2 Years Old

Our little man is two years old!  I can't believe how quickly these last two years have gone by!  It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital meeting Gray for the first time and attempting to figure out our new role as parents.  Now here we are two years later with a lively toddler and starting over with another little one.

Here are some things we have noticed about Gray as he turns two:

• He has the sweetest, most lovable personality.  Gray loves to give hugs and kisses to just about anyone that asks (assuming he knows them). 
• Gray is such a big helper.  Anytime Shane and I are doing something, he always wants to help.  Lately he has been pushing his chair up to the island in the kitchen to help us with dinner or washing dishes.  Whenever Beckett needs his diaper changed, Gray loves to get us a diaper for him.  It's not uncommon to hear him say "I do-it" or "I try-it".  
• He has been learning his manners which is probably the one thing we are most proud of him learning.  He says "please" when he wants something, he says "thank you" when you give him something and he even knows to say "excuse me" if he burps or farts.  There are times when we have to remind him about his manners, but for the most part he does a great job of saying them by just giving him a look.
• Some of the things he loves to play with are Legos, puzzles, his train set, his kitchen and pretend food, his guitar, and playdoh.  Over the last couple of months we have noticed how much he not only loves to play and interact with us but also how well he plays on his own.  Many times we all sit in the living room and he gets down on the floor and entertains himself.  We also noticed how he is starting to play pretend which has been fun to watch.  
• Gray loves to go for walks or be outside.  Shane and Gray will walk down the street to get our mail and end up taking a stroll around the neighborhood for 30 minutes.  His favorite thing to do on these walks is pick up rocks, look at bugs and collect items in his pockets (which he recently discovered on his pants).  In the front of our house a collection of items has started on the pave stones just outside our front door.  (When this began, I knew for sure I had a little boy on my hands).  
• Here are some of our favorite Gray quotes:
• "Come-on Momma", "Come-on Dadda" as he waves at us to follow him
• "Moo-vie?" as he gives us a sly, sideways smile and touches his finger to his mouth
• "All done" as he wipes his hands and mouth after a meal and carries his stuff to the sink
• "Baby Beckett" or "Beckett" as he points or kisses his little brother
• "Eyes Open" anytime he sees that Beckett is awake
• "Hey Momma", "Hey Dadda" in which we have to respond "Hey Grayson" or "Hey Baby".  If I say "Hey Baby" he will always repeat me with the same inflection.  
• He is getting ready to potty train.  Gray has used the potty before and regularly tries at school, but is starting to transition into the next room at school which is considered potty training boot camp.  It will be nice to have only one in diapers eventually!
• Gray can count and he's also learning the alphabet.  Each day we are amazed with how much he knows and how quickly he retains information or learns new things.  We have read that you are supposed to reward the work and effort and not tell a kid that they are "smart" so we rarely use that word, but I truly believe he is smart for his age (although I may be biased). 
• Weight: 28.8 lbs (50th percentile)
• Height: 35 inches (75th percentile)

Gray continues to be a constant blessing in our lives and I know he will continue to grow to be a well behaved, strong and respectful young man.  

He finally got his own pretend phone.

Thank you Aunt Sandee and Cousin Rowan!

 Serenading mommy

(see video below)

 Playing dress up with his kitchen

Driving his car through the house

Wearing mommy's Oakleys on his head

 School pictures

Such a photogenic little man!

Just another night at the Bybee house!

Here are a couple of recent videos of Grayson doing what he loves most.

Playing "You Are My Sunshine"

Doing the "Hot Dog Dance" after Mickey

I'm hoping to post our family/maternity pictures and Beckett's newborn pictures soon.  The picture of Gray at the top of this post was one of the pictures from our family session.  I finally got to see them last week but haven't been given the actual files yet.  I will also have Beckett's one month update soon, too!  Time is definitely moving by so fast!  

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year!  My biggest challenge was trying to decide what Grayson would wear.  He's not at an age where he can pick his own costume, and he isn't into much except Mickey, so I did not know where to begin.  My mom and I went to a Halloween shop but I didn't find anything that I really liked.  Plus those costumes are all cheaply made.  I got lucky last year when I came across his pirate costume at Old Navy.  I decided to turn to Pinterest to see if I could get a good idea.  Some of the costume suggestions are fairly elaborate so I definitely wanted to find something simple since I only had a couple of weeks to make something before Beckett was born.  After a quick search, I came across this cute little dinosaur costume that looked really easy to make.  I had already seen the tail a long time ago and pinned it for a future project so I was excited to finally make it for Grayson.  After a quick trip to Target and JoAnn's I got everything I needed to make his costume.  It only took me a couple of hours to make and I think it turned out super cute!  The best part was that Grayson enjoyed wearing it and I think it's something he can wear around the house when he plays dress up.

Costume from the front

Costume from the back

The night before Halloween, Grayson's school had a fall festival so we went up there for Grayson to see some of his friends, play a few games and get some treats.

 Playing games at school

Sporting his trick or treat bag

Cake walk with his friends

Decorating a cookie with daddy

He ate his cookie one sprinkle at a time

Family pic

Beckett was quite content tucked in my Moby Wrap

On Halloween night, my brother and his family came over so the boys could all go trick or treating together.  Grayson loves his cousins and always seems to have fun when they come over.  We all ate dinner together and then they set off around the neighborhood while my mother and I handed out candy at the house.  We didn't realize it, but our neighborhood is a great trick or treating neighborhood.  There were kids out on every street and alot of neighbors participating in handing out candy.  Grayson really hit the jackpot and came home with a bag full of goodies.

Me and my little dino

Daddy and his little dino

Andrew, Grayson and Aaron

Andrew's costume scared Grayson

Beckett got dressed up, too

Side by side comparison of Grayson and Beckett

Shane is headed back to school tomorrow so Beckett and I will be alone.  It has been nice having him home, especially the early part of this past week.  On Monday afternoon, I developed an infection in my uterus that caused me to bleed alot and have very intense pain, swelling and tenderness in my abdomen.  I called the on-call doctor who recommended I either go to the ER or wait until their office opened in the morning.  The thought of trying to go to the ER with Beckett and figure out who would stay home with Grayson worried me so I decided to try to make it through the night.  It was a fairly long night.  I had the chills and Shane would have to bring Beckett to me when he needed to eat since I was unable to get out of bed on my own.  On Tuesday morning I finally spoke with my doctor.  He thinks part of my placenta didn't deliver so it created this infection.  He called a couple of medications in for me that started to work within a few hours of taking them.  After being stuck in bed for 2 days, I finally started to feel human again on Thursday.  I'm hoping this is the last of my issues as this pregnancy, delivery and post pregnancy has been fairly rough on my body. 

So starting tomorrow, Beckett and I will be spending alot of time together and trying to get into our own routine over the next few weeks.  I still have about 6-8 weeks of leave before I head back to work full time, although I do plan to start working from home in a couple of weeks.  Until then, I will try to fill our days with as much interaction as I can and enjoy every moment we have together because I know all too well that it goes by so fast.

Gray's 2nd Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated Grayson's 2nd birthday.  After realizing his love for Mickey, I decided that a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party would be perfect for him.  I didn't want to go too crazy with everything since I knew we would have a one week old at home, but I did want to make sure Gray had a great birthday party.  I think we succeeded.  He ran around with the biggest smile on his face throughout the entire party and seemed to enjoy opening all of his gifts.

I was able to use my new cricut that Shane bought

me for my birthday to make a few decorations.

Grayson now has a bunch of new Mickey dolls

to snuggle with in bed.

More items created by my cricut. 

I ordered these cookies on Etsy to give out to our guests.

Not only did they look good but they were delicious!

This was "take 2" on the candle.  He immediately

blew it out when I first lit it.  He really enjoyed

everyone singing to him, too!

This has to be my favorite picture of the day.  :)

He also enjoyed the cupcakes which

are the best cupcakes in the world!

(courtesy of Ultimate Cupcakes)

 Checking out his ukelele from dad.

He already has the correct form down.

 Grayson's first set of wheels

Aunt Cray Cray really spoils him.

Mommy and daddy bought him a tunnel to

replace the cardboard box tunnel we have been 

playing with the last couple of weeks.

His face cracks me up!

I made sure Beckett was dressed appropriately

for the party so I made him this cute onesie with

a Mickey tie.

Finally!  A photo of all 4 of us!

I'm having a hard time believing my "baby" is already 2 years old.  My life was forever changed 2 years ago when Grayson was born.  He has changed so much in the last few weeks.  He seems to be talking more and retaining so much information.  He is growing into his role as a little boy and no longer seems like a baby to me.  It's also evident he loves being a big brother.  If Beckett needs his diaper changed, he jumps at the opportunity to help.  Helping only consists of handing us a diaper, but he still loves contributing.  He loves sitting next to him on the couch and still enjoys saying his name every chance he can get.  We regularly have a family role call where Grayson points at each of us and says our name, "Momma!, Dadda, Beckett, Aspen"!  

As for Beckett, we definitely hit the jackpot yet again.  He is similar to Grayson in so many ways.  Beckett sleeps well, eats well and is generally one of the easiest babies.  He never cries and always seems absolutely calm.  At night when he's hungry, he just lets out a simple squeal so I will come get him, change his diaper, feed him and then he goes right back to sleep (most of the time).  Beckett loves to snuggle which is something Shane and I can't get enough of.  I know it will not always be this easy, but I am going to enjoy the simplicity of having a newborn as long as it lasts.  

Sadly he is already falling prey to the "second child syndrome" because I have not taken nearly as many pictures of him during his first week of life like I did with Grayson.  Although his first week of life I spent most of the time in bed and he just slept so there hasn't been much to capture.  I will do my best to take more photos.  Until then, here are a few of the boys from the last week or two.

 Gee bought a Mickey pumpkin kit that
Anpa (Gray's name for Grandpa) helped him

put together.

This kid really loves Mickey!

Being a week old is exhausting!

I promise, he was breathing in this photo.

Mickey books from Aunt Sam!

Me and my gorgeous boys

Aunt Nik Nik was in town for work from Miami!

She is moving back to Texas this week so 

we are excited we will get to see more of her!

I get the feeling I'm being watched.

Shane cut a hole out of Gray's tunnel so he

could be a box monster.

Shane and Gray painted a pumpkin together.

If there's one thing this kid loves, it's arts and crafts.

I think it turned out great!

We have a pretty busy week ahead of us.  Shane is taking Gray to the zoo tomorrow for his birthday, Wednesday we are having newborn pictures taken for Beckett, Thursday is Gray's 2 year check-up and Beckett's 2 week check-up at the doctor and then Friday night is Halloween.  Shane is off again this week so he is finishing up some projects around the house and getting some time in with Beckett before going back to school next week.