Happy 2nd Birthday Grant!!!!!!

Grant turned 2 years old yesterday. How times flies!!! The day started with Grant and I driving home from Phoenix after visiting Grandma June and Sarah and Sarah. In the morning, while getting things ready to go, I told Grant it was his birthday and that he was 2. He paused for about 1 second and then the first words out of his mouth were, "I want cake." How do they know? I never put the two together for him.
Once in Tucson, Grant and I stopped to pick up his new bed from Babies 'R Us. When we got home, we immediately unloaded the car and headed for In-n-Out Burger, the zoo and the park. Grant loves "fries" and "burgers" although he only realy eats fries. He invariably throws a tantrum between ordering and getting the food because he wants it immediately. He is particularly bad if we need to sit outside because he thinks we're leaving without the food. Don't come between Grant and fries or you'll regret it.
Grant loves the zoo. He loves to see the animals, except that when looking at one animal, he immediately asks to see another. He loves the giraffes, rhinos, zebras and monkeys. He was very intrigued by the otters and polar bear as well. He also, thankfully, loves his stroller, so keeping him contained is not too difficult. We have a zoo membership so we never feel bad only spending 30-45 minutes at the zoo, which is about Grant's attention span. On the weekends there is always an ice cream truck parked outside the zoo so of course we had to partake. We each got an ice cream treat then went across the street to enjoy the cool shade and the treats. Grant and daddy got into a wrestling match and Grant had fun running races against himself. He also loved his "ommy" (ice cream).
After we got home from the outing, it was nap time - the last sleep Grant would ever have in his crib. I got the house sort of cleaned up and relaxed a bit. When Grant woke up, Chad started building the new bed and I continued to clean. Chad and I were too full for dinner, so Grant enjoyed a birthday dinner of quesadilla and milk and got to eat while watching "Baby" (Classical Baby) on the computer (he prefers that to the TV). While Chad and I were working on the bed, Grant found his presents and opened up a couple of them while we were unable to intervene. Sneaky little boy. Grant even helped put the finishing touches on the bed. After the bed was done, we opened up the rest of the presents and then had cake. Somehow Grant knew exactly how to blow out the candles. We don't know how he knew that. I guess you're just born with some important, life saving instincts.Grant even got to cut his own piece, per his request. Thankfully he only ate a few bites, much less than the actual size of the piece he cut for himself.
After cake, we headed upstairs with the bed to get his new room set up and for bath time. Chad took the crib apart enough to get it out of the room, while I gave Grant a bath. The crib is now in the upstairs landing, waiting to be put in the new nursery (presently a very messy, unused office). The new room looks great and much larger. Grant finally went to bed about 10 PM. It's true what they say about sugar winding up kids. He was on another plane. We had no problems with bed time though. He went right to sleep and didn't get out of bed once. He did however, wake up at 6 AM, which was quite discouraging for two very tired parents.
I can't believe Grant is 2 already. Time really does fly. He is growing like crazy and getting smarter everyday. We are blown away by his vocabulary and his ability to do so manythings for himself. He has also turned into quite the boy in just the last few months. He loves to crash his cars into each other, make his animals fight each other, sword fight with anything he can find and attack anyone who will wrestle with him. He's active, loud and funny. He brings both laugher and frustration to our lives, sometimes at the same time. Grant is definately a 2 year old.

Grant after blowing out his birthday cake.
Grant enjoying his birthday cake.
Grant's new big boy bedroom, with his new bed.

Grant enoying his "ommy" after the zoo.
Grant and Chad wrestling at the park.
Grant eating his birthday dinner.
Grant getting caught opening birthday presents while we were distracted.
Grant helping Chad finish putting his bed together.

Grandma June's visit

After moving away from Gilbert five years ago, Grandma Glenn (Grandma June to the great-grandkids) came back to Phoenix for a visit on her way to SLC. It was so great to see her. She arrived on Wednesday, May 21 in the afternoon. Dad (Richard) was in Phoenix for a visit himself and picked her up. She stayed over night at Betsy's house. Me, Shelli and David visited her because we hadn't seen her in a couple of years. Grandma also had never met Grant so she finally had the pleasurable opportunity. We all went to The Fish Market for dinner. Yum!!!! Grant was as wound up as could be and although coy enjoyed Grandma. At The Fish Market, Grant even shared his ice cream with Grandma. On Thursday, May 22, Grandma, dad and I went to Deseret Book and the distribution center. We also had yummy frozen yogurt. It was so good to see Grandma again.

Grandma and Lindsay.
Grandma and dad.

Chad's graduation...Yeah!!!!!

May 16 was a joyous day for all of us. Chad is finally done not only with pharmacy school but with school all together. It was an amazing feeling to watch Chad get his hood and finally become a pharmacist. The below picture is Chad walking in to start the ceremony.

Below is Chad wearing his hood after graduation concluded. The ceremony was unnecessarily long but what can you do?
The joyous Mellen family after the graduation ceremony. Grant did not do well during the ceremony. Thanks to Alisha and Grandma Mellen for keeping him entertained so I could sit through the ceremony and support Chad. Grant got to walk through the museum across from the graduation hall twice. Grant did not find the ceremony quite as momentous as the rest of us. Of course, he'd been good all week but chose that day to wake up in a bad, tired mood.
Grant being forced to have his picture taken with Daddy after enjoying his post-graduation cookie. A giant chocolate chocolate chip cookie was his reward for enduring 2 hours of graduation. Chad was very happy at graduation.
My family (dad, Shelli and David) arrived in town after the ceremony and spent the weekend with us and Chad's mom and sister. They couldn't get into town before the ceremony. Chad took his sister Alisha to some sites in Tucson, as she had never been here before. They went to Kartchner Caverns, ate indian food and at The Grille. We had a fabulous BBQ last night. Barbara and Alisha flew out this morning and Dad and David are leaving today. Shelli also left last night. On Friday night we had a heated game of Glenns v. Mellens Scene it? Until the very end the Glenns were ahead. Only at the last question did the Mellens win the game. I was a Glenn for the game.

In July, Chad starts his one year residency at the Tucson VA. In another year we will be making decisions about where to go from here. We will keep you posted.

What parents will do...

The following shows what Chad and I will do to get Grant to eat dinner, even if it is just white rice (Yes, that's the serving spoon for the rice. Apparently, it's more fun to eat with than a regular spoon). I did manage to sneak a few bites of salmon into his mouth in between rice bites so there was some nutrition had at dinner.




We checked out a local weekly swap meet a few weeks ago. We found this pool for $10. Grant loved it. Sadly, I left it outside to dry for a couple of days and it met its end after only one use. Despite what some of you may be thinking, the dogs were not involved. We have had huge wind storms. I woke up one morning to find it plastered against one of our cacti in our backyard. I pulled it off to find counless spines sticking out of the pool. How sad!!!

Last weekend we went to Phoenix to enjoy one last weekend at Chad's Uncle Dan's house/private family resort in Paradise Valley. Grant is our little fish. He jumps in the pool all by himself and cries when he has to get out. He loves to go under the water and never tires. Mom and dad do though. we had a great time and have many years of memories at Dan's. We are sad that the house is gone but are excited that a new house has been purchased. We hope it will be just as fun. For those of you who attended our wedding, this is the house that our luncheon was held at, although at that time it was still under remodeling construction.