long but good (the latest with G)

Here’s another one of those blog entries where I just play catch up!!! We’ve been so busy with this, that, and this and that!
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Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin…
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Well, let’s see – Grayson started feeling himself (100%) on Thursday of last week. So, we celebrated! We got out and about. We went window shopping, to the bank, and to the park! It was so nice being out! The sun was real bright, but the temperature was a little cool.
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Grayson loved it every bit of our outing, even the ride. Gray loves riding, but he doesn’t like his car seat. I think the main problem is that he still has to face backwards (until he makes 1 year old). On his 8th month birthday, he was 32 inches long. I assume he is still that, if not another inch taller. Having to face backwards when you’re that big is not fun. You can’t stretch your legs out…and as you’ve probably seen in so many pictures, he LOVES stretching his legs out (and propping his feet up somewhere like he’s royalty)! :)
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Everywhere we go (and yes, I do mean EVERYWHERE), people talk to us. They either talk to Grayson and/or to me about Grayson. Usually, we are told how handsome he is or given a sock that Gray pulled off and dropped in the store! :) When we were checking out at Hallmark, a guy behind us in line asked Grayson if he always smiles that much. Proudly, I said, “Yeah, he sure does! He’s such a happy baby!” Then, in CVS, the cashier checking us out said, “Is he half Asian?” Surprised, I said, “Yes, he sure is. His Dad is Chinese.” He said, “He’s really cute.” It’s pretty obvious that Gray is half Caucasian and half Chinese when we’re all together. But when Ray isn’t with us, I didn’t think people pin pointed his look to being part Asian. For some reason, I just thought they look at Grayson and say, “He looks different…looks like he’s white and something else”. Maybe I should give people more credit. I’m glad people notice that he’s Caucasian and Chinese. He’s the most beautiful mix of both. :)
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Gray has gotten so bad (worse than ever) about grabbing things! Last night, he grabbed an article I saved and crumpled it up! No big deal though. I have had the article for weeks and haven’t gotten around to reading it yet so it wasn’t meant to be. Also, a few weeks ago, I was holding G while making his bottle. I set the bottle down on the counter so I could put together the bottle parts that go inside of it. Before I knew it, he grabbed the mouth of the bottle (without a nipple or a lid on it) and turned it over! Similac went everywhere – on my shirt, my pants, my feet, and the floor! Not a drop got on him! I looked like half of the bottle was spilled, but to my surprise, only about an ounce and a half came out. But boy, it was a stinky mess.
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Last Saturday, we did something new with Gray! We took him to storytime at a local library! I hadn’t ever heard of an organized storytime/playtime for little ones! I was so excited!!! The class is for newborn to 18 months. All three of us had a great time! First, we sat down on this big rug with a bright purple colored dragon on it and played with toys. But the coolest thing was seeing Grayson interact with other babies!!! One little boy (about a year old) was so interested in Grayson. He would just stop and look him over. A little 14 month old girl named Lola sat next to us. Gray was interested in her (she has blonde hair). She took the toy he was playing with. I thought, “Uh oh…is this where we see him first throw a fit?” He didn’t. He let her play with it for a few minutes before taking it back from her. No fussing on her part either. We held our breath each time because the way each of them pulled the toy away from the other wasn’t the nicest. BUT fortunately, they were on the same wave length! They played nicely. Next, it was time to clean up. Everyone in the circle sang the “Clean Up” song! It was fun! Of course, Grayson watched as WE cleaned up. ;) There is this welcome song that we sing many times (once for each child). You just change out the baby’s name each time. The babies who are a little older really get a kick out of hearing 10+ people singing a song to them with their name in it. Lola especially loved it. She smiled the entire time and clapped for herself afterwards. Gray was a little distracted. He has a hard time sitting still. So, he was a bit squirmy between each song and when the teacher talked. But he seemed to like it when he heard his name in the Welcome song. Then, we held a book and sang the words along with an audio recording. The teacher noted how into holding the book he was. He was more willing to let the toys go than the book. But he would rather hold it than Ray or I. Anyway, let’s see – we sang several songs that require actions. One is about riding. In the beginning, you say “Smooth road – smooth road” as you lightly bounce your child on your knee. Next, you say, “Bumpy road – bumpy road” as you bounce them a little harder. Finally, you say, “ROUGH ROAD – ROUGH ROAD” and you bounce them even harder. Do you know what I’m about to say? Grayson LOVED the road when it was roughest! Imagine that! And when we started over, watching him anticipate the rough road was so funny! We did another interactive song where you have to move different parts of your body. He wasn’t real fond of us moving his arms and hands, but he loved his feet and legs moving! That didn’t surprise us one bit! Towards the end of the class, the teacher pulled out a bright colored parachute thing that had every color of the rainbow in it. Everyone grabbed the edge and lifted it up and down. That was Grayson’s favorite part. One little boy was too young to enjoy it. He is about 3 months old. The other kids were not interested. Lola was crying because she was tired. As a matter of fact, they left class early. One little girl was off doing something on her own away from the group. And one little boy was still upset because he didn’t want the hand puppets to be put up. In the meantime, there was Grayson looking up, reaching up towards the parachute, and falling backwards (on me). It was so cute!!! So, for Grayson’s sake, everyone kept lowering and lifting the parachute. The last thing we did before we left is stand in a shower of bubbles. The teacher turned on the bubble blowing machine and a fan that sit on a high cabinet. Bubbles were everywhere! Gray thought it was cool. We helped him pop a few. Oh, it was a fun new experience for us!
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The next day, we took G to a Pumpkin Patch at Owens Farm. The day was perfect! We took pictures with pumpkins and haystacks. We pet some farm animals and took a hayride (Ray and Grayson’s first). When we were in line for the hayride, our friend Barbara and her two little girls, Zora and Nika, came up behind us! What a great surprise! They were dressed up as fairies – Zora in lavender and Nika in green. In the pictures below, notice how fascinated G is with Nika’s wings. :)
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Since I’m doing such a long blog, I thought I’d note all the things Grayson loves right now (at 8.5 months old).
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Gray isn’t eating big people food yet. We tried to introduce it to him at a BAD time (when he was getting that virus). It was a nightmare. After consulting with our nurse, we decided to wait a while before trying it on him again. She pointed out that some babies just aren’t ready for table food at 8 months. We’re gonna ask the doctor about it again at G’s 9 month visit. Maybe we’ll try it again after we get a few pointers or something. But for now, he’s still eating baby food. And really, he isn’t eating much of that. He isn’t into it at all. Some foods he liked before now make him gag. And the ones he still likes, he just doesn’t eat much of. His favorites right now are bananas, banana yogurt, carrots, sweet potatoes and corn, and…well, that’s about it. This morning, I gave him this jar of – get this – pears and oatmeal with cinnamon. I was a little hesitant to buy this, but Ray suggested we just try it. Good thing we did. He really enjoyed it. He didn’t make one sour face or gag! I was so excited! BUT he didn’t eat much of it. The fact is that he would rather his bottle. It is so cute to see him take it. He opens wide, tilts his head back, and has this crazy suck that works everything from his lips to his neck muscles! I guess all of our friends who we consult with can count on an email in about 3 months asking their advice on weaning G from a bottle! ;)
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He still loves TEXTURES. He will rub on any and every kind of surface there is. He loves our couch, his play mat, the rocker recliner in his room, the display on his play radio, his crib sheets,…I could go on and on.
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He still enjoys a LINT ROLLER. It still makes him smile sometimes. But it has gotten to where he is more amazed by it than excited by it. And now, he isn’t satisfied with watching lint being taken off something. He wants to the hold the roller himself!!!
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Gray loves noises with his mouth. He’s always spitting, blowing bubbles, smacking, grinding his teeth, squealing, etc. He loves when others do it for him or with him too! As a matter of fact, I have to do this beatboxing/rap thing when I was his face. He thinks it is SO funny! He especially likes it when I bounce him on my leg as I do it. Yes, I am Grayson’s personal entertainer!!! :) Ya do what ya gotta do, ya know?!
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He loves rubbing his dad’s head and running his fingers through his dad’s hair. He thinks it feels so funny! It always brings a smile to his face. :)
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He’s interested in our cell phones, especially when we send or receive a text message. Oh, and he enjoys hearing his dad’s voice on speaker. He doesn’t understand it just yet, but I think he will before too long.
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Lately, since the weather is nice, Grayson and I have been walking outside to meet his Dad every afternoon when he gets home from work. Ray drives in front of our house and parks right in front of us. G studies the car as it approaches, but his face when he realizes it is his dad is PRICELESS. I pass Grayson through the window (his size won’t allow that much longer) so he can sit on his dad’s lap. Ray shows him how to blow the horn. Grayson loves it! It is adorable to see! And it gives me extra joy because the woman next door sits in her car (in their driveway) and honks the horn over and over in effort to get her kids to hurry up. So, Grayson’s blowing is fun and PAYBACK! ;)
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Something new G likes is the printer printing. It keeps his attention from the moment it starts to the moment it stops. I even lower him down to it so he can see it up close. He’s intrigued. :)
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Mya, Hobbes, Daisy, and Yoshi are still the apple of Grayson’s eyes. He smiles at them when they aren’t even doing anything!!! But he especially loves watching Daisy play with her toys. He laughs and laughs!
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I think G is very used to having a camera pointed at him…and he’s more than okay with it. He really likes it. But just smiling for the camera is boring. He wants to pull the camera to him. Many of the pictures I’ve taken did not turn out because you see this arm stretched out with a very focused look on his face. If I ever accidentally break our camera, I’m gonna tell Ray that Grayson did it! ;)
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Changing Gray’s diapers have become a real challenge! I just thought it was hard a month or two ago!!! You should see the end result sometimes (after a 5 minute struggle)! Ray and I are no longer critical of each other’s diapering jobs because we know WHO causes it to be botched up! It is imperative that the diaperer have a toy or four available for the diaperee. And many times, he doesn’t care about the toys. He spends a lot of time thinking about how getting his diaper changed is NOT what he wants to do. Well, he wants to be changed so he can be dry. He just doesn’t like the process. When toys aren’t available, he really enjoys playing with diapering goods (the clean diaper, Desitin, or the wipes box).
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Our little man still enjoys looking at himself in the mirror. Actually, it delights him! But when we walk him into the bathroom (so he can look at himself in the mirror), the first thing he does nowadays is look at the fixtures (the toilet, the faucet, the tub, etc).
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As I’ve mentioned so many times, Gray LOVES seeing pictures and watching videos of himself. He studies himself intensely. But if he’s smiling in the picture, he smiles. And if he is laughing in the video, he laughs.
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Ray, my mom, and I are very familiar with Gray’s interest in mouths, lips, and teeth. Without any kind of warning, he will grab your lip and pull it HARD, force you to open your mouth, and/or scrape his fingers on your teeth (and sometimes your gums – yes, OUCH!). I think it is a combination of him checking out our teeth (because he now feels his so well) and trying to learn more about his whole where food goes in and words come out.
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We’ve had some BEAUTIFUL weather in the last few weeks! Honestly, I’m already feeling a little sad because I know it won’t stay long. Last year, it was warm, briefly got cool, and then snowed BEFORE Thanksgiving. Isn’t that nuts?! Well, I just can’t get enough of these highs between 70 and 75 each day. They are AWESOME! Ray loves them too. We keep talking about how we will be taking Grayson camping next fall. We think he’s a little too young right now. Just as he did when he was a brand new baby, Grayson LOVES the outdoors. He doesn’t even mind it being a little cool. He enjoys that cool fresh air and the bright sunshine.
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Gray has a lot of baby size blankets, which are now too small. The only thing they are good for now is car rides (to throw across his lap). He’s such a big boy now. We’re gonna have to get a few larger size blankets to wrap around him. There is this one baby blanket we are forever indebted to. We call it the “magic blanket”. It used to work well for swaddling but not for long because he grew so fast. The blanket is yellow and made by Gerber. It is thermal. We have searched everywhere (in stores and online) in hopes of finding a larger one. Unfortunately, we’ve had no luck. So, are you wondering why it is the magic blanket?! When Gray is riding in the car and feeling sleepy (and even when he is fighting sleep), we throw the “magic blanket” across his legs. He grabs onto it, rubs on it, pulls on it, etc. Then, within a few minutes, he’s out like a light. Magic I tell ya. ;)
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G has just about lost interest in Baby Einstein videos. He really enjoys Sesame Street, especially when Prairie Dawn and Ernie make appearances. He likes Ernie’s songs and thinks it is funny when Ernie takes a bath (probably because his bath bubbles are always out of control). And Prairie Dawn, well, it doesn’t matter what that little girl does. He loves her. He just loves her voice alone. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Prairie Dawn. She’s this little conservative blonde girl who always seems troubled, particularly when Cookie Monster eats her letter of the day (because he thought it was a cookie)! :)
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Speaking of Sesame Street, we have several products made by that brand. Gray has a personalized Elmo phone. He has DVDs of the show. But no matter how hard we try, we don’t always have them with us. That’s when Dad comes in. Ray can do a pretty good Elmo, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, the Count, etc. The only one Grayson doesn’t get is Ray’s impression of Prairie Dawn. Maybe that’s because there can be no imitation for her in Grayson’s eyes. She, herself, is SACRED. Heck, maybe he thinks Ray is making fun of her whining voice when he tries to sound like her. Who knows.
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A few nights ago, we bought Gray an inflatable tub. He LOVES it! He splashes water like crazy (Ray and I get wet every time…AND Grayson usually gets his hair damp before we even have a chance to wet it for shampooing!) The bigger and deeper tub also allows G to play with all of his bathtub toys. He likes all of them – from his simple rubber duckie that floats to his hippo on a speedboat! :)
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Grayson is definitely a music loving child. He and I love dancing to current pop hits. At night, we all listen to Deliliah. What cracks me up is that Grayson likes his mobile hanging there. It is a security thing. About a month ago, we tried taking it off of the crib. After he woke up several times in a short period, I asked Ray to put it back on because I thought he was waking up and getting upset when he didn’t see it there (since he had seen it there since Day 1). After that, I have you know he didn’t yell out once!!! Also, he likes swatting at the hanging fishies when he’s playing in his crib. Otherwise, he doesn’t care about the music it plays anymore. As a matter of fact, I’ve found it often upsets him. So, when I go in there to get him, I turn on the radio! We listen to it while I change his diaper, change his clothes, or whatever. G doesn’t seem to mind what kind of music he’s listening to though. Yesterday he and I went to the post office. The line was SOOOO long. He wasn’t at all fussy, but he was getting bored sitting still (as I was). So, I found the beat in an old 50’s sounding tune (by Nat King Cole or someone like that) and started bobbing to it. We had fun, and the line seemed to start moving faster than before! :)
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My mom started playing this game with Gray months ago called “Bump”. She would lightly bump her head to his and say “Bump”. He thought it was so funny! Now, Ray and I do it too. What’s so cool is that he is VERY familiar with “Bump”. Now, he doesn’t wait for you to bump him. Once he knows you want to play, he’ll bump your head with his, wait for you to say “Bump”, and laugh…and that’s followed by him bumping you again and again and again and again. He’s so funny!
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I know this blog entry is long, but I have more to say! I think I’m finished, and I think of MORE!!!

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When Grayson and I were at the park last week, as always, he had several admirers. One was a grandpa who took his 6 or 7 year old grandson to play. He came over, told Grayson hello, told him he’s a good looking fella, asked me how old he is, etc. Two girls (about age 17) took notice of him too. We saw them in the distance walking towards us along the lake. As they got closer, it was obvious they were talking about Grayson. They were looking at him, smiling, and talking. When I stopped his stroller under the shade to refasten his safety harness (the one behind his back that always comes undone), I saw that he was waving! I looked up and saw the girls waving at him!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I hadn’t ever seen him wave before, and I hadn’t ever practiced with him. I’ve just done it here and there. Anyway, I couldn’t believe it! Then, over the weekend, Grayson was sitting in his high chair looking out the window as I fed him his breakfast. He was smiling and started waving (outside). When I looked up, I saw nothing but the wind blowing. It almost brought me to tears. I figured he really had learned to wave. I don’t know why I questioned whether or not it was real or just something he didn’t realize he was doing. That might freak some people out but not me. I think of my great-grandmother, my mom’s grandma, who always said babies smile at angels. Instantly, I thought of my Granny, my dad’s grandmother (who I miss so dang much). I felt it was her that Grayson was waving to. As if all that wasn’t proof enough, today, I called Ray using my cell phone’s speaker while I was changing Gray’s diaper. I said, “Say hi to Dad!” And believe it or not, Grayson waved! Incase you’re wondering, he waves like most little kids (by bending all of his fingers down towards his palm). We cannot get him to wave. When we wave and say hi, he might lift his hand and slightly move his fingers like he wants to wave (but nothing like what I’ve seen him do). So, for now, he just waves when he gets good and ready! :)
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Today is Halloween! Happy Halloween!!! We both agreed Grayson would definitely dress up. It is fun! Dressing up and going trick-or-treating is one of my best childhood memories. Of course, Halloween festivities today are not like they used to be. The world is a much more dangerous place now than it was then. That’s why we sought out a safe place to take G tonight. We’re really looking forward to it! Anyway! We realize that Gray will be picking out his own Halloween costume starting next year and will every year thereafter. So, this year, for his first Halloween, we wanted to do something everyone would enjoy seeing him in. Also, we agreed the costume had to be comfortable for him. No pea in a pod or anything like that. Personally, I think that is way cheesy – not at all our style…also, it is torture for a little kid. After looking around, we decided on Grayson being a UPS man! And my oh my, what a cute little delivery man he is!!! The costume is like regular clothes (comfortable) , like the real UPS uniforms (of great quality), and inexpensive (I’ve seen more expensive costumes of sorts in the store that were basically scraps of material that don’t even fit right). Here is our adorable little UPS man:
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We got Grayson a Halloween card. I’m a big card person. I LOVE cards. Cards can say a lot or nothing at all. So many relatives of mine get the “nothing at all” type of cards and they don’t even catch on. ;) Anyway! This morning, Ray showed Grayson his card and read it to him. He liked it a lot! He tried to scratch off the spider (drawing) on the inside! :) I plan to keep his card. It is a keepsake. However, we want him to enjoy it too. So, we let him play with it. He crumbled it, scratched it, hit it, bit it, etc. Here it is…see the teeth marks?! :)
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Well, as much as I’d like to keep blogging, I’m gonna stop here. It is Halloween and the evening is nearing. Dad will be home soon!!! YAY! We’ll have to dress our little man and be on our way!

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