7 months!!

Suddenly, I feel like we are on the downward slide to 1 year old! This past month seems to have encompassed several changes for Grayson. As you can see, she has gone from using her toes as a clever chew toy to something much more functional. We often find her in the "downward dog" position telling me that she's trying to skip right past traditional crawling to standing and walking. She seems like she is always experimenting in new positions which always leave us laughing. We have found her sitting up in her crib just once --- I think having the rails to use as leverage had something to do with the feat. Here are some other things that have been going on with Grayson this past month:

• At her 6 month check up, she officially weighed in at 17lbs 14ozs (75-95% percentile) and 26 1/2 inches (75-95%). She has been consistently at the top of the growth charts, so this indicated to us that her rapid growth might be slowing down.


• Speaking of the doctor, G had her first sickness this month. She had a ton of eye gunk one day and ran a low fever --- it turned out to be a double ear infection :-( . We felt awful because she never seemed that ill --- if it hadn't been the eye gunk, we likely wouldn't have even taken her into the doctor. I still feel like I have dodged the sickness bullet because she has yet to have anything that has disrupted her 8pm to 7am sleeping schedule.


• She is still a champion sleeper! Most days, she takes a long morning nap (2hrs) and a long afternoon nap (2hrs)....occasionally, she'll take a short cat nap in the late afternoon, but that one seems to be happening less and less frequently. She sleeps soundly from about 8pm to 6:30am (on workdays) and 7:30 (on weekends).


• She now eats three meals a day. Typically, a fruit or oatmeal or rice cereal in the morning at school. Then a stage 2 baby food for lunch and another stage 2 food at dinner. We have tried those dissolving puff things but she doesn't seem to really understand the chewing and swallowing thing yet.


• She LOVES her dog Herbie. She smiles and laughs every time he walks by. She loves watching him retrieve his beloved duck. It is our secret weapon to cheering her up if she is getting fussy....."let's go see what Herbie is doing!"

Getting ready for Baby Fischer

Last night we hosted a couples baby shower for our friends, Kenna and Andy. They are awaiting the arrival of Fischer who is scheduled to make his debut in about 7 weeks. They are doing a cowboy themed nursery which was great inspiration for our shower decor. It was fun to celebrate with them and help them prepare for the big event that lies ahead.

Kenna (3rd from left) with Ellen, me and Sarah (the other hostesses)


Grayson and Hudson, they were born about 10 days apart

Happy New Year!

2011 was such an amazing year for our family, it will be hard for 2012 to top it! With Grayson in our family now, there is never a dull moment, we can't wait to see how she delights us this year.

6 months

Recently Grayson crossed over a big milestone....6 months...that's right, one half year! When I look at these pictures, I can't help thinking, where has my baby gone!? Here's what she is up to now:

• Enjoying baby food -- she has started to warm up a little more to the fruits...she still makes a hilarious face when she first tastes one, but she does refrain from spitting it out.


• Sitting up --- she hasn't quite mastered this one yet, still topples over from time to time, but as you can see from her pictures below, she's doing pretty good.


• Scooting -- i won't call it crawling and she can't get anywhere very fast (luckily) but she can go several feet if she wants something....normally anything that lights up and plays music will entice her


• She loves her wubba-nubba pacifier with the elephant attached - we call him Elmer. We decided to buy a back up just in case a disaster struck and something happened to Elmer. Unfortunately, the store didn't have elephants so I had to get a blue horse. She has used him a few times and doesn't seem to mind the difference. She relied on Elmer alot when we were travelling -- lots of strange places to sleep, he kept her feeling safe!


• Laughing --- the sure fire way to make her screach with laughter is to kiss her belly....over and over again, she thinks mommy is SO funny when I do this.

Fun "up north"

Steve's family has a cottage in Northern Michigan, near Traverse City in Elk Rapids. Growing up, his family would spend the summers up there and go there to enjoy the snow in the winter too. We were fortunate enough to have enough time to go up there for Grayson's first visit after Christmas this year. We had lots of fun and even went swimming at the Grand Traverse resort.

This is in a high chair that Aunt Kristen used to use! (no straps!)

Brrr...it's cold up here!

Meeting Mrs. Staley, a long-time neighbor

Swimming with Aunt Kris

A nice family lent us their infant float -- we need to get one of these before our trip to FL!

Grayson loves water!

The Conrads

I love you daddy!

Grayson's First Christmas

We travelled up to Michigan to celebrate Grayson's first Christmas with all of Steve's family.

In keeping with family tradition, on Christmas Eve day, Steve, me, Kristen (steve's sister) and John (steve's dad), went to see a movie. I believe the tradition started when Kathy (steve's mom) wanted to get the kids out of the house so she could wrap gifts. It has stuck, and I am a HUGE fan of it because we hardly ever get to go to the movies. Grandma Kathy was sweet enough to watch Grayson so we could go enjoy a movie. In the evening, we went to mass where Grayson was very well behaved. Grandpa John took her to walk around a couple times which helped alot. We would also take turns entertaining her and passing her on to the next person when she grew bored. It was defintely an entire family effort! After mass, Kathy cooked a traditional polish dinner of kielbasa, perogies and mushroom and saurekraut soup. Yummm, it was good. Grayson actually napped through the beginning of dinner and joined us for some peas when she woke up!

On Christmas morning, everyone was excited to open Grayson's presents. She was spoiled by Santa Claus and Grandma and Grandpa. One of the neatest things we all got were matching t-shirts to commemorate G's first trip to Disney World that she'll be taking in February. The shirts also commemorate my first half-marathon that I'll be running with Kristen when we're there -- the Disney Princess Half-Marathon! Everyone is really looking forward to the trip!
After opening gifts and a good nap for Grayson, we all headed over to Uncle Matt's house to celebrate with Steve's extended family - there were more aunts, uncles, and cousins there than i could even count. Everyone was SO excited to meet baby Grayson!

Christmas Eve

Grandpa John and Grandma Kathy

Aunt Kristen

So many presents!

Christmas morning

Santa toy for "brother" herbie

Shape sorter

Gift tag!

Pink princess t-shirts for Disney!

Santa hats with Aunt Kristen

Daddy loves G!

More gifts for Grayson

Steve's aunt Debbie

I thought this picture was SO cool. Blue is great grandma Helen's favorite color and she has this globe in her family room, Grayson loved it!

Steve's cousin Catherine

Great Grandma Helen

Over the Christmas holiday, Grayson was blessed enough to meet her other Great Grandmother, Helen. She is Steve's dad's mother who lives in Michigan. Grayson is so lucky to have two great grandmothers who both love her so much!

Christmas Eve Photo Shoot

Sometimes you get gifts that just scream PHOTO SHOOT! This ensemble was one of those things. Grayson's Uncle Len, Auntie Gail and cousin Candace in Florida sent her this little get-up as part of her Christmas gift. The pictures are kind of silly but I am glad we took them. If anything, they will be great to embarass G when she gets older.

Bathtime at Grandma's

I always struggle with how to bathe G when we are on the road visiting family. Grandma Kathy suggested the kitchen sink and it worked out great. Here are some cute pictures of Grayson scrubbing up for Christmas Eve mass!