First day of school, first tooth, and 8 months old (whew)!

We are staying busy as beavers as we wrap up the summer and get ready for fall.  Brady went back to preschool last week, with a mix of excitement and nervousness.  He was happy to be back at the familiar school with the same teachers again, but he was sad that most of his friends had moved on to other classes or schools.  I know he will adjust- he is starting to talk about his new friend, "Flamingo" (Diego is what he's aiming for).  :)

In the world of Nathan, he has quickly moved on from learning to crawl to trying to climb on anything that is remotely steady.  He mastered climbing the step up to the kitchen, and frequently pulls up to standing only to let go thinking he can walk.  As a result, our poor little baby has had quite a few bumps and bruises over the last few weeks.

He also got his first two teeth!  He's been chewing on everything lately, so we were glad to see the first one pop out last week and the second one yesterday.  Hopefully he'll get a little break before the next set makes their appearance.

In other big boy news, we sleep trained Nathan this weekend.  For those of you out of the child-rearing loop, sleep training is when you teach a baby to put himself to sleep rather than rocking him, feeding him to sleep, etc.  With most kids (Brady included) there is a lot of crying involved.  With Nathan... nothing.  Not one whimper of protest.  He just rolled around in his crib a little, and put himself right to sleep.  If I haven't said it before, let me officially go on record.  He is the best baby ever.

Brady and Nathan have been playing very well together. I think after 8 months, Brady has finally adjusted!

We took the car for it's safety inspection and Brady thought the garage was the coolest place ever.

Trying to figure out how to wiggle himself up this step.

And the next day...

He got it!

Last pool party of summer

Maybe if I jam both of these in my mouth my teeth will feel better.

Ready for football season!

Off to the farm to dig some potatoes

And a couple rocks, too

Next was the green bean field

And a visit to the farm isn't complete without a stop by the animals and the jumping pillow

Handymen working on Nathan's new bookcase

Mr. Helper also loves vacuuming

That step that Nathan learned to climb? Well he went face-first down it soon after. We thought this was going to be his first black eye, but fortunately it was just a bruise. The first of many, it seems.

There is no amount of baby-proofing we can do to keep this kid out of trouble. I went to the next room for 10 seconds to throw away a diaper, and this is how I found him (pulling on the lamp cord).

Remember that Staples commercial? It's the most wonderful time of the year!

He said he wants to be an ambulance driver when he grows up.

At school Miss Caity gets him out of the van

Nathan relaxes at the bus stop while we wait for him that afternoon

Here comes the big boy!

This is breakfast. It cracks me up that they have the same expression on their faces.

Brady said "I'm towing Nathan!"

Flying a Cessna at the space museum

Nathan is 8 months old!

Yeah, we may be done with the monthly stickers.

Planting azaleas in memory of Mammaw

Mammaw

My grandmother passed away last weekend.  Mammaw was not your cookie-baking, afghan-knitting kind of grandma.  She was more the take you shopping, let you stay up late and watch beauty pageants and Dallas, and cook you way more food than you could possibly ever eat type of grandma.  She was tough, but you always knew where you stood with her.  And she would do anything for her grandchildren.

I'm so grateful that she was able to know our boys.  She once told me that even though all her grandchildren were cute, no one came close to being as cute as Brady.  She loved his eyes- and yes, I agree that he will get away with a lot by flashing those big brown eyes.  And she loved how sweet he can be.   Of course she worried in true Mammaw-style that we weren't feeding him enough hot meals.  But he's a picky eater.  We do our best!

Nathan spent his last visit with Mammaw showing his charms, too.  He was chowing down on peas, army-crawling around her living room, and untying her shoe laces.  She liked to say that he was all Grandstaff; let's hope that's not entirely true for all our sakes!

Mammaw loved reading this blog.  She was one of the main reasons I tried to keep it up regularly and included lots and lots of pictures of the boys.  She always said she didn't like to email because she wasn't good at typing, but truly, it was impressive that she was on the computer at all.

Maybe she gets WiFi wherever she is now, and she's checking in on the latest tablet.  Or more likely, she's sitting on a porch watching the cars go by, giving Pappaw and Uncle Jimmy hell.

I'm afraid going home isn't going to feel like home for a while.