I am sorry to have been MIA over the past week or so.  We have been super busy with all sorts of things!  My mom came down this past weekend, and since it was the first visitor since we moved in, there was a lot to get ready.  Then we were busy with her all weekend.  So what's been going on?

Grady- TONS going on here.  Grady has had a huge developmental leap, I think.  His talking is REALLY taking off.  First of all, he is now really saying "Dadda" to Eric, like when he gets home.  He will smile and run towards him and say "DADA!"  He is also saying "MAMA!" when he sees me.  This is a change from the somehwat random babbling of those words he was doing.  He is also saying lots of new words, though they are not always super clear - the other day he got on a kick with "WOW!" and that WAS super clear.  Another funny thing happened too - he was looking at a picture book quietly.  He turned the page, pointed to a picture of cheese, and said "cheese", clear as day.  He also makes a rooster sound and a sheep sound now.

Grady also has started to become a clean freak.  He is really into the idea of putting things away where they go.  He also loves to wipe things up with a rag or cloth, including his own face.  IF his nose runs and I say "we need to wipe your nose", he will go get a cloth and wipe his nose.  The other day he took a burp cloth and went around the room "cleaning" everything.  It was hilarious and I got it on video. 

He is also dancing up a storm!  It's really crazy.  Before my mom saw him, I would tell her he danced a lot and she was like "yeah, most babies dance".  Then she saw him this weekend and was like "YEAH, this is a little beyond what's normal, I think" :)  We brought him to the mall yesterday and was ROCKING OUT in Abercrombie and Hollister. I mean BIG time.  At one point we were not holding onto the stroller, and he was rocking so hard the whole stroller was swivelling back and forth to the beat.  It was to the point where people were all just pointing and laughing and commenting.  Even in the car, he will either act out motions for songs (if he knows them - like "Wheels on the Bus") or do the sign for "music" or tap his foot.  He cannot sit still if music is playing.

HOUSE- We have lots going on here!  Our great room furniture arrived last week and looks great!  I will take pictures tonight to post.  We also went out yesterday and bought a 40" LCD flat screen TV for it.  And we are in the process of looking for speakers for the great room too.  We have a receiver and the house is wired for surround sound, so we just need to buy the speakers.

WEEKEND- We had a good time with my mom. The most fun was Saturday.  It was in the 70's and sunny, so we went to the park and zoo.  Grady had a blast.  He saw lots of dogs, and was making a "woof" sound (more like "wooo, wooo").  He also loved the zoo, as usual.  And my mom surprised us by buying us a one year membership to the zoo.  So 4 adults and their children can go at anytime.  This means we can bring friends, relatives that visit, etc.  It will be great because we live close to the zoo and this way we can just pop in for an hour or so and not feel we aren't getting our money's worth.  It is also good at other zoos all across the country - admission is either 50% off or free at over 100 zoos.  We also had fun at dinner on Friday night - we went to Joe's Crab Shack, and Grady had a blast.  We gave him a cherry off my mom's drink, and he of course immediately started signing "more, more".  Those things are so sweet!  Then the waitresses dance to loud music, so of course Grady loved that and was dancing too.  So cute.

Oh, and of course my mom brought Grady tons of new clothes, which is always fun - sandals, swim shorts, a rashguard for the beach, a coverup, jammies, rompers, etc.  I'll post some pictures.  I LOVE the beach stuff.  It also has me OH SO EXCITED for our trip!

SHOPPING- Well I'm not sure G NEEDS more clothes, but since the baby sale is going on at Gymbo AND I have a 20% off coupon, I am definitely ordering some things tonight.  I went with my mom yesterday to scope out what looks really cute.  So I'll place my order tonight.

OK - guess that's it for now.  I'll have weekend and house pictures tonight (hopefully).