Soccer Skills

Grant might be the baby of the family, but he's certainly not about to be shown up by his big brothers. Check out our little soccer star's skills! Just a few more years, buddy, and you'll be able to join in the action on the field!

Concours d'Elegance

Living in a house full of boys, there are certain events that pop up on the calendar that I just know will be a HUGE hit. The Concours d'Elegance on Amelia Island is one of those events. With over 250 classic and exotic cars displayed on the Ritz Carlton golf course, I knew we were in for an eventful day. The boys were in HEAVEN, and I'll admit, I also had a fabulous time.

Daydreaming is easy! Returning to reality is NOT!

Rough Day

It's tough to be a baby & shots from the pediatrician don't help matters!

7 Months...Lucky #7

It's hard to be the baby...YEAH RIGHT!!! This kid runs the show! At 7 months, Grant has moved on to big boy activities like riding in shopping carts, holding his own bottles, and eating solid foods all while looking cute as can be!

6 Months

You're supposed to celebrate your baby's milestones, but today is a little bittersweet. Baby Grant is 6 months old! I'm sorry, but it just seems too soon. Our baby is growing up waaaay too fast. Don't even get me started on his big brothers!


We won't dwell on the negative. Instead, let's focus on all the wonderful things that Grant has accomplished in the last month.

- As you already know, Grant has his first tooth and seems to be diligently working away on his second.

- Having mastered sitting on his own, Grant is showing interest in being mobile. When laying on his belly, he tries to propel himself forward. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out that he'd have more success if he kept his hands & feet in contact with the floor. To compensate, Grant has learned to roll across the floor to reach whatever object has peaked his interest.

- Grant has now sampled just about every fruit & vegetable that is available. The only item on the menu that he doesn't care for are pureed bananas.

- Grant has slept in his crib exactly once. He went down without an issue on our first attempt to introduce him to the nursery, but on the second night, Grant put up a protest. That's okay. We eagerly welcomed back into the pack & play in our room because we spent the better part of the day discussing how we had missed him the previous night.

- We've reached that lovely age when babies begin grabbing at things. I have to be especially mindful of what is within Grant's reach when we're shopping. I really hate that moment when you discover a store clerk is a fan of that whole "You break it, you buy it." philosophy.

- It may be a figment of my imagination, but I believe Grant has said his first word, "Hi!" He says, "Hi!" when you walk up to his pack & play after he's woken up from his nap. It could just be a noise he makes, but given that we're in the habit of telling him, "Hi!" when we see him, maybe it's not just coincidence.

As for Grant's height & weight, any guesses? Okay, I won't keep you in suspense. Grant weighs 17 lbs, 14 oz which puts him in the 75 percentile, and he's delightfully average when it comes to his 26 inch height. That qualifies as 50th percentile. Sounds about right to me since he's currently wearing 9-12 month clothing. Yes, our littlest man is growing up at a rate I'm not entirely thrilled about, but at least I know he'll always be my Baby Grant. Size and age don't matter!

5 Months

Look at that big boy sitting on his own. Grant needs to work a bit on his posture, but he's made a lot of progress on balancing himself in the upright position. He's quite proud of his accomplishment as well! Sitting is the one big advancement since the 4 month report. Otherwise, Mr. Grant is sort of in a holding pattern. He's enjoying the introduction to all the fruits and vegetables. Dinner time only involves screaming if you don't spoon the food into his mouth fast enough.

Grant has developed an extreme interest in whatever his brothers are doing. He is fascinated by them and all their activities. Thankfully, Jaxon and Baylor seem happy to entertain Grant on occasion when I'm busy trying to prepare meals or fold laundry. They are definitely Grant's favorite babysitters.

I'm hopeful that the bond Jaxon and Baylor so obviously share will one day extend to include Grant. I'd say we're off to a great start!

Tempting the Taste Buds

The nightly dinner table torture sessions are over. We no longer deny the baby. Grant's taste buds now know that formula is bland, and as a result, he's eager to see what other options exist in the world. We have to take things slowly though by introducing one new food a week. This helps identify any food allergies that he might have. First item on the menu...Organic Winter Squash. He LOVES it! You can't shovel it into his mouth fast enough, and don't even think about wiping Grant's face half way through the container. No, that makes him think you aren't offering him anymore, and he goes CRAZY!

Looks like we've got a little foodie on our hands!

Mother Knows Best

Yes, Mother does indeed know best. I know what my 4 boys like and what they don't. I appreciated all the effort they went through last year to spoil me on Mother's Day, but I accepted and even embraced my fate this year. We spent the day together enjoying The Players Championship at Sawgrass. When the testosterone outnumbers you 4:1, you really shouldn't fight it. A golf tournament is way more our speed than a tea party.

Of course, it's hard to believe that this little fella' was BREAKING NEWS and one heck of present for me last year. How many women actually find out they're expecting on Mother's Day?

Oh my, and to say that Grant was a hit at TPC would be an understatement. Actually, I felt sort of like a walking spectacle. People weren't subtle about pointing our family out and making comments. Either they thought my boys were cute or we were mistaken all day for some celebrity golfer's family?

The comments and attention peaked when Jaxon and Baylor took their turns at the various hands-on exhibits. Take for example this virtual golf competition. The boys lined up for their turn with all of the other much older men. One group of guys let them skip in line because they didn't want to miss seeing the boys show off their skills. With all that attention, I was a bit nervous that the boys might feel pressured or shy...WRONG! They both stepped right up and drove the golf ball down that virtual hole with expertise! The crowd went wild! I confessed that they both take weekly lessons and the crowd seemed very impressed. Fingers crossed that some golf scholarships are in their future!

Little Grant was happy to play the role of sidekick this year, but something tells me that he'll expect to take a turn driving the ball next year. Grant is already on a mission to prove that he can do anything his big brothers can. He studies their every move on and off the course.

I just hope that Jaxon and Baylor don't follow in their "idol's" footsteps...Tiger Woods...at least, not his off-course extramarital footsteps. Thankfully, Anh is doing his best to introduce Jaxon and Baylor to some of the new, younger stars on the course. Fingers crossed that someone steals their admiration!

I have no doubt that a lot of women would be annoyed to spend Mother's Day on the golf course especially if they don't golf. In the end, "my day" was ultimately all about Jaxon, Baylor, and Grant. Of course, isn't that part of being a mother? So, my day was truly perfect.

4 Months

It's time for another update on our little man Grant. At 4 months, he's starting to show us a little more of his personality. Like his big brothers, Grant seems to be a tad impatient when it comes to his physical abilities. He's able to roll over in both directions now, but he hasn't figured out how to attempt forward motion. Instead, he has mastered rolling across the floor to get from point A to point B. We've also reached that phase where anything & everything goes into his mouth. The drool is also constantly flowing which tells us that we could spot teeth any time now.

Grant might look all innocent and sweet, but trust me. You don't want to be a bib or a baby toy in this household. Grant is vicious when he gets ahold of anything suitable for chewing!

 We've also established with 100% certainty that Grant is our first thumb-sucker. Both Jaxon and Baylor briefly sucked on their fingers, but they quickly abandoned the habit. Grant, however, has his thumb in his mouth any time he's relaxing or trying to fall asleep. Apparently, he finds it quite soothing. Anh & I just think it's cute. We'll wage war against the thumb in the future if Grant doesn't abandon the habit on his own.

At the moment, we don't want to do anything that might interrupt Grant's wonderful sleep schedule. Every evening around 8pm, he'll become a little irritable. Considering that this is the only time during the day that Grant is anything less than delightful, we cut him some slack. It's just his way of telling us that he's tired. As soon as Grant gives us the clue, we start the bedtime routing: Bath, Bottle, Burp, Bed. We're rewarded with 12 straight hours of sleep. Yes, Grant is the PERFECT baby. We've decided we're leaving him EVERYTHING. Sorry, Jaxon & Baylor.

Aside from fussing a bit before bedtime, Grant's only other true compliant against a life injustice, is when he's strapped into his infant carrier car seat. Luckily, he's usually a happy passenger if he has one or both of his brother's to keep him company in the back seat. Jaxon has proven to be my right-hand man since Grant arrived in January, and Baylor...well...he occasionally agrees to help. Take for example when Grant starts to fuss in the car. Baylor consoles Grant for a few minutes by telling him, "It's okay, Baby Grant. It's okay." Baylor will repeat this statement several times, and then declare in frustration, "Okay, Baby Grant. You're being annoying!" Oh my! Now, maybe Baylor knows how Jaxon feels from time to time about annoying little brothers.

The most exciting news regarding Grant's 4-month milestone came courtesy of Dr. M, Grant's pediatrician. First, we learned that our "little" man now weights 15lbs, 13 ounces and is 25 1/4 inches long. That places Grant in the 75th percentile. Still delightfully above average! After the measurements were taken, Dr. M gave us permission to start slowly introducing Grant to baby food. Yay! As if he understood Dr. M's conversation with us, Grant promptly started fussing anytime we decided to eat in front of him. Our baby is truly a genius!