Grayson's 6 Month Update

Here is our 6 month old boy! :)

I must admit, I cried and cried the night before Grayson turned 6 months old. How is it that my baby boy is not really a newborn anymore??!! It's absolutely cruel how fast this all happens - even when you are expecting it!

Grayson continues to grow beautifully. His personality is wonderful - he's so laid back and go-with-the-flow, but also a CUTE-LITTLE-STINKERBUG-FLIRTY-PANTS! ;) Anyway, he smiles a LOT, although sometimes he will just look at someone and burst into (real) tears - which is really cute and funny because it's SO heartbreaking-ly adorable. He's impossible not to love, really. I have the easy job!

Developmentally Grayson is doing well. At his 6 month checkup he weighed in at 19.5 pounds, and is 27.25 inches long. Both of these are in the 80th percentile for his age group. He isn't rolling from back to front yet, but the doctor said that larger babies can have trouble with that. He's pretty close, as seen in the above photo. :) (Side note: I love that picture. It just sums up Gray's personality so well!) He plays for long stretches on his belly or back on the floor, and also loves his Exersaucer. He's recently learned to jump, and that is his FAVORITE activity!! :) He can also sit pretty well for his age. I have just recently started putting him on the floor with a boppy around him - but I stay close because he loves to dive headfirst into the ground chasing after his toys! He also has his tongue out all. the. time. Just like his daddy!

As far as eating goes, well Grayson loves it! :) We are in the process of weaning off of breastfeeding, which has been harder on me than him. He's also eating baby food of all kinds, rice cereal, oatmeal, puffs, cheerios, and bananas. This month he really started to enjoy food and open his mouth to expect the spoon. His first time eating a banana he did great! Hardly any choking. When he ate puffs for the first time, he did well but did choke a few times. It didn't take him very long to get the hang of things though - he hardly chokes anymore. This morning for breakfast we nursed, and then he had 2 Tbsp. of rice cereal with fruit, a quarter of a banana, and about 15 Cheerios. So he's a good eater!

Grayson spent a LOT of time outside this month! He likes to go for walks in the stroller and I took him on his first trailer ride on the bike. He also played outside on a blanket, in the grass, and in his pop-a-tot. Occasionally I will carry him around in the Moby wrap. He likes to feel grass on his feet and hardly ever wears shoes or socks. He kicks them off!! He spends a lot of time when he's outside watching his sister and the other kids - you can tell he wants to run around with them! We also spent a little time swinging on the swings, and I put Nora's old Jenny-Jump-Up on our swing set for Gray to jump in. He will probably like it a lot when he figures it out. ;)

This month we are having some work done on our basement, which required us to put everything down there into the guest room or the center of the basement. It was great for the kids because it created this "track" for them to play on indoors! On rainy days Grayson is learning to use his walker down there while Nora learns to ride her big girl bike. It's been a lot of fun!!

That's about it for now. Gray remains a joy to have in our lives! Until next time . . .

Spring - Lots of Firsts!

Yikes!! Spring sure is flying by. A lot has been going on here - let's see if I can remember it all:

This is our kids at the local Easter Egg Hunt with the bunny. Gray didn't participate in the hunt of course, but Nora had a good time. The poor girl always hunts eggs and ends up with almost nothing but chocolate (which she doesn't like). But she still had a ton of fun and ate all the Tootsie Rolls in her eggs. ;)

Nora and I took Gray swimming for the first time a few weeks ago. This rec center that we were at is great for first timers: it has a zero-entry pool that is a good temperature. We took Gray on his fifth-month "birthday". Nora hated baths, and the first time I took her to this pool she cried and cried. Grayson loves his baths, and the first time he went to the pool he had a GREAT time. I thought he was going to cry at first, but he ended up liking it. Yay!!

Nora had some weird sickness last week that left her with a low-grade fever and a nauseated belly. This is her "feeling better" face. ;)

Even though she didn't feel one-hundred-percent just yet, she still wanted to go to her first soccer game. The above photo is her pre-tears. :) She ended up crying about "not getting a turn to kick the ball" but after one of the coaches set her up to score a goal, and she got her after-game popsicle, all was well. ;) The poor kid - we tell her to share all the time, so she doesn't really get that in soccer you can go take the ball away from other kids!

The weather around here has been great for the past few days, so we have been spending a lot of time outside. Grayson loves to be outside and put his feet in the grass. Nora has been playing with new spring toys - the above photo is of her doing her ring toss. ;) We also took our first family bike ride yesterday - a super short one, just to try it out and see how everyone would do. It has been gorgeous lately!!

And then of course today is opening day! We all have our Cardinals gear on. Nora gets to go to a game this weekend, so that will be fun for her. It's only her second game ever!

So that's what we have been up to lately. Until next time . . .

Gray's 5 Month Update

Gray is 5 months old! Hooray!

I had to show you a photo of his hair. It's falling out in odd places, and it's so funny and cute! If he's anything like his sister, that will change by the time he's 9 months or so, but for now it's the first thing everyone comments on. ;)

Gray is doing very well. He's still growing like a weed and this past month most of his 6 month clothes became too small. He now wears only some of his 6-9 month clothes, all of his 9 month clothes, and size 3 diapers. What a growing boy! I have no idea how much he weighs since we didn't go to the doctor this month, but I am guessing 18-19 pounds at least.

This month his PERSONALITY is showing through! He loves to talk and SMILE all. the. time!! He chews constantly on his toys and hands (but no teeth yet). I think he chews often to get a feel for textures that he likes. He's a really go-with-the-flow kind of kid who rarely gets riled. This past month he started to have a little stranger anxiety, but it seems to have mostly gone away already. He does like to smile and talk at people and then bury his face into mommy and act shy.

He consistently is taking three naps per day. Usually the first is really short, followed by a long 3-hour nap around lunch, and another short one at the end of the day. It's odd, but it works for him! ;) He also sleeps about 11 hours each night, straight through. He truly is an excellent night-sleeper. I haven't had to get up with him at all this month at night (*knock on wood*). Sometimes his nap schedule gets messed up, and he just goes with it - he's not one I have to worry about being RIGHT on schedule every day. That's been REALLY nice!

He continues to explore baby food this month. He is not a fan of vegetables, just like his sister. He loves pears, apples, and bananas - just like his sister! In fact, so far they both hate peaches and carrots too. *sigh* What is it like to not live with picky eaters?? Anyway, he eats a lot and will at least try anything once. He eats three times per day already, and nurses 4-5 times per day (usually just 4). He takes 6-8 ounces every time he has a bottle!! WHOA! He's also eating much faster. This next month we are going to start weaning him from the breast . . . I think. ;) I go back and forth about it. I'm not entirely ready to give it up since Grayson loves to breastfeed and I am not in a hurry to stop. So we'll see. I may wait until May. Who knows!! Right now he's so darn flexible and will take a bottle of formula or a bottle of breastmilk or breastfeed with no issues. He truly is an easy-peasy child to get along with. ;)

He loves to play on the floor and has been spending more time on his belly. He rolls easily from front to back, but isn't really interested in rolling from back to front (although he has almost done it several times.) He likes to be on his side, and moves himself at 90 degree angles on both his front and back. He's such an easy-going kid - he will play by himself on the floor for a half hour, or sit in his exersaucer and talk to me while I make dinner. He also still likes his baby rockers, so I put him in there at least once per day. When we play together he likes to lay on his side and I will lay on my side and we will "talk" to each other, or I will hold him while he practices sitting up. He recently launched a toy halfway across my living room, not for the last time I am sure! He can do baby push-ups, and is learning raspberries too. He is ticklish EVERYWHERE and it's sooo very cute - he loves to be tickled! Also he loves to kick his socks off, and he spends a great deal of his time everyday making sure they are both off. ;)

That's about it I think! He's just getting so big. Why do kids grow so darn fast?? ;)

Until next time . . .

Gray's Four Month Update

I'm Grayson and I'm four months old! Woo hoo!

Gray remains a joy to be around, for sure. He still loves to talk (and sometimes YELL). He gets over setbacks really quickly, which is really nice and totally unexpected after having Nora. ;) He's patient and goes-with-the-flow really easily, but still has a temper when he gets mad. He's a very good little boy.

He started cereal this week and OHMYGOODNESSWASsoREADY!! He doesn't love it, but is doing pretty well nonetheless. His first cereal he swallowed right away, so that shocked us! He's always been a very good eater, and this month is no exception. He started to suck on his fingers and thumb a lot more recently, but he doesn't need to do that in order to fall asleep so that's good. He still sleeps great through the night, and he was sleeping really well during the day as well until recently when he became ready for cereal. We will see if adding the cereal helps him go back to sleeping well. He was sleeping 45 minutes in the morning, 2.5-3 hours in the afternoon, and 30-40 minutes each evening this past month and that worked for him really well.

This month Gray started rolling from side-to-side and has almost rolled from back-to-front a few times. He still loves to stand up best of all, but will sometimes sit and play as well. He plays a lot on the floor on his back or his belly (although he just went though a period where he would NOT play on his belly for about three weeks because it would cause him to throw up a lot.) He also spends about 15 minutes or so at a time in his exersaucer, and 20-30 minutes in the baby rocker. His favorite thing is to have someone hold him while he stands and tries to jump. He's even taken a step here and there! He's very steady on his feet now.

Gray's 4-month doctor appointment went well. He's 26.75 inches and weighs a whopping 17 pounds, 1 ounce! She said he is as developed as an average 6 month old, so that's great. She said he was very strong and friendly. :) (I agree!) His only concerns this month were his eczema and acid reflux. Hopefully he won't need a prescription for either because the eczema responds well to hydro-cortisone, and cereal should help with his reflux. He got two shots today and an oral vaccine. He screamed for the last shot, but smiled at the nurse through his tears. What a trooper!

Here are a few more pics of Gray from recently:

He's truly a blessing. :) Until next time! . . .

Nora's Three and a Half!

Well, I thought I would update you all on how Nora is doing!! Now that she's older, updating every 6 months seemed like a good idea 6 months ago. Then I realized today what all I have to say about her and OI!! I should have updated sooner I think. ;)

Nora remains a beautiful, smart little girl. She is truly a bright light on a dark day. He smile and giggles are contagious. At three-and-a-half she talks well, sings, acts goofy, can write her name and others' names, can dance, loves school, loves trains and dolls, loves art, and is perfectly content not ever wearing a dress - unless she gets a "beautiful" one that she can twirl in. ;) She totally rocks!

Not long after my last update, Nora read her first book! She and I had been working hard on "Hooked on Phonics", and she learned the "-at" word family and some sight words. We are not working on HOP currently since Gray came along, but we still do some sight words here and there, and workbook pages out of a workbook. She is also going to Pre-K, and she LOVES it! We love it too. :) Her teacher is great, and Nora tells us daily about her friends at school. We are very happy with her progress.

This is Nora at her first movie in a theater, Finding Nemo 3D. She enjoyed the movie until the popcorn was gone. ;) Her favorite movie right now is "The Lorax", and she also likes to watch Thomas the Train, Veggie Tales, and Dora movies. A few weeks ago she was sick and she watched "Dora's Royal Adventure" twice a day, every day. ;)

One neat thing about Nora lately is that she is really into Legos. This is a photo of her playing with her daddy's old Legos in our basement. She also has a lot of her own Lego City sets, and also some "Duplo" type blocks that she plays with often. Nora's teacher had told us that Nora plays often in block area at school, and that she could see Nora growing up to be a little "engineer". We can see it too!

Nora loves to draw, write, and color. LOVES IT! She's so creative with her drawings, and loves to use stickers to enhance them. She draws and colors so much everyday that the clips on our fridge are OVER FULL with her art! It's just so wonderful to have her randomly produce a picture of daddy or a little piece of paper with "mom" on it. ;) Her drawings and writings are so unique and creative, just like her. ;)

Now that Gray is here, Nora and mommy will go on little "outings" together every so often. Sometimes it's just to the grocery store, but sometimes it's dinner and pedicures. It feels like just yesterday that we did this stuff all the time, but with Grayson here and Nora in school we have to make time for special dates like this now! The second photo is us at a Pre-K event at the library, on a another mommy-daughter "outing". I am thankful that her Pre-K does things like this so that we have the opportunity to do things like this together.

Nora has become a slight drama-queen as she has gotten older. When she gets sick, this is especially true! These photos are of her "waiting for the fro-ups" and acting goofy while recovering from RSV. She also truly believes that going to the doctor makes you feel better instantly. ;) When Grayson was in the hospital, Nora threw up in the backseat of Nana's car, so now every time she gets sick she tells people about that. Drama!

Like any three year old, Nora never misses a chance to show-off for mom and dad. These are all photos that Nora insisted I take - one of her in her "new apple vest", one of her dressed as a butterfly, and one of her with her trains. She also likes it when I take videos of her and then play them back for her. I got some PRECIOUS videos of her not too long ago, and they still make me laugh no matter how many times I watch them! For one she said: "Mom, I just want one of me opening and closing my mouth." And that's exactly what she did in the video! - Just stood there, opening and closing her mouth!! It was so funny and cute, just like her.

This year we got a lot of snow, and Nora got to go sledding for the first time with her daddy. We are fortunate that we live right next to one of the best sledding places ever - and Nora had so much fun! At the very end she slid into a bush and got a little thorn in her hand, but up until then, daddy says "she had a great time!" She and daddy also like to build snowmen together outside - well, they are really more like snow "mounds" with eyes, nose, mouths, and hats. ;)

Nora continues to be a very kind and caring big sister. She loves to talk to Gray, "read" him books, bounce him in his bouncer, put his diapers away in the diaper pail, and dress him up! I think when he gets older he won't appreciate that last part, but right now he just thinks she's the coolest thing EVER. He desperately wants to go chasing after her already, so I think I will have my hands full with them very soon! ;)

And - that's Nora in a (very BIG) nutshell! She is just such a blessing. She's independent, strong-willed (OK, stubborn!), sweet, and a very good friend. We love her and are very proud of our little girl!

Until next time . . .

A Very Thomas (and Percy!) Valentine's Day

Nora got her ears pierced right before Christmas. She did very well considering it probably hurt a LOT! So for Valentine's Day I had told her she could have new earrings. When I asked he what kind she wanted, her response was:

"I want a Thomas the train for this ear and a Percy for this ear, because they're best friends!"

While that was a totally cute response, I wasn't stoked about trying to locate these items. The best I could find was someone on EBay was selling enameled images of both trains out of Hong Kong. Thomas the Train items aren't notoriously very feminine to begin with. (Side Note: I want to write to the company about this. Anyone have a suggestion for how to word the letter? I noticed that recently a little girl got Easy Bake Oven to make a more gender-friendly toy, why not Thomas the Train?)

Anyway, the idea was to make these earrings using earring backs, super glue, and printable Shrinky Dinks paper. It took awhile, but I was eventually able to come up with these:

They turned out a little big for Nora's little ears, but I think they will work out just fine. I am hoping they are durable enough!! I am waiting a few more weeks before I let her wear them because I want to be sure the glue I used won't irritate her hopefully-healed-up little ears in any way.

Her response was a huge smile, with eyes lit up with excitement. It took me a few days to create these earrings, but with that reaction they were TOTALLY WORTH the effort. :)

Until next time . . .

Grayson's Three Month Update

Well, baby Gray had a pretty great month! Now he's three months old!

Grayson's been amazing this month. He's shown us more of his personality: that he's this happy, smiley kid who loves to be cuddled, but can be independent and has a temper too. He plays by himself on the floor and watches Nora (and the TV) very carefully and is just smiling and so alert the whole time. He also splashes by kicking both his legs when he is in the bath tub. He LOVES voices and faces, and will talk to you in happy baby talk. He's a great eater and recently became an EXCELLENT sleeper who sleeps between 10-11 hours every night straight through! (Sometimes he wakes up for a half hour or so, but he no longer requires me to nurse him before he goes back to sleep, so YEAH!) He takes three naps per day now, and practically none of them in his crib although he always sleeps in there at night. ;) He continues to (demand to) eat well and is GROWING A LOT. He got sick this week so I had to take him to the doctor and he's already over 15 pounds! Whoa baby!

Physically, Gray dominates. He was the size and strength of at least a 4 month old at only two months, and is currently wearing some 6-month size clothes. He ROLLED OVER from front to back at ten weeks old! I kid you not - it shocked the heck out of us. He can roll from side to side a little, and bear weight on his legs for a LONG time. He also continues to mostly enjoy tummy time and he just holds his head right up for most of it. He's so alert and strong for his age. When he got his two month shots, the nurse was so surprised at how strong he is and how hard it was to hold his legs. He's also grasping at toys now and he LOVES to look in mirrors at himself. He also loves to chew on his hands a lot - in fact, he MAY turn out to be a thumb-sucker. (I am trying to avoid that by continuously giving him a binky, but he likes what he likes and in the middle of the night, well . . . )

Playtime with Gray and Nora has gotten much more interesting. Grayson LOVES playing with his taggie blanket, and Nora loves getting it for him! He rotates between his baby gym, his mirror, his baby bouncer, and his tummy time mat. Also sometimes I will carry him around for a bit so he can just look at things, or sit with him on the floor so that he can sit up and chew on my hands, or pull himself up to standing. (!!!) He loves to stiffen his body all up, the stinker. ;) He thinks if you are holding him that he HAS to be standing, which shocks almost everyone but Cory and I. Right before I wrote this entry I was holding his hands while he stood up, and - I kid you not!! - Gray did full SQUATS and then stood right back up!! All while I held his hands to steady him only. He is constantly doing things like that - stuff that he really just should not be able to do yet. I mean, my three-month-old -- trying to jump?? WHAT??!! It's just crazy!

Grayson and Nora were both sick with RSV this month. Nora got a bad cough and slept more, while Grayson didn't get as bad of a cough and slept restlessly. But, in true Whitaker-kid fashion they were both still able to smile for the camera:

They are both troopers, to be sure. I swear they really were sick.

Gray goes to the doctor in a week or so for his check-up and I will try to update this post with his "stats" for the month. Until then, happy quarter-birthday little man!! ;)