9 Months
Some of my most favorite moments happen when Grant thinks I'm not looking. He's somewhere else, away in his own world, carefully concentrating on his task at hand. I see him doing very important things, like examining the back of his hand as if it just appeared there this morning, staring at his toes wondering how he can bite them (he figured that out), and most recently -
Lifting up the mobile to stuff toys underneath it. Totally hysterical.
When Grant is playing on the floor, Toby wants to sit near him. He needs to sit near him. He has to sit near him. Most of the time, Grant allows this and they coexist in the same space...momentarily. Toby's only true crime is loving his brother so much he wants to give him constant kisses. When Grant starts to complain, that registers in Toby's mind that Grant needs more kisses, and on and on it goes. Grant has finally figured out that yelling and screaming don't necessarily make the kisses go away, in fact just the opposite. However, frantically waving arms and kicking feet tend to do the trick quite nicely. Of course, once Toby backs up, Grant can get a good look at him, decide that he's cute and wants to pet him, and reach out his hand to touch Toby. Toby then receives this as an invitation for kisses and on we go again. This is the dance that happens in our house most days, but every now and then I hear a giggle. Not a baby accidental giggle, but an all-out toddler that's-funny-and-I'm-going-to-laugh-about-it giggle. Both times it was thanks to Toby.
Ready...Set...
Attack!!!
Sometimes Toby acts like a semi-truck going through those big car washes. I think he just likes to play with the toys hanging from the arch.
Grant still mostly scoots around on his tummy, backwards most of the time, or if he has his options he just pulls the blanket closer towards him and the toys come with it. Or he gives up all together, rolls over and plays with his feet. On one occasion of giggling, I look over to see Grant on his tummy, looking back at his feet to see Toby giving his toes kisses. Grant would laugh, wiggle his feet again, and Toby would attack him with kisses. Their first official game.
If you listen closely, you can hear him say "Awww nuts." Got stuck under the couch going backwards. The funny thing is he is happy to stay there until you come and pull him out. In the meanime he just wiggles and fights the couch. I swear he tries to turn his head sideways to fit under the couch and keep going backwards.
Chairs are fun to play with too.
Grant also likes to destroy his mobile. He knocks it over, tears it down, and tries to pull the toys off of it. But he has also figured out that you can look over the mobile at someone, or under it. Toby will sit on the opposite side and just watch Grant play with the toys, and Grant bent over to look under the mobile and up at Toby. Toby bent his head over to see what Grant was looking at and all sorts of smiles and giggles erupted. Then Grant sits up to look at Toby over the mobile, and Toby sits straight up. I don't think Toby understood the game because this time when Grant started laughing, Toby took one swipe with his front paw and knocked the whole thing down. Again, giggles and laughter. If we could only bottle that sound and pull it out when we need to hear it.
He also loves his saucer. We try to limit his time in it to after dinner so he can wear himself out before bed. Right away when you pick him up and ask if he wants to go in his saucer he gets a big grin on his face and kicks his feet with delight. Now granted (ha!), anytime he is super excited he smiles and kicks his feet with delight: when he first sees Toby in the morning, when you tell him it's time to get in the car and go for a ride, time to eat in the high chair...it's his thing.
The saucer has so many different distractions on it, he didn't master them all at once. Initially, he picked out his few favorites - the piano, the bendy flowers, the space that holds his binki. Day by day as he has mastered those skills, his eyes now find what he was missing before. Just a few days ago he mastered the frog switch that spins the dragonfly. This is unique because most of the switches on the saucer are in/out or up/down. This one is left/right. He makes sure to stand tall directly over the switch, leans forward, and with full open mouth concentration and right hand only, he can push the switch right and left. He was so proud of himself! Immediately after mastering that, he noticed the arch right next to that had little tiny rings on it that he has never noticed before. Now he knows he can flick those with his fingers and they go across the arch. Every day is a new adventure in the land of Grant.
...and then sometimes you have those days where you just want to pound the piano with your face...
Speaking of binki, if it does fall out of his mouth and you hold it up for him to grab while he's in the saucer, he will keep running around in a circle and slow down just long enough to grab it with his mouth and keep on moving. Why stop when you have things to do, people to see? He has realized once he is in the saucer seat he can't reach the floor with his hands, and things like blankets and binkis that fall on the floor are lost forever. Given that, he has figured out how to entertain himself by running them over with the wheels of his seat and stepping on them as he goes by. He has also figured out that by leaning outward away from the center of the circle, he can get the entire saucer rocking and rolling. I think we may be soon out-witted by this young Jedi.
Pancakes! While out to breakfast the other day, Grant decided he wanted to try pancakes. By that I mean as the waitress set my plate of pancakes on the table, Grant reached out and snatched a handful of pancake right out of the middle and stuffed it in his mouth before anyone at the table could do anything about it. He smiled at us as pancake squeezed out between his teeth. He was so proud of himself. I did save that top pancake and give him just a bit more in small bites, but the thrill was gone. He had moved on to the next new exciting thing by then.
Books! We love books. We love reading books, looking at pictures, and pulling them off the shelf! Toby guards the books that fall on the floor. He is so helpful like that. Grant stopped long enough in his reading to wave hello.
Grant has officially done his first joke. The other night at 2am I went in his room to settle him. Turns out he was wet and couldn't find his binki. After we fix all that, I lean over and kiss him good night. He holds up his little monkey he sleeps with (and chews on) and I give him a kiss too. Grant bursts into laughter as he snaps his monkey back to his chest. Then he sticks his arm in the air towards me again and I give the monkey a kiss. Again, shrieking laughter. The best times are always at 2am it seems.
Grant is showing us every day that he can understand us and knows what we are talking about. We have been doing sign language for most nouns since he was little: milk, rest, diaper, dog, banana...the important things in life. I assume he understands us because he seems to go along with whatever we are asking him to do. The other day he was whining while playing with his toys and not being his normal happy self. I asked him if he wanted some milk and did the milk sign and he immediately stopped what he was doing to clap, smile, and do the milk sign right back to me. Feedback and a smile! Best. Moment. Ever.
He is also starting to show excitement and reciprocate on hugs. Kicking legs and clapping hands are his favorite two things when he likes something. When Kyle comes home from work - kicking legs and clapping hands! When I pick him up to get in the car and go for a ride - kicking legs and clapping hands! When we see Toby in the morning - kicking legs and clapping hands! Followed quickly by wiping of the face as Toby likes to give an exorbitant amount of morning kisses. Between Grant's happy wiggles and Toby's tail wagging, we are a bunch of movers and shakers in the morning. Grant has also caught on to giving kisses. Granted, you get the open mouth slobber bomb, but it's a kiss just the same! Love my little guy.
I know that Grant can understand and comprehend far more than he can communicate back to us - correction - far more than we can understand back from him. I'm sure he thinks he's communicating just fine and it is mom and dad who have the problem. Proof that he is a child of the smartphone era, he is aware of the phone and camera and is very aware when I pull it out to take his picture. Sometimes he will smile really big, while other times he stops what he is doing entirely just to protest. I caught him in these three pictures the other day, and while I can't prove this is what he was thinking, he sure makes it look like it.
Wait! Don't take it yet.
Okay, "CHEESE"
How was that?
Until our next adventure, keep on smiling, snuggling and smelling the world around you!
Big hugs,
M, K, G & T
