6 Month Follow-up

It was confirmed yet again...we still have the perfect baby! :) Grayson did really well at his appointment yesterday. Here are his stats:

Weight: 18lbs, 11oz (70th percentile)
Height: 27 inches (75th percentile)

After a basic exam, Gray got two shots in his legs. He winced for a few seconds and went right back to smiling. I have to give credit to the nurse because she administers those shots with lightning speed.

I spoke with the doctor about starting solids and our plan is to begin with rice cereal on Saturday. I have to work late a lot this week because of a 5K I'm in charge of on Saturday so I didn't want to start him on it this week while I'm preoccupied with work. Gotta be sure I'm there to capture this milestone on camera! :) It will give me a good week to spend time "feeding" him before my late nights at the pool start up.

On a different tangent, Grayson's daycare is so great about taking pictures of them doing different projects and just enjoying their time at daycare. Yesterday they took the kids outside since the weather was so nice. They posted at least a half dozen photos of Gray and he is all smiles and giggles while playing outside.

Then there's this photo:

I could not stop laughing when I saw this photo of him! He looks so funny all passed out on the blanket.

That's all I have for now. Here are a few other pics I meant to add to his 6 month post but forgot to load up from my phone.

New puppy from Grammie
(Don't worry Aunt Cra Cra, he still loves yours!)

On our way to school one morning

Another morning before we left the house.
This kid is a morning person.  He wakes up smiling.
I need to take a video of him when I go in his room to get him.
No one should be smiling that much in the morning.

6 Months

Exactly 6 months ago today, Shane and I were sitting in Plano Presby watching football and looking in awe at our tea cup human.  Today is no different (except that football isn't on).  Not a day goes by that we are not in complete amazement at this gift God has given to us.  Grayson is a joy in our lives that can not be matched.

It's hard to imagine that it has already been 6 months, too!  Here are some things we noticed about him this month:

• He started sleeping longer.  I noticed I had to go and wake him up at 7am each morning so I could make it to work at a reasonable time, so we cut out his 6pm and 8:30pm feedings and gave him his bottle at 7pm.  Then we put him down for the night at 8pm.  He slept until 6:45-7am.  He averages 10-11 hours of sleep each night now.
• He is down to eating 7-8oz bottles only 4 times a day.  We plan to start solids right after we talk to his pediatrician tomorrow.
• Grayson is a tummy sleeper.  We put him in his crib on his back and within seconds he is rolling over to his side and ultimately ends up on his tummy for most of the night.
• He is really good at picking objects up and playing with them.
• He can pass objects between both of his hands now.
• He likes to bang objects on his tray.  We started sitting him in his high chair at the table with us when we eat and he will bang whatever toys we give to him.  We had read that this is the time when babies start to make noise just to hear it. 
• Grayson loves to feel the texture of different things.  He seems to love the feel of our carpet the most.
• Our biggest milestone this month is that he is sitting up!  I put him in the boppy one day and sat him up so he had some support and he did ok.  He can sit up without it, but eventually he falls to one side or to the back.  I think he likes falling to the back and landing on the pillow behind him.  He can't pull himself up yet, but he is starting to figure out how to work those muscles.
• He is talking a lot more this month.  He loves to mumble sounds and scream.  It's not extremely loud, but it's a good little squeal.  In fact, I can hear him downstairs entertaining Shane as I'm writing this. 
• He finally moved on to size 3 diapers.
• He is still wearing a few 6 month outfits, but he is also wearing a lot of 9 month clothes.

Grayson is still as happy as can be.  I don't think there's a minute that goes by that he is not smiling at us or laughing.  It may seem like I only post photos where he's smiling, but I am not lying when I say, that is all he ever does!  Anytime I pull my camera or phone up to snap a photo of him, he is ultimately smiling.  We know the things that will make him laugh, so we take any opportunity we can to get him going.  The other night one of the guys that works for me and his girlfriend, who also works for me, came over and Laura really got him going.  He had tears in his eyes because he was laughing so hard at her.  It was the cutest thing!

I'm taking him in for his 6 month check-up tomorrow so I will post an update.  Until then, here are a few photos from this month I have not shared along with some photos I took today.  I did a little mini photo shoot with him.  I plan to re-do some of these pictures after some floor drops I ordered come in. 

I feel like he looks so "boy" in this photo with the missing sock
and his body thrown on the boppy.

Sittin like a boss!

Always smiling!

I came home from work to discover this one day...

Sitting in his high chair

Reading books with daddy.  He likes to put the
books in his mouth so we are sticking with board
books for now.

Airplane!

Chillin like a villain

All dressed up

I love his little suspenders!

I think he looks like a fisherman here. 
My favorite part is the face he's making.

My attempt to recreate a photo from Pinterest

One of my favorites

Naked baby!

Weekend Wrap-Up

This past weekend Grayson had some visitors!  My aunt, Mendi, and cousin, Brandon, came up from Caldwell (just outside College Station) to meet baby Gray.  It was so nice to see both of them and spend alittle time catching up.  They absolutely loved Gray and he didn't take much arm twisting to turn on the charm for both of them.

About a week or two ago, Grayson's daycare had a photo day.  I put him in a cute little outfit just to see what the outcome would be.  I had a feeling I wouldn't buy any since I take plenty of pictures of him.  They turned out o.k., but definitely not worth the $15 for a set of 4x6 photos.  My biggest turn off was the background.  I feel like Grayson has an unsure look on his face.  Maybe he didn't agree with the background either or he was not impressed with the photographer's attempt to get him to smile.  Only his momma can get a true smile out of him!  :)

Grayson's Class Photo
Yep, my boy is the only one grinning from ear to ear!  :)

Again, because I had some free time after work one day, and needed some better head shots to send to the modeling agency, I threw Gray in a cute little outfit from his Aunt Nik and snapped a couple of quick photos.  These are more than worth the $0.19 I'll pay for a 4x6!

Baby Gray will be 6 months old on Sunday!  Look forward to his 6 month post next week!   

Tyson "Wiggle Bottom" Bruce

The world lost another sweet pup this week.  Courtney had to put her precious baby, Tyson, down on Monday evening.  He has been battling cancer for a couple of months and finally succumbed to the disease.

I have so many great memories of Tyson from visiting Courtney at A&M when she first got him, to watching him at our house while Courtney and Billy were in Israel and Australia.  Aspen and Tyson loved to play with one another so we tried to get them together as often as we could.

We like to think Buckley made the trip to heaven last week to prepare for Tyson's arrival.  I know the two of them are up in heaven frolicking about and keeping the other dogs in line.  :)

We loved you so much Tyson "Wiggle Bottom"!

Baby Tyson

Best friends snuggling on the couch

Wrestling?  We're not wrestling....

First Annual Pooch Pool Party

One of Courtney's friends did this amazing drawing of Tyson recently.

Play Date, Personalities, Progress and Puppy Time

Last Friday Gray and I headed south to D'Ville to spend some time with my sweet friend, Courtney, and her two girls, little Emmas (2 years) and baby Magpies (10 months).  We had a play date with them back in December but had not seen one another since then.  It was so fun to get the kids together and play.  This was the first time I had really seen Gray interact with other young kids/babies, aside from my nephews.  He really seems to love the interaction and could not get enough of them.

I really enjoyed spending time with Courtney, too.  We have been friends since our freshman year in college and I am so lucky to have her in my life!  I'm hoping they can move further north in the future so we can see one another more often.  :)

Tummy time!

Grayson and little Emmas

Grayson going after the older ladies!

Grayson with his dear Aunt Court

I love this lady!

The weather was super nice this weekend so we were able to spend alittle time on the patio and went for a walk on Sunday.  Shane had a seminar on Saturday and his last Sunday PSAT class yesterday so Gray and I found ways to entertain ourselves over the weekend.  This kid has so many facial expressions and different personalities.  His dominant personality is "happy" but the faces he makes seems to change each day.  Check out some of his expressions during a 30 second play session with his "bouncing Tigger" that sings, bounces and shakes his head to music.

Grayson is also making progress and starting to sit up!  We can set him up with the boppy for support and he does fairly well.  He starts to roll to one side and ultimately ends up on his tummy so we can tell he's about to be mobile in no time!

He was watching Sesame Street.  :)

The house has been different since Buckley is no longer with us.  The first few days were really weird.  We miss hearing him bark every time the doorbell rings or an animal pops up on the tv (that dog had a knack for spotting an animal on tv, even if it was only on the screen for a couple of seconds).  Buckley used to escort Shane to the mailbox everyday, too.  He's no longer there to play "hide the nose" in bed before we go to sleep or "protect" us by barking at everyone or anything that passes by our backyard.  I feel like Aspen senses his absence and seems to be looking for Buckley around the house and backyard.  Aspen really has taken a liking to Grayson and I find that when I'm lying on the floor or in our bed, Aspen is usually wanting to join in on our time together. 

Playtime on the floor

New best friends

To close, I have a couple of pictures I took of Grayson in his chair.  When I get bored, I take photos.  :)  I love that I have a subject 24/7 that is willing to give me the best smile with little effort on my part.  These photos may be submitted to a modeling agency.  We'll see....

Summer is approaching quicker than I would like so I am trying to enjoy my last couple of weekends with my baby boy before I found myself working at the pool.  I'm excited for Shane to get some good daddy time in with his little man though!