18 Month Well Check

Grady had his 18 month well check today and the doctor said he is doing great. Height, weight, verbal skills are all on track. He joked with me last time we were there and said he had his ear plugs in when he saw Grady was coming because Grady screams the instant he sees Dr. Hensley. He hates going to the doctor. He was impressed that Grady understands and follows verbal directions so well, like when I say "Go put Mommy's shoes in her closet". Hey, I'm ready for him to start some chores and pick up after us himself. He's a fun little boy and I am definitely enjoying my summer with him.

Here are a few pics of Grady... he had a haircut, by the way.  With the clippers, not scissors.  Almost buzzed.  Whew!  Didn't mean for that much to go, but I'm getting used to it.

Opening Mikey's bday card... loved the music it played

New train table... Craigslist, where else?  :)

Crawled right in the toy chest...

Yelling, "HEYYYY" at the top of his lungs... has to make sure I see him!

First time with a belt... checking it out...

 
Nothing too new is going on, we are just staying busy and out of the house as much as we can so Mikey can sleep!  He is actually changing shifts starting this Tuesday.  He'll not be working nights anymore, but his hours will still be different than mine.  I'll look forward to the weekends when we can see each other and he'll hopefully be well-rested.  Night shift is NO good!  So I'm glad that is over.

Grady is still going to Gymboree and still LOVING it.  We spend a lot of time at the park, running errands, and finding new things to do around town.  We usually go out for lunch together after spending most of the morning out and about, then we come home for naps before Mikey wakes up.  (Yes, I have been enjoying afternoon naps as well!)  This summer is so much different than last summer because Grady can interact with me more and we have a lot of fun together.  That's not to say it's always fun... today he screamed the entire time I was at the mall returning something.  He wanted to play in the driver's seat of the car and was mad that I would not let him do that.  So he didn't get over it for a while.  If I have any errands to run that involve clothes or mostly browsing around, I have to wait until he goes to bed at night and then I go out.  But no toddler is meltdown-free, so that's to be expected! 

We leave for San Diego on Wednesday.  I am so excited to see Katie, Beau, and Anna Cross!  We are staying for three weeks.  We are going to miss Mikey and I don't know what he'll do without Grady for 3 weeks!  Catch up on sleep, I hope!

Surprise!

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures! Yesterday, I threw a surprise birthday party for Mikey.  His actual birthday is on Wednesday.  We had lots of fun and he was very surprised!  We boiled crawfish, had Conecuh sausage, pasta salad, a garden salad, watermelon, fruit salad, brocolli salad, chex mix, chips and dip, french bread, dirty rice, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else! 

Here he is walking in...two of his friends, Mike and Jeremy took him to lunch while I got the surprise ready and guests arrived.  He is holding a basket of peanuts he took home with him from the restaraunt... guess they were really good peanuts!

Crawfish in fighting stance before we boiled them....

My friend Michelle's daughter, Marlee, playing with the crawfish... she loved them!

Rinsing the crawfish to get them clean...

Andy and Mikey

Mikey and Elaine (his mom)

McClain (Michelle's little boy)

Grady loves the birthday candles....

36 candles!

About the blow them out...

Stephanie and Michelle

Jeremy and Mikey (this was late in the evening!)

Last night, Grady went to stay overnight at his Grandma's house!  That's the first time I have let him stay away from home, and I have to say, it was nice to not have to worry about him while we were enjoying our company.  And he did just fine.  :)  We didn't pick him up until about 3 o'clock this afternoon.  Thanks Elaine! 

And happy birthday, Mikey!

Gulf Breeze Zoo

This morning, Grady and I went to the zoo. Our bank, Pen Air Credit Union, has a program for children called the Penny Savers Club and Grady is a member so we were invited to a birthday party for "Penny the Porpoise" (the mascot of the Penny Savers Club). I was excited about it because Grady is at the age where he enjoys things like this. It didn't really cross my mind that it would be 95 degrees, and feel like 105! We were SO HOT to say the least! Grady did really enjoy it at first because he was able to feed all the animals. But after that, we were ready to go! Since it is so hot outside, most of the animals are just laying around in the shaded areas and it was hard to see them. So after we walked around the zoo for a little while, we stopped by the party for some juice and didn't even hang around for cake! I really don't like to sweat unless I mean to sweat! Needless to say, we both came home and fell into bed and Grady is still sleeping... going on three and a half hours now. I guess the heat got to us!

Here are some pictures of him feeding the "farm" animals:

Back at the car... SOOOOOOO hot!

Oil Spill

Pensacola Beach, today, June 23rd.

Gymboree

I have been taking Grady to Play and Learn classes at Gymboree since I got out of school for the summer.  We go on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday for the class.  He loves it!  It's all indoors, but there is so much equipment for him to play with and we get to stay out of the heat.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the classes are really neat... we sing songs, play games, and at the end, it's Grady's favorite part- getting his "Gymbo" tattoo.  It's just a stamp, but all day long he points at his foot and says "Bobo!" 

Here are some pictures of him at Open Gym.  They have Open Gym 4 times a week and it is when the gym is open to all members, but there are no classes taught.  There were just a few other kids there yesterday, so he had practically the whole gym to himself...

(He was having fun yesterday, but he was sleepy, so he is not smiling in any of the pictures!  He looks a little out of it!)

Mikey came with us to class today and afterwards we were walking around the mall when Grady saw those little rides that all malls have.  I hate these things.  I used to always see kids on them and think, I'm never letting my kid ride on those dirty things.  Well, when your kid REALLY wants to ride on those things, it's hard to say no! 

Luckily, as soon as we put the 75 cents in and the machine started rocking, he wanted OUT!

Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school for the children and Friday is my official last day for the summer.  This year was a great year with a really well behaved and sweet class.  They were all so sweet to each other (most of the time!) and were very considerate of each other, which is sometimes rare at their age!  I will miss them, but at the same time, I was ready for them to go!  Here is a picture of me with my class at our end of the year party-

On the last day of school, which is always a half day, teachers do something called "Celebration".  It is a Pea Ridge tradition and we work hard on it.  All the students come in the cafeteria and watch their teachers perform dances, skits, songs, etc.  We all get dressed up and come out all together singing "Celebrate Good Times" and the kids go NUTS. They absolutely love it. I always think how much I would have looked forward to that if my elementary school had something like that when I was a kid. But it's intimidating getting up on the stage, even in front of little kids!  It's also stressful this time of year and adding dance practice to your afternoon schedule everyday is sometimes a hassle, but when it's all said and done, we are always glad to have done it and we always have fun.  New teachers are always amazed by this production!

This year, my grade level did a dance to Lady Gaga's song Telephone. (I never thought I would know every word to that song, but I have been reciting it for days... "stop calling, stop calling, I don't wanna talk anymore"... ugh!!!!)  We started out by performing a ballet (b/c third graders take a field trip to the ballet every year) and then said, "We're no good at this ballet stuff, let's try something we're good at"... and then we ripped our hair down from the bun and broke it down.  (As best we could for teachers and not professional dancers!).  Here is a picture of my grade level before the performance-

I came home after work and took a nap because I was so worn out!  Tomorrow and Friday are post-planning days, and then it's me and Grady for the summer!

It's been the same old, same old at our house... Grady is still a handful, but we are enjoying him everyday (minus the meltdowns).  He has learned to count, do ring around the rosie, and Mama's proudest accomplishment- burp on command!  I can't figure out how to post a video, so if someone can teach me, I'll video him and post it.  Here are some random pictures from the past several days...

Eating grapes on the side of the tub while I am trying to relax!!!  (I realize this is a little strange.)

Eating popcorn with Daddy...

And watching out for Grandma to arrive...