Grayson is on the move!

We are so excited to announce that Grayson FINALLY started to crawl! It all happened January 26th. He went up into a yoga pose "downward dog" and the rest is history! He is really good at crawling on his knees, but sometimes he gets lazy and moves a few times and then slumps down with his belly on the floor and does the worm. His favorite things to crawl for are the TV remote and to crawl towards his radio where his favorite CD plays. We think he is really excited to see something he wants and actually be able to go get it. It was a very exciting day in our lives and our next task at hand is baby-proofing. Be sure to catch the video of him showing his crawling skills at the bottom. They get better and better every day!

In an effort to save a few bucks, we decided to do our own photos for Grayson's 9 month shoot. We think it turned out pretty good, but how can you take a bad picture with such a gorgeous model? We used our picturesque entrance into our development as a background.

We went to the doctor today and Grayson weighed in at 20 lbs and 12 ounces. We think he probably weighed more, but his nose has been really stuffy lately so he hasn't been eating as much. Doctor told us that this runny nose that has been around for over a month goes along with teething and will probably stick around for the duration of the time he is getting new teeth. Oh, joy. What fun. The good news is, that Grayson doesn't mind it too much, that is until you go near him with a tissue or "boogie wipe." Then all hell breaks loose! We see two teeth on the top that are very close to popping through. We hope they come any day now. He is up to 28 inches in length. According to percentiles he is still in the 50th percentile for weight, and just below for height. He is already starting to slip down in the height ranks. Big surprise there.

We also learned that Grayson is a master manipulator. He has started screaming crying when he is laid down on the changing table. Evidently that is his way of saying, "No mommy I do not mind sitting in my own pee or poop, I want to keep playing with that toy you just took me away from." He is used to crying or whining and getting his own way. Not any more. Daddy and Mommy are making a huge effort to ignore the crying and not feed into it. We are hoping this is similar to the "cry it out" method that worked so well for us for bedtime. We know he is perfectly healthy, has no ear infection, so let's see who wins this war.

In this blog are our "favorites" from our 9 month photo shoot. Enjoy!

9 Months old

Grayson is doing great! He is getting bigger and bigger every day. At 9 months old the doctor said we could start giving him some table food. He eats everything! He will not turn anything down. He has had BBQ ribs, chicken, garlic bread and marinara sauce, avocado, bread, waffles, just to name a few. He has eaten meatloaf and meatballs also. But to go along with an earlier blog, evidently they were not as delicious as the other meats.

He is still eating a fruit with oatmeal for breakfast, a veggie for lunch, and now a meat/veggie mixture for dinner. We also make sure we eat dinner at the same time so he can get scraps of whatever we are eating. He has some snacks after each meal also. After breakfast he gets yogurt melts and cheerios. After lunch he gets kale/spinach/collard greens puffs or sweet potato puffs (they taste like air). After dinner he gets any of the above mentioned snacks as well as some "mild cheddar crunchies" AKA cheetos. We put them on his tray and he is awesome at picking them up with his pincer grip.

We now have five teeth. The second one of the top came in right after the first one. So far he has been a great teether. Such a good teether, that we didn't even realize that tooth number 5 came in to the right of the bottom two until our friend Daphne pointed it out to us. :)

We did get sick again this month. We had about a 2 week rest and then right back with the same runny nose and cough. This time wasn't nearly as bad as last so we still had our happy boy. Now that we are thinking about it, it might have just been his teething.

We are still going to MyGym every Wednesday which he adores, for the most part. :) Still working on getting some pictures of that.

Our routine for the day:

6:30-6:45-Wake up and get first bottle

8:00- Eat breakfast

9:00- First nap (naps are getting better and better lasting from between 1-2 hours now)

11:00- Bottle

1:00- Lunch

2:00- Nap

3:15-3:30/whenever he wakes up- Bottle

5:00- Dinner

6:45- Books, bath, bottle, bed

You could set your watches by this kid. I can tell exactly what time it is depending on whether he is fussing and rubbing his eyes or crying because he is hungry.

He was up to drinking about 7.5 ounces at a time until he got sick and couldn't take that much at a time due to a stuffy nose. We are slowly but surely getting him back up there.

He is still a giggly, fun boy! He is super ticklish and has continued to make his scrunchy face when he is really excited. Another thing he is doing is flapping his arms like a little bird. It is when he is sad, mad, happy, excited. We can't quite figure out why he started doing that, but for now he is our little birdie. :)

We have had a very mild winter here in Jacksonville. There have been only a few cold days where we have had to bundle him up to go on one of our many daily walks.

Here we are snuggling and watching what else, Miss Spider! Still does his "chilling" position any chance he gets!
The scrunchy face is still in full effect! He does it all the time.
Yesterday Mommy ran with her friend Daphne in their first race, a 5 mile run. Daddy and Grayson were waiting at the finish line with this sign. What a great cheerleader!
A photo op at MyGym with Cooper.
Here is Grayson sporting his mohawk. His hair on the top is getting longer and longer and it has started to stick straight up.
I know there is snot dripping down his face in this one, but I couldnt resist posting. What a cutie!
This was after Grayson went to his first friend's birthday party. It was a Sesame Street theme and we got a cool Cookie Monster goody bag. Happy Birthday Connor!
Mommy's friend Tracey was in town for work so she came over and we hung out and went out to lunch. He was flirting with her, of course.
Mommy met a really nice girl at the park and she gave us this cool car for free! I love driving around in it honking the horn.
On our last trip to Publix I got a balloon. I love them! I am also showing off one of my favorite snacks, yogurt melts. Mom let me hold them. She is so nice.

Laugh

Laugh #2 (I know it is dark, but hard to resist posting this one)

Genius

8 months old

Here he is.....our smiling 8 month old boy! Not much to report on this blog, but figured I would post our monthly birthday. We do have our third tooth. It is the top, right one. The fourth one should be on its way shortly, we are told. We are doing tummy time more and more and hoping that we get closer to crawling. He is getting much better at it and will actually play on his stomach now instead of whining to be flipped over. The doctor also called him a "toe stander" because when he stands up and plays, he does so on his tippy toes. Grayson would probably beat anyone in a "calf contest."

Along with being 8 months old, we have our first illness. I guess we can't complain, it has been a good run. A nasty cold with a horrible cough. It is so painfully sad to see our sweet, happy baby wince and cry every time he coughs. Hoping we are at the tail end of it as it has been almost a week of this mess. The doctor also told us to start vitamins so we are doing that daily now also. When we went to the doctor to get him checked out, he weighed in at 19 lbs and 14 oz. Our New Years planned trip to Atlanta was cancelled due to a sick baby. Hopefully we will get up there before Grayson is 18 years old!

Below is another prized photo of the "scrunchy face." We are beginning to like these more than the regular smile ones. :)

McGahee visit/Hanukkah 2011

Early this week we had some visitors from Cleveland, Ohio! Aunt Jennie, Uncle Bill, James, and doggie Buster came to visit on their road trip to south Florida. We had a great time. We went to the zoo and celebrated the boys' first Hanukkah.
Look how sweet....James has his hand on Grayson's shoulder. He was giving Grayson sweet kisses while he was here too.
Two cousins in the tub! Best shot I could get.
Here are the boys on the carousel. James loved it! Grayson wasn't too sure about it this time around.
Here are our baby monkeys with the gorilla statue at the zoo.
This is the only way James would come to either of us. Had to bribe him with a Cheeto.
Grayson is enthralled by the lighting of the menorah. James....not so much.
"Quit taking pictures Mom, let's open some presents!"
James didn't like the menorah lighting, but he did like the presents! Both boys liked all of their gifts! Thanks to our family and friends for thinking of our boys during the holiday season.

Holiday Happenings

Happy Holidays! Grayson was again, a great sport for Mommy's themed photo shoot.

We are getting closer to crawling everyday. He is really good at pushing his belly up now, and rocking, but it is hard for him to stay in that position for long. His thighs, due to the heavy weight they bear, tend to give out and slide to the sides before he can go anywhere. When he does keep them tucked in, he is a champ at moving backwards! Too bad the toys that he wants are in front of him which leads to a very frustrated boy!

We have tried chicken, turkey, beef, and macaroni and cheese baby food. He loved chicken, turkey, and mac and cheese and didnt really love the beef. I can tell this due to the lack of Mmmmm noises while he ate.

We are still having issues getting him to take 2 good naps a day, but he is a good sleeper at night. He is generally asleep by 730 and sleeps until 6 or later.

Not a whole lot going on around here, but here are some updated photos!
Mommy made this headpiece because shockingly she couldnt find anything like it in Jacksonville. We didnt get too many pictures of it though, Grayson seems to think it is a game when things are put on his head. The goal is to get it off as quick as possible. He wins every time!
The picture posted above and below are along the same lines. Grayson has now started to scrunch his face when he gets really excited or happy about something. Most of the pictures we get look like this. :)
The weather here in Jacksonville can't seem to make up its mind. We had a beautiful cool day in the upper 50s today. We spent most of it outdoors and had fun playing the backyard. Here are some shots with Mommy and Daddy.

A few weekends ago we went to an ugly sweater party that our friends Daphne, Casey, and Cooper had. The picture below is a staring contest between Grayson and Cooper.
PS. Grayson lost the contest when he realized there was a fan whirling above his head.
Our cutie pie in his "ugly" sweater vest.
Family photo of all of us in our ugly gear. This was at the end of the night and our little lamb was past ready to go home.
My generous friend Kelly L. has two kids that are outgrowing some of their clothes and toys. Enter Grayson. She has given us great stuff for him to use! These are two toys that he isnt ready for yet, but he had to give them a whirl. Check out the huge grins!

7 months old/Thanksgiving

I can hardly believe we are already 7 months old! He is getting so big! He is a pleasure to be around. He is full of smiles and laughter. His sleeping has gotten so much better at night, we are going to bed by 7:30 and have just started waking up between 6:45 and 7. It has only been two nights like that, but we are hopeful that it will continue!

In our last post he had gotten his first tooth. His second arrived about 2 days later. They are definitely visible now! He still looks super cute, even without his full gummy smile. :)

We now get a bath every night. It is part of our bedtime routine. Last night was the first night where we had him sitting up. We gave him toys to play with and he had a great time. We will have to get some pictures of that for our next blog.

We started going to My Gym with our friend Cooper. We get to do such cool stuff there! We swing on monkey bars, jump, use the trampoline, work on balance, and fine motor skills. I will post some pictures of that next time too. I think we will both meet good friends there. The moms and the babies there are so friendly.

Still no progress on the crawling front, but he is a great stander. He can pull himself up from my lap to a standing position, while using his stand up play toy. He thinks it's a game and he will do it and then fall back into my lap. I am hoping he never does this fall back game when nobody is behind him. He is back to his screaming phase and does it a lot when he is happy or excited.

He is a great eater. He now eats a fruit for breakfast, veggie for lunch, and 1/2 veggie for dinner. When he turns 8 months old we get to try some meats and start giving him table food. We are very excited to see how he handles that!

This Thanksgiving we spent in Hollywood beach with the Anker clan. We had a great time seeing all kinds of relatives and friends. Grayson even got to eat sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green bean casserole. He did great with it all!

Our little boy is definitely going to be a reader. He loves being read to and his attention is totally and entirely in the book that is being read to him. He is learning how to turn the pages and always closes the book when we say "The end!"