18 Months!

Well, my butter bean is now 18 months old. Which is a year and a half. Which is ridiculous!
(I don't have many new pictures of him. Sadly, it's because if I get my phone out, he starts demanding ELMO!... So I try not to get on my phone much!!)

At the library

Easter egg hunt! :)

Loves playing with the baseball!

First taste of solid food (avocado) to now...munching on some string cheese! :)

In a way it feels like he's been around forever, but in another, I feel like he just got here yesterday! As always, I'm constantly amazed at how much he is growing, changing, and learning. I want to both cry and beam with pride and excitement at all the awesome things he can say and do!

New Moves

+ full-fledged running! but he still falls sometimes. He tripped over his own feet last weekend and scuffed up his poor little nose on the driveway. :( But he only cried for about a minute before he was off and running again! Dare devil!

+ throwing balls. Like really throwing them! The kid has a good arm!

+ kicking the soccer ball. He mostly kicks it while walking, but he can kick it around the yard for a little while. 

+ still dancing! 

+ climbing more and more! He stood up on an end table the other day. Eek!!

+ brushing his own teeth (after we've given them a thorough brushing)

New Words:

I'm not going to list all the words he says because who even knows how many words he can say? He talks non-stop! But some of my favorite new words of his include alligator, elephant, and hippo (we're preparing for our trip to the zoo next month!)

+ He now puts words together! Some of my favorite things he says: hi, ____ (Daddy, Brett, Elmo, cat, etc...)!, I know!!, Elmo balloon (we got him one for Easter), oh! A ___ (cat, book, egg, dog, etc...)! 

+ He can also say the names of most of the kids in his classroom, including: Eli, Luke, Hannah, Dalan, and Ethan (actually Ethan sounds more like Angie which is really random and weird. But the others are spot-on!)

Food/Teeth:

+ I think he has 16 teeth now, or will soon. He has his full first set of molars, the four front teeth on top and bottom, and the 4 canines that are still coming in.

+ As usual, he can be a good eater or a picky/frustrating one. Our biggest challenge is to stop him from randomly throwing/dropping his utensils during meals. We go through 2-3 spoons or forks per meal! -_-

+ Still has most of his favorite foods but has added a couple news ones to the mix: black beans, applesauce, Greek yogurt, graham crackers, peanut butter, goldfish, string cheese, eating a whole fruit like an apple, plum, or orange slices, popcorn, and...potato chips. Don't worry--we don't usually keep those in the house. But we had some at our Easter cookout and he was obsessed!

+ I can't believe it's been a full year since we started this journey with solid food! We've come a long way from the days he would puke when I put applesauce on his lip... Thankfully!

+ Still nursing on demand at home, but it's usually only 2-3 times a day at this point. For those who are curious, my plan is to fully wean by the time he is 2. I'm not rushing it because it's still good for him and our system works well for us. But it has to end sometime and I'm not looking to nurse through a pregnancy, so I want to wean sometime before that happens!

Sleep:

+ Sleep is GREAT! Did you hear me??? It's great! But I'm knocking on ALL the wood because I am never convinced any sleep pattern is here to stay. 

+ Scott and I have been alternating putting him to bed and getting up with him in the middle of the night, which was really awful the first couple weeks but now is awesome! At first, Grayson would scream and cry whenever Scott would get up with him. Some nights we were up for 1-2 hours with him! But now he goes to sleep equally well for both of us! And he's mostly only waking up once per night. So if it's not my night (like last night), I get to sleep through the night!! After 18 months, that feels pretty dang good!! :)

 + Mostly sleeping in his own bed at night, but will still come to bed with us if he wakes up any time after 4:30 AM. I'm not spending my last hour of sleep rocking him, so we snuggle instead. It works well, and doesn't happen every night. 

+ We've implemented a new routine of sleeping with Elmo and a sippy cup of water. He now HAS to have his Elmo and water cup before getting ready for bed and when he wakes up in the morning. It's so cute! I started it off by telling him that Elmo needed someone to sleep with him. We talked all about it while getting him ready for bed. And while I nursed and rocked him to sleep, I told him a story of Elmo going to all his friends on Sesame Street and asking if he could sleep with them b/c he didn't want to sleep alone. None of them had any room in their beds. Finally, he asks Grayson and Grayson says yes because he doesn't like sleeping alone either! :) 

Favorite Songs:

+ We started letting him watch Youtube videos on our phones of songs from Sesame Street. He's kind of addicted though, so every morning he wakes up demanding Elmo!! I always make him wait until after we read the Bible and have our smoothie. I also don't let him watch it every day. The past two days I've been able to redirect him to puzzles instead. But I'm okay with it every now and then. Plus, Scott and I kind of like the songs too! Sad, but true! :)

+ I like to Move it from Madagascar is still a favorite, too!

+ He LOVES the Taylor Swift 1989 cd! It's so cute! He dances and gets excited when we put it on in the car. Or if he's really fussy, it can magically calm him down! And he can actually sing along with the song "Bad Blood." There are parts where she says, "HEY!" and he says it along with her, at exactly the right moment, almost every time! It's pretty impressive actually!

Favorite Toys/Activities:

+ We've started going to the library on Saturday mornings, and he loves it! He says "ibary" and enjoys choosing new books. And he really likes reading his new books each week. I think it's good for him to see some variety instead of the same ones over and over and over (even though he still has his favorites!). 

+ He's excellent at the chunky wooden puzzles. He can put them together all by himself and knows the names of almost all the pictures. Such a smarty!

+ Playing outside. He's always asking to go outside!

+ bubbles, balls, and his cozy coupe when he's outside. He walks over to the closet where we keep it in the garage and says, "Car?" and when I start to pull it out he says, "Beep! Beep!" because that's what I say when I want him to move so I can pull it out. :)

+ coloring, stickers, and any arts/crafts activities

+ Helping me with chores. He can put away clothes (with some directions), hand me dishes from the dishwasher, and pick up toys!

Height/Weight/Sizes:

+ His 18-month checkup isn't until the end of the month, so I don't have any updates on his height and weight.

+ Still wearing anything from 12 months to 2T, depending on the clothes.

+ we bought him some size 6 shoes, but they're still too big. 

+ moved up to size 5 diapers

Other:

Parenting has never been this much fun! Grayson can actually PLAY with us now and we can actually do things we all enjoy, like playing outside or coloring. He even behaves while we watch a family movie on Sundays (for the most part!). He is still in a stage where he becomes easily frustrated if he can't figure something out or is physically unable to do something. He can reach most counters and tables in house now, but if he's just shy of being able to reach something, he'll freak out. Whenever he gets frustrated, he cries and will sometimes sit on the ground or lay down. Depending on the situation, I either comfort him and help him figure out his task, I redirect to something else, or I let him get it out of his system. It all depends on what he's trying to do, and if it's something I actually want him to be doing or not! His outbursts and tantrums never last more than a minute and he's usually fine again! If he's sleepy or hungry, they may be more frequent, but usually I nip that in the bud by feeding him or putting him to bed! Life with a toddler isn't perfect, of course. It's messy and unpredictable and we have to base a lot of things around his schedule, which isn't always convenient. But it's also one of the most fun, exciting, and rewarding things I've ever done! :) I'm loving this stage!!

Easter 2015

I know the blogosphere is blowing up with Easter posts, but I'm adding one more to the mix! Deal with it! ;)

The Curley Family had a great Easter weekend!

Friday morning I had a last-minute idea to have an Easter party on Saturday. I figured more people would be able to come if we did it on Saturday instead of Sunday. It would be something simple. Just grilling some hot dogs, hanging out, and doing an egg hunt for the kids. My party planning method is to invite a ton of people in the hopes that a handful will actually show up, especially when you're planning something so last minute. I was pleasantly surprised and excited when nearly everyone I invited said they would come! We did a headcount and it was going to be close to 35 people! We ran out that night and bought supplies...ALL the hot dogs at Wal-Mart, please!

Friday night we made nachos, which is very exciting because usually we have pizza on Friday. Yes, we are that routine-driven! Having nachos on any night other than "Taco Tuesday" is kind of a big deal! ha!

Saturday morning, we woke up around 7 AM and made french toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Unfortunately, by 8 AM, the text messages started rolling in. People were canceling left and right! The party was supposed to start at 2 and by 1, all but two people had canceled! Whoa! One was a friend from work who was coming with her husband and adorable 3-month old baby. The other was a friend from my old job, who was planning on coming alone. I thought it might be a little awkward for her, so I graciously gave her the heads-up and an out if she wanted it. She agreed it might be a little weird, so she bowed out as well. So, at the end of it all, it ended up being just one family at our "party." But it was still great fun! We only made one of the packs of hot dogs (and fortunately I was able to return all the unused food and supplies back to Wal-Mart!), hung out, and watched Grayson find all the eggs! He loved it!

Enough with the pictures, Mom!!!

Paparazzi! lol!

decorations!

flowers cut from our yard! :)

pretty flowers with a color filter :)

Before the party, we took the recycling, went to the library to return our books and get a new stack, and went to a local consignment shop to buy a few "new" things for Grayson. I just don't see the point in spending tons of money of brand new kid clothes when they outgrow them so quickly! Most of this stuff looks new and Grayson doesn't care anyway. He looked adorable on Easter in his new (to him) blue and white striped polo. :)

Saturday night we just ate leftovers, relaxed, and watched the most recent episode of Nashville.

Sunday morning we went to church and it was PACKED! It was such a good service, though! I love just reflecting on how awesome God's mercy and love is! We watched a powerful testimony that brought me and Scott both to tears. God is so awesome!! :)

Grayson and I grocery shopped immediately after church (or rather, immediately after waiting half an hour just to get out of the church parking lot. Sheesh!). Then went home for him to take his nap.

After he woke up from nap, we gave him his first Easter basket! He enjoyed it, but was mostly entertained by the fake grass! Figures! Then we went outside and played with our new sidewalk chalk while daddy grilled some burgers for lunch. We ate in the back yard, enjoying the beautiful weather, then played outside for another half hour or so. Then, we moved it inside for our Sunday afternoon movie. This week we watched Kitt Kittredge, which was actually pretty good!

Grayson's first Easter basket! yes, the chocolate cross melted a little in the car! oops!

one of the only pictures we took on actual Easter! Oops again!

Then we put Grayson to bed, at more leftovers for dinner, and picked back up with Downton Abbey, which we haven't watched in several months! I'm excited to dive back into the fancy-shmancy customs!

So that was our weekend! How was your Easter? I hope you all took some time to worship our Lord and Savior, laugh with family, and enjoy the beautiful spring weather! :)

~Christy~

Weekend Review

It's not too late to do a weekend review, is it? No? Okay, good! :)

We had such a great weekend this past week! Lately our weekends have been full of weird obligations and errands and traveling, so this weekend at home, with the perfect combination of fun/relaxing/productivity was just what I needed!

Friday evening I played outside with Grayson for a while and let him stay up a little past bedtime because we were having so much fun! I taught him how to blow dandelions, which he thought was great! He was a bit frustrated that other flowers wouldn't disappear when he blew on them though! haha! After Grayson went to bed, Scott and I made homemade pizza and watched The Voice with my brother. I think I fell asleep on the couch, which I do sometimes. :)

Saturday morning we woke up around 7 AM (thanks, Grayson!), Scott made pancakes and eggs, and then Grayson hung out with me while I got ready for the day and Scott cleaned up the kitchen. At 10, Grayson and I headed to the park to meet up with some friends. There were 4 mommies and 4 kiddos, ages 23 months, 18 months, 6 months, and 11 weeks! I was a little bummed that I spent most of the time chasing Grayson around instead of catching up with my friends who were busy snuggling their babies at the picnic table, but at least I got to do some run-by chatting with the friend of the 23 month old! And I did manage to occupy Grayson with bubbles for a while so I could hang out with everyone at the table.

Grayson and I headed home at noon. Scott did a ton of yard work while we were gone and the yard looks awesome now! It had gotten really bad, and now it's so much more pleasant to hang out and play in our yard! :) I put Grayson down for a nap, ran out and got some lunch for me and Scott, and spent the next couple hours just hanging out with Scott.

When Grayson woke from his nap, he and I went to the library for about an hour while Scott worked on some homework. Yes, he is taking classes again! He's finishing another BA degree--this one in Spanish! We're so excited that he'll be finished this summer and we can stop sharing him with school!!

Shamefully, I had never been to our public library, despite having lived here for almost 11 years! I'm too excited about checking out books and not having to stress out about spending money on books every time I want to read something! And Grayson had such a great time walking around, flipping through random books, and choosing 3 books to take home with us. He chose If You Take a Mouse to School (like a longer, more detailed version of his all-time favorite Time for School, Mouse!), Pete the Cat's Wheels on the Bus (he loves to point out PETE and BUS!), and Mr. Seahorse by Eric Carle. That book doesn't capture his interest quite as much as the others, but he likes the pictures. We've read each book several times already, and I would guess we'll read them another hundred times before taking them back in a week or so.

Not great pictures, but I had to take some! :)

After our fun trip to the library, we headed back home to pick up Scott, then went grocery shopping (I told you there was some productivity involved!). Womp, womp. But we make the most of shopping together as a family! Grayson has to approve everything we buy, which means we hand it to him, he looks over it and then tosses it into the cart! :)

I don't remember the details of Saturday night, which must mean we just watched Grey's Anatomy and ate ice cream! ha!

Sunday morning we woke up early since both Scott and I were serving at church. Those mornings are always hectic and I'm always late, but it's okay. It's still worth it because the reason I'm late is extra snuggle and play time with Grayson in bed before getting up for the day. :)

Church was awesome, as always, and then we headed back home. I made Grayson and myself a big brunch of eggs and toast. Scott was still at church because he was leading worship for the second service. I put Grayson down for a nap around noon and then I headed to bed for a nap of my own. I woke up about an hour and a half later with Scott laying next to me. :) Looks like we all managed a bit of a nap!

We made quasadillas for lunch and then settled in for our Sunday afternoon movie. We watched Hachi: A Dog's Tale. Grayson liked it because it was about a dog and he was so cute saying "Haaachi!" every time he saw the dog. :) Grayson had popcorn for the first time (we were very careful about what pieces he got and we watched him closely!). He loved it! He is totally his daddy's child!

After the movie, we played outside for about an hour. Grayson actually kept his sunglasses on the whole time, which was a first! Playing outside with Grayson is so fun these days! He's very interested in exploring and discovering new things, whether they are flowers, bees, sweet gums, rocks, or pine cones!

We ended the night by putting Grayson to bed, making a delicious dinner of roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, and broccoli, and curling up on the couch with a glass of wine and watching TV.

No, it wasn't action-packed or overly thrilling, but it was the perfect weekend in my book! I look forward to many more like it, God willing! :)

Tales of a Parent Tuesday {Vol III}

{Vol I}
{Vol II}

Y'all, I tried really hard to think of a story that didn't involve bodily fluids. I promise I did! But...I failed. So, I leave you with this.... Sorry! #parentlife

Not from that night...he's eating a plum in this one. But you can see the determination in his eyes...

Beans? Beans!

Dinner time is often a struggle. Toddlers are notoriously finicky eaters. They are also inconsistent. A favorite food one day will be thrown across the room another. We literally never know what to expect. I generally keep a back-up plan of black beans because 99% of the time, Grayson will eat these when he'll eat nothing else (though this past week he has refused them three times! What is happening?!?!). 

This was a black bean night, perhaps already the second of the week, and it was falling under the 99%. Grayson happily scooped a few spoonfuls of beans into his mouth. Then, out of no where, he started throwing up! He leaned over the side of his high chair and vomited a stream of black beans and milk (sorry guys!). Shocked because he seemed fine moments before, I held a tiny napkin out in a useless attempt at catching some of the mess. Scott was in the other room on the phone, talking to someone who might be interested in buying his trumpet. (PS -- anyone want to buy a trumpet??) I felt helpless as Grayson continued to cough and throw up and I just repeated, "It's okay! You're okay." Scott walked in, phone to his ear, mid-sentence, to see this surprising scene.

"He's sick!" I say, "The stomach bug!"

You see, I had the stomach bug just days before. This was what I was most afraid of--having a toddler with the stomach bug. Not only would it be scary and gross and sad, but we had just gotten over three weeks of awful sickness between his ear infection with dangerously high fevers and his severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics. This would mean more missed work, more sorrow, more sleepless nights...certainly more laundry and mopping, it would seem. 

Grayson finally stopped throwing up and whimpered a little. Feeling defeated, I grabbed a wash cloth and ran to the sink to wet it. "You're okay! I'm going to get you cleaned up!" I promised.

As I held the washcloth under the water, I heard Grayson, in his innocent little voice say, "Uh-oh!" I turned to see him looking down at the mess on the floor and appearing quite concerned. 

"It's okay, buddy! Mommy will clean it up; don't worry."

He looked up at me and replied, "Beans?"

I wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah, buddy. Beans. Let's get this stuff out of the way so I can clean you up."

I started to move the high chair tray with his bowl of black beans and he started crying, reaching out for the beans.

"Beans! Beans!" He cried.

"You...want more beans?" I asked, shocked.

He reached out in confirmation. I hesitated for a moment, considering whether giving him the beans after he had just puked up a considerable amount was a bad parenting move. He was persistent, so I decided to put the tray back to see what he would do. He immediately scooped up a giant spoonful of beans and shoved them in his mouth. 

"MMM!" He exclaimed.

Seriously? I sat back down at the table and watched in confusion, concern, and disgust as my little boy shoveled beans into his mouth while sitting in his vomit-drenched clothes. 

Scott came back in the room, after getting off the phone. 

"What is going on?" He asked.

"Well," I replied, "Grayson is basically acting like a college student who drinks so much he pukes and then continues drinking! Should I not let him eat anymore?"

He didn't know. Neither of us knew what the right move was. Ultimately we just decided that Grayson knows how he feels better than we do. If he felt like he could eat more beans, then I guess it was okay. 

He finished the bowl of black beans, we stripped him of his acrid smelling clothing, and carried him straight to the bathtub. We watched him carefully during his bath and the bedtime routine. He seemed totally normal. He wasn't anymore fussy than usual and went right to sleep. I was expecting to wake up at some point in the night to a bed full of puke, but that didn't happen either. Turns out, he really wasn't sick at all.

I guess maybe he just got choked and puked as a result. I really have no idea. All I know is that he definitely did not have the stomach bug that I coincidentally had earlier that week, and that boy LOVES some black beans! He doesn't let anything stand in his way!

Sorry for another gross story, but that pretty much sums up life with a toddler! If you like this one, I have another good one where Grayson is throwing up (from coughing too much) and when I ask Scott for a bucket, he brings me a trashcan that is basically made of metal mesh. In other words, something that did absolutely nothing to catch vomit, but rather let it spill out onto my lap. Good times.

Okay that's enough puke for one day! Until next time...

Happy parenting!

Missing the Mark

These pictures have nothing to do with this post other than the fact that I took them this morning when we were reading the verse I talk about in this post! Also, the cuteness! :)

Lately God has been teaching me that some of our biggest flaws as humans actually stem from our perfect design as God's creation. They become flaws when they're misdirected. Silly people, we mess up perfectly good things all the time. Some people refer to sin as "missing the mark," and the reality of that is becoming quite clear to me. Yes, I believe in evil and I believe we are fallen, depraved people in need of the saving grace and love of a savior. But I also think that most of the sin in our lives is really just taking the attributes God has given us and using them in ways he did not intend.

I think we can see this all the way back to the original sin of Adam and Eve. Why did they eat the forbidden fruit? They did it because Satan convinced them they would be like God and have all his knowledge. Is it bad to desire knowledge and to be more like God? I don't think so because we're called to be more like Jesus in our lives. But the desire to be equal to God, to the point that you would doubt, disobey, and lie to Him to get what you want, well of course that is sin. And that is what Adam and Eve did.

This morning Scott and I were reading in Ecclesiastes 4:4:

And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one's envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Gosh, how true is that?? How often do we work hard to achieve certain things, whether that be status, power, wealth, relationships, a certain type of car or home, to be a certain type of parent, to have a certain number of followers on our blogs...all because we see someone else who seems to have what we want and that makes us want it all the more? We can all agree that envy is not a good thing, but I think it stems from us looking to others as our role models. Do you strive toward a certain career because someone influenced you? Do you strive to have certain standards, morals, values, etc...because of what you were taught by your parents, teachers, friends, church, TV, music, magazines, movies, etc...? I think we can all say that yes, most of our toil and achievements come from looking to someone or something as a model or guide. And why do we do that?

I think because God calls us to follow Jesus, to learn from Him, to become more like Him through the power of sanctification by the Holy Spirit. We were designed with this plan in mind. Wewere created to be a people who are driven to model their behavior and attitudes after someone else. Following Jesus was part of the plan from the day God created us. So it only makes sense that we have an innate impulse to follow others. The sin comes in when we misdirect that impulse to modeling after people/things other than Jesus. And when observing others as a means to gauge who we want to be, it's a slippery slope before envy sets in. It can easily become more than just hey, I really admire that person to I really want/need/desire what they have and it is making me angry and frustrated that I can't seem to achieve it!! God does not want us to waste our energies on those types of feelings!

When else can our innate, God-given characteristics turn to sin? How about the fact that we were designed to be creatures of worship? God created us to worship Him. At the core of our being, we desire to worship. But so often that desire gets misdirected to other things. Even atheists worship something. It may be jobs, money, spouses, children, clothes, television, sex, drugs/alcohol, sleep... it could be any number of things. And it's not always bad things. No one would tell you that you should not love, honor, and devote yourself to serving your spouse. But you certainly should not worship them in the sense of feeling they can do no wrong and they are your security in life. People are imperfect. They will always make mistakes, and in some way at some time they will let you down.

We were also created with a hunger. A hunger for the Lord. Everyone has it, but not everyone recognizes it for what it is. Instead, they try to fill that insatiable part of their souls with other things. Again, you see people modeling after the wrong things, worshiping the wrong things, and filling their lives with something that will never truly satisfy them. They will always be left hungry.

Even something like gossip! God calls us tell the world about Jesus. He create us with the ability to talk at length about someone else! To share the news with the world. The story of Jesus's death and resurrection is the best news there is for us to share! But instead, we use that ability to share the secrets of others and our unkind opinions. Even our design of loving others and being concerned for them can easily slip into gossip. How often have you started talking about someone's situation from a place of concern, possibly even as a prayer request, and found yourself getting a little bit of a thrill from sharing all the juicy details...maybe way more details than necessary for the prayer request? Yikes. I'll say it again--it's a slippery slope!

I feel like we can trace most sin back to misdirection. It's like God gives us these great gifts and we just mess them up! I know I do it all the time.

What do you think? Are there flaws or sins in your life that you can trace back as something with an originally good purpose and intent? Maybe if we can spend a little time reflecting on that and praying about it, we can start to redirect our intentions to God's desires for our lives. That definitely makes the thought of overcoming sin seem much more attainable and desirable to me, rather than thinking of just having to "do better" or stop this or that. Instead, let's seek God to ask how He wants us to use those things. They aren't really flaws if we use them as He wants! How cool is that??

Be blessed!
Christy

{Almost} 17 Months!

It's been a while since I've done an update post about the little boy. He'll be 17 months old in a couple weeks. I should probably wait and update then, but there's no guarantee I'll find the time to blog then. So...here it goes!!

I can't believe how much he's changed in a year...and it's just flown by!!

Sweet snuggles in the morning with Daddy!

Vacuuming with Daddy! Lucky me!! ;)

He's ready to join the worship team like Daddy! :) {Am I sensing a Daddy theme here?? You can tell who this kid looks up to!}

Excited about his Valentine's gifts from his Granna! (wouldn't hold still for a good picture! Kids...!)

All bundled outside!

Silly selfies!

We love selfies!!

So funny!!

New Moves:

+ dancing! He sticks up elbow out to the side, almost like he's about to start square dancing. We call it "getting the wing up!" He stomps around, back and forth from side to side, and marches. He also twirls in circles. He LOVES music!

+ running! all over!!

+ attempting to dress and undress himself (obviously still requires assistance)

+ can climb onto the couch and climb off of just about anything (both on his tummy and on his bottom)

New Words:

+I can't even begin to document this!! I pretty much assume he can just say whatever he wants! He repeats just about everything we say. He can say all the colors, all the animal sounds, Mommy, Daddy, Brett (my brother), cat, dog, Elmo, Bert, Ernie, Cookie, Grover, (sensing a theme there?) cracker, jacket, smoothie, coffee, Bible, God, bubbles, car, movie, books, fish, duck, star, circle, bath, rock, socks, shoes, cup, spoon, bite, help, please, bib, teeth, eyes, nose, head, toes, one, two, five, nine, garden, outside, bye-bye, night-night, the list literally goes on and on! I'm not even shocked when he says new words anymore! haha!

Food/Teeth:

+ he's currently cutting his 12th tooth (4th molar)

+ he's allowed to eat pretty much anything at this point

+ his appetite varies from day to day and meal to meal, and sometimes he'll like a food and next time he won't. He's picky at times and a "good eater" at others. I never know what to expect when we have meals or snacks!

+ black beans are still his favorite and don't judge me that sometimes he eats them like 4 times a week! It's our fall-back when he won't eat anything else.

+ usually loves Greek yogurt, applesauce, peanut butter, bananas, crackers, chocolate chips, green smoothies, cheerios (only when sharing with Daddy!)

+ still nurses on demand at home and drinks whole milk at school. Drinks from all kinds of sippy cups--rubber spouts, plastic spouts, straws...

Sleep:

+ ehhh...we had a really rough patch b/c he was so sick for a while, and we did a lot of traveling the month before that between the holidays and visiting friends. We are getting back into better routines and he's actually falling asleep IN his crib now, instead of in my arms! That's progress, friends!! I still stand beside his bed until he's fully asleep, but it's a step in the right direction!

+ still sleeps with a paci, but that's usually the only time he gets it, unless he's really sick or we're going on a long car trip (like 2+ hours)

Favorite Songs:

+ "I Like to Move It" from Madagascar 

+ "Elmo's World"  

+ the intro song for Sesame Street

+ Itsy-Bitsy spider 

+ If You're Happy and You Know It

+ pretty much any music that he can dance to (which is basically anything!) Lately we've been rocking "Uptown Funk" :)

Favorite Toys/Activities:

+ books!! Books are his favorite!

+ balls

+ blocks

+ puzzles -- he can actually put together the chunky wooden ones! Or at least put the pieces in the right places, even if he doesn't get them to fit perfectly in the slots

+ shape sorters - still working on this skill, but he gets it right a lot of the time!

+ coloring/drawing/arts & crafts

+ watching Sesame Street

+ playing outside, at the park, and going for walks

+ checking the mail with Daddy each evening

+ bath time

+ dancing 

Height/Weight/Sizes:

+ 24 pounds

+ about 30 inches tall

+ size 5 shoes, size 12 month pants, sizes 12-24 month shirts and PJs 

Other:

There's a growing need for discipline around these parts, and it's a difficult path to forge! We're still in the stage where he isn't intentionally being bad, but he's testing boundaries and relentless about figuring stuff out...even if it's something we don't want him doing. He gets frustrated easily when he can't do something and will let out a high pitch scream. We're trying to get past that, but part of it is just his developmental stage. We encourage using words or gestures rather than fussing or crying as much as possible. It's worse if he's sleepy, so we usually start "spiraling" close to nap or bedtime. Despite the normal challenges of having a toddler who is rapidly developing, teething, and still not the best sleeper, Grayson is an absolute joy! He makes friends wherever he goes. Any time we are out and about, people stop to tell us how cute or handsome he is, and he'll really lay it on thick with the smile and the eyes and all the charming little boy goodness he has! :) He's freaking hilarious and makes us laugh all the time. He makes the best silly faces and sounds! Lately we've enjoyed immitating laughter from the various Sesame Street characters. He can laugh like Ernie, Elmo, and Bert. :) He can also say "om, nom, nom!" like Cookie Monster. 

I'm having the best time being a mommy to this little bean. :)

 

 

Things I Learned Amidst the Plague

If you know me personally or follow my Facebook, you know my family has been through it lately! Grayson was very sick for a week, with a cold that turned into a nasty ear infection--resulting in two trips to the doctor, lots of calls to the on-call nurse, days of scary high fevers, and lots and lots of medicine! Then we had a good week. The dust seemed to settle and my little boy was my little boy again--running around and laughing. Then one random morning I started noticing little bumps on his body which looked like bug bites. In a panic, I stripped his bed and washed everything in hot water, wiped down his mattress with Lysol, and scanned every inch of everything for a sign of bed bugs. By late afternoon his bumps had increased and intensified, so we took him to urgent care. Turns out, he is very allergic to penicillin, so his antibiotics for the ear infection were taking a toll on his body. After just a couple days, my poor baby was covered from head to toe in large, angry looking welts and splotches. He was swollen, red-purple, and scratching until he bled. This resulted in more fevers, more medicine, and two more trips to the doctor. Oh, and lots and lots of time off work! Then, as luck would have it, I got a cold at the tail-end of all this and was sick for a few days. I worked through it because ain't no body got time for missing more work!

So, amidst all this unpleasantness, sorrow, fear, sleep deprivation, and generally horrible circumstances, I learned a few things.

1) Thank God for breastfeeding. Seriously. Thank you, Lord! I have never been so grateful for not having weaned Grayson yet. During the first round of illness, with the scary-high fevers, Grayson would not eat or drink anything. Anything. I suppose if it had come down to it, we could have syringe-fed him liquids to keep him from dehydrating. But thankfully, he wanted to nurse around the clock. And I was more than happy to let him. Breastfeeding literally saved us a trip to the ER for dehydration. Not to mention the comfort and antibodies I was providing him.

2) I know a lot about Sesame Street, y'all. Like, probably more than any of you know. I'm not bragging; it's just the truth. We finished all the available seasons on Amazon (we have been working through these for a while), and we started on Season 1 of a DVD of classic episodes. So, I have seen the very first episode of Sesame Street. It feels cool to say that. (I know. Mom life!) And with watching those first few episodes and seeing the vast differences between 1969 Sesame Street and current Sesame Street, I decided to do some Googling because what else am I doing anyway? So, I learned a lot about it. And I'm oddly obsessed now.

3) Speaking of Sesame Street, I learned a new word! Deciduous. Do you know that one? Well, I learned it from Sesame Street! It's a tree that loses it's leaves once a year. Whoop! I'm sure that will come up in casual conversation soon (I mean, other than me telling people that adults can still learn from Sesame Street!).

4) I would be lost with my husband. I already knew this. He prepares most of my meals, so it kind of goes without saying. ;) But for real...he was a life saver! He took turns staying home with Grayson so I wouldn't have to run through quite as much sick time. He took Grayson to two of the four doctor appointments. He talked to countless nurses on the phone. He administered syringe after syringe of medicine. And he was there to share my concerns, give me strength and encouragement, and pray with me through it all.

5) God is SO faithful. I know the whole attitude of hey, it could be worse, is only so uplifting during hardships, but it really is true. In light of all we were going through, I found myself thinking about others who were going through much more difficult times. I found myself praying for them and praising God for each blessing we had -- access to doctors and medicine, the ability to breastfeed, sick leave, sleep when we could get it, and ultimate protection and comfort. There was one night, after we had discovered the ear infection, that Grayson's eyes became bloodshot and goopy. I immediately assumed he had pink eye, on top of everything. I was feeling so defeated and exhausted. I prayed out to God so intently and purposefully that He would heal Grayson's eyes and he would wake up with them totally normal. The next morning I was prepared for them to be stuck shut with goop, but I honestly wasn't worried because I just felt like God had healed him. And he did! Grayson's eyes were never red or goopy again. Sure it could have been a coincidence, but either way, I'm thankful it was not an extra thing we needed to deal with!

6) Y'all, when they say nothing good happens after midnight, that is the TRUTH! More than once I had to get up with Grayson in the middle of the night and actually go out to the living room and read Goodnight Moon 40 times and watch an episode of Sesame Street before he would finally go back to sleep (darn you, Prednisone and your insomnia-inducing ways!). The only interesting thing that happened during those wee hours of the morning was realizing that my brother was still awake and making grilled cheese at 3:30 AM. Sheesh!

7) The moment you decide you're going to be super diligent about saving sick time and money (particularly from the health savings account) so you can start preparing for baby #2 is the exact moment that it all hits the fan and you start flying through both :( It was a real reminder that we'll need to rely heavily on God to provide for us and grow our family because our own efforts are only so useful. Our hardest work can be destroyed suddenly. But if God wants us to have another baby, He will take care of us in a way that we are unable to.

8) Our friends and family are wonderful. Everyone was expressing concern, lifting us up in prayer, and offering to help in any way possible. One friend even offered to watch Grayson for the day so we could go back to work. I ended up canceling on her b/c I thought he had pink eye, but her offer was still greatly appreciated!

9) I can't say enough about Bulloch Pediatrics. Not only did they take care of us for three separate appointments during all of this, but Dr Whitlock, who is not even our primary doctor, called to check up on Grayson the other night. And their on-call nurse triage system is a lifesaver! We've used it more times than I can count. It's wonderful!

10) I love being a mom. It's hard in ways I'm never prepared for. It's frustrating. It involves endless sacrifice. But the love I felt caring for my sick baby and the joy I felt in seeing him get better...nothing beats it. It's the most heart breaking and fulfilling thing I've ever done. I wouldn't have it any other way!

The first time Grayson finally ate again! It was an exciting moment! His very favorite food--black beans! (no, it's not chocolate cake as many FB friends assumed! But don't worry, I definitely tried chocolate cake the night before and it was a no-go! ha!)