Monday, May 28, 2007

Good Karma and a Great Weekend

Our weekend was jam packed, but before I get into that, let me address the good karma. Last Thursday I went into Shepherdstown to buy my favorite coffee and while Grayson and I were there, we decided to walk around and look at the shops. We found the cutest toy store way off the beaten path and there were so many things I wanted to buy, including a peg bench for Grayson to hammer since he seems obsessed with tools, but I controlled myself. I walked out of there without buying anything!! This was the second time I had walked into a toy store that week and didn't buy anything for Grayson. I was so proud of my self control.

Well, that same afternoon I went to visit my sister and I was talking about how Grayson loves to play with his toy tools (we only had one drill, a screwdriver, and a wrench, but they are definitely his favorites). She then asks me if I would want her son's tool bench and of course I said yes (he's much older and no longer plays with it). Not only is this one incredible tool bench that includes everything, she also gave Grayson two more toy drills, a chain saw, a hard hat, an awesome handmade wooden table for his playroom, a potty chair, Rock N Roll Elmo, Tickle Me Elmo, and a picture for his bedroom. This was one major score!!! And I attribute it to my self control, thus resulting in very good karma.

Grayson is now more obsessed with his toy tools than ever before. We took two of the drills with us everywhere we went over the weekend and he played with them constantly. And today he insisted on sleeping with them during his nap. I really wanted to take a picture of that, but he naps so rarely that I didn't want to take the chance of waking him. So, here are some other pictures of the great stuff we got from my sister.

As for the rest of the weekend, it was very busy. On Saturday we went to a picnic at my Aunt Dee Dee's and then watched the Sharpsburg Parade. It was a very hot day, but Grayson handled it well. That evening we went to my sister's house for a bonfire. Grayson hung out with us and then fell asleep at around 9:00. Luckily we brought the Pack N Play, so he slept right behind us while the rest of us enjoyed the evening.

Yesterday we went to the Caribbean Wine Festival at the Linganore Winery. We were originally going to take Grayson, but we got a babysitter at the last minute. He's not handling separation well right now because he's cutting five teeth (one on the bottom and four on the top) but his babysitter handled it like a real trooper!

Today we're just staying inside. It's pretty hot outside and I'm glad that we're just resting today. Later this week we're hoping to take him to the Boonsboro Carnival. We'll see how that goes!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

18 Months Old

On Thursday, May 17th, Grayson turned 18 months old. I don't have any stats to report yet because his check-up with the doctor isn't scheduled until the first week of June, but I thought I would share some recent pictures of him.

I've gone through his wardrobe to transition him into spring/summer clothes and to move from 18 month size to 24 month or 2T. The 24 month pants are still just a little long on him, but the shorts fit perfectly. And honestly, he's been in that size shirt for months now.

So, here are some of my favorite pictures from the past few days wearing some of his new threads...

Reading in His Playroom

Being Adorable

Deep Thoughts

For more updated pictures, check out his photo album!

Friday, May 11, 2007

A Visit to the Petting Zoo

So, Grayson loves animals. He loves to see them when we're driving around. He loves to look at them in books and talk about them. And he loves to scream, at the top of his lungs, all the animal sounds. All this loving would lead me to believe that he would just love the petting zoo. Well, I was wrong.

Yesterday Grayson went to the petting zoo with his friend Omar, and although he didn't scream or pitch a fit at any point, he was clearly terrified of all the animals. Because his favorite animal seems to be a horse right now, we went up to the horses first. As I lifted him up to pet the horse's nose, he immediately began pulling away and yelling, "no, no, no." Okay, no big deal, I thought, we'll keep trying some other animals. Let's see...he was also afraid of the zebra, the ducks and geese, the sheep, the goats, and he was even afraid of a baby chick. The only animal that didn't seem to faze him was the turkey. The turkey?!? He actually got out of his stroller and walked around them. And toward them! I did finally get some video of that.

After the visit to the turkeys, he seemed to warm up a bit and wasn't quite as terrified, but he was still a little overwhelmed. We ended the trip on a hay ride and he fell asleep in my arms. I do think we'll try again later this summer. I'm hoping now that he realizes the animals are a little bigger than they appear in books and from the car, that he'll enjoy himself a little more the next time. We'll see, I guess.

Finally some Fun with the Kangaroo!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

"I Love You!!"

So, what could possibly be greater than hearing Mama and Dada for the first time from your child?? Hearing "I love you!" That's right, this morning I was standing in the kitchen rinsing Grayson's water cup and he ran up, grabbed my legs, and started saying "I love you." At first I wasn't sure if that was it or if he was just babbling, but when I repeated it back, so did he. It kinda comes out as, "I-vaaa-wu" and flows together as one word, but I don't care. It has to be the greatest thing to ever come out of his mouth!!!