3 Months

Sweet Baby Grayson is now 3 months old!  The last month has been a very busy one for the Little Dude.  We went on our first road trip to Arizona, J went to the field for over two weeks for the first time since G's arrival, and G and I flew together for the first time to Sacramento and then on to Salt Lake.  We had so much fun visiting family and introducing our Little Guy to friends and extended family!

I was very worried about how G would handle a six hour road trip.  He is a very good sleeper but since we didn't go in the middle of the night I figured there was no way he would sleep for the whole ride.  I was prepared with a few rattles, pumped milk to go in bottles as needed and about six binks to make sure that we would never be without one. G ended up falling asleep about five minutes into our drive and then slept for about three and a half hours.  He woke up, took a bottle, got changed (he woke up right in time for our pit stop) and fell back to sleep until we hit Phoenix.  While in Phoenix we were able to introduce G to my best friend J, his Uncle J and J's girlfriend B, a bunch of our friends whom J has known since high school and my Aunt B and Uncle R.  We were so glad that we were able to introduce our Little Man to so many people that are important to us!  It was a quick trip for Labor Day weekend but G handled it well and slept just as well for the return trip to California.

So glad my best friend J got to meet G!

My cousin E was a flower girl at our wedding and now she is holding our baby :)

My Aunt B and a few of my cousins

G and L got to meet each other!

His little swimsuit cracks me up!

We were so glad that G finally got to meet his Uncle J and B

We had one day together as a family after we got back from Arizona and then J had to go out to the desert for a field exercise for just over two weeks.  We enjoyed the day together but it was very hard to say goodbye for the first time since G joined our family.  I am so incredibly grateful that J has moved into a position where he rarely has to leave.  He used to be "in the field" on a very regular basis but fortunately he only has to go out for a few weeks a year for now.  I think it's hard on both of them to be apart from each other.  Plus I miss watching their bonding moments when they are together.

Melts my heart :)

Right before J left

After J left, G and I spent a few days by ourselves and then we drove up to L.A. to spend a little time with my Aunt C and her family.  Aunt C took us to the airport and G and I went on our first flight together up to Sacramento so that G could meet my Grandpa M.  I was really nervous to fly with him by myself.  I really didn't want to be the person on the plane with a screaming baby for the whole flight.  I decided to put G in the Ergo carrier (anyone looking in to a baby carrier should definitely go with the Ergo!) and I was hoping that would put him to sleep.  I had a bottle and rattles prepped and I was prepared to buy drinks for everyone in my area if he decided to scream.  Fortunately G fell asleep before take off and didn't wake up until we were off the plane!  We went to Sacramento so that I could introduce G to my Grandpa M.  G is the first great-grandchild for both of my grandparents so they have been very excited to meet him.  Several of my aunts and uncles and their families were also there because my cousin J had come home from a Mormon mission to Brazil.  I had a great time catching up with a lot of family that I don't get to see very often.  G met 22 of my cousins, 8 of my aunts and uncles and my grandpa.  My mom also flew to Sacramento for the occasion so she was able to meet us at the airport when we flew in and then the three of us flew to Salt Lake together so that G and I could spend a week with my family.

G meeting his Great Grandpa M

My cousins were loving little G!

My mom and my cousin J with G and me- yes we are the family shrimps :)

My sweet cousin B

I was so glad that we decided to go to Salt Lake!  We had a great time and G was able to meet my Grandma P which means that he has now met both of his Great Grandparents who are alive. My grandma absolutely adores Grayson and I was so glad that she was able to meet him at this stage.  He cooed and laughed and was generally adorable with her!  My parents are absolutely in love with G and being grandparents.  They were loving all of the time they got to spend with us (mostly him but they like me too :)  My mom kept a lot of baby stuff after my youngest brother was finished with it so she had rattles and blankets and a pack n play.  There was one particular rattle that my mom had that had a mirror on it that G was in love with.  He was spoiled by all of my siblings and my parents while we were visiting.  We nicknamed my dad the baby whisperer because G really seemed to calm down whenever he was with him.  G also seemed to find my dad hilarious and spent a lot of time laughing at him. I was really sad to leave Salt Lake but I was definitely ready to get back to J!  G was awesome again for the flight home and he slept the whole time.  I am so grateful that he was so nice to me in all of our travels but especially for the two flights that I didn't have any help.

G meeting his Great Grandma P!

G playing with his Uncles D and M

Grandma time!

Great Grandma P loves her boy!

G with the Baby Whisperer

G with Aunt C

Smiling with his other Aunt C :)

He loves his Uncle D

So glad we got to hang out with my family!

G loves his Uncle M!

We had a crazy month and we are looking forward to just hanging out and having a relaxing time for the next little while as a family of three!

At 3 months G:
-weighs about 12 1/2 lbs.  We didn't have a doctor's appointment so I don't have an exact number.
- is about 24 1/2 inches long
- wears mostly size 0-3 but he is starting to get too long for a lot of his clothes.  He is way too skinny for 3-6 but lengthwise he is ready to move up.
- is sleeping for 5-7 hours at night.  He has only been getting up once a night between 4-6 so I am very happy!  He also sleeps in until 9 or 10 in the morning which is awesome!
- started sleeping in his crib in his nursery instead of the pack-n-play next to our bed.  He had no problem at all with the transition and I love that his cute nursery is getting used more now :)
- smiles and giggles a lot more!  I have loved hearing his sweet little laugh over the past few weeks! 
- likes rattles and cloth books as well as his activity mat and pulling mommy's hair :) He has also started talking to himself in the mirror which is pretty adorable!
- rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time on 9/6.  He mostly does it in his sleep right now but he has also rolled several times in a row while awake.
- seems to like music a lot and even seems to enjoy mommy's singing
- likes to have "conversations" and is extremely chatty :)
- enjoys laying on the floor and just wiggling all of his limbs all over the place.  Mommy is loving this since it lets her get more stuff done!
- has continued to go to the daycare at the gym and never had a problem with it.  He also hung out with his Grandma and Grandpa so that I could go to a movie with my siblings.  It was the longest that we had been apart since G was born so I was a little nervous but he did awesome!  It definitely made me wish we lived closer!

Here are some random pictures of G from the last month:

*On a mommy note- I finally made it back to my pre-pregnancy weight and I fit in my jeans with no signs of muffin top!  I still have lots of toning and tightening but I'm excited with my current progress!

2 Months

Our sweet little Grayson is 2 months old!  This adorable little man has brought an endless amount of joy into our lives.  It is so much fun to watch him start to explore the world around him!  He is sleeping less during the day and becoming more and more alert.  I have been around a lot of babies but I never realized just how exciting it is to watch your own child starting to hit milestones.  Babies learn so much during their first year of life and I am so excited to continue to watch this little guy advance!

Over the last month G was able to meet my family.  It was so much fun to introduce him to my siblings and my dad (my mom was here too but she had met him right after he was born)!  I love showing my little guy off and watching everyone melt over this little man was awesome.  G was a very good sport about being dragged around on the family vacation.  We went to the zoo, Disneyland, California Adventure, an Angels game and he stayed in his first hotel.  G did what he does best and slept through the majority of these trips.  He literally fell asleep in the parking lot before the Angel's game and didn't wake up until we got back to the hotel.  So far he has adapted really well to the new situations we have put him in but that will be tested in the coming weeks when we go on a road trip to Arizona and take our first flights together to visit family.  I'm praying he will sleep through the flights as well!

P family meeting Baby G

P Family at the Zoo

First family trip to the zoo

G at Disneyland

G's first MLB game with Grandpa :)

G developed quite a lot over the last month.  He started smiling intentionally, making eye contact (though mostly with me since mommy is his favorite!), rolling from front to back and grasping toys.  The first time that he rolled over he was 2 days shy of 5 weeks and I thought it was a fluke but then he repeated the roll four more times that day and continued to do it every day after that.  He is especially fond of rolling over if I am trying to get him to do tummy time and he doesn't want to do it.  The first time that he smiled at me while making eye contact was a total melt my heart moment for me.  I am so grateful to see G hitting milestones.  Working with special needs children for the last few years has really made me really appreciate every single typical thing that my baby does.

Sweet Smiles

J and G continue to have a very cute relationship that is fun to watch.  I recently ran across this quote and it summed things up perfectly for me, "I never knew how much I loved your daddy until I saw how much he loves you."  I send J a ridiculous amount of pictures of our little man while he is at work.  I am so grateful to J for so many things but working hard so that I can stay home with our little guy is definitely at the top of the list.

At 2 months old G:
- weighs 10 lbs 11 ozs.  He is getting so big!
- is 23 inches long.  He is still fairly skinny but showing signs of chunking up!
- wears size 0-3.  He is a bit skinny for a lot of his clothes but he is plenty long for them.
- is sleeping for 4-5 hours at a time at night.  I usually only have to get up once which I am truly grateful for!  This kiddo likes his sleep :)
- focuses on us and smiles fairly frequently.. He has a ton of different facial expresions now. 
- grasps toys that are put in his hands- he nearly knocked himself out with a rattle the other day because he got so excited while holding it
- rolls from front to back and shows pretty good head control
- enjoys music and likes to make noises to go along with it
- loves his baths which is definitely a big change from last month
- likes rattles, his play mat, his bouncer and a few colorful toys
- eats like a champ.  We just started introducing the occasional bottle and he takes them just fine.
- has been to daycare at the gym twice and he handled it the way he deals with most things- sleeping the whole time.  I really appreciate this as I have a few more pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  My goal is to have them gone by 3 months.

Here are a few pictures of some of G's many funny faces:

I thank God every day for giving us this sweet little blessing!  We are praying that he will continue to grow and develop on a typical timeline.  We love this little man!