January 2013

  

January was again a very busy month for us!    Lots of new things going on here. Above was one of my attempts to take a picture of Grayson and I.  You'll see this little turd will not even humor me for one shot!  This was the best of the 4,562,421 that I took.

 Grayson has started using a fork when he eats.  He got the hang of it immediately.  I spear the food for him and he picks it up or takes it out of my hand, eats, and then hands it back to me.   We are still doing great with eating!  I am no longer making him a separate meal.  He is eating whatever I make for Adam and I. :)  This is one happy Mommy!  We were eating on the run or in front of the TV. I know I know, but I am trying to prioritize my expectations! For now I am thrilled he is eating.  After our therapy session on Thursday, we have set up his picnic table in the dining room and we are working on eating lunch and dinner in there.  Will keep you posted on our progress.

 

He still loves to play with balloons.   I get one at the Dollar Store each month.  Best buck I spend all month.

 We are starting to do some more "demand" play with Grayson.  At different points during the day we play with toys that I choose for him.   This was a great puzzle I found at an antique shop in Amelia Island.  It has  farm animals.  When you put the piece back on, it makes the corresponding sound of that animal.

 We also recently bought a kitchen for Grayson.  Right now he is enjoying opening and closing the doors and pushing the buttons.  We hope he will whip up breakfast for us really soon!

 Acting like any other man.....reading while he does his business.

 He LOVES this toy our neighbor got him for Hanukkah.  It is a fishing pole with a magnet at the end.   Each sea creature has a magnet on it.  We play with this MANY times a day. :)

 Look Mom, I caught one!

 We had a great visit with Nonny and Great Grandma JoJo this past week.  "They give me food.  They are good in my book."  We went for walks, played with toys, and read books.

 Nonny is feeding Grayson his lunch here.  Eating fruit off his fork!

 Playing pop up toy with Nonny!

 Grayson has definitely made the connection between the Dinosaur Train tv show, his book, and the figurines.  When the show was on he got his picture card for the figures.  He plays with them while watching them on TV.

 Feed me!  I will sit up on the couch and man the remote.  What loyal servants he has.

 Here is a picture of our toy picture cards.  I switch them out and change their order every few days just to keep him on his toes.  He has to pick the toy he wants and bring it to someone so they get it for him.  Daddy built another piece of great carpentry to house all of his toys.  We get the toy, show him the picture, and say one word to link the two together.  His therapists said that this is requiring him to request instead of just going to get it himself.  It also clears up the room so it is less overstimulating.  He is doing great with these cards.   We have just started to try some "people" picture cards. He doesnt seem to understand that nearly as well yet, but we will stick with it!

A tribute to our "bunny" Layla

 Layla is the sweetest dog to ever walk the Earth.  She was the most docile, kind, friendly, well trained, easy going girl.    To Adam and I, she was our first "baby." It is extremely hard to say goodbye to someone that has been such a big part of our lives.  We will hold all of her memories with us always. She has brought us many times of laughter and she always seemed to sense when we needed an extra snuggle.

 This is a collection of pictures, in no particular order, of our best girl Layla over the past few years.  We are hopeful that we will see her again and she will be running towards us with her little nub wagging.  We will miss her everyday. We are thankful that we had her in our lives but even more grateful that we got to be a part of hers.  We love you forever sweet girl, you will never be forgotten.

RIP Layla  4/24/2002-1/16/2013

End of December happenings

 Lots going on....again!  One of Grayson's babysitters took the above picture.  I could not resist sharing it.  What a punim!!

  Poppi Elliot and Bibby Sue came to visit last weekend.   We had a great time!  Poppi started playing a game where he pretended that he didn't see Grayson and when he did he, would chase him.   Grayson was a little unsure at first, but he got the hang of it, and would go right up and grab his leg to let him know he was ready!  Here in photo 1 is Grayson looking up "Let's go!"

 Photo 2:  Ahhhhh he's gonna get me!  He would run into Daddy's awaiting outstretched arms hysterically laughing.

 Bibby was very good at taking G's non verbal demands.   She blew bubbles for him to pop.

 She raked the driveway for him.   He runs a pretty tight ship.

 1, 2, 3  Weeeeeee! :)

 Grayson loves going for walks, without his stroller, in our neighborhood.  He is getting really good at knowing, when he comes to a curb or the end of our driveway, that he needs a hand to walk across the street.  We will now walk one loop in our neighborhood at least once each day.   It is almost a half of a mile.  I think he might be training for a marathon.  We always make a pit stop at the pond to see the geese or ducks.  He gets so excited when he sees them.

 Per Mommy's request, Daddy built Grayson this beautiful bookshelf!   It displays books so that he can see them all and choose which one he wants to read.  We haven't exactly mastered how to put them away, but we will get there!

 We still LOVE watermelon.  Thank goodness that Publix still carries it, even though we are in winter (today was 68 degrees, I know brrrrr.)  He has started to like to bite it right off the rind once it gets close enough to the end.   He thinks he is such a big kid.
 We are making huge strides with our eating.  This past weekend we have expanded his repertoire.  He was only eating: muffins, pretzels and hummus/peanut butter, yogurt, banana, watermelon.
 He is back to eating like he did 7 months ago.  Over the last 5 days he has had:  bagel with cream cheese, eggs, meatballs, hamburgers, ham/cheese/spinach grilled sandwich, grapes, cucumber (not a big fan),  and grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.  He will eat these meals if he is out of his highchair and on the run, which obviously is not ideal, but we are choosing our battles.  He is getting the nutrition that he needs...we will work on the location later. :)

 Watermelon rises above all others!

 We had a very warm Christmas in Jacksonville.  We spent most of the day playing outside.  He likes to go to the end of the driveway and throw these balls into the street.  Then, Mom or Dad have to get them and throw them back into the driveway. Adam was getting some yardwork done, so I shifted the rules a bit.  We were throwing the balls in and out of the baby pool.  Lasted for longer than I thought it would!

 Grayson is getting more and more open to trying new things.  Grammie and I had gotten this trike for $3 at a garage sale.  It has been sitting in our garage for a year.  He is still too small for it, but he really liked being pushed around the driveway.   He even learned how to put his feet on, but after we would pedal for a bit, his foot would fall off.  Poor vertically challenged guy.

 Grayson is pitching in more and more around the house. ;)   He has always loved the vacuum, but now he likes to "help."  He pushes it around for me.

 When we are finished he knows that we wrap the cord around and the plug secures it all.  He always grabs the plug and sticks it on the vacuum.

 Starting him young!  He says"  Mowing the lawn is awesome!"

This will probably be our last blog of the year!  Happy New Year! See you in 2013!!!