Grayson eating like a big boy!!!

Well Grayson is getting SO big! We have been working on his eating skills and some days he does REALLY well other days he is a little on the LAZY side! Tonights dinner was beef ravioli, green beans, water mellon, and yogurt! I normally just dump all his food on his tray and let him go to town and when we are home it is not that big of a deal cause we are home and he has a tray to eat off of! Well when we go out to eat there is typically not a tray so I have to lay the food on the table... kinda gross if you ask me... do you know how dirty resturant tables are... yes they wipe them down... but it is with a towel that they put in a bucket that they fill with minimal cleaner at the beginning of the day! Ya so lots of germs... I have tried to do placemats... the thin plastic ones... he just pulls right up... I did get one that has a little catch tray that works pretty well... but when he gets bored or is done he starts to pull and try to make a HUGE mess!!! Well you ask... why no use a plate... cause like the tray... he does fine when he is eating but as soon as the boy is done or bored... he is not getting full attention... there goes the plate faster than you can react!!! SO we have been stuck to using the dirty nasty table that yes I typically wipe down prior to his food with a few baby wipes... but what is there to do! Well over the last few weeks I have been working on using a plate or bowl just to introduce it while we are home... and I can't be embarrased when he drops a whole bowl of mac and cheese or green beans on the ground cause well the dog normally eats it before I even have time to go get the broom and mop! We also have been working on our silverware skills! No he is not perfect at it and still uses his hands to eat... but it makes him feel like a big boy when he gets the food on the fork or spoon and then he actually gets it into his mouth! Well here are just a few pics from tonight! Him with his HUGE grin! He sees the camera... and can't help but grin at it! Such a little brat... but I do love him!!! I do have pics of him actually getting the food into his mouth but for some reason blogger really doesn't want to load those pics... oh well!!! The last pic is of him after he took a big bite and the face he makes is just priceless!!!

Also... I think we may be turning the page on Grayson doing things in public! For the kid that LOVES to show off and is just the cutest thing ever and love to smile and chat with people... he does NOT perform on command! It was said that he was delayed by his daycare cause he didn't know how to wave... and some other things... but well he will not do it on demand... he is not a push monkey! Well I was a little worried cause he was SO social and at the same time he was not! He never met someone he really didn't like and was always all smiles... so the reasoning behind social! Well up till a few months ago he really didn't say ANY words... he would babble and I would guess you could say that he somethings but I never could make out any! He slowly has started to say more words but still would not really say anything in public! But he is slowly working into more words in front of people! Well over the weeks that we started at his new school I have tried to get him to wave bye... and well he is just not interested! I mean I see babies younger than him at the store that you wave at them they wave back and and say hi... well not my kid! Well we have now been working at giving hi-fives as a good bye gesture! And it seems to be working! Well this weekend every time I said bye to someone he would wave and blow a kiss... how great is that... and the person that we were saying bye to actually saw this!!! Woo hoo!!! Also... my great kid... when he would do something good that you normally would give a hi-five for... in congrats... Grayson has been going and picking up my hand and then hi-fiving it! It is SO cute! The kids is SO smart! He also is signing so much! I can't believe that it is clicking and he can communicate so much better! Yes sometimes he is still in melt down mode... and I try to get him away from the problem and get him to tell me what he wants... or I try to speak and sign everything that we know so that hopefully he will start signing or telling me what is wrong before he is in melt down mode but it doesn't always work! But at least we are taking steps in the right direction!

My boy and sign language!!!

Grayson is now 14 months old... such a big boy! I am just in awe of how much he has changed in the last 14 months it is truly amazing!!! He teaches me every day! First let me say I am now spending my days trying to act more like him... cause no matter what is going on... how he feels and how much he may or may not want to do something he is almost always happy... yes he has his meltdowns and temper tantrums but no matter how sick he may be he will smile the biggest smile that will just melt your heart! Well I have been having some rough times at work and really not liking where I was at and the people that I had to work with and was ready to hide in a hole! But after being off for 8 days and being able to spend a lot of quality time with my main little dude it reminded me that work is a means to an end I may not like it but the more miserable that I am the worse the day is and the longer it turns out to be! Well when I came back nothing had changed people where still rude and hard to work with but I decided I no longer wanted to be that person... I wanted to have a smile on my face work and do whatever was asked of me... and when the day is over I am done till the next day and just look forward to my days off that I can spend with the little guy! Well I can tell you I do not resent this place near as much, I am not coming out of here just steaming, and it is actually not the worst part of my day! No nothing changed in my work environment EXCEPT my attitude and I can say that coming in with a smile on my face and doing my job no matter how hard I have to work... I think my days are much smoother! So I am now coming to work with my head held high with a smile on my face making small talk with people I don't like too much and watching the clock on the wall till the end of the day! Lets see how long it can last!!! Ha ha!!!

Well on the Grayson front... this past weekend we spent the weekend at home doing a whole lot of nothing!!! We didn't leave the house till 4 pm on Sunday and that was only cause we were almost out of diapers and wipes!!! Well on Friday night he kept doing stuff with his hands and I just could not figure out what he was doing I thought he was just acting a fool! Then the smart kid brings me his bowl and the fruit puffs and does the hand gesture to me again... and the light bulb went off... duh he is saying more... so I do the sign of eat... and he does it back of eat more... it was hillarious! Well after I gave him the puffs I say thank you to him and what does he do back... thank you mom... what a smart kid I tell you! Well Saturday I watch him a little closer and what do you know he signs... please... thank you.. mom... done... eat... more... water... milk... no... yes... and night! How awesome is that! I have been working on this from the beginning and he started with milk at 6 months... and I let it slide a little after reading in a parents magazine that if you teach a kid to sign they may be delayed in their language skills... but a few months back I picked it up again cause they were working more on them at school... well I guess everything started to click so he is now signing a few things! No he can't have a conversation with anyone but it is a start! Also, he will give a high-five... the cutest thing ever! My kid is not an actor... he will not do ANYTHING on cue... if you want him to wave hi or bye... nope won't do it... if you want to show off how he can walk he will crawl... so we started this whole high-five thing last week... he was waving his hand.. I thought it would be fun to teach him how to give a high-five... so I did it over and over again... well yesterday at school was the first chance we had to show off... I figured him to do his normal of rebelling and not doing anything other than a huge grin... NOPE he actually gave a high-five to 2 different teachers... yay... he is finally doing something on command!!! I am SO proud!!!

The Flu

Well Wednesday I picked Grayson up from school and he wasn't quite acting like himself, but he missed his normal afternoon nap so I just thought that is what was wrong! Well I had a farewell party for an old co-worker of mine and I was hosting it so I needed to be there! Once we were there he was pretty good a little on the clingy side and a fussy man but not too bad till my food came and he wanted me to hold him and was completely Mr Anti-Social! He would not chat with ANYONE at the party and was just a fussy boy! Well he started to feel warm but the resturant was a little hot so I didn't think much about it! Well then we were off to my best friends birthday dinner! He slept for about 30 minutes in the car so I figured he would be better behaved, well he was even fussier and I KNEW he was running a fever! SO we chatted for a little while with my girlfriend but then called it a night! That night he was up and down for most of the night running a temp! Well, I ended up calling into work to stay home with him and by lunch he was back to his normal self! He ate a good lunch and was a happy little boy that played and was SO much fun to spend the day with! Well after dinner he started to fuss a little but he ate really good and was happy to stay in his chair long enough that I could eat and clean up! Well when I picked him up he was HOT as a firecracker! SO up we went to a cold shower that he screamed all the way through! Well once he was out of the bath he was asleep before I could even get him dressed! SO back to bed he went! This was at 830pm! Well at 1030 he was due for more meds so I went to check on him and he was hot as hot can be! When I checked his temp he was running 104.5 F! Worried oh yes I was!!! So onto talking to a nurse that I am friends with to see if I needed to take him into the ER (he used to work in the ER) and another friend that is a pedi... got both of their opinions and decided to keep him drugged and if he continued with the fever by morning we would go to the hospital! Well by 430 am he was down to 101 F so I considered that good enough to wait till the pediatrician opened! Well once we got to see the doctor who is not one of our normal 3 docs... they did a CBC blood work-up and a Flu test! She was a little nervous of menigitis(however you spell is) cause ever since his super high fever his balance was ALL off and has been having trouble walking... or the flu! Well the test results take 20 minutes to come back... and we have a winner!!! He has a VERY weak positive flu test! Right now the popular flu strain everyone has is the Swine Flu! SO we are now on drugs, and resting! I am hoping not to get it myself! I don't have ANY idea what I will do with Grayson if I did! SO we are under house arrest! No visitors... no going out and seeing what is going on!!! Just catching up on my DVR and spending some good time with my main man!!!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

My boy

Well the last 5 days have been some of the longest we have had in a while... because of work and being on-call in case someone had a heart attack I have been staying at my mom's house which isn't all bad, the problem... me and Grayson don't sleep very well! We have been over there since last Friday and tonight is our first night home for 5 days till I go back on call! It was not all bad though... this weekend we actually really enjoyed ourselves! First we cooked all weekend which is always nice! Friday night sister and her whole crew came over to mom's house and we ate and played Wii! We love family Wii night! What is the best part... my 3 year old niece beat all of us in Mario Party! Saturday we went to a few garage sales... then came home to try to start going through ALL the toys at Noonie's house that the kids own! Let me tell you these kids have WAY too many toys! The WHOLE living room was full!!! We tried to finish this in a day, but it was a bit too much!!! That night my bro-n-law came over with my niece and nephew and we cooked again and pulled out the slip-n-slide along with the new little splash pool my mom bought Grayson at Target last week! We were a bit nervous it would only be good for this season and since summer is almost over... ha ha... we didn't know but all 3 kids from Grayson at 13 months all the way to Aiden at 8 had a blast in it! I will try to post pics later... I took them with my mom's camera and have not up-loaded to my camera! Sunday we finished the toys and the kids came back over and played in the slash zones! But overall all was quiet in STEMI (heart attack) Land!!! Well I stayed over there Monday cause it made more sense cause I was back on-call on Tuesday! Well like I said last night I was back on-call... all was well up until midnight or a little after... and beep beep beep... pager went off!!! Of course I had not planned this and I forgot to set up the baby monitor... pull out scrubs... or be ready in general! So when the pager went off I woke mom up... pulled out scrubs and got dressed and left! 2 hours later I was home... but of course Grayson can sense me leaving and had woken up shortly after I left so my mom had him in bed with her! I went in and picked him up fully expecting him to want to eat, but I out him down in bed and he slept till 8am this morning! And what a mood he woke up in... he woke up in a GREAT mood! He was talking to himself and in a sing song voice was saying "momma up" now isn't that a GREAT way to wake up on a day off! So no matter with having been rushed out of sleep and having a hard time going back to sleep after cause well... your adrenaline is RUSHING cause you are in such a rush... you can't help but to get WIDE awake!!!

All I can say is that EVERY day Grayson really does amaze me! I love him more and more! He finds new things to do daily and is always SO happy! Even when he doesn't feel good or is sleepy! So I can't help but LOVE and be AMAZED by the goofy kid!!!

Vent...

BLAH!!!!!!! OK... what I am going to get into... I know is silly... but I just get SO frustrated!!! I have Grayson in a daycare that is nice... I pay a lot of good money to have him there and over all I am satisfied! They take GREAT care of Grayson the whole time they have him... EVERY teacher just LOVES Grayson! Every person that I see at the school tells me what a happy and smart child I have and that just reinforces the fact that I must be doing SOMETHING right! It makes me smile every time! Onto my vent! Well I switched him to a sister daycare (owned by the same people as his last daycare, but is under a different director and it is where my sister's kids have gone off and on) in July! I have been trying to be patient and things are working themself out! BUT Grayson is only 13 months and they have him only taking ONE nap a day! At home he will take two 3-4 hour naps a day and at school he will only take one at most 2 hour nap! He comes home and is sleepy, if he doesn't take a nap in the car then he WON'T eat dinner! Also, as I stated before I am still breastfeeding Grayson! I had not really planned on continuing past a year, but it works for us and since I still have a stash in the freezer I figure why not continue! Well every day I get his daily report of what he is doing AND it is only half filled out, and the teacher that I pick him up from doesn't know what the teacher prior did! I guess this comes from working in a health care field that you MUST give a handoff report before leaving and at daycare one teacher comes in and doesn't tell the next teacher what is going on with the kids! Well after almost 2 months I finally talked to the director, I tried to act normal and that it is not that big a deal and I know NO ONE can care for my child the way that I would and I won't be happy no matter what! My mom pointed out the fact that no matter what is given to me I am NEVER satisfied... which is somewhat true... but I have expectations and sometimes I don't feel they are met! Like the day I brought this to the attention of the director was after I spoke to his afternoon teacher for the 4th time of watching her throw out 5 oz of my breast milk that he didn't drink! Well I brought up the fact that I NEVER know how much he drinks and if I am sending too much or too little! Also, they had he drank a whole cup of juice, if he is not drinking his milk he doesn't need juice for one and 2 Grayson doesn't get juice! I know as he gets older he will drink juice it is just that right now I don't think he needs it! Well It turned out that since the teachers do not communicate the afternoon teacher didn't know that Grayson drake a WHOLE bottle at 145pm so at 3pm when they tried to give him his next "scheduled" bottle of course he didn't want it! And thus the afternoon teacher that I really do like threw it down the drain! Well I told the director I wanted them to talk so that they knew when Grayson was getting his bottles cause this seems to be a BIG issue! I also had requested that Grayson get baby food for the morning and afternoon snack instead of the silly carbohydrate enriched crap they give all the other kids! Well this happened a few times but they said that the class he is in they don't do that, either the kid gets the menu food or not! Well at his other school Grayson was in the mid-classroom, it was between babies and toddlers! This is like they throw the kids from babies to toddlers and I guess it is me that is NOT ready for Grayson to grow up! So when I have him I feed him his breakfast of yogurt, waffle or whatever and then with every meal I feed him then give him a jar or 2 of babyfood! this is my decision and I will continue this till he is eating a little more but since he stopped gaining weight a few months back when he get really sick I think this is what is best for us!

So this was my vent... I know that he is safe and happy and I REALLY hope they will change and start talking to each other in the classrooms!

This has been a busy week for Grayson medically, we went back to the pulmonary doctor on Thursday and they are starting him now on singular and starting the 5 days of oral steroids to hopefully knock this cough out! Grayson is also scheduled for a few tests in September, one is a sweat test that they wrap Grayson in plastic wrap and have him sweat for a few hours then test his sweat! This is to test Cystic Fibrosis, which is a lung disease! The doctor REALLY doesn't feel this is our issue BUT wants to rule it out! Also while we get this test he will have blood drawn and they will do some genetic tests AND test for allergies!

Today Grayson went and got his 12 month shots, he was a CHAMP! He got 6 or 7 shots... it was A LOT! I felt horrible!!!He cried and cried and was in SO much pain BUT I know that it is the best for him! Also, Grayson got his flu shot today! I hope it doesn't really effect him! The pulmonary doctor STRONGLY encouraged Gray getting the flu shot, but it was 2 separate shots... yuck! I REALLY hated it, but I know that it is what is best for him!

Well it is time for me to get my little man! We are off to spend the weekend at Noonie's house cause I'm on-call for work... please people don't have a heart attack in Clear Lake... I really don't want to be called into work! I am stressed enough!

Sorry no pics... we have not been that into the camera this week!

13 months... getting bigger and better by the day!

This was me and Grayson when he was just 10 days old.. the first time with the monster trucks!!!

This was a race car that we saw on the side of the road in front of NTW... so of course we had to stop!!!

Me and Grayson... he was not THAT interested in pics!!!

Grayson in the Monster Truck... BigFoot's tire....

The show... that Big Foot did!!! It was pretty cool!!!

And the finished product... lots of smashed up cars!!!

Bow down to Prince Grayson!!!

Digging for gold!!!

Grayson picked a winner!!!

All 3 kids at the golf Game... Grayson helping Aiden out... ha ha ha!!!

Well the last post I wrote at work the other day... but couldn't get the pics to load so while Grayson takes his afternoon nap... kinda late... I am gonna try to update some and put up some random pics...

Well to begin two weekends ago Grayson's daycare had a small school carnival that we went to for a little while... Grayson played a little golf... the kid will SO be into sports... he held the club pretty good and made a hole in one... I was impressed... this game was in his classroom so we visited with his AWESOME teacher! I have to say my kid is such an awesome kid! Everywhere I have EVER taken him school wise he is always SO excellent! I always have the teachers telling me how friendly he is and how they wish all the kids would be like him! So we visited with his teacher for a little while then he ate 2 hotdogs... I know the kid is a PIG!!! Then we went to the lollipop tree and if you pulled out a sucker with a black dot on the end you won... both the cousins pulled out duds... but wouldn't you know my kid pulled 2 winners... no he didn't get to enjoy the suckers... but he did get to play... then he went and dug for gold... and we decided to go to the local Firestone auto place! As I was making our way over to Grayson's school I saw at the Firestone a monster truck and a race car... so as a treat Nonnie met me and the other family and we all went up to see the monster truck! We were amazed when we got there and Big Foot was doing a little show and smashing up cars... it was Great! What is even cooler is last summer Aiden's boy scout troop won monster trucks so when Grayson was 10 days old I have NUMEROUS pics of him with the monster trucks and the drivers which is so awesome... and then a year later we just happened upon another monster truck that was not at the one last year! I am amazed to compare how much bigger he is and what he can do... last year I had to hold him... this year he sat in the wheel... amazing!!!

Then we drove to the NTW and took a few pics with the race car and then we called it a day!

We have been SO busy lately it is nice... but also crazy! Grayson is SO active and I love it... it is SO nice that he walks... but also bad cause he throws temper tantrums all the time! and when I tell him no he will have a TT and scream and throw himself on the floor and not move! It is great! He is still eating like a champ... not as well or as much as he was prior... BUT I think a lot has to do with his new school! They have him in the step up class than what he was in at the old school and they only do one nap and they will not give baby food or yogurt! SO he is not eating as much as before... but he is still eating a lot!

On a side note... I just want to say... Grayson is 13 months and still breast feeding... I am SO proud! He is my little champ! We have dropped his feedings if we are out and about... he gets distracted way too easily... but morning and night... nap time and if we are home... a few times during the day! I am SO excited I was able to make it a year I think it is one of the things I am the most proud of! It can be VERY hard but at the same time Grayson and I are SO close and I know it is what is best for the little guy! I LOVE him SO much!

Also, I love to baby wear! For anyone that is nervous... they are crazy... it gives you 2 hands... can be done from the time they are born (if you do it right) and make you so much closer to your child! I started with a simple sling I borrowed from my sister that never fit really well and I made a fake moby wrap! Then a fellow mom from a group I joined had the baby hawk... it was SO cute! It was expensive but I got SO much use out of it... it became my quick favorite! I started wearing him in the baby hawk when I got it when he was about 4-5 weeks old... and I have worn him in it the most! I put it on the back burner a few month ago when Grayson started to ride in his push car or stroller more and I didn't really have to carry him much! Well this weekend it came in handy! We had to part a little away from the stadium for the baseball game and I put him on my back and put the hawk behind him for extra support so my hands were free my back didn't hurt and it was not too bad having to carry the big boy a distance! Then on the way out of the stadium I put him back on the front of me so he could snuggle and settle to go to sleep! I forgot how much I missed wearing him!!! Then on Sunday I didn't have my BH so I found my sling that I have not worn in a few months cause I thought he is just too big... even though I know kids can ride in the in different holds till they are 35 lbs... I go into denial at times! Well I went to Target and Grayson had just fallen asleep and I hated to wake him but I can't hold him without him waking up... well I put the sling on and put him in it... and wouldn't you know that Grayson slept for an hour and a half while I walked around there then into the shoe store next to Target! I forgot how much I missed Baby wearing... but now that I started again... I do still love it even with my big boy... and I think I may start it up again!!!

Well my boy is awake again... guess it is time to make dinner... and play so we can go to bed... off to the pulmonologist tomorrow to check the meds... then to the pedi on friday to get his 12 month shots... just a few weeks late... but we had to wait cause he was on steriods at 12 months... hopefully he won't be sick this weekend from the shots!!! But I figured I have 3 days off... I should take advantage of them and have his shots done!

1st Astros Game!

After the Game was all over... Grayson was in the BabyHawk (the BEST carrier EVER) and this is me, Gray and my Uncle Paul!

Noonie and Grayson Talking about the Game... do you see him pointing at the players!!!

My Sweet boy!!!

Walking around at the game! Kinda dark I know... and the field in the background!

Grayson on my lap watching the game!

Noonie talking to Gray... he was sitting ALL by himself!!!

The Game!!! 4-2 Astros won against the Diamondbacks... Woohoo!!!

Far away pic of the field... we were in the nose bleed section... but great seats that we saw EVERYTHING!!!

Well last Saturday my Uncle Paul invited the whole family out to the Astros game that was supposed to have a car show with it and he was gonna show off his awesome car... but because of rain they cancelled the car show... but kept the game! Well I was VERY nervous about going to the game cause one we were out shopping all day so Grayson really didn't have a GOOD nap all day and then it started at 6pm... his normal bed time is 730... Well we got there and wow did my kid have a GREAT time! He was SO well behaved I was SO proud of my little man! When we first got there he wanted his own seat and lasted there till about the end of the 4th inning... well that is pretty good for my kid that wants to be everywhere and doesn't want to be held anymore cause he is a big boy that can walk! Well then he started to be passed between me and mom... and he enjoyed himself SO much! My mom kept explaining the game to him and pointing then he would start pointing at the people... and when we would strike out and everyone else would start to yelling at the players... well Grayson joined in on it! It was SO adorable! Well I was VERY nervous that he was just gonna start melting down at bed time... he was enjoying the game so much that he didn't even realize that it was bed time till we were leaving and he was a little cranky but that is to expected! Well I am proud to say that the Astros WON 4-2 against the D-Backs... woohoo!!! I was so excited that we won for Grayson's first game!

Well we have been really active recently... we are NEVER home... and I hope that we will get to soon! I love going and doing things... but at the same time Grayson is SO out of routine... he needs routine!!!

Well we went back out shopping on Sunday... can I say I love tax free shopping... the crazy amount of people out... the sales... I love it... it is almost as much fun as Black Friday... which I am happy to say that this year I am lucky to have off!!! Woohoo!!! It is such a rush to get in with all the crazy people!!! Well we we got a lot of new clothes.... more than we prob needed but they were so cute... and I love to shop!

Well this week... is a busy week... I am working all week... boooo... but I do have Friday off... woohoo... but then Saturday and Sunday I am chained to my beeper for work... BOOO... I hate being on call... I can't do anything for fear of being called into work... I have a hard time sleeping cause I never know if I will miss a page... and of course there is going to be major construction... the last time I was on call was when they blew up the Nasa Road One Bridge over the freeway... even though I HATE waking up so early in the morning to come to work... it is nice to only have to work 4 days a week... and not to have to depend on my family as much to watch Grayson... BUT then again... I hate being on call... it wouldn't be so bad if I could stay at home... but when I am on-call I have to stay at mom's house... which isn't too bad... but me and Grayson both sleep pretty poopy over there... SO I am ready for this weekend to be over! Hopefully it will end up being a good weekend! But ya never know!

Well I have pics that I have not up-loaded from when we saw the monster truck at a local tire place... and I will blog on that later... I guess I should get back to work before someone notices I am not working...he he