Thursday, October 29, 2009

History in the sky

Before I forget, because Craig wanted this in Grant's "baby book," with his very own 2 year old eyes, Grant saw the Ares 1-x launch today.

Since we live in central Florida we have the luxury of watching shuttles and rockets launch, while standing in our driveway. We actually have a really nice view once they are 10 miles up or so.

Today (well, it's after midnight now, so technically yesterday), a few blocks from home, getting onto the 408E, you could see the large firey contrails of the new shuttle as it headed towards the atmosphere. This one was unmanned, as it was a test launch...but it is likely the key to the future of our NASA shuttle program.

Grant was sitting patiently in his car seat as we pointed the shuttle out to him...watching history in the making.

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Monday, October 26, 2009

26 months and counting

Just a quick note and update on what my little man is doing:

He knows many animal names and their coordinating sound:
Cows = Moo
Owl = Who
Sheep = Baa
Dogs = woof
Cats = E-oww
Monkeys = ah-ah-ah
Lions = roar
and the best of all is his elephant impression, Efefafants = brrrrrrrrtttttttt (as he scrunches up his eyes and throws his head back and tries to trumpet like an elephant.)

His favorite tv shows are:
Blues Clues
Wow Wow Wubzy
High Five
Super Why
Little Bear
and he'll still watch Jack's Big Music Show from time to time

His favorite foods are:
french fries
chicken nuggets
macaroni and cheese
hot dogs
pizza
waffles
cheese (all types, string, shreds, cubes, slices)
yogurt
jello
sweet potatos (and most any pureed veggies as he prefers babyfood veggies still at least in texture)
quesadillas
fruits of all types (bananas, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, grapes, etc.)
and he drinks watered down juice by the gallon

Most recently he's started putting sentences together. Not just multiple words, but generally a noun and verb. His favorites are to say "da-ee wait!," "meme wait!," "da-ee, I uv you," and "meme, I uv you."

He is also great at giving directions. He is constantly saying "that way" or "in there." It's particularly adorable if you are driving past one of the restaurants we often frequent and ask him if he's hungry. He's very likely to say "in there" and point at the restaurant as his way of assuring you that he knows food can be had at that location.

And, back on October 10th, he finally got his first hair cut. There is a wonderful barber shop on Lake Ella in Tallahassee. It's where all the good old boys go to get a genuine, no frills, cut. They specialize in flat tops and crew cuts and that special hair cut all politicians seem to have. They have pictures all over the tiny shop of former governors, politicos, sports figures, etc, thanking them for the cut. Craig, Dillon, Grant and I walked in and asked if they did first cuts or toddler cuts. They assured us it was no big deal and sat Grant on a board, across my lap, and then with speed that would have put Edward Scissorhands to shame, they chopped off all his baby locks. He had grown these angelic curling feathers on the sides of his head, and this crazy, billy ray mullet in the back. He left the shop looking like a dapper little boy instead of a whimsical toddler. His dad and big brother got hair cuts at the same time. A great first hair cut experience without the silliness of airplane seats and balloon animals.

He is a loving and affectionate little boy who is crazy about learning all the time. He has a huge heart filled with kindness and compassion and loves to bounce on his daddy in the morning when he first wakes up. As with any 2 year old, listening and compliance aren't always top on his list of priorities, but if given a task or job, he often will take enough pride in that, that he can be depended on.