The Brave One

I could probably take a 100 pictures of odd places Grant has fallen asleep. Nearly every night, he creeps out of his bedroom and into my office, sometimes with a blanket and pillow, sometimes with a small toy, but always with those big puppy dog eyes. When I look over my shoulder, he says "I'm not bothering you, Mom", which breaks my heart a little, so I let him stay and sometimes sit in my chair with me. I know the correct parenting move is to silently walk him back to his room, but I know it won't be long when just being in the same room as me won't be all he needs to make him happy. I called this post the brave one because I was thinking about how he conquered his fear of fireworks during the 4th of July celebrations this year. Last year, fireworks were met with many tears and screams, but I chalked it up to us having been at the hospital and separated for so long, so I was a little surprised this year when the snap pops triggered a mini-melt down. This in sharp contrast to Ryan whose utter indifference made me question his hearing ability. We spent the 4th at my mom's, him, Lilly, Ryan and me inside with the gang from Noggin, but the next day, at my dad's, he decided for some unbeknown reason, that he was staying outside, no matter what. He would cover his ears and sometimes let out and small scream, more annoyed sounding then scared, but he did it, even coming to terms with the dreaded super snap pops.