Grant's 9 month pictures

 My amazing neighbor Becca took some photos of Grant to document his 9 month milestone. I love how she captured his sweet expressions and little features that make Grant who he is.

Grant is 9 months!

Grant is 9 months old! It's hard for me to believe that he's been on the outside as long as long as he was cooking on the inside. Being pregnant for nine months sure feels a lot longer!

At 9 months:

• is 28.5 inches long (50th percentile)
• weights 16lbs and 7oz (5th percentile)

• Is sleeping through the night! We did it! Occasionally Grant will wake up during the night but will usually put himself back to sleep. He wakes up around 5:30 or 6 to eat and then will go back to bed until at least 7, sometimes later if I'm lucky. 
• takes 2 naps a day
• loves to eat! And he's getting really good at picking food up with his fingers. He eat the Gerber Puffs and freeze dried yogurt, bread, and crackers.
• No teeth, but that's not really a big surprise at our house. His older siblings didn't get teeth until they were over a year.
• He's been my only baby to not ever take a bottle. He refuses. By this time, my other two kids were just winding down with nursing and content to take a bottle. Grant is still going strong with no signs of being done. I guess we'll see how long it lasts.
• Is so curious about the world and loves to look around at what everyone is doing. 
• Is quick to smile and laugh and loves it when we play peek a boo or other games.
• Not quite crawling but can use his feet to push him around the room. He's also an expert roller. He has no problem getting close to anything he's interested in.

 We LOVE Grant's scowl face. In fact, after he was born and was being weighed and cleaned off Blake went over to see him and asked him if his name was Cooper (that was the other name we considered) and Blake said he got this face as a response. Then Blake asked if his name was Grant and he perked up and gave a little squeal.

 He's started playing the "so big" game. I love this interaction. It's so fun for me to do something and have been copy me. I know that he understands this give and take and he laughs and smiles the entire time.

 Grant trapped himself inside the laundry basket. Like a good parent, I took a picture before helping him.

Love you so much big guy! We don't know what we'd do without your sweet spirit in our family.

The rest of July

July was definitely our busiest month of the summer! We had dance recitals, trip to Lagoon, a couple of boating days, two holidays with fireworks, some friends came to visit and we took our first camping trip as a family of 5.

My super talented sister in law Bridgette made some adorable accessories for the kids. The boys got matching bow ties and Brooke got a sparkly new headband. I couldn't resist doing a little photo shoot before church.

 Porter's attitude toward Grant runs hot and cold. He either ignores him or adores him. This was during an adores him phase. I thought it was so cute to see Porter feeding Grant his breakfast.

 Some more adoring of Grant.

 Another Sunday I was particularly proud of Brooke's hair do. I struggle with cute girl hairstyles, but have been determined to learn some new styles so Brooke's hair is out of her face but not always in a ponytail.

 We love watching our garden grow each year. It's been Brooke's job to water it.

 Brooke invited me to go on a bike ride with her. I had not ridden my bike in years! It was fun to ride with her and Brooke jabbered non-stop the entire ride. It was a good way to spend time together.

 Another lake day:

 Porter and Blake swam out to the dock.

 Brooke skied again.

 Porter rode the tube by himself and while riding decided to lay his head down and relax.

 Blake convinced Porter to ride the wakeboard with him. As you can see, Porter did not enjoy it. I think it was a combination of being cold/tired. If you ask Porter about riding the wakeboard now, he says it was lots of fun!

 We took our first family camping trip with Grant. Blake's parents let us use their camp trailer and we were so glad they did! That night, it was so cold! We enjoyed being able to get away to the mountains where we could take in all the beautiful scenery.

 I couldn't get enough of the sunset that night.