Playing Catch Up!

Okay, so we are still here and we are still alive and we have continued living life since the birth of Grant 7 months ago--and some of that living has even been enjoyed with little to no chaos! So, it's time to play catch-up and share some photos and slices of life since Grant joined our family. Keep checking back now and then, because I am still working on catching up, but for now you can get started on what's been missed. (And there are a couple catch-up posts pre-Grant as well.)

Sitting Pretty

This is what I've been waiting for!

At just slightly shy of 6 months, Grant is a full-fledged sitter!! Unassisted, unwobbly, happy-go-lucky sitter! I am so excited for him, and he is proud of himself. Now, he just loves to sit and play with toys around him, but mostly watch the action as his big brothers zoom past in a flurry of loud activity. I firmly believe babies reach a whole new level of contentment when they finally master the art of sitting up. What a wonderful new view of the world and what freedom to be able to reach for stuff and look around. This is my favorite milestone, and I intend for him to be an immobile sitter for a good long time, hopefully until summer is out. No tummy time for this little guy, now that he can sit up straight. We wouldn't want him to get the idea he could start crawling and chasing any of that big brother action! No sir-ee!

Battle Scar

I suppose it's a rite of passage for any little boy, but to not even survive 6 months perfect and unscarred??? Well, that's just sad. Poor Grant was recently the victim of big brother mayhem, which resulted in a beauty of a cut right through his left eyebrow.

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It happened in the car. The big boys each had one small die cast Thomas choo-choo they were playing with in their car seats. It was past bedtime and the natives were overtired and winding up instead of winding down. I should have known better and put the toys away for the night. Calem's specific choo-choo was a rocket-blaster Thomas. I could hear him in the far back seat making rocket sounds and chanting, "3-2-1..." but I didn't anticipate that "blast-off" would be literal. Surely my 4 year old knows by now that throwing toys of any kind (exception being balls and frisbees) is strictly forbidden. But, no. I hear "blast-off!" and then a thunk. Grant had already been crying hard for the past 20 minutes, so his loud protests didn't particularly alarm me. I immediately had Scott pull over, even though we were nearly at our freeway exit and a mere 2 minutes from home. But I wanted the punishment to be instant and memorable. Then, as I opened the sliding back door, I saw the blood and forgot all about the intended punishment. All I could see was blood pouring down my infant's face, seemingly gushing from his eye. It was the first time in my life I thought I might faint. I screamed at Scott to go and get to the EMH emergency center that we were less than half a mile away from. Even though I know it was only about a minute before we got there, it felt like it took 2 hours, and I was terrified that my baby's eye had been severely and irreversibly damaged.

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Much to my relief, once the bleeding had stopped and the face cleaned up, we found that Grant sustained only a decent cut just above his left eye. Stitches weren't needed, just a few steri-strips and a band-aid.

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Needless to say, Calem was in deep trouble. Both boys have been grounded from any kind of toy or handheld item in the car indefinitely.* Grant is recovering just fine.

This shot taken right after the incident, within minutes he was smiling--I was still crying.

Just a few weeks later, and there is a definite scar, though it is minor.**

* Since this post is back-dated, it has now been about 3 months since the incident. They are still grounded from having anything in the car.

** At 8 months of age, the scar is still present and visible, though faded significantly.

Easter Fun I (to be followed by Easter Fun II and III)

Neighborhood Egg Hunt

Each year it has been a tradition to hold a neighborly easter egg hunt for all the kids (who easily outnumber the adults 3:1). Last year was a blustery, freezing frenzy of a hunt with the back yards cleared of eggs and families in about 9 minutes flat. But this year was a pleasantly breezy, springy warm kind of morning and the kids lingered in their hunting while grown-ups cheered them on, helped the littler egg hunters on their quests, and socialized with neighbors after a long winter of neighborhood hibernation.

The gang's all here!Waiting for the "go!" signal. Calem has quite a haul, but was careful not to exceed

the two dozen egg quota for each kid.
Isaac also managed to find quite a few on his own!
But the obvious joy comes in discovering the treasures hidden inside!

First Food

Since Grant showed great interest in food at only 3 months old--I mean straining to see our food, reaching to grab it, opening his mouth like a baby bird when taunted with it (by older brothers, not mom and dad) and just all around crazy curious about all that stuff on our plates and in our bowls--we went ahead and offered him baby oatmeal right after his 4 month check-up and the nod from our pediatrician. He loved it instantly. He was a natural at eating semi-solid food. No tongue thrust, no spitting, no closed lips to force the spoon through. By the end of the week he graduated from plain old baby oatmeal to fresh mashed bananas. Below you will see photos documenting the first meal.

Grant watches with rapt attention as mommy mixes the oatmeal with formula for a runny slurry of sorts.

Ahhh, that's the stuff. The first bite. Check out the hands clasped in delight.Yummy. He chows it down with ease.Now he insists on trying that spoon thing himself.A satisfied baby, and not too messy of a face!Nothing left. I think he would have licked it clean, given the opportunity.

Brotherly Love 2

Grant is a hit in our household. Turns out those first couple weeks of indifference have turned into complete infatuation. Calem was the first to come around, and can't get enough of holding [squeezing] him, hugging [tackling] him, and kissing [mauling] him. Isaac has come to care for Grant, too, but in a quieter, more mischievous manner. And through all the in-your-face over-abundance of brotherly love bestowed upon Grant, he absolutely adores his big brothers. As far as he's concerned, the sun rises and sets with those two. No one can elicit the smiles and belly laughs from Grant like Calem and Isaac can. It is so sweet to watch them interact and I just know that the three of them will be best friends for life.

Happy Feet

Grant just has the most precious, most irresistible baby feet on the planet! At birth I couldn't stop looking at them, counting each tiny toe, tickling the soft, wrinkly bottoms of them and wrapping my hands tightly around them. I just adore Grant's feet! So, here is an homage to my littlest baby's wonderful feet.
Look how long and slender his feet and toes are! Seriously, I don't have a foot infatuation or anything, but they are so lovely!
Then he discovered his own feet and was every bit as infatuated with them as I was. There's little that is cuter than watching an infant grab his own feet and stare in wonder as he wiggles little toes and stretches to taste them. And amazingly, he gets not only a lick of the big toe, but manages to stuff the whole darn foot into his mouth!
Grant takes advantage of his lengthy toes and sort of uses them like extra hands. I have seen him grasp a toy with his toes and lift it up a little to be able to reach it with his hands. We've taken to calling him our little monkey. Look at the the photo below, he "claps" with his feet all the time!

Yep, I love many, many things about Grant.
But I really love the little guy's feet. They make me happy.

Isaac Turns 3 - Part 2

Isaac's party cake

A blue-ribbon birthday cake, if I do say so myself! (And don't forget, I have a 3 month old!)

Isaac had a birthday party at home this year with a choo-choo train theme, because he is all about Thomas and all things train. We invited 4 friends, but with siblings included the kid count was 10! So, I decided to create a one-of-a-kind choo-choo train cake with a grand engine and 10 individual cars (one for each child). It was really fun to make, and the kids were really delighted.

The engine is made of one cake made from a loaf pan, one from a mini-loaf pan, and 3 regular cupcakes. I used 3 mini-Twix bars for the coal, peppermint patties for the weals and icing for the rest of the decorations.



I used a mini-loaf pan to make 10 individual train cars and decorated them with mini vanilla wafers for wheels and various treats for "cargo," like Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, red licorice and candy valentine hearts. Surprisingly, there were no fights over who got which car with what cargo.



The birthday boy loved his cake, and it was hard to keep his hands off of it until the party began. I think he looked at it as more of a toy than something to eat. He seemed to really want to play with it, the way he plays with his other trains.

Isaac and his friends enjoyed pizza, veggies and pretzels before indulging in cake. Here they all are at the party table. They are, clockwise, starting in front with the boy in the orange: Aiden, Joey, Maia, Sascha, Maura, Isaac, Calem, and Nathan. And no 3rd birthday party is complete without a pinata. Scott found a Thomas pinata, and you can see how they all waited in rapt anticipation while Scott hung it up. I would say Isaac had a very fun 3rd birthday, and is really lucky to have so many friends. We love you, Isaac-Man! Happy Birthday, and please--can we skip the "terrible three's"?

Isaac Turns 3 - Part 1

Happy 3rd Birthday, Isaac!

It's hard to believe Isaac is 3 years old already! Where has the time gone? My sweet, sensitive little Isaac isn't so little anymore. He is quickly catching up to his big brother and actually outweighs him by a pound, though still a couple inches shorter. He has become quite a character and has about a million expressions that make everyone he meets laugh. He is so expressive and charming, and it's hard to hold a grudge. Isaac's favorite things include cars, trucks, trains and anything he gets to play with his older brother. Isaac loves to read stories and play pretend and snuggle up. I love chatting with Isaac because he is a thinker and he is very creative. He always has a good story to tell. It's crazy that he is 3 already. It seems like just yesterday we were wondering what his little voice would sound like, and how it would be when he and Calem could play together. He is growing up so fast and will even be going to preschool in the fall. Isaac is so easy to have around, and is wonderful company. Happy Birthday sweet boy, I love you very, very much!

Not All Handmedowns

Little man Grant. Our third Nagy boy. Destined for a life full of "used" things. However, he does have a couple outfits all his own that must be documented. This super cute romper, compliments of Aunt Julie, is so soft and cuddly I wish I had one to wear. It is the most adorable outfit I've seen for a boy in a long time and sports a picture of a friendly walrus ice fishing--it's become a favorite and he wears it about once a week! Thank you, Aunt Juju for something new!
And then there is the warm and fuzzy animal sleeper that Gramma Martin sent. How nice it is to add something other than blue to the repetoire. Thank you for helping Grant feel welcome and for letting him start life with a few things he can call his own, because it isn't likely he'll have a whole lot of that as time goes by.

'sno fun becomes Snow Fun!

So, last year's attempts to play in the snow didn't go over so well. But this year has been a whole different story! The boys now stay out and frolic in the cold whiteness for a longer period of time than it took to don all the snow gear--and that makes it worthwhile. Besides, they now know that playing out for a while is a means to acquiring hot cocoa with marshmallows, and that makes it worthwhile! I enjoy standing inside the warmth of my cozy kitchen snuggling my baby boy, watching and smiling out the window.

Calem has learned to make snow angels. Here he is making a beautiful one.

The hill in our back yard has been in full use this winter, thanks also to Gramma and Grampa Nagy for the saucer sleds for Christmas. How nice it is to have our own private sledding hill out back!

We even enjoyed a crisp winter day at the zoo where the boys had a snowball fight with Daddy. Calem could really pack 'em and got Scott good a few times!


And of course no winter fun would be complete without building a friendly snowman. Isaac was more interested in sabotaging our efforts and knocking the heads off, but eventually Calem and I were able to complete our frosty friend. We had so much cold and snow for a while that the guy stayed with us for quite some time! Even after his face had long been eaten by various critters.

We also put Calem to work, and he is finally pulling his weight around here! He enthusiastically helped Scott shovel the sidewalk out front. Will he still have the same enthusiasm when he's 16??