9 months!

During the last month, Grayson...

• Grew to 18 pounds, 9 ounces and 27 3/4 inches
• Started saying 'mama' and 'dada' when respectively hitting us - we think he really understands!
• Started taking a few steps while holding on to objects
• Finished growing two more top teeth
  
• Decided he loves eating Cheerios, blueberries, and raw red potatoes
• Fed himself small bites of food (it's so cute to see his little fingers work so hard)
• Got his first fever and rash, sending us to the pediatrician for Grayson's first sick visit
• Started climbing up on things to reach forbidden items
• Watched Pyper get blessed
• Wore his first band-aid (those little paper cuts sure do bleed!)
  
• Dressed up for his first Halloween (but no trick-or-treating yet)
• Followed me all over the house, helping me vacuum, sweep, fold laundry, and shred paper

Here are some pics from the month of October. How quickly time passes and how terrible I've become at taking and posting photos.

First, the freakishly short second toe I mentioned in this post:October 10 - Hey, a band-aid! I can't wait to chew on it!

October 12 - Ewww...Pyper has girl germs!

October 16 - My new favorite thing about Grayson. He 'chews' the air and his bottom lip sticks out when his lips come together. He often has this same look when he's babbling and trying to copy me when I make a popping noise with my lips. It's hilarious.

October 22 - Grayson loves that when he touches this lamp it magically turns on, goes brighter, then turns off. He gets a kick out of it every time. In this pic I moved my bracelet out of his reach so he was forced to reach a little further - on his tip-toes.

October 26 - Spiderwoman and TiggerOctober 29 - Walking around the bar chairs (look at that tongue)October 31 - Grayson and the local nutjobsHappy Halloween!

8 months!

Over the last month, Grayson...

• Grew to 18 pounds and 27 1/4 inches long
  
• Cut two more teeth with another two close behind
• Got his first professional pictures taken
• Learned to sit up by himself, then...
  
• Promptly decided it's more fun to pull himself up to stand than to merely sit around
  
• Helped Josh and I celebrate our 3rd anniversary
  
• Changed his babbling to variations of 'da-dah-duh-da', much to Josh's joy and my dismay
• Welcomed any food I put into his mouth *except* peas
• Watched his friend, Kimball, get blessed
  
• Impressed Grandma with his 'horn-honking' skills
• Attended his first ward campout (but we didn't camp)
  
• Actively cheered the Bomber Babes to yet another victory
• Ate his first tomato

I was picking veggies out in the garden last week and left Grayson on the lawn to crawl around (in fact, it was the same day as my last post, hence his outfit). While I was working my way around the garden boxes, fighting off leaves twice the size of my head in an attempt to find wayward zucchinis before they got too big, Grayson found my bowl of tomatoes and helped himself to one. By the time I reached him it was too late, so I let him finish it. After he was done, I took him inside for a couple of pics and washed him up. Sadly, these tomato stains didn't come out in yesterday's wash.
I think my favorite thing about Grayson right now is that he loves shaking his hands. No matter what he's holding, he will continually shake it up and down like a mad man. It can be paper, a washcloth, a measuring tape, a rattle, a magazine, a bottle, a toy, a shirt, a tomato...you get the idea. And he'll even clasp his hands together and shake them for a spell without holding anything at all. The best part about it is this little grin he gets when he's doing it because he's just enjoying himself so much. And when he notices you're watching him, he tops it all off with the cutest smile. Melts my heart every time. I need to get it on video before he stops doing it.

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!

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!

5 months!

Over the last month, Grayson...

• Grew to 25.5 inches long and 15.5 pounds
  
• Got babysat by a non-family member for the first time and cried the entire 2 hours!
• Went to his first musical - "Les Miserables" at Tuacahn in Ivins
  
• Watched Grandma hit a double at his first softball game!
• Started having his early morning feedings lying in bed with me (sooo dreamy!)
• Got into the groove of eating rice cereal
• Loved "ba-ba-bu-bu" -ing to Jimmy Buffet's Banana Wind album
• Got strong enough to pull the toys off his bouncer's bar
• Attended his first Neighborhood BBQ
  
• Began taking regular stroller walks with his daddy and loves them
  
• Rolled over!

Grayson has been doing the 'rocking' part of rolling over for more than a month now, but finally made it all the way over for the first time just yesterday! I always have the camera ready 'just in case' but usually end up with several minutes of non-rolling footage that only a parent would watch more than once. I got the camera out yesterday anyway, but it was set to take photos instead of videos and wouldn't you know I squatted down to start filming him, it took a picture, I stood up to fix the setting, and he rolled right over! Thankfully, I did get to see the actual roll, but he did it so quickly, there was no time for filming. So I took a picture of him after it was all over instead.

On the move

I did it!!

I called Josh to tell him the exciting news, so when he came home and spent the evening with Grayson while I was at my chemistry lab, he gave him some more rolling time. Like a good boy, Grayson didn't disappoint!

Children's Books

I just posted this over at The Hip Homemaker Blog, but want as much feedback as possible, so I'm putting it here as well. Feel free to share your books on either blog!

One of my favorite things to do is read to Grayson while I'm feeding him. I feel like it creates an even deeper bond between us, as well as benefits his mental and language development. I have accumulated a very small collection of children's books over the years and they currently sit on the bookshelf in his bedroom. Among them are classic Dr. Seuss books, several by Max Lucado, and of course Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. But how many lesser-known authors am I missing out on?

I'd really like to expand Grayson's library. Tell me, what were your favorite books as a child? What are your children's favorite books? What is the one (or two or three or...) book that no child should live without? All books are welcome - boy books, girl books, board books, educational books, religious books, or just plain silly books! Please leave a comment with the book title and author's name. I want to hear from you lurkers as well! Thanks!

MY RECOMMENDED BOOK LIST:

1. I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg
2. Fanny's Dream by Caralyn Buehner
3. The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein

4. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
5. Just In Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado

4 months!

During the last month, Grayson...

• Grew to 14.5 pounds and 24.5 inches long
• Moved into his own room and started sleeping in his crib!
• Settled on a very regular 8-hour night: 9-10pm bedtime, 5-6am wakeup
• Got blessed by his Daddy
• Started reaching for and grabbing his toys
• Went to a restaurant with both Mom & Dad
• Decided pacifiers are for wussy babies and started sucking his own fingers instead
• Attended his first temple wedding
• Breast-fed in public for the first time
• Spent a glorious 4-day, 3-night vacation at Don & Holly's, including a trip to the cabin!
• Started rocking a lot, but doesn't quite roll
• Helped us plant a garden
• Started blowing 'raspberries' at us through all the saliva that has earned him yet another nickname - Slimey

Seriously. I can't believe Grayson's not dehydrated with all the liquid that comes out of that mouth. He gets a huge saliva ring down the front of his shirts/onesies/jammies and the second an object hits his mouth, it's covered in goo. Everyone says he's probably teething, but this has been going on for weeks now, and 3-4 months old just seems a little young for teeth. All I know is that if he wasn't my kid, I'd be pretty grossed out.

Please, Lord, make him stay little

I think Grayson may be going through a growth spurt. The last couple of nights he has woken after only 5-6 hours of sleep and needed a good 15-20 minute feeding to get him through the last three hours. Interrupted sleep is never good sleep for me. He's also eating for longer periods during the day, greatly reducing my effectiveness at housework (there's only so much laundry a person can fold with one arm), although we've finished reading the Frog and Toad series and will easily finish The Little Prince later today. I've also been pumping every night after he goes to bed, trying to stock up for our little Cancun getaway next week, and I'll tell you, I'm a tired mommy. While it's taking a toll on me physically, however, I dare say the emotional toll is even greater.

My baby is growing up, and I want him to stop. I don't use my Boppy for support while breastfeeding anymore because he's big enough now for my leg or lap to support my arm. He moved into his own room last Saturday, and I can't remember the last time he let us swaddle him for bedtime - he likes having his arms free. He still smiles all the time and talks up a storm, but over the last week, he's begun reaching for and grabbing things - rattles, burp cloths, my shirt and fingers - and eating them. He's really perfected his grip and even holds the sides of the bottle when Josh is feeding him. He's officially outgrown his newborn sleepsack and all of his 0-3 month jammies, and I had to buy him a 3-6 month outfit for Nick's wedding. While all of these changes are exciting, and I'm absolutely in love with his personality, I've found myself missing his younger version, especially during these early morning feedings when it's just Grayson, me, and the memories of not-so-long-ago when getting together to eat at 4am was the norm. Never emotional before, I've found tears now flow easily when I look at my baby.

Here he is in the smallest outfit we took to the hospital when he was born. We didn't realize he'd be so tiny:

2 days old

And here he is just yesterday, wearing that same outfit for the last time. These onesies are just snug enough that it's time to put them away until next time.

14 weeks, 4 days old

This video is delightful

I've gotten Grayson to laugh pretty hard a few times when I fake laugh at him a lot and really exaggerate my facial expressions. I was trying to video him talking some more, but this is what I got instead. I'm definitely *not* disappointed.



(Sorry I'm so congested with allergies-turned-into-a-cold mucus, and of course Josh is on the phone about a work problem in the background, but hey, that's life, right?)

Grayson's Blessing

We blessed Grayson today. I think both Josh and I stressed ourselves out too much while preparing for it, but the meeting and family gathering afterward turned out just perfectly, so it was well worth our efforts.

Josh was impressed to say a lot of neat things when he blessed Grayson. He got the usual stuff, like good health, strong testimony of the gospel, mission, temple marriage, etc., but two things stood out to my listening ear. First, Grayson was blessed with a clear mind and the ability to learn quickly. I wouldn't have thought this would be a big deal, but when I heard it, I felt such a wave of relief run through me. I really like learning. I secretly love my college classes, even if I never reach the ultimate goal of becoming a dental hygienist and replacing Josh's income so he can take a different direction career-wise. I hope Grayson's learning ability creates an environment that will foster that same love for learning and carry him well into college so that he doesn't play catch-up the way Josh and I have since we married.

Grayson was also blessed to be a great example to both his family and friends, and was advised to remain compassionate, courteous and kind in dealing with them. I told Josh how he's already begun fulfilling this promise as we've stepped up our own efforts to welcome and keep the Spirit in our home. Both of us are quite lazy spiritually, but we've found the responsibility of raising this baby has really re-dedicated us to the Lord. I'm fairly certain we went to the temple more in the last six months of my pregnancy than we did the entire first two years we were married. I am a little worried about him needing a reminder to be nice to all of us, though. Perhaps his present gentle demeanor is all a facade and he's really going to have my temperament when he gets older. Yikes.

Poor Josh had sweat dripping down the side of his face when he sat back down after the blessing. He was so nervous! But no one noticed, and I was grateful he was willing to wait for a moment to really listen to what the Spirit was saying instead of letting his nerves rush him. We finished out the meeting with both of our testimonies and several others about the importance of family and how essential the family's role is to God's plan. I can't get over how great it is to be a mom. I just love my baby so much - it's hard to imagine life without him. In fact, I don't want to. I'm almost surprised at the level of fulfillment I've gained since having him join our family. Reading back on some of my blog posts during pregnancy, I just shake my head and wonder why I was so scared to embark on this great adventure. I can't believe he's here, and he's all mine. I can see it in his eyes that he loves me. There is no greater feeling than catching my baby's eye, seeing the recognition in his face, and getting a smile as reward. I don't even have to do anything but be there! And the greatest thing is that I am there, and he knows it. I hope he always knows it. I'm sure this is what it was like for Alison, Amanda's mom, when she adopted my little girl, and I'm so grateful I could give this feeling, this experience, to her. I thought I knew love when I had Amanda and placed her with her family, but now that I'm experiencing a different side to parenthood, I know a far deeper, unconditional love than I ever imagined possible. I'm so very happy.

I could go on and tell you how perfect the weather was for our outdoor luncheon afterward and rave about the dozens of wonderful family members that drove a long way to come support us, but instead I'll leave it as simply being one of the happiest days of my life. Here we are, back at the house. I see so much of Josh in him now. I just love it.

My eternal family

3 months!

During the last month, Grayson...

• Started sleeping anywhere from 7-9 hours straight through the night
• Grew to 13 pounds and 23.25 inches long
• Went on his first lunch date with me to Sweet Tomatoes!
  
• Watched the LDS church sustain our new prophet, Thomas S. Monson
• Met lots of Toquerville friends for the first time
• Attended all three church meetings, twice!
  
• Started pooping less but peeing more
• Helped me earn an A in my nutrition class
• Decides he prefers me singing U2 over church hymns
• Gave his newborn-sized and some 0-3 months clothes back to his newest cousin, Joseph
  
• Spent a couple of days out in the SUN!

Here's a picture of Grayson with our dreamy neighbors, Kit and Bill. We had them over for a thank-you dinner last Saturday night after they helped us in our yard. Grayson sure was taken with Kit while we all ate!

Hey Babe

Josh is training out in New Jersey all this week and told me he's been watching the last couple of Grayson videos over and over again every night because he misses him so much. So I'm posting this as his honorary second life.

My Mom wanted me to tell you "We saw your kid and you didn't, sucka!" when they drove up last-minute for the Jazz game Monday night.Of course, that's not 'exactly' what she said, but close enough. I'm sure she'll call me right away to protest when she reads that.

Nothing exciting happened yesterday, but today has been a riot. Occasionally when he eats, Grayson will fall off to take a breather - usually when he's concentrating on expelling gas. Well, during his first feeding today, he fell off as expected but what happened next was anything but ordinary. I heard something suspicious so checked him out, and oh my, lookit what I found!Yes, that is our baby's poop smeared out of the top of his diaper and up his back. Lucky for everyone reading, I didn't take any detailed pictures. This was his worst blowout to date, hands down. Somehow I managed to get Grayson's jammies off without creating too big of a mess and threw him in the bath. Unfortunately, he doesn't like to do anything but eat when he's hungry, so he did not have a good time getting cleaned up.Still feel like you're missing out?

Anyway, I got Grayson cleaned up, fed him and dressed him for the day. I purposefully put him in the blue outfit that you love because I knew I would write you your own blog entry tonight. After he was dressed, I asked Grayson if he wanted to take over your half of the bed while you're out of town. He thought that was a great idea and wasted no time settling in. Finally, I asked him if there was anything he wanted to tell you, darlin', and true to "H" form, he went on and on and on and... (Sorry if I ruined it by talking over him at times - I was just trying to encourage him!)

I know we just spoke on the phone, and I need to get this published so you can read it tonight before you go to bed, but I thought I'd let you know that I narrowly escaped rolling over the soybean that popped out of its shell while we were talking. Grayson is done eating, burped like a champ, and fell fast asleep on my chest. Just like it was yours.
I guess Grayson gets his double chin from me, eh? We love you and can't wait for you to come home!

For Grandma Candy

Now that I know how much Josh's mom enjoys these little videos, I'll try and upload more for her to enjoy. We take a lot of footage with our actual video camera, but neither of us has ever taken the time to figure out how to take the videos off of it. So I'll try and take extra videos with our digital camera instead.

When I woke up this morning, I heard my baby babbling on and on. I peeked into the bassinet to see what was going on, and he was wide awake, talking to no one in particular. I told him "Good Morning, dear" and got one of the biggest smiles I've seen to date. Naturally, I tried to recreate the moment. It turned out well, but his face mostly registers the "I'm trying to let go of some gas" look toward the end.

Awww...

My husband is so sweet, that when there are just two slices of bread left in the loaf, he'll eat the heel and leave me the last remaining 'normal' slice, even though he eats breakfast first in the morning.

I sure do love him.

And here is a video of our little Chunky Monkey, taken just this morning:

2 months!

Over the last month, Grayson...

• Started 'talking' and smiling!
• Grew to 10lbs, 12oz, and 22.5 inches long
  
• Started stretching after every nap and feeding (I really need to upload a video - it's hilarious)
• Earned the nicknames 'Chunky Monkey' and 'Stretch Armstrong'
• Decided he prefers his bouncer to his swing (sorry Mom)
• Finally started fitting into some of his 0-3 month clothes
• Began hiccuping less frequently
• Fell in love with Daddy singing to him
• Manifested his lactose sensitivity
• Began wearing his cloth diapers!
• Started sleeping 5 hours straight during the night
• Attended sacrament meeting regularly
  
• Celebrated his first Easter!

My baby is huge now. He has a double chin, dimpled elbows, fat wrists, and rolled thighs. He has gained an average of 1/2 pound per week. I'm beginning to think he got Josh's family's genes, and not mine. I guess we'll have to wait and see how he turns out. I haven't taken any pictures of him since March 23 (the shame!) so I'll take one today and post it for all of you to marvel at his massive growth.

New Parents' Guide to Babies

Tip Three: Even if you're not the emotional type, chances are you'll cry when you take your newborn in for his first vaccinations.

I started crying long before the imminent threat of shots was near - and that's not like me. I didn't cry when Josh proposed, when we got married, or when Grayson was born. I'm just not a crier. But put me in a room where my newfound love is unknowingly approaching a pain he's not yet felt, coupled with the fact that I'm the one enabling such a horrific experience, and my eyes turned into waterfalls. We got checked in yesterday, got Grayson weighed and measured, and sat waiting for the doctor to come in. My eyes started tearing up and the guilt I felt was almost overwhelming. I'm pretty sure my poor baby could tell something was wrong because he started fussing, making me even more emotional.

The pediatrician did his best to console me, but it wasn't until the nurse told me I had to 'be strong for Grayson' that I was able to pull it together and go through with it. Poor kid was just lying there, cooing at me while I held his arms down, when all of a sudden the nurse stuck a needle in his right thigh, his face registered shock then screwed up in pain, and he cried out. Actually, it was more of a wail, and he kept right on wailing through the second and the third shot. I felt terrible! Less than two minutes later he was totally fine, but I was still a wreck. Needless to say, he got an awful lot of attention from both Josh and I last night as we compensated for being such mean parents, and it seems Grayson has completely forgiven us. Thank goodness babies are so emotionally resilient. Too bad we don't stay that way.

Happy Easter!

For Grayson's first Easter, Don & Holly invited us to their house for Easter dinner and Easter Egg hunt with the Heaps. It was so much fun seeing them all and they were genuinely excited to finally meet Grayson. Even though he's too little to carry his Easter basket, Holly helped him find an egg just his size with three Cadbury mini-eggs inside! I couldn't believe they would band together and tease me like that! I'm so going to pay her back when she has another one.

Grayson's big find during the hunt!

My hilarious baby kept good watch over his Easter treasure. I think he knew I had my eye on the treats inside. It's easy to resist the big bags of eggs because they're not open, but if I could eat "just one" (or two or three), well, let's just say the temptation is almost too great to bear.

Uh, you're not taking my mini-eggs, lady. No way, no how.

Such a serious little guy

Six weeks and smilin'!

Grayson smiles for us all the time now and has for the last two weeks or so - a huge reward for my sleep deprivation and insanely sore upper back. Seriously, I spend so much time bending over this kid, either feeding or changing him, that I feel like I look like those older ladies with osteoporosis that do ads warning young girls to up their calcium intake. Carrying around these unnaturally large breasts doesn't help, either.

Anyway, I've had a hard time capturing a pic of these smiles. I'll get him cooing and smiling at me, but as soon as I pull out the camera, he gets totally distracted and won't look at me anymore. Even if I hold the camera below my face so he can still see me, he won't stop staring at it instead of me. So today I tricked him into smiling for the camera by hiding it way back behind and above my head. It took a few tries for me to get the angle just right, but this is what I finally got:

The coy half-grin he freely gives Almost got it...
There it is!

Oh my, this baby is getting so big! Even though he was so little when he was born, I don't think God intended for him to stay that way. He eats at least every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours throughout the night, and leaves me plenty of dirty diapers as a 'Thanks, Mom.' But I don't mind, except that it takes me forever to stay caught up on housework and homework, so the blog and email get neglected! He's started chunking out a bit in his face and thighs, but his arms are still super skinny. We're pretty sure he weighs over nine pounds now, based on our very simple method of weighing me and then weighing me plus a naked Grayson and subtracting my original weight. I can't wait to get official stats at his 2-month checkup next week. I think the doctor is going to be so happy with his growth. Yay!

Grayson's Big Debut

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Saddy-head Grayson because we didn't put him in green.

Today marked Grayson's first real encounter with the outside world. One of my dearest friends, Alina aka: The Princess, got married at Red Butte Garden this morning. Sure, we've taken Grayson over to family's house before, but nothing like this little adventure. So far from home. All dressed up for the occasion. Needing to be on his best behavior. The pressure was really on and our little baby handled it with class! Grayson cooed at all the right moments, didn't get hungry until after the ceremony was over, napped while we ate, and obediently let complete strangers occupy our time while they made silly faces at him and raved about how adorable he is.

I think Grayson inadvertently stole some of Alina's thunder, but she didn't seem to mind, other than her mom couldn't get enough of him. I think the pressure's on for her and Chris to start producing grandkids, and quickly!

The Princess and Sassy Paige

Our little familyRefusing to smile

Week in Review

Last Sunday, Lacie came over for dinner and we had a fabulous time catching up. I don't get to see her as often as I used to since Grayson was born. I owe her an awful lot of visits and lunches when I start taking him out of the house.

Paige, Lacie, Grayson

On March 12, Jed came all the way from New York to visit! He is such a natural with kids, so I shouldn't have been surprised when he lovingly held a sleepy Grayson for over an hour while we played Treasure Hunt with Lily and ate a grilled cheese sandwich and peach for lunch. It was so great seeing him again, but I'm disappointed I didn't get to meet Chris while he was here.

Jed, Lily, Grayson

On March 13, we all went over to IMC to welcome the newest member on Josh's side of the family. Gabriella was born on March 11, but we waited a few days to visit so that Grayson would be bigger than she is. Even though he's six weeks older, they're both about 8 1/2 pounds in this photo. But he definitely doesn't look like a newborn anymore. He's changing so much!

Grayson & Gabriella

Just relaxin' with Grandpa Keith

On March 16, Grayson attended his first sacrament meeting and Josh took him home afterward so I could teach my Primary class. Grayson really seemed to enjoy the song Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King. He loves it when Josh sings to him, but prefers actual singing with words to just humming a tune, so we've begun memorizing the words so we can sing it to him at night when he's fussy. What a lucky baby!