We are loving the spring weather we have been having lately! We've been going for walks pretty much every night and playing at the park a lot. We found a playground that is better for younger kids and is great for Gradyn to run around on and go up the steps and down the slides. We will definately keep frequenting the park a lot this spring/summer! Andy, Cassie, Isaac, & Luke came to visit last weekend and we had a lot of fun playing with them! There are some pictures of our trip to the park below.
Gradyn has been his normal crazy self! He runs everywhere and never stops moving all day! He has been exhausted at nights lately, which we are assuming is because of all the running around outside and hard playing he has been doing during the day. They also go to the park a lot at daycare and play outside all day long, so he is worn out by the time he comes home and then we go for walks and play outside some more!
I think his biggest change lately is how well he can communicate. Not only with talking and saying words, but showing us, or bringing us to what he wants. And, we pick up his own little sign language pretty fast too! For example, when he waves his hands in the air and starts dancing he wants to watch his DVD so he can dance to it. Or when he starts blowing kisses, he wants to leave wherever we are! His physical therapist says he is advanced with his social skills, relationship stuff, etc. (more like a 2 year old) and I think that is where the good communication comes into play. He mimics EVERYTHING, good or bad! Sometimes we will pretend we are eating or drinking something to get him to do it and he will "pretend" too and won't actually eat the thing....so that backfires on us! :) He is definately a full-blown toddler now, tantrums included!
Speaking of the tantrums, I would say they have gotten better. He still blows up and freaks out (definately has a temper) if he is in the right mood, but as a whole he is so much better about it. I think it is because he is so happy just running around, and since he can communicate so well, there aren't too many times when we don't know what he wants. So, that cuts down on the possiblity for tantrums. Knock on wood that this pattern continues! Ha! Wishful thinking, I know!
I am definately coming to the realization that it is impossible to take Gradyn to too many places. He will just never ever sit still or be held. He wiggles and throws himself down and throws a huge fit until he is down on the ground and free to run. And, not only does he want to be free and on the ground he HAS to be running away from you at all times. HE LOVES to be CHASED! Paul's Dad calls him the "2 second kid" because he can only be still for maybe 2 seconds and he is off and running. He even has to be moving (quickly, I might add) in the stroller or he will start to fuss and try to get out. So, we are kind of limited in what we can do right now. Church is hit or miss. Every week we go in preparing for the worse and are sometimes pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too bad. Most of the time we end up having to take him out so he can run around. He will scream and throw himself to the ground until you let him down. But, some days he has been able to be entertained enough that we can keep him inside. I know this will continue to get better too!
All in all he is a much easier and happy boy now than he has ever been! It's hard to remember his old colicky days or even how unhappy he was not being able to crawl or walk. We are so glad those days are over because he is now so much fun! We love watching him grow! It is awesome that he can play and interact so well with us and with other kids too. It was exciting to watch Isaac & Grady play together!
So one day when I saw sweeping the kitchen floor Gradyn came in, saw me sweeping, and then went to the laundry room, got me the dust pan and brought it to me. I couldn't believe he even knew where it was!! It was so awesome! We actually hardly ever use the broom because we use our dust buster instead, so I was really surprised he knew where it all was and what it is used for. I'm pretty sure he leanred all that from daycare! (Which he actually learns a TON from daycare so it doesn't surprise me!) Since then he has been obsessed with it and if he sees crumbs on the floor he will go get the broom and dustpan and bring them into the crumbs, basically telling us to clean it up! He now loves to walk around the house with the dustpan and broom all the time. If we try to take it away he screams bloody murder!! It is so crazy! 
