we have a few tricks up our sleeve...

When Grayson is upset (the top reasons are usually because he is tired and/or fighting sleep), there are occassions when neither Ray or I know what to do. We just make sure he's not hungry, not thirsty, not wet, not too hot, not too cold, and not hurting. When we've double checked all those things, all we can do is make him as comfortable as possible.
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Since Day 1, the outdoors have been our "cure all" about 99.9% of the time. Gray seems to prefer cooler weather over warm weather. He doesn't even mind when it is cold. Oh and he LOVES the wind. He loves animals too. At our old house, he liked watching the squirrels play as they ran from up this tree, across to that tree, onto the electric line, etc. At our new house, we don't see squirrels, but there are so many birds around. He loves watching the birds that perch on our fence. Some sit there and sing, some rustle their feathers, and some play with other birds that land next to them. A few days ago, he was laughing at two birds who were rough housing. Apparently, one bird was invading another bird's territory (the fence he was hanging out on). They flew in circles, darted to the left, to the right, swooped down to the ground, came back up to light on the fence at the same time - only to get at each other again. Grayson thought they were so funny! He laughed and laughed and laughed. I did too. :) Also, our new house is across the street from an elementary school. G loves watching the kids going to school and being let out every afternoon. But from our back porch, we can hear the kids playing during their recess. He loves listening to them. He smiles so big and looks at me as if to say, "You hear all those kids, Mom?!"
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Another thing Ray recently discovered to make Grayson happy is very simple. Ready for this? Throwing something in the air! He thinks it is so funny when someone tosses something into the air. We have no idea why he thinks it's so funny. He just does...and that's all that matters. So, to make him smile, we are willing to throw anything. I think we've tossed everything from a diaper to a dish rag into the air! :)
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