Week 8: Thanksgiving in Alabama!

Sunday, November 30th, 2014

Grant went on his first big road trip this past week.  We went to Alabama to spend Thanksgiving with Katie's Aunt Luann and all of her cousins and their families.  Katie's parents and brother also made the trip from Florida.  All in all there were 25 adults and kids there to celebrate Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday night we drove five hours to Charlotte, NC and spent the night with our friends Brittany and Tom and their kids.  It was great to see them again, and it was fun to see Grant interact with their youngest son, Damien, who is only a month older than Grant.  And their oldest, Caitrin, loved holding him.

On Wednesday morning we drove the final eight hours to Alabama.  And Aunt Luann really outdid herself.  The house was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the fellowship was amazing.  Grant was dressed for success on Thanksgiving, with three different outfits.

Grant met a lot of his extended family members for the first time this weekend.  On the Hobart side he met his Great Aunt Luann, who he will call Mamma Lu.

He met his Cousin/Aunt Haley and Cousin/Uncle James and their adorable daughter, Lula.

He met the McQuin cousins and his Cousin/Aunt Abi.

And he met his Cousin/Uncle Hobie and his family.

On the Travieso side he finally met his Uncle James and Aunt Tania and his Travieso cousins.

We were also able to take some family pics.

And finally, near the end of the weekend, we took pictures of Grant with his namesake, his Great Uncle Grant.

Week 7: Mornings with Mommy and Staring at Angels

Sunday, November 23rd, 2014

There is something I miss out on during the week that I really wish I could be a part of.  Grant is always happiest in the mornings, spending an hour or two with Mommy smiling and laughing.  Katie will send me pictures and videos of him, and I always get jealous, but I am also really thankful that my wife has the opportunity to stay home with him and build that special bond.  I am able to experience that on weekend mornings, and it really is awesome.  He just loves looking around and interacting with us.

And here is a video of Grant smiling in the morning.

Grant also does something that is kind of funny and very interesting.  Sometimes I will be holding him and he will seemingly be looking at nothing.  But it is not just looking around at nothing, it is an intense stare, and sometimes he will smile or give a small giggle at whatever he is looking at.  Katie suggested that maybe he is looking at angels that he can see and we cannot.  That would be very cool if Grant has been interacting with his Guardian Angel.  Whether it is angels or just nothing, it is very funny and cute either way.

Week 6: Dad's Little Guy and Some Smiles

Sunday, November 16th, 2014

It is amazing how much time my wife and I waste just staring at, and trying to interact with Grant.  Although I would say that it is not time wasted at all, but rather quality time spent with our son.  We will be sitting there with him, trying to get him to smile, and all of a sudden two hours have passed.  And let me tell you, there is no better feeling in the world than seeing a little baby smile at you, especially when it is your own child who you have spent so many hours and days taking care of without receiving any recognition from him.

 

Well little Grant has started to smile, and it is pretty amazing to see him smile because of something I do or while he is looking at me.  The smiles are still pretty rare, but they were much more common this past week than they were during the first five weeks.  They can also be fast, so they are still difficult to catch on camera, and so when he is in a smiling mood we will take about 20 pictures in a row hoping to get one or two while he is smiling.  Here are some of the smiles we have gotten this week.

 

 

Having a child has been a very humbling and rewarding experience.  And having a son is a very special thing to me.  I also have a very unique responsibility being a father to a son.  Not only do I have to pull my weight in raising him with my wife, I also have to be a role model to him, because while he is growing up as a boy, he will look to me to see how a man is supposed to act and carry himself.  He will look to me on how to pray to God.  He will look to me on how to treat others, friends and strangers alike.  He will look to me on how to treat a woman, and his most important example will be how I treat his mother.  I Look forward to the challenge of raising a good boy who will eventually turn into a good man.

 

This picture of Grant holding onto my hand struck me on how him and I will have a special bond for the rest of my life.

 

 

My dad recently gave me a frame that had a picture of Grant looking up at me and a poem about a father raising a son.  The poem describes perfectly what I want to impart to Grant as a father.
 

"I Have a Boy"

I've a wonderful Boy, and I say to him, "Son,
Be fair and be square in the race you must run.
Be brave if you lose and be meek if you win.
Be better and nobler than I've ever been.

Be honest and noble in all that you do,
And honor the name I have given to you.
I have a boy and I want him to know
We reap in life just about as we sow,

And we get what we earn, be it little or great,
Regardless of luck and regardless of fate.
I will teach him and show him the best that I can,
That it pays to be honest and upright, a man.

I will make him a pal and a partner of mine,
And show him the things in this world that are fine.
I will show him the things that are wicked and bad,
For I figure this knowledge should come from his dad.

I will walk with him, talk with him, play with him, too;
And to all of my promises strive to be true.
We will grow up together, I'll too be a boy,
And share in his trouble and share in his joy.

We'll work out our plans when we both will be men.
And oh, what a wonderful joy this will be,
No pleasure in life could be greater to me.

~ Hugh M. Pierce

And of course there was more football this weekend.  Mommy and Grant were cheering.

 

 

But it wasn't enough, because Notre Dame really stunk it up and lost to an awful Northwestern team.  Grant went from concerned to upset.  At least Florida State won.

 

 

 

Week 5: One Month and a Wedding

Sunday, November 9th, 2014

This past Wednesday Grant turned 1 month old!  And boy what a month it has been.  We had been properly warned about how difficult it would be, and how little sleep we would get, but hearing about it is one thing, and actually going through it is another.  It is very emotionally draining, because you experience so much love, fear, anxiety, joy, pride, and frustration...and I am sure there are more.  It is also very physically draining for obvious reasons.  I wish that I could stay home with Katie and Grant everyday, so that I could experience all of Grant's firsts that will be happening in the near future, and so that I could help Katie during these important first months.

In order to commemorate each passing month for Grant, we got him monthly dinosaur neckties.  Each month we will be taking pictures of him in his neckties while he sits in his little chair.  And when I say sit, I mean we prop him up in the chair and try and snap the picture before he flops around.  Here are the pictures commemorating his big first month of life.

Grant also witnessed the marriage of his Uncle Dan to his new Aunt Mary.  It was such a fun weekend because Grant was able to meet so many people!  The wedding was up in northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.  We got there on Thursday night and spent a relaxing night in the hotel.  It was Grant's first night in a hotel, and unfortunately it is probably the nicest hotel he will stay in for a while, so hopefully he won't expect them all to be like this one was.  He immediately took advantage of the comfortable bed.

The next day was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, and Grant was looking sharp.

The rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner were both a lot of fun.  We were able to spend some quality time with our closest family and friends while eating delicious food.  My parents hosted the rehearsal dinner at a restaurant named P.J. Skidoos, and it was the perfect place for our group.

Grant met Katie's good friend, Tom, and his son Damien.

And his daughter Caitrin, who was So excited to meet little Grant.

Grant met one of Katie's best friends, Mabel, who has already monogrammed so many things for him.

He also met his Great Aunt Rini.

And he also met his Great Grandmother, affectionately known to all of us as Mimi.  She was so excited to meet him, and she was dancing with him while in her chair.

 

 

We were also able to get a great Pearl Family picture, with my parents, all of my brothers and their spouses, and the four grandchildren.

And we got an awesome 3-generation picture of Katie with her mom and her son.

The wedding was very special.  It was the third wedding in our family in the past 11 months.  Katie and I were married 11 months ago, my brother Jim and his wife, Val, were married 9 months ago, and this weekend my older brother Dan was married to his new wife Mary, who happens to be a great friend of Katie's, and has been for over a decade.  I was the best man, and hopefully I gave a speech worthy of my older brother.  I have always looked up to him and viewed him as a role model, and I am so happy for him.  Grant is lucky to have such great uncles and aunts.

The Pearl family is now 15 strong, going on 16 in April.  It consists of Papa and Grammy, 4 of the 5 brothers now have wives, and then there are 4 grandchildren, with a 5th on the way in April.  This special occasion was also the first time Grant was able to meet his cousins B, C, and G.  They were shy at first, not really sure what to think of Grant, but eventually they got curious enough to crowd around him.

What a fun week it was for Grant!