Playing in the Snow - 1/30/10

Here are some videos from today of Grady and I sledding in the road in front of our house. We had a blast in the fresh 11 inches of snow. I will post pics soon!

Summer Time Fun!!!

It has been many months since we last posted. Sorry about that! We've had a lot going on. I have included some pics so that you can see how our crew is doing. The first is a pic of Grady helping Daddy drive the Gator at Poppy's house. The second is a pic of Grady in the rear car of the Ornithopter. Daddy took him to a local fly-in at a little airport in Hendersonville. He LOVED it!!! The last pic is one of Grady in I in our backyard.





We had lots of fun this summer going to both Edisto beach with Jen's family and Sunset Beach with Grammy and Poppy (that's Emily and Larry). In between we got up to Washington, DC to stay with "cousin Katie" and Patrick and Kelly McDonald. There were some camping trips thrown in the mix too. In the "off times" when we weren't travelling Grady and I (this is Jen posting) spent a lot of time together. Since I have the summers off from teaching Grady stayed home with me and we had LOTS of fun! We often went to our local Lowes parking lot to watch the airplanes across the interstate take off and land. Of course, we went to the park, played in the creek, and had play dates with our friends. Another favorite has been spending time at the Western North Carolina Nature Center.



Our big news from this summer is that Grady is going to be a big brother!!! We are expecting a new addition to our family March 3rd! I've been really tired, and a little sick, but thats a good thing in this situation...


Other news is that Grady is talking a LOT!!! He is also back in school (daycare) and loving getting to see his school friends again. Our little boy is becomng a little man...

Grady Playing in the March Snow

Grady has really enjoyed playing in the snow today and yesterday. Though the mountains were orginally going to miss out on much of the snow, we ended up with 4.4" here at our house, with anywhere from 3 - 16 inches across the mountains on Western NC. This is the most snow we have had at our house since living here. It has been fun. Yesterday the snow began around 1:00, but did really not begin accumulating till 4:30. We ventured out late afternoon while it was snowing and enjoyed what we thought may be all we would get. Grady did some sledding on the hill next to our house and around the yard:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dobsonjg/GradyInTheSnow3109?authkey=Gv1sRgCOuNvZu-96icYQ

Between 4:30 and 8:30 last night, it snowed 4", and continued to snow lightly till midnight. This morning we woke to a winter wonderland, and continued light snow and flurries. After it warmed to 22 degrees, we headed out, knowing the March sun angle would not allow the snow to hang around long. We did more sledding, made snowballs, and a snowman:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dobsonjg/GradyInTheSnow3209?authkey=Gv1sRgCMrtvYPrpprd-AE

Here are some videos of him in the snow today:

Grady Gets Ear Tubes

After several months of dealing with a persistent and stubborn ear infection, in fact, Grady's ears were pretty much infected from mid December to Feb. 27th, the decision was made to have tubes put in. He went through 4 rounds of antibiotics and a series of shots, but nothing would clear it up. So on Friday, we arrived at the Outpatient Surgery Center at 6:15am, with his procedure at 7:45am. The procedure only lasted about 10 minutes, but they did have to give him a bit of anaesthesia. We stayed with him to he was pretty much out, then they took him back for the procedure.

Grady did great! We came home and rested and by late afternoon, he was almost back to normal. In fact, over the weekend, we could already tell an improvement in him, especially his walking and balance. He seems to feel so much better, which is great!! Glad to have that behind us.

Grady is Walking!

Grady is finally walking! It only took him 19 months, but he is walking now. He walks well between the two of us, and is starting to venture out on his own as well. It won't be long now.

Happy New Year!

As we prepare for 2009, I reflect upon what a great year 2008 has been. I thought it would be nice to pull some of the best pictures of Grady from 2008 and post to the Blog. I combed through the thousands (yes thousands) of pictures that have been taken of him this year, and tried to select the best 200. Then I though too many, so 100. Well, still too many, so the "Top 50"! Well, it is actually 54. Best of Grady - 2008. See the slide slide show below. A new, cool feature available from Blogger. You can pause, or go back and forth. I also posted a link to the Picasa Google album in case you want to view a different way.

Grady has had a great, and busy year. He has sure grown, too fast! He now weighs in at just under 25 pound, is 18 months old, doing very well. You could probably guess that we have kept Grady busy, as we ourselves like to be active. This year, Grady has toured 6 states and the District of Columbia. He has been to the Beach (Edisto Island) and also visited/stayed at other destinations such as Blowing Rock, Boone, Gatlinburg, Roanoke VA, Washington D.C., Pipestem WV, Johnson City TN, and of course, "Upstate" SC. He has been at elevations ranging from sea-level to over 5000ft (something only a Dad who is a Geographer would note!). Grady has traveled by many modes of transport, including stroller, backpack, bike trailer, car, boat, train, ATV, 4-Wheeler, and even a chair lift. He has ridden over 140 miles in his bike trailer, on trails at Edisto Island, the NC Arboretum, the Bent Creek Experimental Forest, and on trails such as the Virginia Creeper, the Boone Greenway, and the Brevard Greenway. Grady has played, and "tubed" in the Davidson River. He has hiked on many trails, including several adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway (Graveyard Fields, Julian Price Lake, etc.), at Pipestem State Park in WV, at Great Falls Park near DC, Dupont State Forest near Brevard, and again in the NC Arboretum and Bent Creek Forest.

Yes, Grady has had quite the year. Other activities include feeding our neighborhood resident ducks, and playing with all sorts of things here at home. Sure, he has had his share of sicknesses, but nothing too major. His first Birthday Party was a lot of fun, and he really seemed to enjoy this Christmas. While he is very mobile, he still does not walk on his own. That will hopefully be his New Year Resolution. He is developing a vocabulary that now seems to expand almost daily.

Hopefully 2009 will be another great year, as we hope to continue many of the same activities. We will definitely get him on his first camping trip, and if all goes well, maybe a trip out to the Front Range of Colorado!

We want to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!

BEST OF GRADY - 2008



http://picasaweb.google.com/dobsonjg/BestOfGrady2008?authkey=_URZ5mSI9js

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas to everyone form all of us! Wow, its Christmas again, and 2008 is almost over. Yes, it has been since summer that I made a Post. The trouble with "social networking", that is, websites, blogs, facebook, myspace, etc., is that it takes time. It is one thing to create a site and get it up and running, it is easy actually. But it is another thing to keep it updated with interesting content. We have been busy this fall, and I have just not had the time to make posts. BUT, I really want to as there is lots I would like to share about the little guy. So, in the new year, I hope to do much better. Also, while I have a break, I hope to upload many new pictures and videos, so stay tuned.

As you know, we really get into Christmas around here. The house is all decorated, inside and out. I have uploaded a video of my "exterior illumination" for your enjoyment, though the resolution is not the best. I have also added a few pictures that you can see in the slide show below. Enjoy, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Park

Trailer

Grady's First Snow

More snow in the Asheville area, actually most of WNC and the Upstate, what fun! It began here last night about 9:30, at 6:30 this morning I measured 3.2 inches. We switched over to freezing rain about 7:00am before it all was done by noon. No serious ice accumulation. The snow has stuck around all day. Roads were impassable this morning. We were both out! Below are a few pics from the yard. We did get Grady out in it, it was his first snow experience. Those can be seen here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dobsonjg/GradySFirstSnow

New Pictures, Finally!

Ok, I have finally uploaded some new pictures. Where are they you ask? Since I use all of Google's other products (gmail, maps, calendar, blogger, etc.), and love them all, I decided to try their photo program, Picasa. I have created three new public albums:

http://picasaweb.google.com/dobsonjg

You can click on a photo to view it in a larger format. It may appear blurry at first, but once you advance to the next one and come back, it clears up. A little bug I suppose. I'll try to get some video clips posted soon.

Enjoy!!

Morning Update

We had another extremely light dusting of snow over night. Now at 8:30am on Thursday, it is 12 degrees with a wind-chill of -5!! Should get up to near 30 today. Jen has an in-service day, no students, but she has to go in for a bit, not as early. Grady can go in after 10:00.

More Grady pics coming tonight!

First Snow Accumulation of the Season

We recieved 1/2" here of new snow from the latest storm, though very hard to measure wind-driven snow. The morning low was 15 (-2 wind-chill at 6:30am) and the high today was 21, Burrr, but nice!!! Below are some pics from this morning. Jen was scheduled for an in-service day, I took her in about 10:00, interstates were clear, but all other roads were still mostly covered. No problems. Grady's daycare was closed, he went to the office with me for a bit. We all came home mid-afternoon and worked from home. There was about 2" of snow in Asheville. More closer to the TN line. Been a very cold, windy, WINTRY day, very nice! We'll have chili tonight as we look to bottom out near 13 with below zero wind-chills.

Fresh Pics

Yes, I know, no new pics for a while. Well, here are some of the latest. Enjoy.

Sounds and Movements of Grady