My little lightswitch

Grady has always been a pretty easy-going baby. He doesn't get worked up about too much. The only time he used to cry was if he was hungry and I was taking too long to start feeding him. And even then, it was a quiet little cry that could definitely be put off for a few moments.

Well, that's changed! He is still a happy little guy, but now his mood can change in an instant. It's like someone has flipped a switch. One minute he'll look like this:


and the next, he'll look like this:

Not a happy baby!!! (the sound that accompanies this face is LOUD!)

It doesn't take long to settle him down. Usually, he wants to be picked up or he's hungry - those are things I can (thankfully!) solve quickly. I'm not sure if this is his personality developing, or if it's related to teething, or if it's just part of growing up. I suppose time will tell.

Yoda!

When we were in Ontario someone (I can't remember who it was ... either my Dad, my Uncle Jim, or my Uncle Bill ... I wouldn't put it past any of them) gave Grady the nickname of YODA!

I think it's mainly because of Grady's big ears but after comparing their pictures, I can see a bit of a resemblance!!! Of course, I still think Grady is the absolute cutest baby in the whole world ... even if he does look a little bit like the Jedi Master!

Letting go ... just a little bit!

At almost 17 pounds, Grady is getting too heavy for me to carry on the front for long periods of time. This makes me a bit sad because I love having him in the front where I can see him and check in whenever I feel like it. But, he's so heavy that my back and shoulders hurt a lot after about half an hour. Guess I have to face the facts that he's growing up and getting bigger!

So, for today's dog walk, I tried him out on my back. It was a lot easier to carry him that way, but he didn't like it much. We made it about 3/4 of the way through our walk before he started crying (and wouldn't stop!) ... so I flipped him around to the front carry and he settled right down ... even though he's a big boy, he's still my little baby :)

He did it!!!

Today, for the very first time ever, Grady rolled from his front to his back!!! He did it three times in a row ... then he started to cry, so I fed him and he fell asleep. Guess all that rolling is hard work. Anyway, it was so amazing to see and I am so proud of him!

Here are some action shots:

And, here's a video of the main event:

Rolling, rolling, rolling ....

He's almost there! Grady can do a half a roll right now. He seems to get kind of stuck on his side. Usually he hangs out there for a while and then flops back onto his back. I'm sure one day soon he'll figure out how to roll all the way onto his tummy, but for now I'm enjoying watching him do the "half roll"!

A few highlights from the trip:

First time on an airplane ... he slept most of the time!

When Grady was awake, he was very happy! (I think he was excited for the trip :)

In front of Parliament in Ottawa.

In front of a war memorial.

Swimming in the hotel pool with Grandma Liz.

Auntie Hes and Grandma swimming with Grady.

Sandy and Grady at cousin Jim and Liz's wedding.

Grady with me, Heather, Diana, and Janet.

Family photo on Sandy's birthday.

Grady at his first major league baseball game: Blue Jays won in the 10th inning against the Mariners.

Grady's first golf set: a gift from Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill.

Aunt Janet teaching Grady how to hold the club properly!

And finally, Grady's new favorite activity: sticking his fingers in his mouth. He only started doing this when we were in Ontario, but he's been at it non-stop since then. We actually think that he may be teething because he's also drooling like crazy and I can see two little white bumps on his bottom gums!

We're HOME!

After ten days away, we are back home. We spent the first part of our trip in Ottawa for my cousin, Jim's wedding. The second part of the trip was spent on my Aunt Janet and Uncle Bill's farm in Stratford (about two hours outside of Toronto). We had a wonderful visit with all of the family and had some great times. Many more photos to come!