Umm, can someone please pinch me?
How is it that the precious, tiny little baby that was placed in my arms is now one month away from being a year old? And he is spunky, precious, dramatic, and ALL BOY! Grayson turned 11 months on September 4th so this post is a recap from August 4- September 4.
Grayson is still on the same schedule of two naps- a morning one and afternoon one. Typically they are at 9 AM and 1 PM and bedtime is 7-7:30. I'm so blessed by our routine because it really helps him SO much. He knows when it's playtime/awake time and when its naptime and there is no fussing. He happily goes down for naps and bedtime and it makes our life SO easy!
Gray is definitely communicating more and I can see his little brain making connections to new things every day! He can totally say "vroom vroom" in his own little way when you ask him what sound a car makes (after we say vroom vroom of course), he can point to his toes when you ask him where they are (so cute- his Nonna taught him this the other day), he said mama for the first time (on his mama's birthday), and he can point to mama and dada in a picture when you ask him. We watch his signing time video every day and he finally signed his first sign- "milk" the other day and I think he also signed "eat". I know he understands so much because I can just see his little brain at work, so I feel like when he's ready to talk more, he will. He totally understands that Lucy is our dog and I feel like that might be his next sign because as always, he is obsessed with her. So much so that I decided his first birthday theme HAS to be a puppy pawty. :) More details to share about this later but I am in planning mode now!
Gray is wearing mostly 12 month clothes and is now wearing a size 4 diaper. I finally had to put away all of the 9 month clothes because they were all pretty snug. He's such a sweet little size & becoming more of a little boy and losing his baby chub. His legs are getting longer (but they are still pretty short...look at his parents ;)) and they definitely aren't as chunky. I know it's because he is CONSTANTLY MOVING...he's getting an all day long baby workout.
At the end of the last month, little man was nursing 4 times a day and had yet to bite his mama with his four cute little teeth. Well, he turned 10 months and decided to not only bite his mama multiple times (can we all say a collective OUCH!), but that he was pretty much done with nursing. At first I thought it was just a strike, but I continued to try and he turned away every time. He had already been using his sippy cup with water for several months so when he threw me for a loop and decided he was done with nursing, the transition to his cup was amazing. I started putting breast milk in his cup and transitioned to formula because trying to pump while a little monster is pulling at it got a little complicated. :) I also was pretty ready to be able to enjoy coffee & chocolate again and kind of have my body back. I was a little torn at first because I didn't think it would end so suddenly (I had our weaning process all planned out- start at 11 months and cut away one nursing session each week until we were done by a year) but overall, I am so glad that it wasn't a traumatic process for Gray. He was pretty obsessed with nursing for his whole entire life (little man never took a bottle) and I was kind of worried he wouldn't do well with weaning but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. It was a little sad thinking I would never nurse him again, but then I was very thankful that I was able to exclusively breastfeed him for 10 whole months. It was one of the hardest but most rewarding things I have accomplished. I have a post in the works about it because I want to remember our journey. Anyways, besides drinking formula from his sippy cup, our little man got a little more adventurous with his food this month (aka mama started trying to give him more foods). He still had a bit of a gag reflux with real food (non pureed foods) at the beginning of the month but towards the end, he was munching on bread, grapes, blueberries, meatballs, chicken, and green beans. His diet still mostly consists of pureed fruits and veggies but we are definitely introducing more "real food". We realized he is an Italian food lover just like his daddy when we went out to eat and let little man "try" some of his daddy's pizza. Well that turned into him clutching onto a piece of pizza and savoring it like it was heaven in his mouth. We tried to take it away and he wasn't having it. Should I be worried?!? :)
So a pretty HUGE milestone occurred this month that I wasn't really prepared for quite so soon....we have a WALKER!!! He took his first "steps" on Sunday, August 18 and pretty much started walking for real on my birthday - August 28. He still crawls some and is learning how to get up without holding onto something (he can get up on his own mostly but still prefers pulling up and then walking) but he prefers walking and is SO CUTE doing it. I feel like he's so tiny to be walking but I knew that when he started standing all the time it wouldn't be too long. He pretty much used crawling as a means to get somewhere to pull up and stand ever since he started crawling. I still haven't bought his first pair of shoes but we are going THIS weekend to get his sweet little feet measured so he can start walking outside of our house! I'm so proud of my cute little walker. Here's a video of his very first steps. (Excuse his little diaper clad self- it was right after dinner and before bath time :))
Gray is definitely communicating more and I can see his little brain making connections to new things every day! He can totally say "vroom vroom" in his own little way when you ask him what sound a car makes (after we say vroom vroom of course), he can point to his toes when you ask him where they are (so cute- his Nonna taught him this the other day), he said mama for the first time (on his mama's birthday), and he can point to mama and dada in a picture when you ask him. We watch his signing time video every day and he finally signed his first sign- "milk" the other day and I think he also signed "eat". I know he understands so much because I can just see his little brain at work, so I feel like when he's ready to talk more, he will. He totally understands that Lucy is our dog and I feel like that might be his next sign because as always, he is obsessed with her. So much so that I decided his first birthday theme HAS to be a puppy pawty. :) More details to share about this later but I am in planning mode now!
Likes:
Brown Bear Brown Bear book
Baby Animals touch book
When mama says "I'm gonna get you" and chases after him
Lucy popping bubbles with her mouth (I've got to get a video of his laugh when she does this :))
Peekaboo- he loves to initiate it now. Here's a cute video of that too. :)
Dislikes:
When the Ipad gets turned off after playing one of his little educational games (uh oh!)
Staying still during a diaper change
Having his nose wiped
Sweet precious baby boy,
Every single day with you is SUCH A JOY. Most days after I put you to bed I lay down on the couch exhausted because you flat wear me out, but I wouldn't trade a single solitary minute. Being your mom is my greatest accomplishment and whenever we go places together, I am so proud of you I just want everyone to know how precious you are. As happy and silly and sweet as you are, we also are seeing you have a flair for the dramatic. :) If mommy or daddy aren't paying attention to you when you want us to, you don't like that at all and let us know. I am trying to implement independent playtime with you so you can and know it's okay to play by yourself. Sometimes you do very well with this and other times you just want us to play with you. It's super cute because I will catch you playing and then look over at me just to make sure I'm looking at you. Oh, my sweet angel, I can't believe you will be a year old in a month. Why is time going so FAST??? I plan on fully enjoying every single day of your little life this next month because before I know it you will be a full on toddler. :( But for now, you are definitely still my baby and I plan on keeping you that way as long as I can. :) I love you sweet one!
Love,
Mom and Dad :)
