Go, Grant!

The weather has been so nice lately that Grant has been able to ride his "bike" almost everyday. He totally loves it, and he gets so excited when we mention the word bike. After I finished teaching this evening I asked Joel if he wanted to go on a bike ride. (Now that it is getting dark later and we have a nice bike trailer we can all go on a bike ride together! :-) ) Grant heard me ask Joel and he, Grant, was laughing all the way to the front door to ride his bike. He thought I was talking about his tricycle! I said, "No, not your bike. Daddy's bike!" He was just as excited and laughed all the way to the garage and hopped in the bike trailer as soon as he could. So we all went on a nice bike ride enjoying the pleasant weather.

I am happy to report that Grant is now pedaling his own weight and actually moving along all by himself! He is starting to get the steering down and even turns towards the right direction when needing to turn around. He still needs an occasional push but for the most part he is getting the hang of it. It won't be long until we can take the adult handle bars off. Yeah!

Go, Grant, go!!! I am soooo proud of you!

Victory for the Week

I always love to celebrate what I call victories in regards to Grant's progress, whether they are big or small. This week's victory was Grant riding his tricycle and actually pedaling with his legs keeping his feet on both pedals!

Last summer we got him his tricycle and worked with him until the weather was too cold. Yesterday was the first time he's been on it since last fall. I had a little while before my students started coming and Kate was still napping and the weather was so beautiful so I thought it would be a great time to work with him on his "bike." He was so excited when I brought it in from the garage and out the front door. He hopped on right away and started using his feet on the ground to go. So I positioned his feet on his pedals and told him to push with his feet. To my surprise he actually pedaled with his legs and feet. It was like he knew exactly what to do. Yeah, Grant!!!

His physical therapist has been working with him on this, and at school he has opportunities to work on riding as well. The pedals do not move by themselves even with me pushing him. He couldn't quite pedal enough to go on his own; it was more like 50% of me pushing him and 50% of him pedaling. There were a few times though that he was going completely on his own. I was so excited from yesterday that I let him ride around in it in the house today! (He would have gone outside had I let him but I didn't think he would have fun in the cold and rainy weather!) He pedaled all around as I pushed him from behind. He loves riding his "bike", as we call it.

It's moments like this that I am so encouraged. Experiencing Grant being able to do something for the first time that we have worked sooooooo hard on is one of the greatest feelings I have as his mom. Thank you, Lord!

Special Guests for Lunch!

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Lance, aka Joel's sister and her husband, who are missionaries in Mexico, are in town and came to visit us for lunch today! Sarah is 6 1/2 months pregnant with their first child, Joshua Judson. You can read more about them here.


Thanks for making time to come see us! We will miss you and can't wait to meet sweet little Joshua!

More Weekend Fun

On Saturday, I went to this huge consignment sale for kids and found a bike trailer! I've been on the look out for one for the past several months so I was very excited to finally get one. Grant has been in one before so he was pretty excited, as he was full of anticipation. Kate wasn't too sure about what was going on, but it wasn't long before Joel heard her laughing after we started riding. She loved it! Here Grant is waving to me right before we took off:

I have to include this picture: Grant hugging his little sister. He really is a sweet boy!
We stopped to feed the ducks on the way to the park. Grant kept going to the edge of the water chasing the ducks with bread in his hand. We had a couple of close calls! Kate just likes to sit and eat bread saying, "More, more." It's so funny; she could care less about the ducks while she enjoys her tasty snack. :-)

Another stop on the way to the park to eat lunch. This was our first family picnic and I was really happy with how well Grant did. He ate up his sandwich and then stayed close by. He will just walk off from us with not a care in the world and then it isn't so much fun anymore, so you can imagine why this our first picnic at the park!
A few pics at the park:


This was Grant's idea to hang from the monkey bars. He climbed on all by himself!
This was such a fun family outing on Sunday afternoon, especially after being cooped up in the house for several days being sick. I don't know who needed to get out more: me or the kids!

Weekend Fun

Last week both kids were sick...again. So after being home all day long Thursday and Friday, playing in storage tub was so much fun on Saturday. They loved being pushed around in it, of course.
Well, it was fun until Grant got an idea in his head to dump over, which caused both of their heads to knock together. Poor Kate! I'm sure not feeling so great didn't help anything.