Our Trip to California, Part Two

So... let's catch up... Tuesday Grayson and I headed down to the beach for his first big ocean experience. Unfortunately it was windy and not that warm... so he was not the biggest fan. And since it was just the two of us... the pictures weren't so wonderful... but here are a couple not so bad ones. (As a side note... if you are looking for a good work out... strap a 14 lb child to your chest, throw your 10 lb diaper bag over your shoulder, and walk across the sand into the wind.) Tuesday night was supposed to be the big street fair in downtown Huntington beach... so we got all ready and went down there only to find nothing! Upon further digging we learned that it was canceled due to rain... it did not rain... I was sooo looking forward to this event and was super bummed. But for dinner we went to a Mexican restaurant in town... it was cold but Grayson was huddled up with Dave and so tired he fell asleep on Dave's lap. The food was good and they had cheap yet still strong margaritas so it ended up being an all right evening after all.

At the beach! Relaxing together!

Relaxing!

All huddled up with Daddy at the Mexican restaurant.

Sunset view at dinner.

On Wednesday, we didn't do much... Grayson slept awful again! And I was kind of in a funk about it... so we spent the day around the hotel. We went down to the pool and relaxed around there but that was about it. When Dave got back from work we went to Babies R Us and bought one of those bears that makes the womb noises... which we have at home but of course forgot to bring. By the time we got back to our hotel we ordered room service and went to bed.

Even with the bear Grayson slept awful AGAIN! So when we took our daily trip into town for lunch I stopped by the CVS pharmacy and picked him up some infant Tylenol. After that we went for a long walk on the beach and Grayson took a pretty good nap... he was so tired and he fell asleep hugging his Pooh Bear and his blanket. That night, I went to give Grayson the Tylenol and found that under dosage it said, "check with your pediatrician" And of course we had just gone to the Dr and they had given us a little sheet with their recommended dosage but I had left it at home. So I resolved to call them on Friday.

Napping with Pooh

And again... Grayson slept like crap. But Friday turned out to be a great day! It was nice out and when I walked into town for lunch I discovered that it was farmers market day! They had all kinds of little craft booths and then all the food. Apparently it is strawberry season in California and all the booths had fresh picked organic (HUGE) strawberries... walking around you could just smell them! It was so amazing and I couldn't resist... I picked up a huge batch of them for only $5! They were and are amazing... I still have some in the fridge :) After an afternoon nap and talking to the nurse at Grayson's Dr's office, we went back to the beach. Without the wind we had a lot more fun! And then we packed everything up for our trip to Auntie Laura and Uncle Kyle's house! When Dave got home we went out to dinner and then got in the car and drove down to San Diego for a weekend with Sissy! We got to their house around 9 and I fed Grayson and then put him back to sleep... and miracle... HE SLEPT! So I've decided he loves Auntie Laura's house and hates hotels... however Dave and I decided today that since our hotel room was pretty humid he might just not be a big fan of that...

Awesome farmer's market strawberries

Lovin the beach!

Anyways... on Saturday Laura and Kyle went to do an earth day clean up project and Dave, Grayson and I hung around the house all morning... Grayson napped (he was catching up!) and Dave and I played on their Wii. That after noon we went over to Joanie's house and met up with Aunty Kathy and Katie, and Joanie and Samantha and Sam's new baby girl Finnlee. It was very fun to see everyone and visit!!! We came back home... had dinner... and went to bed.

Today, we went to the zoo! Grayson's first trip! He was entertained for about an hour and then slept the rest of the time we were there. He was semi-interested in the flamingos... and really liked the fish! So apparently I should have just taken him to the aquarium... but it was fun for the rest of us... if not very tiring. It was nice and warm and sunny today... and Grayson is not used to the heat... so he has been eating far more and more often than usual!

Semi interested in the flamingos

The fish were the coolest

Down for the count

We came home... ate some pizza and then shipped Dave back out to Huntington Beach to go to work tomorrow. Grayson and I will stay here until Wednesday or Thursday and help with the puppy and around the house and then go back up to Huntington Beach so we can fly out of Long Beach on Friday night.

Playing with Auntie Laura

So far we have had a lot of fun on this trip! I am hoping that Grayson keeps sleeping better so we can continue to have a good time! Dave and I are talking about me coming back out in the beginning of June... but hopefully staying in a different hotel where Grayson will hopefully sleep better!

Our Trip to California, Part One

On Sunday, we packed up everything we though we could possibly need into one huge suitcase, two small suitcases, one backpack, one diaper bag, one stroller, and one car seat. Somehow with all our stuff we made it through the airport and on the airplane. We got in the first row and Grayson made us instant friends with the flight attendants... however the woman sitting in our row at the window was not to excited... not just because we had a small baby... but because we took up the first two overhead bins with all of our stuff and she had to put her suitcase back at row 5.

Grayson was a rock star on the airplane... I nursed him during take-off and landing and otherwise he played on Dave's lap and feel asleep in mine.

SO HAPPY to be at the airport ready to go!

Playing on Daddy's lap!

We got to our fancy Hilton waterfront hotel in Huntington Beach... got the little room crib set up... put Grayson to bed and settled in. He woke up screaming at midnight... slept till 2 and started fussing until he woke up screaming at 3... then he did not go back to sleep... until after 5 and not without me pacing the room with him for 15 min AND he would only stay asleep in bed with us. He woke up again at 7... and so we gave up and got up for the day. We walked out to the end of the big long pier and ate breakfast at the Ruby's Diner. We got back to our room and Grayson proceeded to take a 2 hour nap... so Dave stayed in the room with him and I walked to the CVS pharmacy to pick up some cereal for me to eat in the morning and some swim diapers so we could take Grayson into the pool. They of course did not have the diapers but we ran out to Target once Grayson woke up. After yet another long nap... we took Grayson to the pool for his first swim! I was very excited about this and am pretty sure I had the most fun! But I'm going to keep trying... I'm planning on buying him a little floaty deal and hopefully then he'll like it better. We got a few smiles but none that we caught on camera. But I have a few more days left to get him to really love it!!!

Getting in the pool for the first time!

Not sure how he feels about this...

There was a duck in the pool with us.

Starting to kick a little...

Lounging poolside with Daddy.

Last night we went for a nice sushi dinner for Dave's birthday. Grayson slept crappy again... but not so crappy that he stayed awake for a couple hours... just woke up every two to three hours. Here's hoping tonight is even better!

Today we walked into town and had some lunch and after Grayson wakes up from his nap I'm going to take him to experience the ocean for the first time! Unfortunately I'll be on my own so there won't be very many good pictures... but I'll do what I can.

Grayson is making me friends all over this adorable little town! Everywhere we go everyone is super friendly and talks to us... I'm not sure we are making friends with the neighbors at the hotel with all the night time crying... but we'll try and win them over! :) Will fill you in later with more of our exciting adventures!

First Hair Cut

So I sucked it up and gave Grayson his first hair cut the other day. I decided this was necessary because as I was nursing him the other day I noticed that one of my hairs was on his clothes... and I tried to pull it off... only to find out it was his hair! A freakishly long hair... and there were others... and I couldn't handle it... he was growing some sort of strange straggly mullet and the front wasn't getting any shorter either.

So when Dave got home last weekend... I decided to cut his hair. After his Sunday bath we put him in a diaper... put him in his Bumbo and started to cut his hair... he did NOT like this... but his hair turned out great! See pictures below...

I did save the hair... and it was A LOT more than I thought. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it forever... but I didn't want to regret not having it someday... not sure... what do you think? Should I keep it or not?

First Cut!!

Not so happy...

All done!

The Last Couple Weeks...

have been kind of rough. Dave has been in California and Grayson and I both miss him a ton!! How do I know our 4 month old son misses his Daddy? Because he sleeps TERRIBLE when Dave is not home. Both Mondays I have dropped Dave off at the airport Grayson woke up on average every 1-2 hours on Monday night. His naps have severely dropped off and every other night during the week he wakes up at least 4 times. But last weekend when Dave was home... he slept great! Woke up just once in the middle of the night and once in the morning. Took a nice 2.5 hour nap and was a generally happy kid.

To add to the difficulty sleeping we've been having with Dave gone, we went to Grayson's 4 month well child check up and the Dr recommended we stop swaddling him. He does not appear to be a fan of this... and reminded me last night by screaming his head off from 11:30 till 12:30 at which point I gave in and swaddled him so I could finally get some sleep.

But even though he hasn't been sleeping he has been growing! He now weighs 14lbs 2oz and is 25" long!!! He's in the 31% for weight, 51% for height, and his head circumference is in the 80th percentile... such a big brain already! :)

Grayson is getting so strong and is able to hold his head quite steady now and is much happier sitting or standing or being carried around then he is laying on the floor. BUT he is getting a little more ok with being on his tummy! And today and pushed himself forward with his feet while laying on his tummy... granted he trapped an arm under himself and got quite angry about it... but baby steps here... he's getting there!!

On Sunday we leave for a two week trip in California! We are going to stay with Dave in the hotel for a week and go stay with Aunty Laura and Uncle Kyle for a week too!! I am very excited but also super nervous!!! I hope he does well on the flight and also manages to sleep ok in a hotel room and with me at Aunty's... Cross your fingers!!!

A few pictures from the last couple weeks...

Getting better about getting things into the mouth

Excited to go for a walk with Daddy!

Happy Easter!!

Wedding dress shopping with Kathleen... quite tiring for such a little boy!

Back to Blogging

Alright... time to get back into this blogging thing. Almost everyday something funny happens and I think... I should blog about this... but then I think... well I haven't written anything in so long I can't just randomly post funny stories. So enough of that. I don't have a funny story today but I do have some good pictures from the week that will be good to post. I've already wasted the first three months... almost four months of Grayson's life not documenting... so I need to start now! I want to be able to go back through this in future years and remember everything that was going on.

So I'm pretty sure my little munchkin is starting the teething process. While he's not super coordinated with getting things into his mouth yet... anything he can get in there he chews on. He's even taken to pulling out his pacifier just enough to chew on it instead of suck on it. But his favorite thing to chew on... I'm guessing due to the hardness and ease of which he can get it in his mouth... is a knuckle.

But he's not too picky... He'll take whatever is convienient and when he's in his Baby Bjorn... He's figured out he can slouch down and chew on it.

He's also taken to really enjoying either sitting or standing... laying on the floor or being carried around is just not as much fun as it used to be. So we've been testing out some new toys... and he seems to be enjoying them!

We also took a very quick trip to the tulip fields recently but I am planning another trip to one of the gardens so we can look and take even more pics! I'll post those when we go!!

So we still have some rough days but the smiles and laughs and general curiosity you can see in him has made everything so much easier and more fun!!

Ok... your turn Sissy... post post post! :)