10 Months

Baby G is 10 months old!  He has grown so much this month and his personality is really starting to come out.  Here are some things we noticed about him this month:

• Grayson is eating more solid foods and prefers to feed himself.  We still continue to spoon feed him certain items but he regularly pushes it away and loves it when we put food on his tray so he can shovel it in himself.  He's eating just about everything we throw in front of him, too.  It's hard to narrow down his favorites since we are introducing new things all the time but I know he really likes avocado, peaches, bananas, sweet potatos and apple sauce.  
• Gray got another tooth (lower front right)!  One night he was really fussy and we treated him as if he was teething.  The very next day the second tooth emerged.  Shane and I breathed a sigh of relief as we finally got something right!  
• He is starting to walk with the assistance of an activity walker.  Grayson is all over the place now.  He will stand up and walk with anything he can push, including our trash can and an empty diaper box.  
• Grayson is starting to love Aspen.  Whenever they are near one another, Gray will gently pet him and rub his hand on him.  In return, Aspen covers his face with kisses.  It's really sweet to watch them be friendly with one another.
• Riley is starting to hate Grayson.  Now that Gray is mobile, he loves to crawl after Riley or climb up to greet Riley while he is perched on our side table or in the window.  Riley is not a fan. 
• Whenever we walk into a room where Grayson is sitting he will give us the biggest smile, throw his head down towards the floor and put one arm up in the air.  Not exactly sure what he's trying to tell us but it is pretty funny.  
• He is starting to make the funniest faces and sounds now.  His facial expressions are constantly changing and he has this "babble" that never stops.  
• Grayson is battling another double ear infection.  We went back to the doctor yesterday and he continues to have drainage in both ears and a blister in another.  This will be our third round of medication so we are hoping we can clear it up.  If they continue to be an issue he may have to get tubes later.  :(
• Gray weighs 21 lbs, 13 oz
• He is still wearing size 3 diapers.
• He is wearing some 9 month old clothes but mostly 12 months.  I need to start hitting up the stores to get some bigger, warmer clothes for the upcoming fall/winter.  

Preparation and planning for his first birthday party has began so I am getting excited.  It won't be a big, extravagant party (no theme or anything) but I want it to be special.  Shane is back at school and work is starting to slowly wind down for me, although there is a chance my responsibilities may change in the next few weeks (hopefully more to come on that later).  Needless to say, we are working to get back into a routine again.

I will end the post with a photo montage of the outtakes from Gray's 10 month photo shoot.  This kid cracks us up!  It's no wonder his daycare calls him the "class clown".  

Man on the run!

Our little man is starting to "walk"!  We bought this activity walker for him a couple of months ago and let him play with it on the floor.  He then started to push it while crawling on his knees, then using it to walk on the carpet and now he's able to control it on the tile.  Ever since he figured this out, he's up and on the go!  The funniest part is all of the sounds he makes while he's "running" around with it.  Not too much longer and this one will really be giving us a run for our money!

August Recap

I can't believe August has come and it's almost gone.  Work seems like it has been busier than ever and Shane has been getting ready to go back to school.  I'm excited to say that I'm stranded at home today without a car.  Yes, you heard me right.  I'm happy to be stranded at home.  I can't remember the last time I had a day at home to get a few things taken care of and today is my day.  My car is in the shop so I'm looking forward to a day where I can clean, relax and knock off a few "to-do" list items.

One of the only exciting things we did this month that I captured on film was the Highland Village hot air balloon festival.  I heard about it on the radio so we decided to head out there last Sunday morning at sunrise to watch the hot air balloons fly in/out.  Gray knew we had to get up early so he decided to assist us with this task and woke up extra early that morning.  Once we got there we set up a blanket near the field and waited for the balloons.  Two balloons set up on the field and took off.  Then they placed a big "x" in the middle of the field and the other balloons flew in from another location and attempted to drop a bean bag streamer as close to the "x" as possible.  It was a pretty neat experience and I think Gray enjoyed watching all the balloons.

Aside from that we just spent time at home trying to survive the rest of the summer.  Here are a few other photos we were able to capture:

Bath time!

He loves to look at himself in the mirror post
bath all wrapped in his towel.

Reading some Dr. Seuss before bed

This is Miss Beth at Gray's school.  She actually teaches the 4 year olds
but loves Gray and comes to see him everyday.
(Gray has some crazy hair in this photo from the splash pad)

Someone has a new kitchen/outdoor grill.  My boss' kids are all grown up now
so he was getting rid of some of their toys and sold us this set.  Gray is still too young
to enjoy it but we can tell he will love playing with it.

Kaylee Grace Dusek

I do have some exciting news to announce!  My cousin, Shay, and his wife, Morgan, are the proud parents of a beautiful little girl, Kaylee Grace.  Kaylee was born on August 14 weighing 5lbs, 14oz.  Kaylee was 2 weeks early but completely healthy.  I'm sad that they live so far away in Reno but we are excited that we get to see them at Thanksgiving when they come visit.  Seeing my cousin as a father brings tears to my eyes.  He has always been such a great kid growing up and went through so much losing his mother.  Kaylee is named after my aunt, Donna (her middle name was Kay).  We know Donna is watching over all of our little babies from heaven!  I am so happy for Morgan and Shay!

Kaylee Grace Dusek

Shay and Kaylee

Swim Lessons

Grayson completed his first swim lesson!  I signed him up to take Parent & Tot classes through the American Red Cross programs we offer at my aquatics facility.  They start as young as 9 months so I got him in as soon (or maybe a week before) he turned 9 months old.  All of my instructors were afraid to teach this particular class since I was in it, except for Rachel.  She has worked for me in various capacities for a number of years so she stepped up to teach the class.  Gray really loves the water so it was fun to put him in a structured environment where we could teach him how to kick and use his arms while singing songs and going through motions.  I refrained from dunking him the first week since he had that ear infection but made a habit of putting him under water the next week.  I would count to three, then dunk him and pull him right back up.  He made the funniest facial expressions!  It was comforting that he never cried once when we were in class.  Shane joined him in one class and I did all the others.  One night Aunt Cra Cra (a.k.a. Shannon) came up and took pictures of us.  

Me and little man in class

Blowing bubbles.  He doesn't know how but laughed
when I did it.  

London Bridge on his back

Swimming after the submarine

Miss Rachel getting him to swim

1...2....3....

Dunk face!

Singing "3 Little Ducks"
The girl next to him loved Grayson.  She always
held him up on the mat. It was so cute!

Learning how to hold on to the edge.

Singing the "Goodbye" song.

Giving Miss Rachel her thank you gift.  She also got a gift for Grayson.

Grayson with Miss Rachel and mommy

Playing with Miss Rachel's gift in the tub.  This is his new face.
He says "Ohhh" each time he does it, too.

I also had some photos from when Shane's family was here that I wanted to share.  Shane's parents were here for only a short period of time and I was not able to get pictures with them since I was at work a majority of their visit.  His sister, niece and grandmother stayed with us for 5 days so I was able to snap a few pictures before they left.  It was so good to see them and spend some time with them since they live so far away.  The last time they saw Gray he was only a few weeks old so this was a much more interactive experience for them.  

Rowan, Grayson and Sandee

Nanny, Rowan, Grayson and Sandee

Cousins

They took a picture similar to this the last time they came.
They are going to "re-enact" the photo each time to see
how he grows.