Grayson | 10 Months

Grayson's 10th month is fast approaching. As is his first birthday.

Before I know it, he is going to be driving. And dating. And graduating from high school.

<sigh>

Maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself.

My very favorite picture of Mike and Grayson to date.
I love the smile behind the pacifier, and how his eyes are shut, caught up in the moment.
He loves his daddy. I would say the feeling is quite mutual!

Even though Grayson has been apart of our life for some time now, the feeling of awe I get when I look at him still leaves me speechless and breathless - and incredibly thankful. Sometimes Mike and I just stare at him, and then one of us comments that he must be the CUTEST BABY EVER, etc., etc., etc. Those moments are just like the times I saw his tiny form on the ultrasound or heard his heartbeat or found out he was a boy or when we laid eyes on him just seconds after he was born.

I can't imagine I will never not feel that way about him.

So...on to what he has been doing.

He is CRUISING. For a bruising I am afraid. He is all around the furniture. He does some fancy footwork when he transfers from one piece of furniture to the other. We are encouraging him to stand without any help, but he mostly thinks we are playing with him. He loves to fall to his rear and giggle.

Mike and my mom have been working with Grayson to put his hands on his cheeks when someone says "OH NO."
We have moderate success. 

My normally calm and laid back son turns into a raving banshee come diaper changes or changing his clothes. I have completely given up on zippered or buttoned sleepers. It is so not worth it. One night I spent about 10 minutes trying to wrestle him into his pjs, and then I had to leave the room because I was so frustrated. Diaper changes are just as rough. He flips over to his knees and tries to crawl off the changing table. Or roll off.

We have a sweet little bedtime routine in place. Some nights he gets a bath, others he doesn't. But we always have a last bottle, read approximately 5 books, sing, pray, lots of kisses and hugs by both Mike and me and then in bed around 8:30. Sometimes he fusses, other times he doesn't.

I love this picture of Grayson and his Grandma Beth.
So very sweet! 

As much as I would like him to be, Grayson isn't a huge book fan. He likes to flip through them and then put them in his mouth, or crawl all over them and try to rip their pages out. But being read to is not something he enjoys - at least if he has to sit on your lap. He'd much rather be off doing some exploring. Or trying to break into the diaper pail. But there IS one book he stops for. It's called Where is Baby's Bellybutton? He stops, listens and laughs all through that book. I don't get it. Maybe it's the flaps in the book. Maybe it's because Mike always plays "Where is Grayson?" with him. I don't know.

Trying out the lawn mowers at the county fair.
With a little assistance from Daddy.

Mike is Grayson's FAVORITE. Daddy can do no wrong. When Mike gets up for the day, Grayson is always excited to see him, greeting him with squeals, smiles, frantic crawling to him so Mike will pick him up. They are hilarious together as they play on the floor or as Mike tosses him up in the air. When Mike goes to bed in the morning, Grayson actually cries. And tries to follow him upstairs.

Grayson is an accomplished stair climber now. Unfortunately he did take a pretty big tumble one night but he was not injured. We still gate the steps, but all we have to do is move the barrier - and he is on his way towards them. He can't wait to climb them.

Our friends came over one night and we walked to a nearby playground so the kids could play.
Grayson was not feeling all that well that night, but HE did get to go down the slide with Mike.
So that was fun.

We are trying to expand Grayson's food choices. So far he has tried cheese, noodles, meatballs, popcorn, even a tiny bit of vanilla ice cream. He had potatoes but he did not like them. He had pork the other night, and he didn't hate it. We'll keep working on it.

He naps twice a day. In the morning between 8:30 and 11. (A nice long nap!) And a much shorter one in the afternoon from anywhere between 2 to 4. The second nap is when I can usually get a few things done around the house which is nice. The first one I join him in taking a nap. It is a special and sweet time for us when we snuggle on the couch.

He is talking a lot. A lot of gibberish, but he carries conversations with us. He is saying a lot of mama and dada and gigi which we can't help but wonder if he is trying to say grandma. Who knows.

He likes to visit Grandpa Rob at work!

He has a thing for this white fuzzy blanket. He loves to get caught up in it and play in it. Mike likened him to a pig burrowing into mud. It is the funniest thing to watch. It is one of the only things I have seen other than his pacifier that he has great affection for.

We might have a pacifier addict. Sometimes he crawls around with a pacifier in both hands and one in his mouth, and as he plays, he will spit out one pacifier to put the other one in. Yikes. We might need to start weaning him off that sooner than later.

Grandma Carol downloaded some Veggie Tales on to her iPad.
Grayson loves the Veggie Tales silly songs!

Grayson had his second trip to the ER - this time he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis. It was a very scary experience for me especially. I found him in his crib at around 4:30 am, and he was very very hot and not really responding to me. Still breathing but just not with it. He was convulsing once I picked him up and so I thought seizure (and not that he might be gagging because of congestion which is what he was probably doing). I called Mike and he told me to take him to the ER immediately. So I did. I cut through town - I blew through at least one red light (not a busy intersection but still.) Fortunately the hospital is a mile away. Mike arrived not much later after I did. They started monitoring him, and they gave him some medicine and his fever broke. The worst part was the x-ray where they strapped him into this tube with his hands over his head and he screamed for "Ma-ma." I was allowed in there with a lead vest, thankfully.

"Playing" trains with Grandpa Dave and Daddy.

So all in all we had a pretty eventful month! I know I am missing things like going to his first county fair and our evening walks every night, but I don't want to write forever. I really really could.

If you made it this far, than I congratulate you! :)

He saw me doing a stretching exercise the other day.
He has been trying to re-create the poses. I think he is attempting the downward dog here.