Grant, 7 months

"I know that I've only been on the floor for 2 seconds and you are busy but I REALLY need attention and distraction!!"

Grant and his "lovie."

"Getting" Evie

This little man is such a character. We've finally figured out that he thinks he should be the center of our world, all the time. He must've thought that in-utero for all the drama he was causing with his high S/D ratio and subsequent umbilical blood flow stop which led to their birthday, July 23rd. Then he needed the C-PAP, had a pnuemothorax and required more NICU time. Now all he wants is our attention. He LOVES attention. He HATES being by himself. His motto is: "It's all about me!!" Perhaps he intuitively knows that he was/is the smallest AND the youngest and wants to overcome this by being the loudest and most demanding. Or maybe he is trying to establish himself as the alpha dog? Unfortunately, he is learning very early that as one of 3 babies and one of 4 kiddos, it can't be all about him. He certainly is NOT going to let us forget about him (as if that was possible) or let himself be steam rolled by his bigger and "older" siblings. The one area where Grant isn't the loudest is actual "talking." He likes to say "mmmm" a lot and has recently discovered his tongue and "ppllllllhhhh" at us but isn't the biggest contributor to our conversations.

Grant gives us the biggest smiles. He can be screaming bloody murder in his crib and the second he sees you SMILE!! He has already begun fake crying to get attention, no tears. His smile just got cuter because in the last month he has gotten his 2 bottom teeth. He gives us hope that this teething thing will be a breeze. No drooling, no fussiness, no disturbed sleep, no fever. If I wasn't on tooth alert we would've missed their arrival. He's going to need those two teeth because he sure loves to eat. We've tried peas, sweet potatoes, bananas and carrots in the last month. If I don't get the mixture just right and he finds it a little sour I can't get another bit into his mouth. He goes into "keep that stuff away from me" mode. This is completely and utterly adorable. Hands over his mouth in little fists, eyes closed and head down. If he had a protective shield he would've activated it.

Check out his first teeth!!!

Like all babies Grant enjoys putting everything in his mouth, especially his "lovie" and burp clothes. It's probably how he's managing the teething discomfort. He has always been the first to explore toys but his favorite thing is faces. He grabs hold of lips, noses, cheeks and "explores." I find it endearing, sometimes a little painful. I have to make sure to keep his finger nails short or risk getting scratched. He makes the cutest explorer face full of deep concentration. Maybe he'll be a scientist as he is always trying to figure out his toys instead of play with them.

Grant has been the mover and the shaker. At first I was afraid he'd never do anything "first" but now he's prone to leaving his siblings in the dust. Luckily he hasn't been the first for everything, giving his siblings a chance to shine. He is however, the master roller and though he doesn't officially sit yet, he has been able to stay upright seated the longest. Like everything else I look forward to this milestone and want to rush them and then on days like today I realize just how quickly time is passing and want to slow them down.

Grant is the poorest sleeper. He continues to nap on his tummy and most of the time goes to sleep easily. However, he refuses to stay asleep for long periods. At this age babies should sleep between 2-3 hours each nap, of which they have two. I'm lucky if he will stay asleep for over an hour. Then there is today when they took a nap over 3 hours long. And like any other mom I was at a loss for what to do. "Do I start a project, nah, they'll probably wake up at any moment. Crap they've been asleep a long time, I missed out on a big project maybe I ought to start a small one. But they will probably wake up any minute." Then my thoughts shift to "Geez they've been asleep for a long time, what if something happened, what if they've suffocated, what if...." Then I look in on them, sometimes put my hands on their chest. Today when I finally gave in and checked on Grant he was un-swaddled playing with the tail and tags of his stuffed elephant. Adorable!!! I'm sure this won't happen again tomorrow as NOTHING is ever consistent. The only thing normal around here is that nothing is ever normal.

What else can I tell you about Grant? He loves his feet. He was the first to "discover" them and if you come over and he is hanging out of his sleeper with one sock on and one sock off, it's because I'm trying to give him easier access to his new toy. Grant has hair. He currently looks like a little bald elderly man, especially when he frowns and gets all sorts of forehead wrinkles. But if you look close you'll see that he actually has fine, light blond hair. He thinks it tickles whenever you rub your nose on his belly, along his sides and in his armpits. He laughed yesterday when he was "attacked" by a large bear (daddy playing with a stuffed bear). Over the weekend he developed a new "face" where he smiled while squinting his eyes. It is beyond cute, but trying to catch one on film is like trying to catch a fairy. When he gets excited, while laying on his back, he will do a little butt shimmy with both legs bicycling. It is funny, and adorable, and cute. Pretty much how I would describe everything he and his siblings do.

Silly eye squint faces-he does them while talking too.