Adventures in puppyland

I recently offered to watch a friend's dog while she and her hubby went on a vacay. I was under the influence of alcohol. See kids - alcohol is DANGEROUS! But it's not just a dog - it's a pup. And the pup is NOT potty trained.

The dog is Bleu - Drew & Mandy's (ok, really Mandy's) cute little cocker spaniel. The longer he's here, the more enjoyable he is! Lola loves having a playmate (most of the time - there are times when she is clearly rolling her eyes at the pup). However, Derek and I (really me) needed to be puppy-trained.

Drew and Mandy dropped him off Wednesday night. Derek kept giving Mandy a hard time about Bleu learning to swim in our pool. But Lola and Bleu were fast friends, and everything was golden.

His first morning, Derek let out Bleu - made sure he was fed, pooped and peed. Before Derek left for the morning, he put Bleu back in his crate. Everything was fine. When Grant got up, I let the dogs out to play since they'd be couped up all day while we were at work.

MISTAKE. Grant ate and then I put him in the bedroom for him to feed himself his bottle while I got ready. I closed us into the bedroom so that Bleu didn't disturb Grant. MISTAKE. Grant was GREAT! Except he did poop while he was eating - nbd but it's just another hurdle before I get out the door.

So I come into the living room to check on the pups. Bleu has pooped TWICE! So I think I should take out the dogs to get any pee out before I leave for the day. I decide to take both of them (with Bleu on a leash) at once. MISTAKE. We go outside, Lola pees... and Bleu is fascinated with the pool. I stand in the yard calling Bleu (holding his leash), but he is fascinated with the pool. I stand by his side to coax him into the yard. And that's when Bleu fell in the pool.

Thankfully I was right there and swooped him up. Thankfully it was a warm day. Unfortunately, I was handling a wet dog in work clothes. I brought Bleu inside (leaving Lola out) and wrapped the leash around a chair. I ran to get a towel and dry the poor pup off. The towel was in the bathroom (of course) and so was Grant. Thankfully, he wasn't smashing his fingers in a door or chewing on an electrical cord so I just let him be. I tried to dry the pup (who of course thought it was a game), but I still had 3 poops to clean up - 2 from Bleu and 1 from Grant. Oh - and an outfit to change. I changed clothes, then cleaned up poop while Bleu was still wrapped around the chair. Lola looked at me longingly from outside. I put Grant in the car seat, grabbed our gear for the day, returned Bleu to his crate and let Lola in.

I still hadn't eaten breakfast or done my makeup. I did those on the road, but not before running over a squirrel in our neighborhood. What a mess. Needless to say, we will not be getting a puppy any time soon.

Mama's boy

Grant is becoming a mama's boy, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it (most of the time anyway). He wants to hang with me whether I'm eating, brushing my teeth, washing dishes, or even going through the mail. The bad part is leaving him at day care. It started last week and has progressively gotten worse. Every time I leave, he cries and crawls to the door. heartbreaking.

There are times at home when he's in Derek's lap or they are playing on the floor and Grant starts crying and reaching for me. Sunday night, he kept coming into the kitchen and pulling up on me, crying for me while I cleaned up from our Brisket Tacos (delish!). After the fourth or fifth time, I just gave up cleaning and played until it was time for him to nap. Turns out he didn't just need to nap - he was in bed for the night at 6:45. The day before he napped for a record 2 hours. I think someone is growing!!

Derek and I have been dog-sitting a cocker spaniel pup for some friends (Bleu). I've got a post coming soon about that whole adventure. Here's a small slice:

Last night, we took the dogs for a walk and Grant joined in his stroller. what. a. mess. The biggest mistake was stopping to talk to people. When we did, the leashes got tangled and we ended up with a knot in Lola's leash (not even sure how we did that - it's the rubbery kind of leash, not fabric). Or Lola's leash got wrapped up in the wheel of the stroller... and while that was being handled, we had to keep Bleu away from adding to the chaos. We laughed (and cussed) a lot. And for all of that, we burned a whopping 60 calories.

Lazy spring weekend

Friday I snuck away from the office a little early and grabbed a margarita on the patio with Derek at Mi Cocina. Spring Fever was settling in. After rita #1, I ran to pick up Grant from day care and returned for dinner. Kyle joined us too, so we had the whole family there! Grant was relatively good - so long as he had something to play with. Some of us were overserved. Some of us have bruises and scrapes and cuts from the rest of the evening that we don't remember happening. I blame it on the ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-alcohol my giddiness from Spring's arrival.

We've had the windows open and fans going most of the weekend. Grant is in heaven. He still loves fans.

I tried and tried all day yesterday to get Grant to take some steps for me. Nothing. Until Derek got home (he's pretty popular - he didn't get home until after 4 p.m.). Then Grant finally showed me he can take A step. one. Lola was in the way. She thinks when we're calling Grant to "come here", we mean her. Poor confused Lola. But I have seen ONE step, so maybe Derek wasn't making the whole thing up.

After Derek got home, we headed out to the Duck Pond for a bit.

I was dying to get some fresh air. This time we went close to the activity. Kids were catching turtles and perch (and releasing them). Bikes were scattered about, and it was fun to imagine us going back when Grant is running around. The wind was strong - we could occasionally feel sprinkles from the fountain. Basically, it was great!

At the park I noticed that Grant has 2 more teeth (on top). I'm hoping that was the cause of his sleeplessness earlier in the week. Grant has been very chatty this weekend. Still no official first word. He's been getting more and more table food. I've found that he doesn't really like bananas (refuses to eat them and struggles to eat the jarred food that has bananas mixed in it). He may be allergic to pears. This morning he had pork for the first time - bacon. He had peaches at daycare and they said he LOVED them!

Grant has taken a few more steps for me. He looks so proud when he's standing on his own and the second in between the steps and the fall. It would melt your heart.

2 steps forward

Grant took his first steps today. Free standing - 2 steps forward. Or so I'm told. He did it at day care, where the teachers shared the news with Derek. And Grant showed off for Derek. Grant showed off again for Derek when they got home. But once I got home, he wanted to crawl around or be held and refused to even stand. He's only been standing on his own for about 5 days. This news is slightly devastating for two reasons -

1 - Grant is getting closer to running away. I mean, once he can walk the only thing keeping him here are doors (which he can't open yet) and locks. Once he starts walking, he's THIS close to running and THIS close to riding a bike and THIS close to driving the 4 wheeler at Papa's and THIS close to driving - away - to college. See - devastating.

2 - In the more immediate future - we will have to up the ante in baby-proofing. We JUST got latches in the kitchen TODAY! Now we'll have to keep the tables clear and baby-proof the higher places that a crawling baby can't reach.

The BEST part of walking is that once he's walking, he can go in the next room at day care and we get a price break on tuition!!

After I got home tonight and Grant wanted to cuddle/crawl instead of show off for me, we packed him up in the stroller and went for a jog. Look where we ended up!

I don't know why they hate St. Patty's Day so much - no green at all. Grant loved his sunglasses that I got the other day for $1 thanks to BRU moving locations!! He preferred to eat them instead of wear them.

St. Patty's Day

On Saturday the Shepherds hosted their annual St. Patty's Day party. The Sheps live blocks away from the Greenville block party, but we have so much fun at their place that we've never made it down to Greenville.

Grant had a lot of fun playing on a blanket outside. He didn't even notice the game of flip cut going on behind him...

or the game of beer pong.

Comparing babies... conclusion was that Grayson is much smaller and easier to toss around. And I love this shot of Grant and Adolph. They have the same look on their faces.

I swear the punch got lethal once the sun went down. Evidence:

Things I Love

Some of my friends have a category of blogs for things they love. I came across this little nugget last week and thought it was blog-worthy. Chick-fil-a is now packaging ketchup in larger, dippable containers.

It's no Fancy Ketchup, but it's incredibly convenient.

Day Care Pics

One of the best things about Kids R Kids is that they are ALWAYS taking photos of the kiddos. The second best thing is that they put up with Derek. :) On almost all of Grant's art pieces, a photo of him making the art is attached to the back. They also post photos online - here are some that I just found from winter 2010 (I think November & December).

NO!

Grant is learning the world "no". He hears it most often when he reaches for cords or Lola's toys. Lola is also hearing the word "no" a lot. I'm sure it's confusing for both of them.

Grant didn't hear "no" at all last night though. Derek was gone, so I put together dinner while Grant played in the kitchen. He was an angel. He stayed very busy with a pan, a pitcher, and an apple in a mesh feeder. He didn't follow me around or chase after Lola and her toys. It took me a solid 30 minutes to shred a chicken and put a pot pie together. Considering his recent protest against naps, I thought he wouldn't last 10 minutes without pulling on my leg. Grant had his first boo-boo this week. He hit just below his eyebrow while pulling up on a chair at daycare. His teachers said he was continually clumsy after that (he couldn't see past the tears). It doesn't help that he's got his daddy's clumsiness either. I'm glad they called so I didn't show up to a surprise - even if my poor baby was crying in the background on the phone when they called.

I started making a 30 before 30 list. #1 on the list was to chop off my hair. I can go ahead and mark that off. My list is incomplete and may just be a 20 before 30. I'd rather have 20 good goals and not worry about 10 throw aways. I'm just thankful I've got 16 months and 29 days left before "dooms day". My sis only has 16!!! Here's the hair-cutting process:

And the result: Yes - chop your hair off and you too could have a cheesey, crooked smile.

I haven't had bangs since 3rd grade. And like my mom pointed out on facebook, even then I paired them with a mullet. Thanks, mom - for the initial mullet and also for never letting me forget about it! ;) The verdict: so far I love the way they look, but they really can get in the way. I DO read all day (unless I'm blogging).

Weekend Wrap Up - Part 2

Saturday night, Derek and I went... BOWLING! Mandy McBride turned the big 3-0. I got 2nd in the first game, then went downhill from there. We had a great time, and even made a few "X"'s and "/" with our butts.

After bowling, we headed to Logans for drinks. It was our first outing to a bar since... I can't even remember.

On Sunday, Derek and I turned on the turbo cleaning. I had to scrub the car seats that came from Red Oak. They were pretty gross. Grant stayed busy too.

For lunch we met up with the Sellerses (yes - that grammar is correct - feel free to check me). We met the Sellerses in our childbirth class 1 year ago. Their little boy Brady is 17 days older than Grant. They are wonderful, and it's great to bounce ideas off of them (how to brush teeth, file nails, get them to read instead of eat books). After some burgers, we headed over to a park with our strollers. But the entrance gate was closed... so we hopped the fence like the 8 year old inside suggested.



Slightly over-photographed. But they were SO cute! I think the adults had a better time than the kiddos.

I learned the secret to a happy child at a restaurant is a pacifier. Brady was an ANGEL while we ate. Grant on the other hand (who no longer takes a pacifier) wanted to put everything in his mouth. So I tore up some pickles so he could eat them throw them on the ground, then he tried french fries (same routine), and then he tried an ice cream cone again. He didn't let the ice cream fall to the floor.

We came home for a lazy afternoon. Derek and I filled out Oscars ballots (we tied) and he installed a CLEAN car seat into my car. It's so great not hauling the infant car seat around!

Grant is 9 months!!

Grant and I had a very busy day. My orthopedic surgeon wanted me to get some physical therapy exercises for my shoulder that incorporate Grant. We were in and out by 8:30 a.m. (I thought it would last until at least 9:30). His check up wasn't until 10 a.m., so I decided to drive up to Astro to see my family! I also knew Grant needed a nap and a car ride suits him better than trying to sleep in his crib.
After the trip to Astro, Grant had his 9 month check up. He's ALMOST perfect. His white blood cell count is high (19,000) and he has some fluid in his left ear. He pretty much always has some fluid in one of his ears (but no ear infection - hmm). Here are his stats:

Height: 29 inches = 70%
Weight: 21 lb, 8 oz = 75%
Head: 47 cm = 95% After the check up, we headed home for a quick pit-stop, then went to day care for a parent-teacher conference assessment. His teachers, like the doc, said he's pretty much perfect. I wasn't shocked.