30A

At the beginning of June we went back to the beaches of FL for the 3^rd time with the Gray family.  The first time was just Nolan.  The second time added in Henry.  Now this time we had Grant!  That made a total of 6 boys aged 6 and under!  We went back to Blue Tide in Seacrest.  It was the same complex as 2 years ago but a different unit.  The drive went pretty well.  We left Friday afternoon and drove to Baton Rouge.  We had just barely made it out of Houston when Henry asked “when are we going to be at the beach” for the first time.  We heard variations of that question about 100 more times before we finally arrived.  On Saturday we stopped for lunch in Mobile.  Luckily all three boys fell asleep after lunch and slept for a majority of the final leg of the trip.  It was around 3 when we arrived but we couldn’t go in until 4 because the cleaning crew was still there.  Nolan and Henry were begging to swim so we just changed them in the parking lot and let them swim. 

The condo has several flights of stairs so we had to block one with a bench and the other with our baby gate we brought from home.  Grant and Toby didn’t seem to play on the stairs quite as much as Henry and Ryan did 2 years ago.  Grant would just crawl right under the bench and try to get on the stairs though.  The four older boys all stayed in the loft together.  The first few nights were pretty crazy at bed time but it got better towards the end of the week. 

The boys enjoyed the beach but I think they were more interested in the pool at times.  We spent each day doing a mixture of both.  Grant really enjoyed the beach.  He didn’t necessarily try to eat handfuls of sand, but he did get quite a bit in his mouth.  A few times he just face planted in the sand but was so happy about it.  He loved it when either of us would put his feet in the water and then pull him out when a wave came.  Henry enjoyed doing that too.  He was a lot heavier though so it wasn’t as easy!  Nolan was pretty comfortable with the water.  Two years ago he took several days to warm up to it. 

 

We were very lucky to have nice weather once again.  We only got one storm and it only lasted about an hour. We went on walks most mornings but the heat and bright sun was so bad even early in the morning so it wasn’t always that pleasant.  It is so nice being just a staircase away from the water but the stairs were no joke.  I think I counted 55 stairs.  It was quite the climb with all the kids and our gear.  Most mornings we just set up our tent first thing in the morning and leave everything out there until the end of the day. 

We didn’t do much else than the pool and beach but we did go out one night for ice cream.  We also went out to lunch one day.  Nolan and Kyle even got to play golf one morning with Kevin and Russ.  We did go for midafternoon drives on a few occasions to get Nolan and Henry to take a little nap. Later nights and early mornings made for sometimes grumpy boys! We also had cupcakes on Grant’s birthday.

The drive home went pretty well too.  We drove straight back the next Saturday.  We were on the road by about 7:30 in the morning.  We did have quite a few more potty breaks than I would like but when your 3 year old says they have to go to the potty right that second you stop!  All in all we survived and look forward to going again in the future.  I think it will be even better when the boys are all a little older because then it might be a little more relaxing for mom and dad!

Grant is 1!

Grant is 1!  He had his first birthday while we were on vacation in FL.  We waited until we got back to have his party but I did buy some cupcakes to celebrate the big day.  When the cupcake was set down in front of him he knew exactly what to do.  I guess he has been observing his brothers when they get sweets!

At one year old Grant is eating and sleeping pretty well!  He goes down to bed like a dream and sleeps through the night.  He goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 depending on how fussy he seems.  He will occasionally wake up around 4:30 but if you give him some milk he will go right back to sleep.  He is a bit of an early bird though so 6:30 is sleeping late.  At daycare he usually only takes one mid-day nap but at home he still likes a morning and an afternoon one. He still gags on some foods (which makes me so nervous!) but he is basically doing all self-feeding at this point.  We still give him a puree from time to time and we feed him yogurt.   He is now eating school breakfast and lunch.  They tell us that he gets very envious still if someone else is eating and he isn’t.  If the boys have food out on the coffee table he will try to steal it.  He used to start smacking his lips if he saw some food he wanted but now I am pretty sure he is saying some version of “more” when he sees food.

He isn’t walking yet but is getting close.  He stands on his own and can stand without using anything to pull up on.  He likes to walk behind his push toys or holding hands.  He also cruises around the furniture with no issues.  This past weekend he started to take a few independent steps.  Most times he will lower to the ground and crawl if you try to get him to come to you but he has started to take about 2 steps before crawling. 

One of the most common comments we continue to get is about his fuzzy head!  He got his first haircut a few days after his birthday.  I was a little sad about losing the fuzz, but it is still there!  His hair was shorter at this age than his brothers so he wasn’t in desperate need of a cut but it was long over his ears and in the back.  He did pretty well during the cut.  Got a little antsy a few times but his first taste of a lollipop helped that! 

He did well with his one year checkup.  Dr. CS said that he is growing well and looks good.  He got 2 shots but barely cried.  Such a tough guy!



Grant @12 months:
Weight:  21lb 14oz (58%)
Height:  30in (53%)
Head:  47cm (75%)

Henry @ 12 months
Weight:  21 lbs 8 oz (27%)
Height:  30 1/2" (75%)
Head:  48cm (90%)

Nolan @ 12 months
Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz (15%)
Height:  29 1/2" (25%)
Head: 47cm (75%)