"Baby Proofing" and other thoughts from this week

So Dave and I kept talking about how we need to baby proof the upstairs of our house so that Grayson can crawl around and have a good time and I don't always have to be saying "no" and pulling him away from things... which in the end just gives us a frustrated, crying baby. The thing that really kicked us into gear was that Grayson finally figured out how to open the kitchen drawers. Below is a picture of him looking quite proud of himself after opening his first drawer which happened to contain none other than the baby proofing items I had bought.

We have spent the last couple of nights moving things around and putting protective covers on outlets and locks on all the drawers and cabinets. This turned out to be quite a project since we don't have the best cabinets in the world and not all the drawers are the correct size to allow for the locks to be installed. Dave had to make some adjustments (ie he cut chunks out of the back of the drawers) in order to put latches on all of them. This morning though everything was done and I was excited to let Grayson crawl around without me having to yell at him.

Everything was going quite nicely until he crawled down the hallway. We have a flashlight in the outlet and Grayson figured out how to remove it in about 20 seconds. And then decided the best part to put in his mouth would be the plug... so that had to be relocated. Then while I wasn't looking, of course, he figured out how to pull himself up on the fireplace bench... There is absolutely nothing wrong with this except that Dave had left a lighter out the night before and I snatched it away just before it went in the mouth. He then cruised his way to the other end of the fireplace where he managed to get a CD in his mouth before I knew what had happened. Apparently I'm not so great at baby proofing... and also... this little guy is going to be trouble! :)

In other, unrelated news, I have recently been clothes shopping for Grayson. Up until this point we have been extremely lucky in the clothing department and I've only ever had to buy him the occasional pajamas or sweatshirt, however he just went through a major growth spurt and needed the next size up in clothes. So for the first time... I got to go shopping! It was so much fun to pick out outfits and clothes and while I still need a few more things to complete his fall/winter wardrobe... I'm almost there. The problem is he needs a winter coat. And every nice, actually has a chance to keep him warm coat is between $45 and $60!!! I feel like that is a lot of money for a coat that may not even fit him all winter! So I'm holding off as long as I can to see if they start to go on sale or in case he grows a bunch again... but soon I may just have to suck it up and buy him a coat.

Finally Grayson has two new favorite activities, besides showing me how crappy I am at baby proofing the house. One is to blow raspberries into the air when I feed him foods he decides he doesn't want to eat that day... it case you don't know how this turns out... there is food everywhere including all over me. And when I say "no Grayson, that is not what we do with food"... he smiles at me with his lips still closed so that any remaining food in his mouth oozes out of his smile. It is more fun than you could possibly imagine.

His second favorite activity, now that he's realized he can get himself where he wants to be, is to chase the dog or cats around the room. Though he gets the biggest kick out of chasing the dog, I think because the dog is so big. But Boomer is pretty much scared of the small child moving towards him so he jumps up and moves away every time Grayson gets close. Which Grayson and I both think is pretty funny. I think Boomer is so scared because Grayson is always grabbing at his eyes and nose and he knows he's not allowed to do anything about it. But the other day Grayson got close... and it turns out all he wants now is to play with the tags on Boomer's collar. Boomer was not happy that I made him lay still for these pictures but now that he knows what Grayson wants he doesn't jump up and run away so quickly anymore.

So excited he gets to pet the puppy!

A random picture because I like the face he's making :)

In the Army Now!

In the last week or so, Grayson has become a master of the army crawl. While his most favorite things to crawl towards are the things he's not allowed to touch or play with such a power cords and items small enough to be choking hazards, he's recently discovered that he can get to anything in the house and there are even things mom will let him play with other than his standard toys!

For example:Today we discovered the blinds at the sliding glass door...

He's gotten VERY good at moving from his stomach to sitting and back and is quite pleased with himself that he can crawl to something and then sit up to play with it.

He has also figured out how to sit himself up in his crib facing towards the door so that when he starts yelling in the morning or after his naps he can be sitting up ready to greet you as soon as you open the door. We recently lowered his crib after he figured out how to sit. But Sunday he also figured out how to pull himself to a standing position. So we had to lower his crib to the lowest setting and move it away from his window... he's getting so big!!!

Another favorite thing to crawl towards... and depending on Mom's mood... he sometimes gets to play with it:

MMMM... cat and dog water! It was clean today so he played in it for quite awhile and as you can see... was VERY happy!

Saying Hi to Boomer

He really wants to pet the kitties but they don't want anything to do with him... and for the moment they are much too quick for him.

And life wouldn't be complete without a couple random yet super cute baby in the bath photos... so enjoy!!!

BABY BUTT!!! :)

A note to Auntie Laura: Thank you for the fishy on my mommy's shower cake! I love that it is a bath toy. It is my favorite bath toy and one of the tastiest toys I own! I love you and can't wait to see you soon! Love, Grayson

An Eventful Day

So many new things happened today! First while looking at Grayson's first tooth... we noticed the second lower tooth coming in!! Two teeth in such a short time... no wonder he's been so grumpy! Ouch! But he is being so cute and he keeps feeling them with his tongue... I can't even image how weird of a sensation feeling your first tooth like that must be for a baby.

Second, while eating lunch today, we watched Grayson discover the ability to move from his stomach back to a sitting position! He was so proud of himself!!!! And we immediately lowered the mattress in his crib. :)

Finally while at Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner, Grayson finally perfected the art of army crawling! Doing a lap or two around their living room and again be quite proud of himself!

So many new accomplishments in one day! I'm sure we'll all sleep good tonight! And tomorrow... Dave and I will begin the baby proofing of the house. :)

New pictures coming soon!

Kisses and a Tooth

So this weekend we went hiking at Fort Ebey on Whidbey Island. We had so much fun and Grayson seemed to love being in his back pack! He was also throughly entertained by the dog in the back of the car while we were driving over and back. I was glad that he was having such a good day but this also meant that he wasn't napping. :(

First Ferry Trip

Family Hiking

Inside the fort

LOVES it!

While we were waiting in line to catch the ferry home... we had to take him out of his car seat because he'd had enough and the dog was napping in the back so he was no longer entertained. I was driving and had him in my lap and he was having tons of fun playing and biting the steering wheel and trying to grab at the sticker that was on the window. And then he gave me what I can only describe as a baby's idea of a kiss... he leaned over all open mouth and drooly put his face up against my cheek and licked me. :) I could not stop laughing!!! So I kissed him a couple times on the cheek and then he came back and gave me another kiss!! It was so cute and so funny and also very slobbery and wet!

Today I felt Grayson's gums like I do every morning and noticed that the bottom front left tooth was just popping up from the gums!!! I swear this kid has been teething for the last 5 months and I'm so excited he's finally gotten a tooth! I'm also very excited that the tooth coming in has not... to this point... effected his sleeping. (Cross your fingers it stays that way)

A Tooth!!!

Anyways... it seems to me that any day now this little boy is going to crawl. I bought all the baby proofing stuff and just need to install it. Hopefully I'll do that within the next couple days because if I don't I know he'll start crawling before I get it in. Though if I do... he probably won't crawl for another couple months. Oh well... we are excited for him to start crawling and exploring... and I'm pretty sure he can't wait for the day when he figures it out either!

Trying so hard to crawl!

Sleeping Baby Boy

I LOVE watching Grayson sleep! He is just so gosh darn adorable I can't even stand it!!! Usually the only time I can see him sleeping is when I'm driving in the mirror... ever since he's learned to roll over he usually sleeps on his stomach. And all I want to do is stop the car and go sit back there and just stare at him. I feel like I could watch him for hours. But then again... I don't want to just watch... I want to touch his chubby little cheeks and give him kisses! Sadly for me he is such a light sleeper and would wake up if I tried any of this. Oh how I miss the days when he would just fall asleep on my chest and we could nap together!!!

Ma Ma

So tonight Dave and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. We ate dinner and gave Grayson a bath and then grabbed Jack and Boomer and started walking. Grayson apparently ate too soon before going in the stroller because about halfway through our walk he spit up all over himself. I grabbed a burp rag and started cleaning him off and he looked up at me, smiled, lifted his arms in the air to be picked up and said "Ma Ma!" :)

I got all excited and looked at Dave and he was pretty excited too! And I started clapping and I said yea! Ma Ma! And Grayson just smiled at me!!! :) Oh my goodness!!!

Dave says he has to say it like that a few more times before he'll believe he said it on purpose... but I think Ma Ma is his first word! Hurray!!!!

Not as Planned

So I was in the car on the way back from Costco today and I have one of those mirrors so I can see Grayson in the backseat. He was holding up his little Winnie the Pooh book and studying it so closely; and I welled up with such huge amounts of love for his serious little face! And I started thinking about how awesome he is and how much fun we have and how really nothing in all of this went the way I thought it would. It started with having to have a c-section has worked its way up to me now no longer breast feeding him. But he's happy and healthy and in my opinion super smart! :) And really I think that's all you can ask for... and I wanted to write down how I was feeling about it all today so that the next time I started feeling guilty about not breast feeding or struggling with things not going just as planned I could read this and realize that it's all ok!

Now... back to Grayson being super smart :) We went to the Dr's office last week and they have these boards on the walls for kids to play with that are like giant mood rings. They are big and black and when you touch them the heat of your hand changes the color and leaves a mark and depending on how long you leave your hand on the board it changes color and stays longer and all that jazz. Anyways I was showing Grayson how it worked while the nurse was taking all her notes and then he started to play with it too... and was smiling and running his hands all over it. And right before the nurse walked out the door she said... "I know it has nothing to do with why you came in but I added to the notes that he's very attentive and alert and curious. That is wonderful!"

We went swimming in Elizabeth's pool with Grayson this weekend and he had sooo much fun! So I've included some pictures of the event below... along with my new favorite of Grayson and Boomer.

Hanging out with Puppy while Mom and Dad do yard work.

Swimming in Lizzers pool with Mommy

The best way to get around the pool was to stand on Daddy's stomach and have him glide us around!

This is the life!!!