Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Lake Pearrygin

Our little family went camping for 6 days at Lake Pearrygin, Winthrop with my parents and Zach, Cheri, and their 4 boys. It was a blast despite a few sleepless nights and chasing Miles around. I prepared myself for camping by lowering my expectations about the boys sleeping as well as at home and assuming that Miles would try to run off or get into everything. I'm so glad I prepared myself and had that frame of mind because it made the trip much more enjoyable.

Patrick and I decided to leave Friday night so the boys would sleep the most of the 5 hour drive over (my parents, Zach, and Cheri got there earlier that day). We pulled in at midnight on the dot, put the boys straight to bed which worked out really well, and crawled in to bed ourselves. The next day was spent at the beach, taking walks, spending time at the trailer while babies napped, celebrating Cheri's birthday, and indulging in junk food. I'm still detoxing from all the junk food after 3 days of being home. My favorite part of the junk food is what the boys call "candy school." All it is is a giant Costco bag of candy but the boys sure love it (as do I) and is known to be used to bribe the boys to do something such as fall asleep first or be quiet so they don't wake up sleeping babies. They'll call it double candy school meaning they get two pieces of candy if they're good.


The weather wasn't the best a couple of the days we were there which made it less desirable to hang out at the beach, although we still did a little bit, especially when the sun did come out. The boys took boat rides on my dad's new boat, were towed on the inner tube, went fishing a couple times and caught 6 fish. Uncle Don, Aunt Linda, Monica, Luke, and Luke's two buddies came out to see us. It was fun catching up with everyone. Dad, Zach, and Pat went golfing while us girls hung out at the campsite and relaxed a bit.




Another day we took a drive up to Sun Mountain Lodge. There is a gorgeous view of the Methow valley. The hotel is very unique. It's a rustic cabin lodge with really awesome game displayed down the hallways, in the lobby, and a giant buffalo when you first walk in. They have a cooled wine room that houses from 3000 to 5000 wine bottles and a table fit for a king that seats about 12 to 14 and an enormous Polar Bear. On our way back we stopped in Winthrop and had ice cream outside.



One of the struggles was getting Grant to sleep well at night. Half the nights Grant slept amazing and the other half were spent sleeping in two hour intervals and waking up for the day at 5:30. But he made up for that by napping 3 1/2 hours a couple times so I guess it turned out OK. Miles slept great! He was so worn out by end of the day that he was practically begging to go to bed. The first couple of days were a bit of a challenge keeping him within our campsite area but by the end of the trip he was obeying us when we told him not to wander too far. My mom brought a corral gate that Miles played in which was so helpful!


 Between 3 cameras we took 429 pictures. It's fun seeing what everyone captured.


Camping was like a mini wildlife adventure. This squirrel would not leave our campsite alone! He kept trying to steal food. We'd chase him away and he'd come right back. Another pesky critter that wouldn't leave us alone either was a mole. There were holes everywhere and he'd crawl out, walk across our site, and go in another hole. He was super tame and didn't mind being pushed aside or picked up with swimming flippers to be transported to some bushes. One night a deer wandered on the outskirts of our site. It watched us at the campfire for a moment and then moseyed on to find food.





They were so tuckered out that a stroller nap was exactly what they needed. See Miles draped over the side in the back?


Miles sat so well at the kid table! I was very surprised he'd sit long enough to eat without being buckled into a highchair.


This day was beautiful and we spent all afternoon at the lake building rivers and sand castles.



Grandma Di with Liam and Grant.


Nono and Grant


The boys' fishing spot.





Jammies!!


Although it doesn't look like it, Miles loved the boat.







Monday, July 9, 2012

4 Months

Four months ago I was at the hospital holding our little new born baby. He's not so baby anymore! His 20 pounds of chunk is so lovable, and squishy. I'm trying not to let those new born memories of him slip away by recalling when he couldn't even hold his head up, smile, or stay awake long enough to eat. Those moment were so precious. It seemed like his movements were in slow motion because he was so brand new. But now as I type this he's in the johnny jumper bouncing away. Those are some strong legs! Here's a little recap of what Grant is up to lately:

What makes Grant laugh: being tickled, Miles, and any funny noise.

What makes us laugh: how he startles so easily! He'll be watching Miles and then Miles will move suddenly and Grant will practically jump out of his skin.

New milestones: rolled over a couple times and not by accident! Tried rice cereal and made funny faces the entire time. I waited until 6 months with Miles to try solids and I think waiting contributed to his pickiness with certain textures. He also just started to play with his feet, well, when he can reach them.

Percentile: Completely off the charts in both height and weight. He's 27 inches tall and about 20 pounds! He's got 4 rolls on each leg. I LOVE it!

Things Grant loves doing: talking! He's really started to voice his opinion lately. He loves watching Miles and smiles at him all the time. Oh, and the drool waterfall is starting up. He sure loves to drool when he chews on his hands.

Vacations: His first vacation was to our Aunt Linda and Uncle Don's river house near Chelan. He went in the pool for the first time! Another big trip was camping with my brother Zach and sister-in-law Cheri with their 4 boys and my parents. He was a good camping baby despite a few rough nights. (I'll post about this vacation later).

Sleep: Grant is still a great sleeper. He sleeps from around 8:30 to 6:30 getting up only once between 2 and 5am to eat. His naps are either quick little cap naps (45 minutes) or 2 to 3 1/2 hours! Some days are better than others but I'll take whatever I can get since Miles used to nap 45 minutes for every single nap for 10 months.

Who he's starting to look like: Your guess is as good as mine. It's still hard to tell. Sometimes I see a little of my brothers in him and sometimes he's a dead ringer of Miles (only when he's sleeping in his car seat). But I just can't get enough of those dimples when he smiles. Who are those from?

That pretty much sums up Grant's life over the past month. I love seeing more of his personality come out everyday. I can tell in some ways he's similar to Miles but at the same time he's totally his own person. What I'm even more excited for is when he's old enough to play with Miles. It's not too far off, I mean all he really needs to do is sit up on his own and he'll be able to play.