I can’t believe our Grant is 2! I’m so glad I stuck with capturing these monthly memories (alongside my monthly reels), I know it’s going to be so special to read back and remember all these little moments.

12 Months (March 24-April 23, 2024)

I’ve already recapped Grant’s amazing first birthday celebration in his milestones post, but it was an eventful weekend with our first second holiday (Easter!) the next day. Grant loved shaking eggs and we were able to see both sides of our family that day. I can’t wait for next year to watch him run around and hunt for eggs!
Grant continues to love daycare, sometimes he is sad to leave! Though a few times recently he has needed a few snuggles at drop-off. He gets to spend time with all his teachers: Miss Trina, Miss Carol, Miss Bailey and Miss Karly each week.
We’ve done lots of walks outside with Grant’s walker and the night before Dale and I left for the DR he took his first real steps! He stood up on the carpet in the living room and walked to the wood floor and then to Dada! We thought he would be on the move after that, but is still taking his time with walking after those first steps.
This month we got to attend our friend Luke’s first birthday, have a family picnic at Loose Park, visit Deanna Rose with EB and GPa, take Aunt Sophie lunch and visit her classroom, and sadly came down with hand, foot & mouth as soon as mom and dad left for their trip. EB and GPa had a tough week of sickness, and we missed our little buddy, but thankfully by the time we were back he was feeling much better!

13 Months (April 24–May 23, 2024)

Grant started the month helping pick out our Spring flowers at FTN, saying Dada on repeat, asking to go “outside” and demanding his favorite books be read over and over! These include Little Blue Truck, Let’s Find Momo, Open the Barn Door, and The Homebuilders. We love reading to him on our stairs while looking out the window.
Grant has started walking a bit more, especially when he realized he could walk behind a big exercise ball! He also took his first steps at daycare, and even walked to greet Dada at pickup one afternoon! He is finishing up his first school year at Country Club Christian Church and will have a week break before his summer session starts. His teachers made an adorable portfolio of his year that we will LOVE looking back at!
By the end of the month Grant learned a lot of animal noises! He will respond with the right noise when you ask “Grant, what does the (animal) say?” for sheep (his favorite), cows, horse, and sometimes lion/dino (roars) and “ruff ruff” for dogs.
On May 14th Grammy and Pop stopped by and Grant really started walking! After walking behind the blue ball for a bit, he walked from Grammy to mom and everyone was very excited!
This month we got to spend time with friends (including baby Diego and Luke) at the Brookside Art Fair, celebrated Graham’s birthday, started enjoying our water table on the porch, enjoyed Miss Karly coming over to babysit so Mom & Dad could celebrate Dale’s first graduation event, enjoyed the church nursery, celebrated Mother’s Day with lunch at Indian Hills, went to a fun estate sale on a walk, hosted Sophie’s baby shower, Grant experienced his first moon bounce at Dale’s VA grad party, and had to take two rounds of antibiotics for a bad ear infection. Each month with Grant is so much fun!

14 Months (May 24–June 23, 2024)

Grant’s first day of being 14 months old was eventful as we headed to Lawrence for dinner with Liesel, Sean & Adeleinn before an amazing Memorial Day weekend at Turkey Hill. Grant loved walking in circles in the living room with Grammy and Pop watching! Overall, it has been a bit scary watching him learn to walk (with a few bumps and bruises along the way) but we are so excited he is officially on the move!
We love that Grant is communicating with us more each day. He says “all done” after he finishes eating, “up” to get on the couch, “outside” all the time, and much more! Sometimes he even says “walk walk” when he is excited to walk outside down the sidewalk.
On Grant’s break before summer school I took him to the zoo! We loved visiting the penguins and exploring the new aquarium. That same week we also had a playdate and dinner with our daycare friend Giorgia and her family! It was nice enough to walk to their house, and we are trying to fit in as many walks as possible before it gets too hot.
Other events this month included eating with Mom & Dad at Brookside Barrio on their 9th wedding anniversary, enjoying Neil and Bruce visiting KC, celebrating Alex’s birthday with dinner and cake at our house, spending time with EB & GPa at the church while we attended graduation events, and went with Mom to Loose Park to take maternity photos of Sophie & Alex.
We also had a wonderful Father’s Day that started with a walk and some park time, was followed by lunch at Sophie and Alex’s house, and then we headed to Lake Winnebago to enjoy time with the Smiths. Grant tested out the lake and even went on a boat ride! Grant’s favorite part may have been coming home with two toy trucks from Mama Barbara and Papa Bruce!
This month ended with a big birthday weekend with Grace and GPa’s 20/60 Birthday at Indian Hills and a surprise party for Bruce’s 75th! Grant was a trooper with weird schedules but we are having a bit of trouble deciding if it is time for one nap vs. two. On our last day of being 14 months we headed to the new ferris wheel in KC for Pop’s Father’s Day gift! Grant loved looking at the "choo choo” train, but did let us know he was “all done” just before the ride stopped.

15 Months (June 24-July 23, 2024)

Grace turned 20 two days after Grant turned 15 months old! We celebrated with family dinner at our house and Sophie made here the cutest strawberry cake. That week was also Dale’s last week of fellowship. The next few months are going to be full of lots of transitions!
Grant continues to talk more and more, he even has started saying “helicopter” – probably his first four syllable word! He loves spending time playing at his water table on the porch, loved visiting the Fire Station with Grammy and Pop, and got to spend a night with Miss Karly while we attended Grace’s “Lorene’s Reverie” fundraiser.
Our family had had an eventful Fourth of July that kicked off with dinner and fireworks at Indian Hills, attending our neighborhood popscicle parade for the second year, and then heading to Turkey Hill. Grant and Adeleinn posed for adorable photos and enjoyed the water table together. And we all enjoyed our annual homemade ice cream!
Grant loved spending the night with Mama Barbara and Papa Bruce so that Dale and I could have a belated anniversary night out! We had dinner at Bacaro Primo and drinks at Vita’s Place in the Crestwood shops.
This month we spent quite a few evenings walking up to the church to watch Grace’s rehearsals. Grant was mesmerized by the music and loved playing in the nursery. He also loved our family weekend visit to the zoo – Africa and the turtle were big hits.
Grant started enjoying the slide at the park, LOVES his Dada, and while he still loves to eat is definitely getting a bit pickier about what he wants at each meal!

16 Months (July 24-August 23, 2024)

The end of July was a busy time for our family! Grace’s musical, Lorene’s Reverie, premiered and that meant Grant got to spend an evening with Miss Trina so that Dale and I could go enjoy the show! We also celebrated GPa’s birthday the weekend of the show and with an ice cream cake later that week.
Grant had a three week break from daycare in-between the Summer and Fall sessions. Camp Dada featured lots of visits with cousin Aubrey, two visits to the zoo, time at Humanette, trying a class at The Little Gym (olympics themed!), going to Science City to play in the toddler room, walking to the park, and checking out lots of books from the library. I’m pretty tired of hearing the Llama Llama series (ha).
Every day Grant learns new words, has whole babbled conversations and points out lots of animals and objects in his books. He also loves singing “Day Man” with Dale, a true champion of the “SUN!” We also got out the chairs for his little table and he loves to sit there and have a snack or play with his “bugs” from Lovevery. This month he is very interested in cars, trains and playing in EB’s cleaned up playroom.
Another theme of this month was waiting for/meeting baby Winston! Sophie and August welcomed Winston George on August 2nd and our whole family got to meet him the next morning. Grant did great (though he was mainly interested in climbing on the couch and looking out the window) but now fondly calls him “baby.”
Grant did great on a quick trip to the Lake of the Ozark’s with friends and even made it on a long boat ride. While we spent lots of time looking for turtles, we sadly didn’t find any. Dale checked out a book on snapping turtles from the library to appease him.
August 19th Grant headed back to school! His new teachers are Miss Trinity and Miss Anne-Marie. I can’t wait to see what adventures this new year of daycare will hold! He did great sleeping on his cot the first day in the new room, but they also told us he cried a bit in he morning after Dale and I snuck out.

17 Months (August 24-September 23, 2024)

This month has been full of transitions! Grant has slowly gotten used to his new classroom and teachers (he calls them Miss T & Riri) but has had no issues sleeping on his new dino nap mat! We all love his new dino backpack from Crate & Kids and his big boy Yeti and Owala cups.
Our family had a great Labor Day weekend which started off with a dinner at our house to celebrate Dale finishing training (and lots of bubbles and water table for Graham, Aubrey & Grant), and then a full weekend at Turkey Hill. This was Winston’s first trip and we loved snuggling him and watching him do tummy time. Grant and Dada went on lots of walks, got to see sunflowers and GPa even caught a turtle!
Dale started his new job on September 1st! Grant missed him a lot during his first week working in the ICU (lots of asking for Dada, especially at daycare pickup) but Mom & Grant had lots of fun adventures, too! This included a park playdate with Sheyda & Linus, walks to our park, and a trip to Lawrence to celebrate Adeleinn’s 1st Birthday. Aunt Sophie helped pick up Grant from school for a few days while I had a busy work week and all four grandparents were on vacation!
Grant’s vocabulary seems to grow every day! He can’t get enough of new books from the library, and is now understanding the meaning of words like “dizzy.” He tells us when he is “hungy” and LOVES his milk. He is also very excited to point out any and all cars and trucks and those are his favorite toys right now, alongside his duplo blocks and trains.
He is also starting to enjoy coloring with his jumbo Crayola crayons and is trying to use a fork. I really think he might be left-handed, but we will just have to wait and see!

18 Months (September 24-October 23, 2024)

At the end of September Grant and I flew to Nashville to visit Grace for Family Weekend! Grant LOVED watching all the cars zoom around to get the plane ready and was a bit disappointed when we were in the air and couldn’t see the cars anymore. He did great in Nashville (loved his new travel stroller) and we had so much fun exploring campus, eating in the dining hall and listening to Grace practice. We also visited our first pumpkin patch of the season at Cheekwood. Grant’s favorite part was their very elaborate train exhibit!
Going out to dinner is becoming more difficult! This month we went to Brookside Barrio with Sophie, Alex & Winston and Dale and I ended up taking turns chasing Grant around outside while we ate. But one of his new favorite foods are “quesa-dadas.”
Grant had so much fun on a tractor hay ride, picking out pumpkins, and “riding” a tractor at the pumpkin patch with the Hanlins. I loved the baby goats, yellow pumpkins and cider donuts.
Grant is growing so fast! He is now wearing 18-24 month clothing and we took a trip to Von Maur to get him some new shoes. Once we knew his size I also got him some New Balance tennis shoes that are SO cute!
Over Grace’s Fall Break we celebrated Sophie’s birthday and then headed to Turkey Hill to take our extended family photos with Lora + Ted. Grant did not love the photoshoot (and ended up coughing the entire night at the lake) but looked so cute in his Janie & Jack matching set!
At the end of the month I traveled to New York for work and Grant had lots of time with EB, GPa and Dada. I missed him like crazy but got him a souvenir “taxi!” that I’m so happy he loves.

19 Months (October 24-November 23, 2024)

The day after Grant turned 19 months we celebrated Dada’s 33rd birthday! Our whole family enjoyed Minskys, Kahlua cake & ice cream and Grant and I gifted Dale a hiking back pack.
Later that same weekend Giorgia & her family came over for dinner and it was so cute watching them play together. Shockingly, Grant wouldn’t eat the cake and ice cream!
The day before Halloween we voted as a family (at the church after picking up Grant from daycare) and then headed dinner at EB and GPa’s for a spooky dinner & pumpkin carving!
Grant’s 2nd Halloween was so much fun! He dressed up as “Dobby Dobby,” Winnie was a mandrake and the whole family wore Gryffindor scarves. We trick or treated at a few houses in Brookside and then headed to Grammy and Pop’s. Grant’s favorite part was moving candy in and out of his bag. He did not love wearing his adorable crochet ears from Aunt Heidi but we got some good photos anyway!
This month we spent lots of time at the park (Grant loves the park by our house and the triangle park) and he has learned to climb up the slide. He loves stomping around and his favorite toys are his legos, train, cars, and his new bicycle.
A few other fun moments this month included a trip to Family Tree with Mom to replace a plant he destroyed (he loved the water fountain and wandering through plants), picking up Indian food after Dada’s boards, and the infamous “wet ducks” moment with EB when it was pouring rain at daycare pickup. He hasn’t stopped talking about it since!
This month Grant thought saying “Toby” was hilarious and we are still trying to figure out who Toby is. He also laughs a ton when he puts raspberries on his fingers, eats burritos and when reciting the emotions from the “Emma” board book Dale found at Humanette.
Just before Thanksgiving Grant got his very first haircut! We were sad to say goodbye to his baby curls but he looks so handsome! He did great and we celebrated with a muffin.
With Dale working over Thanksgiving, we celebrated Smith Thanksgiving a bit early and there were fireworks over the lake! Grant wasn’t sure what to think but loved hanging out with Graham and Aubrey and his new light up Christmas Tree.

20 Months (November 24-December 23, 2024)

The morning Grant turned 20 months Dada and Andy went on a field trip to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to see the Hokusai exhibit. This was the beginning of his Thanksgiving break and Grant and Mama spent lots of time at Humanette playing over the holiday.
Grant is obsessed with duck and says “take take” asking to bring all his lovies downstairs in the morning (or after nap).
At Thanksgiving Grant didn’t like turkey or pie but it was so exciting to celebrate Winnie’s first Turkey Day! At Grammy and Pop’s the whole family sang Twinkle Twinkle and Row Row Row Your Boat for Grant with Aunt Tandy on the piano.
The day after Thanksgiving we picked out our Christmas tree and Grant loved decorating – his favorite ornaments were the pig, reindeer, basketball, and all the Santas.
We celebrated EB’s birthday with cake at our house and then the next morning helped Grammy and Pop decorate their Christmas Tree. That afternoon the whole family headed to Crown Center to see the first ever Hallmark Christmas experience. It was surreal seeing my lettering and designs at such a large scale and the whole event come to life!
The week after Thanksgiving Grant was home sick with RSV but thankfully was feeling better in time to visit Santa at Indian Hills! Grant’s favorite part was not seeing Santa but feeding the camel (that tired to eat EB’s hair) and the baby goats! He seemed really excited to see Santa before going but once it was our turn he was NOT excited.
We were lucky to still have some warmer days where we could walk to school this month. Grant was also obsessed with swinging next to dada and mama at the park.
The holiday season was in full swing with spirit week at daycare where Grant wore a green elf hat and he got to decorate gingerbread houses at Mama and Papa’s church.
Just before Christmas, we got to meet my cousin Connor’s new wife Stephanie and play with Winnie. Grant and Winnie wore their matching Jayhawk jackets (that finally fit!).
Our bedtime and morning routines include lots of books and I started having him bring me books in bed from our sunroom in the morning. He loves to say “READ IT.” He also loved singing Rudolph and Jingle Bells and reading all the Christmas books before bed this month.

21 Months (December 24, 2024-January 23, 2025)

Grant turned 21 months on Christmas Eve! We don’t speak of of crackers (full toddler meltdown) but had the best time playing with Chloe, Graham, Aubrey & Winnie. Grant also got to open his second dinosaur ornament from EB & GPa – a very breakable T-Rex.
Christmas morning Dada had to work so Grant and I headed to EB & GPa’s house to open stockings and presents! Santa brought him (and Winnie) a soccer ball and he loved opening packages. His big gifts were his personalized Grant chair, a firetruck and construction utensils.
Dada surprised us at Grammy and Pop’s when we got off early from work! After their house we relaxed at home for a bit and then had dinner at Sophie’s. Grant was pretty exhausted at this point and didn’t make it through the evening but we are so grateful for an amazing Christmas.
On December 26th we headed to Lawrence and Grant absolutely loved the carols! The 27th featured a trip to FTN with Leslie & Laura (and lots of chasing Grant around the plants) and then on Saturday we celebrated Smith Christmas before heading to Turkey Hill.
Grant has quite the persoality! His coloring sheets became a problem, he managed to take all the boxes of bars out of the grocery cart when I turned around and was holding both of them tight, Oh, Max is a staple book and we managed to not break any Christmas ornaments when putting them away.
After the holidays we had lots of SNOW! The crazy weather led to a very adventurous baptism and celebration for Winston and the next morning we were snowed in at home. Grant enjoyed going outside (briefly) but not putting on his snowsuit.
Mom & Grant had lots of time together while mom (tried) to get work done and we had to get creative with our toys and entertainment. This included taping all our dinosaurs to the windows!
Mid-January we headed to STL for a Smith sibling weekend! We loved cousin time but sadly some of the group got sick. We still had a great time relaxing at the Airbnb, exploring our old neighborhood and antiquing!

22 Months (January 24-February 23, 2025)

On January 25th Grant had the time of his life at Aubrey’s birthday party. He loved pretending to play arcade games (driving race cars, riding trains) and briefly played in a giant ball pit.
We stayed up past Grant’s bedtime to enjoy another Chiefs win and celebrate Pop’s birthday. Our Superbowl watch party at Laura and Ashton’s house wasn’t as celebratory.
Grant loves sitting in his dino chair with Llama and Dino, has started coloring more with crayons, and loves the magna tiles and big slide at Humanette.
This was a big month for Mom and Dad when we had to buy a new car! We had to say bye to Suzi and hello to Suby the Subaru. I was also super busy at work with a gallery project so we were balancing a lot as a family!
On Valentine’s Day we ate at EB and GPa’s with Grammy and Pop! Grant also got a cute bag full of Valentines from his class (which he decorated with lots of stickers). That weekend we were lucky enough to enjoy a winter zoo visit and we especially enjoyed the aquarium.
During my family birthday party Grant “helped” me blow out the candles on my cake (and even got to help EB bake it!) but wasn’t super interested in eating it. He did love helping me unwrap presents and playing with Winnie.
Grant is getting really into his duplo legos at this age! He also has loved playing in the newly updated Church nursery and spends lots of time playing on our blue couch.

23 Months (February 24-March 23, 2025)

Grant’s birthday month was a BIG month for our family. I was nearing the finish line on the gallery project at work when we visited a house in our neighborhood and decided to put in an offer. After a long 24 hour wait we found out our offer was accepted! This meant a lot of work to quickly get our old home ready to sell and on the market!
In early March we made it to the zoo for a Spring visit (Grant loved the penguins and visiting the aquarium), visited Megan and Matt’s new baby, and took advantage of one last year where the Brookside St. Patrick’s Day Parade passed by right at the end of our street. Birdy and Laura joined in the fun!
The big highlight of the month was of course getting ready for and celebrating Grant’s birthday! We took a family photo after bath (just like before his first birthday) and then Dale and I decided to start a new tradition of streamers and balloons on his door. He loved ripping them down in the morning (and Otto did too!). Since it was a school day I walked Grant to daycare and we brought the rice krispies we made as treats for his class. That night we went to EB and GPa’s for dinner, cake & presents. Sophie made him the most amazing chocolate cake with trucks on top! Grant definitely enjoyed the trucks more than the cake.
Grant got a playroom couch for the new house, a wooden toy mixer set and some new books!
We celebrated Grant’s birthday party at Humanette the weekend after his actual birthday. It was construction themed and the bubble machine was a hit. I’m so grateful so many friends and family were able to help us celebrate our Grant Grant! Here’s to our 2 year old!!