One…and a Half!

Grady turned 18 months old Monday. He is growing up so fast! Rough measurements show that he is 34 inches tall and 27 pounds, which means he's grown about two inches and gained about two pounds in two months. Just two more inches tall, and he'll be facing forward in his car seat!

School seems to be going better. He cries when we drop him off, but we receive good reports when we pick him up. He seems to really like playing with his two new girlfriends.

We had a big long weekend of park playing, a birthday party and cooking out and playing in the backyard. This guy is busy, and we're having so much fun with him. Here are some photos of the 18-month-old:

We celebrated Violet turning a year old Saturday.

Grady loved the balloons at Violet's party.

And, as always, he clung to his Sandy.

Sunday was perfect for cooking out, so Grady helped start the coals.

He took a ride in his purple car...

And revisited his cool, pirate water table (sans water).

We had an extra day to play Monday, so went to McAuley Park, where the slides are super fun!
Lauchlin tested out her new, awesome camera with lots of Grady shots:

Park Play

Grady met up with some friends at Glennwood Circle Friday to take advantage of the short break in rainy weather.

First Day

Happy New Year! Our new year is starting off great.

Grady started play school at Crawford Street today! It was a big day for our Bean and his moms, and we all survived without incident and only a few tears (all Grady's, surprisingly).

Grady had a good time and was worn slap out when we picked him up! Here are some pics from his big day:

All ready for school with his new backpack.

He was very happy to see the abundance of toys in his new classroom.

We left before the other two students (both girls) arrived,
but Grady seemed to be content playing on his own for awhile.

Of course, he had to do some dancing!

Even though he was a little sad when we left him, we're sure he'll be ready to go back Thursday for more fun. We can't believe our little guy is growing up so fast!

Christmas Day

Grady must have been a good boy this year, because Santa brought him a ton of toys and goodies. Our little man was so much fun this Christmas. He would say, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" and loved looking at Christmas lights with us. Here is a look at some of the fun he had on Christmas morning...

Grady was all decked out in his Santa apron before his family came bearing tons of gifts.

Grady had a Christmas morning pre-breakfast feast while
waiting for everyone to wake up and see what Santa brought him.

Here's the mad-dash to the Santa pile.

The Santa pile is only a small portion of the gifts Santa and his elves left our Bean.

Grady sported his Santa suit (a hand-me-down from his TN cousins) while he opened gifts.

The kitchen was Grady's big finale and, as suspected, he spent most of the day cooking.

Santa's Express

We've been busy ringing in the holidays lately. We took Grady to see Santa's Express, which made a stop in Vicksburg a couple of weekends ago.

Grady was ready to board the holiday train!

His cousin, Caroline, came over from Clinton to see what it was all about.

We waited in the super long line for more than an hour and saw lots of people we know...

Everyone's patience was tested...

But, it was worth the wait...

…especially, to see Grady's face as he watched the toy trains go around the track!

This Time of Year

We went with Sandy to Oxford last weekend for the Ole Miss v. Vanderbilt game. Grady and his moms didn't stay up to watch our team almost beat Vandy, but we enjoyed the pre-game fun in the Grove…

Grady loved trying to climb the big magnolia trees.

This cool Ole Miss car presented a good game day photo op.

Grady preferred the jump seat.

We had to buy this guy a football to throw after he saw the big boys playing Grove football.

We love the colors of the leaves in Oxford this time of year. Grady enjoyed playing in them.

We put Grady's Grove chair to good use.

Sandy's friends, Jenny and Greg, came to support the other  team.
But, we had a great time hanging with them and showing them around Oxford.

We found a kid area, where Grady did some dancing and the moms did some Grady-chasing.

You never know what's going to happen in the Grove. Grady met Elvis?!

It was a big day for a Bean.