In Which Jackson Eats Paint

In Which Grant Hauls Fruit Loops

On Labor Day we had a ward picnic at a member’s home on the beach. Brian played a game of football, and I saw him dive for a catch—what a man. But I have to admit my favorite part was when I saw Jackson hike the ball to Brian in the game with the adults. Jackson looked so cute out there trying to play. Grant dug in the sand most of the time—one of his favorite things to do.

Grant came walking down the hallway holding a container of mandarin oranges. He handed them to me. We went to his chair and I gave him the oranges. He ate the whole container. He’s also dragged bags of Fruit Loops and Mini Wheats down the hallway.

I got a break this week and went on a Mom’s night out. We went on a scavenger hunt (it was really fun despite being a little teenagerish) and then met up for ice cream. My team won, thanks to my mad driving skills.

Jackson was sitting at the table eating pancakes when I heard, “Juh, I, fff. Mom, what does that spell?” He was trying to read the peanut butter container.

I made homemade doughnuts for the first time today. And despite our house smelling like it’s been deep fried, they were a huge success.

Grant still hasn’t said anything that can be deemed a word, besides the mama and dada babble. But a few times over the past couple days it sounds like he’s trying to say “thank you.” He just mimicks the voice inflection, but he does it at the right times. He’ll give me something and then say it, or sometimes I’ll prompt him to say it and it sounds like he’s really trying.

ABC Quiz

In Which Grant Discovers His Belly Button

Grant was really sick this week. He got the cold I have had for a couple weeks now. I spent the first few days this week holding him. He wouldn’t sleep in his bed for very long, so he spent hours sleeping on me. I enjoyed it because I got some much needed extra sleep, but the house suffered. He seems to be feeling better today.

We were on walk and Jackson found an acorn. Brian and Jackson stopped to explore a hole in a tree. Jackson stuck his acorn in it and said, “That acorn was too heavy to carry.” Looks like he won’t be in the strongest man competition.

We had a missionary discussion at our home the other day. Grant was sitting on my lap, and when I looked down, he had his t-shirt pulled up and had discovered his belly button.

I was about to clip Jackson’s fingernails when he said, “You drive my fingernails crazy!”

Brian successfully completed the first draft of the first chapter of his thesis—only 200+ more pages to go.

Grant Noises

Grant started making Indian pow-wow sounds this week. We tried to get a video of it and this is as close as we could get. They just don't want to preform when the camera is there.

Chess

In Which Grant Walks Into a Window

Jackson started a chore chart this week. We found a dog-shaped job chart at the store and he gets to put a sticker on it for each job. He did all of his chores for the whole week. Sometime this week he changed from calling it his “job chart” to his “dog chart.”

Yesterday, we went to dinner at Culver’s. While we were ordering our food, Grant took a little walk around. He headed for a full-length window. And he walked right into it. He was left with just a little bump on his head.

Our photo company got some business this week. Brian shot someone’s senior pictures. They turned out awesome; now we just have to narrow it down from 1100+ to 20.

Tonight Brian and I were on a dating panel for a fireside at church. They had us play the newlywed game; we came in second but still feel that our marriage is on very solid ground.

Jackson’s picked up a new habit. Every time I say something to him, he replies with, “huh?” There were a couple times when I got him to say, “Can you please repeat that?” but that only lasted for a few minutes.