pumpkins were edible.

It was pretty impressive, actually. However I don't think I'll spend any more money on squirrel food.

Shaving

Grant LOVES to shave with Dad. Nate always lets him be a part of the action, so what's not to love?

Admiring himself in the mirror. The mirror is all smudgy because SOMEBODY tried to clean it with his toothbrush. I don't think it's necessary to name names.

"Shaving"



Ahhhh, refreshing aftershave. He smells so good after his "shave."

Grant's Babies

Grant has become very nurturing lately. He wants "Ni-no" to wear a diaper and socks. Sometimes he is supposed to wear jammies--other times it's not okay.

Here he's pushing around what he calls "3 baby tigers."

How Many Cookie Cutters Is Too Many Cookie Cutters?

Wow--we sure have a lot, but they provide hours of fun. We made cookies shaped like fire trucks, garbage trucks, cars, rhinos, sheep, and stars. Just a few of his favorites. Oh, and a car shaped PB&J sandwich for lunch. Grant has requested "sock" cookies next (Christmas stockings).

Daddy in Training

Grant dragged out his old changing pad, ran to get his baby rhino, and changed his diaper. He very carefully fixed the diaper and even rubbed some "bum-bum cream" (as he calls it) on the rhino's belly.

How to Make Cereal Exciting for Boys

Grant thought his garbage truck was a more interesting vessel than his bowl. I agree. I wonder what other things he would eat if I put it in some sort of vehicle.

Vacuuming Buddy

I was busy downstairs and I heard a funny noise coming from the top of the stairs. Grant had found one of the vacuum attachments and put it on the end of his bug net. He was making a roaring noise as he vacuumed for me. Such a great helper!

The Proper Way to Eat a Granola Bar

I didn't want to tell him the knife was upside down...he was doing so well.

Little Villain?

Doesn't he look like he's about to tie a damsel onto the train tracks? Muhahahaha

Bats

Grant and I made bat cookies last night. I'm trying to do more cooking and baking with him because he loves it so much. He will try every ingredient that we put in. Here he's eating the flour off of the board we used to roll out the cookies.

The finished product

Hmmm...the black is a little intense. I guess I won't send any to work with Nate. It's hard to take someone seriously if you are trying to decide if they accidentally put the wrong end of their pen in their mouth.

America's Newest Citizen

Grant had his citizenship "interview" this morning and officially received his US Citizenship Certificate. He loves to wave his new government-issued flag. If you ask him who's President, he'll proudly tell you "Big Mama." (I taught him it's Obama, but he either can't say that or thinks I'm just referring to myself--not sure at this point. And tecnically, I DO have veto power...)

Grandma's In Town!

Oh, the Joys of a Laundry Basket

Grant discovered a laundry basket in our closet the other night and claimed it as his own. He sat in that basket with 4 Megablocks and made them into trucks for about 45 minutes.

Here's one of his creations. This is a garbage truck, one of his all-time favorite trucks.

Captain Grant

Grant's room is finally coming together. I was really excited to do a pirate theme in his room, but was a bit stumped as to how to translate that into room decor. I'm still looking for some great pirate things, so let me know if you have any suggestions!

Here's Nate putting up Grant's name over his bed. We haven't bought a headboard for his bed yet.

Grant is very excited about the chalkboards. He "napped" today in his big boy bed and spent over half the time playing with the chalk and magnets.

The white bookcase will eventually go, but for now it can house his Lego pirate ship. I can't wait till he can play with it.

Ready to Swim

I got Grant a swimming vest for the pool so he could be free of his floaty boat. He really liked it, but still wanted his shirt on before we went in the pool. It was so funny watching him walk around like that. He looked like a little muscle man.

Learning the Traffic Signal Colors

Grant recently learned what the colors of the traffic signals mean. He watches the red light for me and lets me know when it turns green. Normally, he gets so excited that it turns green that he just gasps excitedly, unable to say "Go".

"A Little Bit Scary" (Jared Mori, age 2)

Grant's recently gone back to his old habit of peering out the corners/tops of his eyes at things that are a little scary. It's hard to appreciate the full effect in pictures, but

here's an attempt. It's pretty funny in person. Here he's not sure about something he's seeing on Nate's computer screen.

This was from last October...peeking at a suspicious butterfly on the wall of the Rainforest Cafe.

Cooking Together

I picked up a little play basket full of fruits and veggies for Grant. He's been having lots of fun with it. Today I asked him if he wanted to help me make broccoli for lunch and he was so excited!

He dumped out all of the options on the counter to find the broccoli.


Here it is! We pretended to chop it (his set came with a little knife and cutting board.)

Checking to make sure his looked like it was supposed to. Mine was all chopped so it wasn't quite the same...

Working hard

Now for the taste test. Mmmmmm...broccoli...