GRANT: TWO YEARS OLD

Hey, Howdy, Hey! Grant is TWO! WOW! Our sweet little boy celebrated his special day with a Toy Story family party with all of his favorites! He was in heaven all day; from seeing Santa, to getting ice cream at lunch from the Chick-Fil-A cow, to eating pepperoni pizza for dinner. We ended the night with chocolate cake with fluffy blue frosting, perfect for Buzz and Woody to join in the fun. We love this sweet boy of ours. A few things about Grant at age two:

- He loves to snuggle and give love. He is a very grateful little boy and knows when to give appreciation and love.

- He enjoys playing with little sister and showing her the ropes.

- He climbs on everything! He is well beyond his age in terms of physical ability. He is strong, fast and quick witted in physicality and mental problem solving.

- He is quiet when it comes to words, but still loves books and his comprehension is very high.

- Mickey, Donald, Buzz, Woody, and Lightning McQueen are his favorites.

- He loves going to church to be in nursery with all of his friends.

Happy Birthday, Grant! We Love You!

LITTLE RED BIKE

GRANT HAND, FOOT & MOUTH

  A taste of Karma was had upon our return from Hawaii. Grant came down with Hand, Foot & Mouth a few days post paradise. He actually handled it like a champion, especially for his first time being sick, since we managed to skip getting the terrible flu this year. At 15 months old, he still ran and played, but was also very snuggly and cuddly, which Mommy & Daddy both enjoyed. He lived off soft foods like yogurt, ice cream, and soft baked banana muffins for a few days, which Grant thought was wonderful! He was back to normal within a few days, but it always breaks a parents heart to see their little ones sick. Let's see if we can avoid this next Spring! 

GRANT THURLOW AT AGE ONE

GRANT: ONE YEAR OLD

GRANT'S FIRST BIRTHDAY: ONE HAPPY CAMPER

We celebrated Grant's birthday early in December with family and friends. The theme of the party was "One Happy Camper", since Grant is one of the happiest babies in the world! We had yummy food you would normally eat while camping; chili and fixin's, corn dogs, and trail mix. It was a casual day playing in the backyard and Grant digging into his smash cake. He loved the frosting and the chocolate flavor. We invited guests to gift books for Grant's library, and he was thrilled! Grant loves books and brings his new ones to us each night to read before bed. This little boy is so loved, and we feel grateful to have so many family members travel for his special day! Stay happy, camper!

GRANT: ELEVEN MONTHS

Milestones at Eleven Months:

-We have a WALKER! Grant began walking about a week after his 10 month mark. He has mastered it and can now turn, pivot, and go from sitting to standing without holding onto anything for support. 

- Loves to eat! Enjoys meat (all kinds), berries, bananas & pancakes. 

- Still nursing 4-6 times a day; mostly for naps and bed, with a snack before dinner. 

- He is a Mr. Chatty Cathy! He talks and mimics all day. Some of his new phrases, "I did it!" "Is it?" and "Hi Dad". 

- Loves his Fisher Price Nativity from Gran. He loves to walk around with the hay bale and Baby Jesus, and can even say (in his own language) "Jesus"! 

- Besides his Nativity, his toys of choice are his diaper cream tube, old baseball cards & his bottle brush. 

- Grant loves books and reading. He has mastered holding a book on his own and turning the pages. 

- If he is every grumpy or tired, we turn on his "Funky Fun" playlist full of 1970's Funk music and his frown turns upside down! 

- Transitioned to a big boy car seat & thinks he is the coolest kid ever!

GRANT: TEN MONTHS

 Milestones at Ten Months:

- Grant has taken a few steps! He is great at standing unassisted, and when motivated enough (and not really paying attention!) he will take 3-5 steps. He still prefers crawling because he is a speed demon! 

- He eats all table foods. Some of his favorites are meat (all kinds), green beans, cheese, corn and mandarin oranges. 

- His favorite toys are the Tupperware drawer, the carbon monoxide detector, and his Halloween books. 

- He started clicking his tongue and it's the cutest sound in the world. 

- He can mutter a few words; Dada, Oh, All Done (Ah-Do), Hi, and Bye Bye. 

- He loves to wave and put his hands above his head, usually while listening to music and dancing. 

- He prefers Earth, Wind and Fire over any other band.

- He has a crooked smile, perfect for Halloween with 5 Jack-O-Lantern teeth. 

- Loves to shower with Dad in the morning and play in the water!

GRANT: NINE MONTHS

Milestones at Nine Months:

- Grant loves to cruise; he holds on to the table, chairs, anything he can stand up on and move

- He can hold himself in a standing position for about 4-6 seconds

- Loves to eat! Some of his favorites include rice, chicken, bananas, applesauce and Puffs

- He has 5 teeth and loves to show them off while smiling

- He could swing at the park ALL day

- He loves books and usually his favorite thing to play with, besides the Tupperware drawer

- Still loves to nurse & is his preferred way to be comforted

- Started to say "Da-Da" and is so excited when Daddy comes home

- Weighs and Measures: 28.5 inches & 19 lbs 

GRANT: EIGHT MONTHS

Milestones at Eight Months:

- Grant can crawl and he is FAST! About a week after turning seven months, he moved on to full on crawling. 

- He can pull himself up from kneeling and sitting. The coffee table is one of my favorite toys to play on/around. 

- He cut a top tooth (and the other poking through) and has he cutest Jack-O-Lantern grin. 

- He loves new foods and willing to try anything. Fell in love with tuna, peanut butter and hummus as of late. 

- He can pick up foods and feed himself (for the most part)! 

- Still loves the pool and went down some water slides at the water park with his cousin Clark a few weeks ago. 

- He LOVES people, especially kids, and is always so happy to be played with. 

- He is the happiest baby EVER. We get asked constantly, "How did you get such a happy baby?" We are so lucky!

GRANT: SEVEN MONTHS

Milestones at Seven Months:

- Grant is on the move! He is a professional army crawler, gets up on his hands and knees to rock, but not quite crawling yet. He also lays on his back and scoots his bum, in a funny backwards scoot.

- He loves swimming lessons. He is by far the youngest in his class, but one of the most comfortable. He can successfully kick, move his arms, put his face in the water and splash!

- Wearing 9 month clothes and looking so stylish!

- He decided to enjoy food and is a MAJOR foodie! Some of his favorites are yogurt, bananas, eggs, carrots and sweet potatoes.

- He is celebrating turning seven months in Idaho, with a lot of attention and love from his McKenzie family!

- He cut two teeth and has the cutest toothy grin.

- When Daddy comes home, he gets the biggest grin on his face. Grant loves his Daddy!

- If you say, "I'm gonna get you..." and creep toward him, he laughs and laughs! That is one of his favorite games.

- His favorite toys are his stacking blocks. We make towers and knock them down multiple times a day.

- He has the brightest blue eyes and always gets compliments!

RED, WHITE & BLUE | 4TH OF JULY

We had a great day celebrating Independence Day! We kicked off the festivities a week before with all our friends for a BBQ and community firework show on the golf course! We all loaded up on bug spray, glow sticks and went out onto the course for the show. It was so fun, even though Grant fell asleep minutes before the first firework went off. On the day of, we went to the neighborhood pool with friends to cool off and swim. Grant loves the water and is a natural born swimmer. He kicks, moves his arms, puts his face in the water - he LOVES it. That evening, we went to a BBQ at a friends home, who backs up onto the levy. We basically had a private firework show with a 360 degree view of fireworks going off all around us! Again, Grant fell asleep as soon as the sun went down, but still had the best time being passed around and snuggled by everyone. We love this holiday and all the blessings we have by living in the USA!