Grayson does indeed live here....

However from my July photo folder you would never know it. Perhaps it is because he is to busy to be "bothered" with pictures, or perhaps because he prefers to be behind the camera rather than in front of it, or perhaps it is just because his Mama is bad about pictures. There is no shortage of Radlee pictures however....

The neigbors hate us!

Dusty's passion for wheeling and dealing lands some awfully random things in our garage from time to time. Last week he acquired a Honda 70 dirt bike that he was going to sell, but not before testing it out of course. This is the boys last weekend in the back yard, even Radlee and I got in on the fun. The results this time were much more successful than my previous (and first) time on a bike - no bloodshed and no bruises! I will not be the only one sad to see this little bike go!

In Full Bloom

It is no secret that Radlee has been a challenge for me from the day he was born. He is sweet and cuddly but he wants all mama all the time. People told me that when he started walking life would get easier, I hoped this would be the case but doubted it, knowing Roo's personality.

However, I am thrilled to announce that finally at 15 months he is walking, no make that running. He could have walked at 11 months but chose to spend those last 4 months being carried by yours truly, my back is as thankful for his first steps and I am. And to add to the excitement, everyone was right - this boy is completely different now that he has his own set of "wheels." He is so much more independent, he actually played in the toy room by himself the other day he has mastered the stairs, up and down and even knows the safe way to do it! Along with his new found Independence his personality is in full bloom, he chatters on endlessly (often without opening his mouth). He loves to play dress up and holds daily "treasure hunts" in the house where he finds one obscure item to be his object of affection for the day, anything from a spatula to an extra binkie, he carries it with him all day and incorporates it into whatever else he is playing with. He is communicating more and more, throwing kisses and showing me what he wants, he says "thank you" and yells "Grayson" he calls me Mama and Dusty Dada and tells me when he is done eating.

It is amazing and heartbreaking to me that my baby turned to a toddler literally overnight, I am sad that I no longer have a baby but so excited for this next stage!

Here is a little video of those precious first steps!

My secret ingredient

On Sunday mornings I try to depart from the usual breakfast of scrambled eggs, kix and bananas and make something different. On this particular Sunday morning Grayson requested Pancakes, as I was fixing his I asked what he wanted on them, he responded "love". My response was that all of my food was made with love, he ran in the kitchen and handed me the bottle of ice cream sprinkles and said, "no, this love". And so, pancakes with love were born.

Grayson's new "Friend"

Recently I have noticed Grayson walking around the house talking on one of his toy cell phones, his conversations are often with someone he refers to as "Dude." He brings Dude up in conversation from time to time but never gives me any details on him, until tonight. This was our dinnertime conversation this evening:

Me - When did you see Dude?
G - On Saturday
Me - Oh really, who took you to his house?
G - Um, I did - I took myself
Me - I see, how did you get there?
G - In my truck (he acts almost irritated as I am asking these questions, as if I should already know the answers)
Me - Does Dude have a Mama?
G - Yeah, her name is Annie
Me - Dude's Mama's name is Annie too? How crazy is it that both of your Mama's are named Annie?
G - I know, pretty crazy.
Me - Does he have brothers and sisters?
G - Yeah, one brother and one sister
Me - Little or big?
G - His sister is little, she is a baby, her name is Jackson.
Me - And his brother?
G - he is big, like.... (I was sure he was going to compare Dude's brother to Sage) the Jonas Brothers.
Me - What is his name?
G - Ummm Telephone (said with a silly grin - then he popped back into the story) I don't know if that is his name, but that is what Dude calls him.
Me - Where does Dude live?
G - In Idaho.
Me - What does he have in his room?
G - ummm Decorations, and Monster Trucks, and Cars, and rocket ships and airplanes and, Oh, I painted a remote control for him, I painted it black.
Me - That was nice of you, did Dude's Mama help you paint it?
G - No I did it all by myself, I put it on a napkin when I was done.

This pretty much sums up Dude, the whole time he was talking I was wishing I was recording the conversation, he didn't hesitate on any of the answers and filled me in on all the details of his "friend".

Outside fun

As the days have finally warmed up we are spending a lot of time outside. The back door is usually open and the boys come in and out as they please. Grayson has free reign of the backyard and Radlee will not venture off of the patio because he HATES the grass. The other day I was cleaning up breakfast and Radlee disappeared from his usual post at my ankles. I looked outside and he had ventured out and crawled on to the pedal go-cart on the patio, he was so proud of himself for getting up there all by himself.

The new favorite toy

I do not mind doing laundry, I love having clean clothes and empty hampers. What I don't like is putting the clean laundry away, clothes are often left folded on the couch or washing machine for a day or two before they make it upstairs to their respecive closets. It is really an awful habit that I am trying to brake - enter the laundry basket - I thought that maybe, just maybe I would be more apt to actually put the clothes away if they were all packed up and I could take them upstairs in one easy trip. That was excellent logic until the boys found my laundry basket. I am a little perplexed at why we have bought any toys at all over the past 3.5 years; this basket has provided more hours of entertainment than anything else in our house, ever! AND the special bonus is it is something both Grayson and Radlee enjoy playing with and better yet - they play with it together! They pretend they are in a cage and the other one has to save them, they pretend they are in a boat, and sit in it together, they flip it over and sit on top of it on its side and it is a space ship - the options are endless. Now while I no longer have a laundry basket to haul clothes in at least they are preoccupied for 5 minutes so I can acutally carry the clothes up to put them away, it is a win-win!