A few days ago, our little man made 11 - yes, ELEVEN months old!!! Isn’t that crazy?! Time just flies. He will be a year old in just one month.


Well, at 11 months old, we are not sure what Grayson is measuring or weighing. We won’t know until he goes for his one year check-up. Though, Ray and I will declare that he is l-o-n-g and heavy! ;) He has 8 teeth (4 on the top and 4 on the bottom) that we can see. My guess is that there are more in there or will be very soon. His hair is a beautiful medium brown, and he has a head full! And it grows SO fast! He’s due for a cut now. It will be his 5th haircut. We try to keep him from looking unkept/uncared for or like a thief, as Ray says. :)


A few weeks ago, Gray learned to say “no” by shaking his head. In no time, Ray taught him how to shake his head “yes”. It is adorable. When he shakes his head “no”, I’m pretty sure he might get a little dizzy at times because he does it so hard. When he shakes his head “yes”, he is also quite exaggerative. In addition to moving his head up and down, he opens his eyes real big and lifts his eyebrows. His eyebrows lift each time his head goes up. :)


An added note about Grayson shaking his head “no”: As I’ve said before, I respect Grayson when he gives me an answer. When says “no”, he means “no” (just as I do when I say “no”). But sometimes I feel he could budge a little. For example, sometimes he tells me “no” when I offer him food. I want him to have more because he’s only had 2 or 3 bites. So, I say, “Please”. 9 times out of 10, he will take it. Isn’t that sweet?!


G has been waving for a while now, but he really has the hang of it now. Every morning when Ray leaves for work, Grayson and I stand by the front door. Before Ray goes out the porch door, Grayson stares at him with the softest, sweetest, and saddest look. When Dad says bye and waves, Gray waves back. It melts my heart.


Grayson is quite a crawler. He knows what he wants to get to (the dogs, dog toys, our shoes, paper, the dogs’ water, a cell phone, etc) are all quite motivating to him! We have made a start on baby proofing (and need to do more SOON)! He’s still thinking about pulling up. He’ll be doing it soon. We’re good with him practicing on steady things like our legs or the couch. But we aren’t okay with him pulling up on things that will hurt him. The other day, he tried pulling up on our tripod! Needless to say, it isn’t at all sturdy. I put it up immediately so he wouldn’t hurt himself or break it, and boy was he mad! ;)


Gray still loves bath time - now more than ever. Very soon, he will be out of his inflatable tub and will be in the tub itself (with an inflatable tub liner/bumper and a non-slip mat). He has outgrown his “boat” as I call it. We are looking forward to Grayson and all of his tub time toys having plenty of room.


Recently, we stopped at the grocery store to get a few things. Grayson and I went to the deli counter while Ray went to the meat section. We agreed to call each other and meet somewhere in the middle after grabbing what we needed. When I got to the deli counter, there were two women working. At first sight, they started ranting and raving over Grayson. It started off with, “Girl, he BIG! How old is he?” I said, “Almost 11 months”. The other lady said, “How old?!” I said, “Almost 11 months”. She said, “Oh girl, he BIG. He look older than 11 months fo sho. How big was he when you had him?” Before I could answer, she said, “He’s so precious. The Lord is good, ain’t he?” I smiled and said, “He was 10 lbs, 1 oz.” She said, “Girrrrrrl, he healthy and looks so happy! The Lord IS good.”


Yes, I ended up spending MUCH more time at the deli counter than I planned. Ray walked up with a weird look on his face. I guess he was trying to figure out why I had such a weird expression on my face. The lady at the slicer said, “He your baby daddy?” With a big smile, I said, “Yep, he sure is”. I was thinking, “I usually refer to him as my husband or my best friend, but yes, he’s my “baby daddy” too. She said, “That the only baby you got?” I said, “Uh huh”. She said, “Really?!” I have absolutely NO idea why that was so shocking. Do I look like the type that would have lots of babies?! She looked Ray’s way and said, “That his only baby too?” Overwhelmed with questions (and feeling kinda like a celebrity or something), I was a little slow to respond. She said, “Better be huh, girl?” I couldn’t help but laugh. She said, “I’m sorry but he don’t look like you one bit. He looks JUST LIKE his daddy!” By this time, I’m positive everyone on that half of the store was hearing all she was saying. My guess is that she saw disappointment on my face when she said that. That’s when she said, “Let me find SOMETHING he has of yours…Eyes? No. Mouth? No. Nose? No. Girl, he don’t look like you at all. Let’s see - let me find SOMETHING…He has your ears”. That’s nice. I carried Grayson for 9 months, and she thinks all he has is my ears?! She said, “He’s PRECIOUS!” Gray, tired of all the chaos too, laid his head down on my chest. That’s when she said, “Look! He know he cute!”


With our order in hand, she said, “What’s his name?” I said, “Grayson” She said, “I love that name. It’s a nice name.” FINALLY, we got our lunch meat and were on our way. I must admit that once we were free of her, I turned around a few times to see if we were being followed.


Our G Man still has a chronic cough - a fake one that is! Sometimes it starts when he hears someone coughing. And sometimes he gets himself started. It is so funny. It is always so dramatic. He rounds his lips and coughs so hard that his eyes nearly water. Oh and the cough sounds like “Boff”. We try not to laugh but sometimes you can’t help it. And when I keep myself from laughing, I say, “Are you alright?” Usually, he coughs harder and more frequently. He even laughs at himself but tries to cover it up with more coughing. Yes, we have quite a character on our hands!!!!


Grayson loves riding in the car nowadays. A few weeks ago, he was completely the opposite. He HATED it. I think the cool, sunny days we’ve been having has changed his mind about car rides. Whatever the reason, it is cool. While he still enjoys playing with toys in the car, he has come to really enjoy looking out the window too. He gets so relaxed. He goes from playing with his toy to just holding it. He enjoys watching the world go by. Often, he falls asleep. I don’t enjoy sleeping while sitting up, but boy, he really seems to. He looks so comfortable and peaceful.







Speaking of toys in the car, Grayson knows how to put his finger on one particular button and press it over and over and over again. When you are in the car with him, it can drive you nuts. But you can’t help but laugh. Every day, Ray and I hear the same song, letter, or phrase again and again and again. Obviously, he doesn’t get tired of hearing the same thing being said or sang like we do! Believe it or not, out of all 26 letters on his Leap Frog bus toy, he always finds the “G”. He hits it about 1,000 times. I honestly think he likes hearing it because it is familiar to him. We call him G often.


I think I could go on and on. But if I keep writing about him and what’s he’s up to now, this blog wouldn’t have an end. So, I’ll stop. In closing, I’ll just say that Grayson is still full of smiles and laughs. He’s the happiest baby I’ve ever seen…and that nothing could make us any happier.

Happy 11 months to our little love, Grayson Koa.