Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Our Little Stud Muffin

It's been a while since I posted, but that's because poor Grayson was very, very sick last week. His temperature actually went over 104 a couple times, but luckily it never got serious. He definitely wasn't himself and it was rather stressful for me. One day he wouldn't let me put him down, so I couldn't do anything and we actually spent the entire day on the couch. I haven't had a single day like that with him. Ever. The next day he decided he wanted nothing to do with me and he cried constantly. The best way to describe him is "Zombie Baby." He literally walked around aimlessly, crying and randomly touching things. He would then walk in another direction and do the same thing. He would come up to me and act like he wanted to be held, but when I tried he pushed me away. This actually went on for hours. At one point, I was so desperate I called my mother and then my sister for advice. I got him to calm down by taking him for a ride in the car, but he still wasn't happy. Later that night Heidi had to babysit him for me and he did the same thing to her. I felt so guilty. Luckily we got him to bed so she didn't have to put up with it for too long. Needless to say, it was a very long week. He was finally back to his old self last Friday and was a joy to be around. Oh, and by the way, all this crying, whining, and high fever stuff took place during the first week of our basement renovation. I can only imagine what all the workers were thinking!

We are now onto happier times, which leads me to the title of the post. I picked up this shirt to have some professional pictures taken of Grayson for Valentine's Day (we get them for free from The Picture People), but on the first day he wore it, I decided to take a few myself of course. As you can see, he's quite the heartbreaker already!!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Fourteen Months Old...Yesterday

Grayson turned fourteen months old yesterday and it was also "Show Week" at Little Gym. During the class, the kids can show what they've learned to any guests and parents in attendance. I think because of the extra attention and because I'm trying to get Grayson to take a regular nap in the afternoon, and the class hits right at the beginning of it, Grayson was a bit wound up. Unfortunately, this drove me a little crazy as I was chasing after him the entire time, but when it came time for him to receive his medal of accomplishment and his certificate, he went right up on stage by himself and stood there proudly as Dr. Evan placed the medal around his neck.
Also today we can add another accomplishment onto his list. When we went to his 12 month appointment (a month late, at the end of December), the checklist that measures his developmental progression asked if he could drink from a non-sippy cup with minimal spillage. I honestly hadn't even tried it, so I thought I would start working with him at his meals. Well, today was the first day I gave him the chance and he did it very, very well. He even was able to sit the cup down by himself and pick it up to take a drink without spilling it. Such a big boy!!

Monday, January 15, 2007

The Look of Love

This past week has been a rough one for my family. Last Monday, my father was rushed to the ER because of an irregular EKG after he went to his doctor because of trouble breathing. From there he was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Baltimore and on Wednesday, he underwent a quadruple bypass. As you can imagine, this was all very shocking to our family, but he is recovering very well.

Yesterday while Dominic and I were driving my father home from the hospital, I looked into the back seat to see my Mom looking over at my Dad. On her face she had the most incredible look of love. My parents have been married for over 50 years and it's hard to imagine one without the other. We came so close to losing my Dad and I can only imagine what was going through her mind at that time.

I know there are many times when I look at Grayson and Dominic with that same look. I know how lucky I am to have them both in my life and I can't imagine it any other way.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Rice Cakes?!?

So last night I was making dinner and one of the recipes called for crushed rice cakes. As I'm crumbling them, Grayson was at my feet screaming for one. I tried to explain to him that he wouldn't like them, they have no taste, etc., etc., but he continued begging for one. So I plopped him down in his seat and gave him a piece of rice cake. And you know what? He LOVED it! Yes, he loved it. I also gave him some V8, something I found out he liked a few weeks ago when I gave him some on a fluke, and he drank away. (By the way, the V8 is the low-sodium version, which has just a little more sodium in it than a glass of milk.)

The best part of the night was, however, when he decided he wanted more to eat. A few months after Grayson was born, a friend of ours gave us a book of sign language for babies. I was devoted to signing everything to him, all the time, but he never seemed to care. When he started talking so much I kind of abandoned the signing since he was communicating pretty well. Last night when I asked him if he wanted more, he answered by signing it!! I was more excited about that than when he first started saying words regularly. Finally, all that work had paid off. I'm now wondering if he'll start signing more since from what I've read it's like a light switch flipping in their heads and they tend to want to learn more and more. I guess we'll see. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of him enjoying his V8 and rice cakes.

Notice the Rice Cake in His Mouth

Taking a Drink of V8