Happy Mother's Day

The weather was beautiful in Nashville for Mother's Day. Francis was very thoughtful, making me a card to recap the previous 7 1/2 months, and taking us to lunch at PF Changs. Even though we had reservations, they ran out of high chairs so we had to wait a little while. Francis can be seen below sitting in his high chair, but that didn't last long. After sucking on the menu for a while and throwing all his toys on the floor, he sat in Jess's lap for the entire meal, sucking on a series of drinking straws.

As seen below, Francis interacted with grass for the very first time. While his crawling skills have improved, he was nearly paralyzed in grass and didn't get very far. However, he also did not try to eat anything foreign. Francis has taken to standing flat-footed and using his head as a fifth limb so that his hands are free to play with drawstrings or toys or stick them in his mouth. It won't be long before he tries to stand up, we're pretty sure. In the first picture below, we could not get Francis to look up and smile, despite a group of nice women calling his name and encouraging him.

Crawly

Since the last post was mostly about Nashville and water, here's one specifically about Francis and his crawling skills.

All floody

Despite Nashville still being knee-deep (and beyond) in water, the Grice family has had a fine week. We were stuck indoors last weekend while our parking lot filled up with water, preventing our escape. By Monday the water subsided and we've had sunshine ever since. Jess has not had to go to work all week as the downtown is flooded, and despite the devestation that others are facing, the Grices are having a fantastic time.

As seen in the pictures below, we went on several long flood walks and discovered that our neighborhood trail is destroyed (normally there's a 20 foot tall fence separating the trail from a golf course that was pushed down by the water). If we seem a little dirty it's because water is being rationed and we can't (shouldn't) bathe.

Francis doesn't mind a little water and insisted on pushing down the visor on his stroller meant to keep him dry. Will responsibly held an umbrella over him, although Francis did get a little wet.

The picture of Francis in his pack and play is meant to show how he enjoys mashing his face into the netting.