Red Ball

Grady's grandparents, in town from Oxford for the Fourth of July, bought him a new, red ball...

...and he loves it! He has been chasing it around, saying, "ball, ball..." He even took it to Nanie's.

Watermelon Baby

We took Grady to one of our favorite places, Rocky Springs, a couple of weeks ago to enjoy some outside time. Sandy and Christie, Mike and Violet joined us for a relaxing afternoon in the shade...

Grady happily cooled off with some delicious watermelon...

These babies were pooped...

Splash!

Cora's 2nd Birthday Splash Party was a highlight of Grady's 10th month. He is gearing up for his own big celebration, which is just around the corner...

A party with balloons meets Grady's approval!

He never passes up Sandy-time! 

He absolutely loved the water table (now at the top of his wish list)!

 Grady loved sitting in this little bag chair, and he matched it perfectly!

With all the splashing and fun going on, we failed to get any photos of the birthday girl. Grady had so much fun, it was hard to keep the camera off him, as you can see.

First Steps

On the very day Grady turned 11 months old (Thursday), he decided to take his first steps. He's been working on this for while now, so he was quite pleased with himself. We, too, were very proud! It won't be long before we have a full-fledged toddler...

Grady had a fun 10th month. He has about a dozen — maybe even more — words that he says: dog, cat, book, ball, bath, bye-bye, Mama, look, hi...just to name a few. He's still growing like crazy, but mostly taller. He's still about 21 pounds, which is what he was at his 9-month check-up. But, we're pretty sure he's grown more than an inch since then.

Here is our sweet Grady at 11 months...

He loves books! He turns the pages and "reads." So much fun!

Grady sleeps (and sometimes plays) great in his crib now.

The excessive turbo-speed crawling has led to a few minor crawl injuries, which is the reason for this Toy Story Band-Aid. It, of course, didn't last long, but, thankfully, neither did the pain.

We love this sweet face!

Just Swingin'!

Grady loves our frequent strolls to our neighborhood park...

Grady's Last Day

Grady's working days are over!

At the end of last month, we packed up all of his toys and gear from the gallery so he could spend a summer off with his Mommy. It turns out, though, that he will not be returning to the H.C. Porter Gallery when school starts, because Lauchlin is now officially a self-employed, work-from-home mom. We're all very excited about this new adventure!

Stay tuned for more on the developing business, Front Porch Fodder (yes, the name was taken from this blog!), and all of the excitement to come with Grady and Lauchlin's new gig.

Here's a look at Grady's early days as a gallery baby...

He certainly learned his way around that gallery in the eight months that he "worked" there...

He's already enjoying his retirement...

Can You Say, "Shovel?"