Weekend at Grammi and Bean's

Every summer, the Maryland Bailey's take a week long vacation up to Massachusetts to visit the rest of us Bailey's that all live up here.  Natalie really loves all of her cousins.  And cousin Megan is off to Gettysburg College in a few weeks, which is really unbelievable.

(Grant, Megan, Seth, Natalie, Lauren, and Ryan below.  Sorry it's not cropped very well.  There were several taken, but this was the only one where everyone was looking in the general direction of the camera!!!)

We had a lot of fun when they were visiting.  We went to the pond one day and Grammi let Natalie use a fun raft to help her swim all around without Daddy's help.

Daddy said the pond was chilly so Mommy and Grant opted not to get in!  But I snapped a cute profile picture of baby boy anyway...

Mmmm, snackalicious!  Anyway, we also spent some time at the pool.  Natalie had fun in the kiddie pool, but even got to go in the big pool with Daddy, Lauren, and Hannah!  The girls are so sweet with Natalie and she really looks up to them all.

Thankfully, the little pool was nice and warm, and we had fun splashing around!  They always have a huge basket of toys at the kiddie pool and there's always plenty of things to play with.  Now that summer is winding down, we are looking forward to some fall weekends in Plymouth and Great Island's new heated indoor pool!  It's open to kids (but only if they're potty trained, sorry G) and families from 2-4 every day.  So we are looking forward to that!  We will miss the warm summer days though!

What we've been doing in August

We have been so busy, I haven't had time to post anything.  We went to Plymouth last weekend to visit with Todd's brother and his family who were in town from Maryland.  We had fun going to the pool and playing with the cousins, Megan, Hannah and Ryan.  Ryan is 5'10" now, so other than Seth and my own wee bitty ones, I am the shortest person in the family!  Nice.

Then we all came back on Monday but we brought Lauren and Madison with us.  Maureen was closed for the week because she was on vacation, so the girls watched the kids during the day while we went to work.  They did great!  Todd and I were able to go to several CrossFit classes this week (including our first one together) and we both were able to work late one night each this week since we're super busy at work too.  I think I want Lauren and Madison to move in permanently.  I would love to have a nanny!

Helen picked Lauren up from our house last night and today, the rest of us are all going to Plymouth.  Todd and his dad are having a re-do of the Bailey Invitational at Cape Cod Country Club this afternoon.  The kids will be hanging with Madison and Grammi.  Then tomorrow morning, we'll take the kids and Madison to KK's house in South Yarmouth and Todd and I are going to Wellfleet to the Cucci house for some weekend fun with the Wilmington crew.  Good times! 

After this weekend, things will be quiet for a while.  Natalie starts preschool on the 30th, for 3 full days a week.  Sniff sniff.  I got her backpack already.  I know she's been going to full day daycare since she was 3 months old, but there is something about preschool that just makes her seem like such a big girl.  I know she will have fun though.  She's very much looking forward to it!

Serious vs. Smiley Grant

Serious Grant.

Smiley Grant.

Conversation with Natalie

So this was a conversation I had with Natalie in the car today on the way back from Joshua's birthday party.

Natalie:  Hey, there's old McDonalds!  (That is what she calls McDonalds)

Me:  Yep, there it is!

Natalie:  No it's noooooot!

Me:  What?

Natalie:  Old McDonalds isn't there!

Me:  It's not?

Natalie:  YES IT IS!!!  (say that with a good amount of whine to it)

Me:  What?  Okay, yes, there it is!

Natalie:  No it's not!

Me:  Okay, whatever Natalie.

Natalie:  Look, there's Wendy's!

Me:  (silence)

Grant's 9 month stats

Without further ado... my big boy's 9 months stats from his doctor's appointment this morning...

Height: 29" (up 1.5") - 75%

Weight: 21 pounds (up 4 pounds!!!) - 60%

Head: 47cm (up 2 cm) - 90%

Sheesh, no wonder my arms are getting tired!  He got a Hepatitis B shot, and Todd discussed the big gap between his teeth and how his frenulum comes down between his teeth.  Dr. Meisheid said that most likely when the other teeth come in, they would push the front teeth together and it wouldn't be a problem.  So for now, we're just going to watch it.  I just don't want it causing any speech problems!  Dr. Meisheid is also not concerned that he's not crawling.  Wow, what a difference - our pediatrician in Virginia was really concerned about Natalie not crawling at this age!  FYI- She didn't crawl until 13 months!!  Grant seems to be about a month ahead of her in everything so far, so hopefully by the time he turns 1, we'll have a crawler, and maybe a "stand-at-the-table" baby!

Visit to Grammi and Bean's

This weekend, we went to visit Grammi and Bean in Plymouth.  It was nice because it was just us visiting.  Oh, and favorite Auntie Helen, but we hadn't seen her in a while, and she is always so funny.  I feel like we haven't gotten enough quality 1 on 1 time with the grandparents this summer!  We got there Saturday just before lunch and I got to hang out with Carole and Helen while the kids napped.  Todd and Warren went to Cape Cod Country Club and went golfing, although their outing was delayed by major traffic at the Sagamore Bridge, and then cut short by thunderstorms.  The Bailey Invitational will have to be put on hold until next time...

Saturday evening, Grant got his first bathtub in the Bailey sink!  The Bailey's have pictures of all of the kids in the sink getting a bath.  He was so cute...

After the kids went to bed, we all watched Crazy Heart.  It was pretty good.  Although the ending was a little Hollywood, I guess.  Happy ending, all sunshine and flowers, and fairly abrupt. 

Sunday after church, Natalie took an early nap so we could go to the pool.  This is definitely her favorite summer activity!  She was SO funny at the pool.  She is just so friendly to everyone, and walks right up to other kids and says, "Hi, my name is Natalie!"  She met a little girl named Charlotte who was 2, and she said, "Hi, my name is Natalie!  This is my mom Colleen, and my dad Todd, and this is Grammi and Bean!"  I don't recall her mentioning her brother, which is funny since she usually loves to show him off.  But it was so funny how GROWN UP she sounded when she said it.  (By the way, Charlotte is the one in the lower center of the picture below).

For her birthday, Grammi and Bean got her a pair of goggles, which she did not take off for the entire 2 hours that we were there!  So this is what she looked like for another 2 hours after the fact...

Another quick story, she will probably kill me some day for posting this on a blog for the whole world to see, but we were in church Sunday morning in Plymouth, and I was finishing up giving Grant a bottle as the service ended so people were walking by us down the aisle to leave.  Natalie was waving at all of them, which is a total invite for them to talk to her.  One lady asked if Grant was a boy or a girl, and I said a boy.  To which Natalie replied, "Boy's have penises!"  VERY loudly.  IN CHURCH.  I wanted to crawl under a pew and cry.  The ladies laughed right out of the church.  Oy vey!

Good times at the Bailey's... we'll be back in a couple of weeks when Steve and his family come up for their summer visit!  I hope Natalie gets to participate in the talent show this year!

Sweet Grant

Sweetest.  Baby.  Ever.

Or, maybe the silliest baby ever!

Grant is getting to be such a big boy.  Sniff sniff.  He's still snuggly and edible though.  Yum!!!

Funny Natalieisms

Okay, I have three quick funny things that Natalie has said over the last few days...

1. Maureen lets Natalie bring home a toy every once in a while, but we have to bring it back the next morning. So she let Natalie bring a taggy blanket home one evening this week. The next morning, Todd apparently forgot to grab it, so the following evening, when I saw it in the playroom, I said, "Hey Natalie, is that Miss Maureen's?" And she replied, "Yes... daddy said, 'Crap, we forgot to bring it to Maureen's!'" Nice honey. Real nice. :-)

2. Natalie and Todd were in her room and found a beat up Go Diego, Go sticker when Natalie said, "Oh no, my Diego sticker!" And Todd said, "Yes, it got old and wrinkly." And Natalie said, "Kind of like your forehead!" Ouch!

3. This evening, Todd went to CrossFit after he had put Grant to bed, so it was just Natalie and I. In the middle of dinner, she declared she had to go poopy. It wasn't a pretty scene as she was pretty constipated. TMI, I know, but you need to know that for the rest of the story. Afterwards, I gave her some baby prunes and told her she needed to eat those so her tummy would feel better. Then, we saw our neighbor, Jean, outside with her dog, and Natalie said, "Hi Jean! I'm eating prunes! My poopies were hard!"

That's my girl!!!!

When Daddy is away, the kids will play!

Todd is away at a conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina, so my mom has come up to visit and help with the kids.  It couldn't have come at a better time, because both kids are sick.  Natalie has had a crazy cough since her birthday (you do the math there).  She is doing pretty well but the cough sounds nasty.  I judge Natalie's illnesses by her crankiness, and she's been mildly cranky.  She has definitely been worse. 

Grant on the other hand, has hand, foot and mouth disease, we think.  Or the doctor thinks.  He had the spots in the back of his throat, but it looked like they were just starting to sprout, so to speak.  So she couldn't be 100% sure.  His fever was up to 103.   And H, F & M is a summer sickness.  And he's too little to get strep throat.  I think that kids usually can't get that until they're about 18 months old.  So they were pretty confident that he had H, F & M.  We had to take the kids to the urgent care on Saturday, which is in Framingham, and happens to be in the same entrance as the emergency room at the hospital.  I still don't get what the difference is- they are suppose to "fast track" you if you tell them you're there for urgent care.  We were still there for over 2 hours!  The cutest thing happened- when the doctor was looking at the back of Grant's throat, he was crying, and it upset Natalie, so she started crying too.  Such a loving big sister.  So Nana is here and we are having fun, but we miss Daddy and can't wait for him to come back on Friday!!!

Grant's top teeth are coming in and he has the biggest gap between his two front teeth!  It's hilarious!  I think his frenulum is attached to his gum line (like, really low) so I probably should talk to a dentist about that, but he's so funny with this big space between his teeth!!!

Very rarely does Natalie smile normal... she looks so pretty and sweet in this picture.

What 'chu talkin' 'bout Willis???  Silly boy...

5th of July Parade

This year, the Natick 4th of July parade was held on the 5th of July.  We didn't take many pictures. It was insanely hot out, and we forgot the diaper bag at home, which Todd had to run back and get, so that made us all a little grumpy.  And of course, this happens after we are running late anyway (hey, we have 2 kids- we are ALWAYS running late!)  But we enjoyed the Kiwanis pancake breakfast again this year before the parade.  Right after we ate, the parade had just made it's way onto East Central, so we got to go outside and see the beginning, which was Natalie's favorite part last year - with about 20 firetrucks.  

 This year, it was a little loud for her, but we gave both kids earplugs.  It also happened to be snack attack time for Grant. 

We also met up with the Kelley family to enjoy some of the parade (Jackson and Samantha and their mommy and daddy, Chris and Tiffany, and Chris's parents, who live in Natick). Tiffany gave Natalie a little mini bottle of water, and really, you would have thought she gave the girl a diamond ring. Between that and the Dora and Diego characters that were in the parade, that is all Natalie could talk about. Oh, and the Kelley's gave Natalie the beautiful dress and hair bows that she wore on the 4th of July too. Honestly, the kid was a rock star in this dress. We must have gotten at least 10-15 compliments about it.  One lady even told me (oddly), "It's so nice to see little girls wearing dresses." As if little girls never wear dresses?  Anyway, doesn't she seem so big in the picture below?  She spilled very little of the water on her, so I was really impressed.  Mostly she still uses sippy cups.  Not because she can't drink out of a real cup, but because she will walk around with a real cup and not think and tip it over.

Here's a shot of my three favorite people, below.  Nice faces Grant and Natalie.  Oh well, at least Daddy looks cute!