Stupid cat!?!?

Probably right after Grady was born I went though a bunch of my old books at my parents house and took them home so Grady could read/use some of the same books I had as a child. 

The other day I found this Fire House book in the back of the bookshelf so that night I got Keith it read the book to Grady.  I was sitting on the floor with Keith and I think we both saw the word STUPID at the same time.  Keith just skipped the word and keep on reading.  I just can not believe that a children's book would say, "No. It is Mrs. Cook's stupid cat Billy again."

I know my mom told us STUPID was a bad word, but maybe it was not a bad word for EVERYONE in the 80's.  Who knows?? But it was pretty funny!! I guess we will need to get rid of the book once Grady starts to read :)

Day 4

Update on Day 3: It was the last nap to let him fall asleep with the pacifier and take it way.  He only slept for 45min then I did the cry it out thing till we had to leave at 3:30pm to bring Winston to the vet.  

Today is the first day with NO pacifier at all.  The Twilight Turtle had arrived when we got home from music class and a lunch playdate.  We opened the turtle and brought it to bed with Grady for his first nap without falling asleep with pacifier.  He was really quite at first and then he started to cry.  After about 30 min of cry it out I decided to try standing at the door of his room while he fell asleep.  Well that worked GREAT, he was asleep in about 15 mins.  

He slept for 40mins then woke up, so tried to stand at his door again but after 25min he started to play and try to get out of the bed.  I started the cry it out again for about 20mins.  Right now we are both resting on the couch watching a show.  Hopefully he sleeps longer tomorrow.

Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Cheese

I decided to make something green tonight in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  So Grady helped me cook Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Cheese.  Grady had to taste test the raw broccoli and onions.
Here he is doing a double and tripe test.  He ate so much broccoli I was not sure he was going to eat dinner.
I was wrong he finished his bowl and got seconds.

Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Cheese

Yield: 6 servings

"As a student at Bloomsburg University, I spent many Sunday afternoons at Russell's restaurant in downtown Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania," writes Margarine Hoffman of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. "A decade after graduating, I still crave their cheddar-crusted broccoli soup. I would be thrilled if the owners would share the recipe—and so .would my family."
From: BonAppetit

INGREDIENTS
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature
2 pounds fresh broccoli, stems and florets separated and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1/2 teaspoon dried
6 ½ cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken brotb
1 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups (packed) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)

INSTRUCTIONS
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in heavy medium pot over medium-high heat. Add broccoli stems and onion; saute until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and tarragon; saute 1 minute. Add stock; bring to boil. Simmer uncovered until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in cream.

Mix remaining 3 tablespoons butter with flour in small bowl to make paste. Whisk paste into soup. Add broccoli florets. Simmer until soup thickens and florets are tender, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly, then refrigerate uncovered until cold. Cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before continuing.) Preheat broiler. Place 6 ovenproof soup bowls on baking sheet. Divide soup among bowls. Sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese over each. Broil until cheese melts and bubbles around edges, about 4 minutes.

Day 2

Today Grady and I went to the Y and then straight to Jambalaya park to met some friends.  It was still wet from all the rain this weekend and yesterday, we had to change wet clothes once.  But Grady had a lot of fun running "fast fast" and playing with his friends.  So I thought that he would be so tried that he would not wake up for a while looking for his pacifier.  

So as soon as he fell asleep I took the pacifier.  Well today he woke up crying for his pacifier after only being asleep for 20min.  So I started doing the cry it out method, going in every 5, 10 & 10 mins.  After 30mins of crying he is now just playing and talking in his room.  I am fine with that right now at least we will both have some quite time today and hopefully he will fall asleep while playing.   

Oh Yeah and BACKUP is on its way.  My friend Amanda told me about this Twilight Turtle that helped her daughter when they were getting rid of the pacifier.  So I ordered the turtle today and it should be here on TH.  I am thinking it will help distract him and clam him down since he is not a lovie kid.  

Cutting Out the Pacifier

Keith and I have been wanting to get rid of Grady's pacifier, but first we wanted to wait till he got used to sleeping in his big boy bed. Well Grady has been going to right to sleep most of the time in his big boy bed.   Then we wanted to wait till after Grady and my trip to Maryland.  And the last thing is I did not want to do it alone.  Well Keith told me last night that is turnaround should be ending soon and I have at least a week till we start eliminating the pacifier at night (that is really when I want Keith's help).

So I decided to CUT OUT the PACIFIER today. We are doing it the Baby Whisperer way, she says to do gradual elimination.  To start by cutting down during the day, well Grady has not has his pacifier during the day for about 1 year.  Next you eliminate the pacifier during nap.  For 3 days , allow your child to start naps with the pacifier, but as soon as he's sleeping, take it out of his mouth. For the next 3 days, eliminate the pacifier at nap.  Then once they are accustomed to napping without a pacifier (she says if they are 8 months, it usually takes about a week, longer if they are older) - then you do the same thing at night. 

Well I had NO problem taking it out of his mouth today, it was already falling out.  Hopefully he will sleep for his normal 2 -3 hours.  I will keep yall updated! Wish us luck :)

UPDATE:  Grady woke up crying about 1 hour after he went to sleep and would not go back to sleep.  Hopefully tomorrow he will sleep longer without his pacifier.

Letters!!

Since about January Grady has been watching either Leap Frog - Letter Factory or Meet the Letters once a day.  Since we started watching those DVD's Grady would pick a letter lets say "B" and every letter he saw that day was a "B."  Well he now knows 6 letters.  The letters K, B, O, M, P, & F.  That is more letters then some of the pre-k (4 year old) children knew when they started pre-k at both the public and private schools I taught at.

I really don't like Grady to watch much TV so I DVR a couple educational shows and he has these two DVDs.  He asks for "shows" a couple times a day, but I try to limit him to one or two a day.  But it seems like he has really learned a lot from these letter DVD's. 

I did just buy Grady the Your Baby Can Read DVD set (just the DVD's not the whole set).  I am not really sure if it is going to work or if Grady is just going to memorize the words.  But read a lot of reviews and most of them are very positive.  Cool Fact: The developer Dr. Robert Titzer is a professor at Southeastern Louisiana University.  

Cohn Arboretum

Grady and I went to the Cohn Arboretum on Tuesday with our playgroup.  It is in North Baton Rouge near the Zoo and Airport.  It is a beautiful place and it was a gorgeous day.

Here is Grady's Senior portrait as my sister pointed out.  They had so many beautiful places for photo shoots but the boys would not sit still long enough to get many pictures.  But I would love to go there with just Grady and get some pictures of him.  Maybe if he is alone he would sit in one place a little longer :)

Here are the boys playing on a boat. But we could not even get all 3 of them to sit down at the same time.
Grady loved looking at the many planes that flew over head on there way to land at the Baton Rouge Airport.  They were really close and low so all the boys were in heaven.

1st attempt at appliqueing!!

My friend Kim has started a small business (TRUCKS AND TUTUS BOUTIQUE) appliqueing and embroidering.  After seeing all the cute things she has been making I decided I would like to try it.  So here is some pictures of my 1st attempt at appliqueing! 

This is for Audrey (my niece that is due this April)

for Kaisley (my friend Michelle's daughter born Feb 21)

for Robin (my friend Jazmin's daughter born today) 

Good Morning!

This is how I found Grady this morning when i went to get him out of his bedroom.  Who knows how long he was like that ;)

Happy Birthday!!

Grady started singing “Happy Birthday” on our way home from the 2nd birthday party we went to this weekend.  Now he has been singing it all the time.  I gave him a cookie today after dinner and he started to sing Happy Birthday before he ate the cookie. 

This is just a video when i was trying to record him singing Happy Birthday, but instead he said "Kick the ball" for the first time when he saw the soccer fields.  

Visiting Maryland

My parents, Grady and I went to visit my sister and Brother in law Bodgan in Maryland over Mardi Gras Holiday.  We had a wonderful time seeing there town Frederick,  Annapolis, D.C. and Aunt Lucy in Hagerstown.

Stephanie did a WONDERFUL time blogging our trip, much better then I could ever do.  So here are the links to her blog, please go check it out.

Fun times in Frederick with family
A week ago in Annapolis
A few Grady-isms  (My Favorite) 

We had a wonderful trip.  We miss yall Steff and Bogdan.  Thanks you for showing us around. :)