New Parents' Guide to Babies

Just because the first couple of teeth come in without a hitch,

doesn't mean they all will.

My poor baby has been just miserable for the last 2-3 weeks. His two middle bottom teeth came in so easily and without any real effort or pain. He seemed to be extra droolly for a bit and then viola! there they were. Here are the bottoms on July 29:
Fast forward two months and we find Grayson working really hard on getting those uppers. In addition to the constant salivating and chewing on everything he can get his hands on, he's had a runny nose and been very needy, fussy, and just plain sad. Teething tablets have become the norm at our house and I give him the occasional dose of baby Tylenol when things are really bad.

Thankfully, we're 1/2 of the way done with this round of misery. His left middle top tooth finally broke through about a week ago and a corner of the tooth to its left has already come through, but he's still working on the upper right middle tooth. I put him back in that same outfit today for a comparison shot but he doesn't let me poke at his face or mouth anymore, so I couldn't get a good picture of alla the nonsense that's going on inside his mouth. But you can see the tooth that has come all the way in when he smiles - so cute! But how sad to see how much older he looks now than he did just two months ago. Stop growing up!

Does anyone know

if Cadbury mini eggs are made in China?

My heart is breaking right now at the very thought.

Yet another...UPDATE

Life is continuing, even if you wouldn't know it by my lack of blogging. Here's a little diddy on each of us.

Josh: So dreamy. Hard worker. Recession-proofing his place in the workforce. Gives great back-scratches and is always willing to run last-minute errands for me. Love that man.

Me: In order to re-apply to the dental hygiene program (Fall 2009) I have to be a current student by next February. In order to be a current student by then, I had to take a class this semester or Spring semester. So guess who's taking yet another class? Yepper. Luckily, I found a Philosophy class that meets only one evening per week in Lehi, so I don't have to drive all the way down to the main UVU campus in Orem. The bad news is that this class is ONLY required of UVU grads, so if I don't go to school there, it will have been a waste of 600 bucks and an entire semester. But hey, that's life, right?

Grayson: I need him to stop growing up again. There are just too many times I look at him and realize how quickly he's become his own person and while he brings me so much joy, it also brings a tear to my eye. I just want him to stay little forever. He's really begun cruising on all fours and started pulling himself up on me, boxes, planters, etc. this last week. In the last four days he's gotten two bruises on his forehead, a bruise on his cheek, and a scratch on the bottom of his foot (how??). If I didn't know any better, I'd think his daddy beat him. He LOVES food and recently began eating every 2-3 hours instead of every 3-4. I seriously considered nixing the whole nursing bit because it really wears on me, but I'm just too cheap to switch to formula. He still gets up at least once in the middle of the night, so I'm glad we had a couple of interruption-free months while they lasted.

Josh used to call these Grayson's "Elvis" jammies because the collar always folded up like that. They're too small to wear now. Sad!My silly baby doesn't like to sit IN the activity seat as much as he likes to crawl ON it. (I promise-promise he usually wears clothes - I'm not THAT lazy!)
Finally, I thought about sharing my complete lack of respect for John McCain for all my liberal friends, or maybe a beautiful YouTube video link Karynn sent me earlier for all my conservative friends, so in order to keep harmony in the universe, enjoy this little video instead:

Eat your hearts out, terrorists!

We finally hosted our ice cream party on August 23. I invited 109 families, recruited three additional 'scoopers', enlisted Maryann to take photographs, borrowed a sound system, a HUGE tent shade, and several deck chairs from neighbors, and purchased an additional 15 cartons of ice cream for a total of 35 (my visiting teacher brought 8 as well). We set up the huge canopy to keep us and the ice cream shaded and kept our extra Dreyer's on ice in some coolers. We set up a couple of shady spots in our backyard so parents could easily watch their kiddies play on our back neighbor's swing set during the party. We also set up a small table with water and a 'farmer's market' so neighbors could bring extra garden goodies to share with others.

What a hit! People in the neighborhood were still talking about the party for days afterward. I took all of the ice cream bars and the few extra cartons to deliver to neighbors that couldn't make it. All in all, it was a huge success. Some random pics of the event:

Grayson was such a champ during the party. He's a very social baby, and just loved being around all those people.

He even learned how to play the air guitar! Thanks Gabe!

My Brother's Keeper (sort of)

Just popping in to say hello. Josh rebuilt my computer and I've finally finished reinstalling all my programs, arranging my files/folders, and personalizing it all back to the way it was. Now I can function in cyberspace again. Yay me!

You may be wondering why Josh rebuilt my computer in the first place. In a nutshell, I accidentally downloaded a virus during a google search for computer programs to lighten videos. Josh spent 3 hours on our anniversary trying to get it cleaned up, but he had to rebuild it in the end. Fortunately, he was able to hook up an external hard drive and backup all my pics so I didn't lose too much in the process. Last week, Maryann was nice enough to let me use her internet to change a bunch of online passwords, pay my fall tuition, and copy the ice cream party pics she took for me, so naturally our babies ended up lying by each other during our visit. Grayson has this habit of reaching out and grabbing whoever happens to be nearby, so he immediately reached over and grabbed Pyper. Maryann snatched up her camera and voila! precious memories formed in an instant.

Pyper's too far away, Mom. Please move her closer to me.

Oh look, her hand!This baby is mine.

I'm keeping an eye on her for Dana.

I heart my baby

Dearest Grayson,

Thank you so much for being so good during our anniversary dinner last night. I love that everywhere we take you, people rush over to get a better glimpse of your smiling face. You are seriously the best baby I've ever known - so loving, so alert, so cheerful, so smiley. I almost feel guilty that other people don't have the pleasure of having babies just like you. And a special thank you for going to bed early last night and staying asleep until 7am. Not only did Daddy and I get to spend a few uninterrupted hours together, but we didn't pay for it the next morning with sleep-deprivation.

You are the sweetest boy in the world!

Love,

Your well-rested Mommy

Charming little fellow

Sweet baby boy

7 months!

During the past month, Grayson...

• Grew to 17.5 pounds and 27 inches long
• Helped thank our wonderful neighbors with a Dreyer's Neighborhood ice cream party!
• Started eating rice cereal if it's mixed very thick with pureed fruits and veggies - Hallelujah!
  
• Went to Lagoon (but didn't get to do any rides)
  
• Started waking between 3-5am for an early-morning snack (no more sleeping through the night - so sad!)
  
• Sits up on his own if I put him there, but cannot pull himself into a sitting position on his own
  
• Helped Mommy 'trim' the ficus tree
• Started chanting a mix of "Ba-bah-buh" when he talks
  
• Started crawling!

My mother made it very clear that even though Grayson's been making crawling motions for weeks now, his first real-life crawl was at HER house just a few days ago. (We determined that real-life crawling involved Grayson moving his hands and knees rhythmically in order to propel himself forward.) Here's your video, Grandma:


And in other news, "Happy Anniversary" babe. I have to say that our third year of marriage has been my favorite so far. Love ya!