The Great Boonsboro Carnival!

When I was a kid, one of the highlights of the year was going to the carnival in Boonsboro and riding the rides and playing all the games. This year we decided to take Grayson because they had some baby animals the kids were allowed to pet and hold. Unfortunately it must have been too hot for the animals because they weren't out when we were there, but Grayson did get to play one game - the one where you take the huge sledge hammer and try to ring the bell. They had a child's version and I helped him pick up the hammer as we brought it down on the mark to ring the bell. Of course he wanted to keep doing it, but we only paid for one try. The good news is that all little children win a prize and he got a very large, blow-up hammer that he now loves. Here's a picture of him with it at the carnival:

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!

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!

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!

"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!!!

Back from New York

Each year a few high school friends and I get together with our families to simply enjoy each other's company. Last year we rented a cabin in the Poconos and this year we decided to actually visit a friend's house in upstate New York. We were very lucky because the weather was incredible after so many miserable, cold days. Overall, Grayson was a pretty good boy with a few moments of "spunkiness" thrown in. My friend's house wasn't really Grayson-proof (my new term, since so often baby-proofing isn't enough), so it was nice to have a few extra eyes watching him so I wasn't stressed the entire time. One of the ironies of the trip is that it really was the first time Grayson was out in the snow. I never bought him any snow boots, so all the times we had snow this season, we never went outside. Plus, it had been so incredibly cold. On Sunday we all took a gondola ride up Gore mountain where people were skiing in 80 degree weather. Grayson was able to experience snow for the first time in short sleeves!

Going Up Gore Mountain

Snow!!

Snow, Snow, Go Away!!!

It snowed here on Easter weekend. In April. Actually, it not only snowed Saturday morning, but some of it actually stayed on the ground! I guess since our winter started out late this year, it's going to continue into the spring months for a little while. I just hope the warmer weather comes soon, Grayson is going a bit stir crazy and now that he understands what it means to go outside, he asks for it regularly.

But this post is more about Easter. Even with the very cold weather and snow, we still managed to enjoy ourselves. Grayson attended three egg hunts and really enjoyed each one of them. By the time he was "finding" eggs at the family hunt on Easter, he was an old pro. He actually enjoys opening them to see what's inside more than picking them up. Our family puts money in each egg, so he loved to take out the money and then later that day, we put it all in his bank.

On Easter Day, Grayson started out a little grumpy and didn't want to stay in the nursery during church. Thank goodness there was a very patient person in there with him. That afternoon we went to my sister's house for lunch and he was still rather grumpy, but after he ate he got much better. He really had a great time playing with his cousin Tevyn. Before the egg hunt they "played" football while wearing their cousin Brooks' helmits and then they both had a blast opening their eggs together afterwards.

More Like Football Weather than Easter Weather

Comparing Easter Eggs

Peace and Quiet

This is usually not the way I would describe my house, but right now, that's exactly what it is and why I am able to finally post something. Grayson is actually taking a nap. I've been trying to put him down for a nap every afternoon, even though he fights me tooth and nail, and some days I'm successful, most days I'm not. Today we actually are supposed to go to an egg hunt (the party started 30 minutes ago) with our adoptive families group, but I could tell after church he was going to need a decent nap otherwise he would turn into a terror. And I was right. He's been asleep for almost an hour and a half. Such peace!

While I'm here, I might as well share some pictures. I'm having a hard time getting shots of him these days because as soon as I pull out the camera, he either starts running in the other direction or stopping what he was doing that was so camera-worthy in the first place. I keep trying, however, and I get a few good pictures every now and then. If we were using our old camera, I would have none, so I'm still very happy with our camera purchase!!

Grayson loves to play in our kitchen cabinets, here he is with a strainer on his head. He tries to wear everything as a hat nowadays, but heaven forbid I actually try to put a real hat on him!!!

I took a bunch of pictures one day when he was rolling around on the floor (a common occurrence). I love this one because I think it shows off his eyes.

Hangin' Out!

Grayson had the opportunity to hang out with a few pretty cool people these past couple days. Yesterday, his Grandma and Granddaddy came down to our house for a visit. They wanted to see the progress on our basement remodel and then they played with Grayson for a little bit. Grayson just loves his grandparents and he loves to show off as much as possible!!

Hangin' with Granddaddy and Grandma

Today Grayson finally got to meet Angela. Angela is a friend of mine from grad school who is in the military and is currently deployed to Iraq. She was in town for the past couple weeks and she and I were able to get together for lunch today. Angela sent Grayson his first (and only) gift from overseas after he came home to us - his fish bath toys, which he absolutely loves - and he's been excited to meet her ever since! Today she gave him an Elmo book and stuffed toy, which he played with during lunch, much to the annoyance of our neighboring diners since he chose to hit the same sound effect button on the book over and over again.

Angela, we hope you have a safe trip back to Iraq and a safe trip home to us soon!!

Playing with Elmo in the car after we left the restaurant

Grayson's New Truck

We got snow again yesterday, but it doesn't matter now because I've traded in my RX8 for a Toyota FJ Cruiser. This was one of the toughest decisions I've ever made because I absolutely adored my RX8, but after the last snow storm I tried to go to the grocery store and didn't even make it a half mile away from my house without skidding all over the road. And this was after the roads were plowed!! So, I started to realize the days with my RX8 were numbered and I began to research four-wheel drive vehicles. That's when I found the FJ Cruiser. It's a cool looking SUV that can pretty much go anywhere. After researching it and its competitors extensively on-line, I went to take a look at one to make sure that I could not only fit two kids in the backseat (since we plan on adopting a second time), but that all their stuff could fit in the trunk. The problem with my RX8 was that I had no problem getting a carseat in the back, but I could barely fit anything in the trunk and when you have kids, that becomes an issue.

So, I call it Grayson's new truck because he is definitely one of the main reasons we bought it. I now feel confident that I won't be stuck in the mountains with a child during a snowstorm and I know this is a vehicle we'll be able to grow with.

By the way, I've already had to take it "off-road." When I got home on Tuesday our driveway was filled with worker's trucks, so I had to park it in our steep yard which is currently very soft and muddy from all the snow and rain. My RX8 would NEVER have been able to do that!!

The Bloodwork Saga Continues

Grayson's pediatrician and I finally spoke last Friday after a week's worth of phone tag and it turns out that his white blood cell count is still high. They still aren't sure of the reason nor do they seem overly concerned, but I now have to wait until he shows no signs of any type of illness (no runny nose, coughing, anything) then take him in to be seen by the doctor and then go directly to have his blood drawn AGAIN!! Yes, the poor kid has to be stuck once more. He's been very healthy these past few days, but I'm going to be cautious and wait a little longer to make sure he doesn't pick up anything. And really, is that even possible at this time of year with a toddler???

I'm trying not to worry, but of course my mind is anticipating the worst case scenario. Considering the way Grayson reacts when they do the bloodwork, the count could even be a result of stress. Who knows? I just hope the next time comes back normal.

Then and Now

My friend Erica's post about her two tots "then and now" has inspired me to do the same about Grayson (thanks, Erica, I hope you don't mind). I remember when we were waiting to adopt from Guatemala, I used to love to see the pictures of people's referrals and then pictures of their children at the current time. It really helped me to see a light at the end of the tunnel; however, I had never really thought about doing it for Grayson until seeing Erica's post.

Well, today Grayson is 15 months old and I remember at this time last year, he turned three months old. This is a big milestone during the first year and I had a blast taking pictures of him. I've posted a couple of my favorites.

Note how well-dressed he is in each photo. I remember I took pictures of him in three different outfits that day and he was pretty agreeable up until the last one (the Fubu outfit that's pictured on the right, it was a gift from our friend Flo) and even then I still got a few good shots.

And here's a picture from today:

The best way to describe this disaster is complete chaos. Let's see...mismatched clothes, one slipper off, toys everywhere. Yeah, chaos is about right. But I wouldn't change it for anything. As a toddler, he's learned to push my buttons, and he does it well, but when he runs to greet me to give me a hug, or simply stops playing, walks up to me and places his head on my lap just to remind me that he loves me, it's all worth it.

Happy 15 months, little man!! You mean everything to me.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Yeah, I know it was yesterday and I tried all day to get on-line to post an update, but random things kept happening that stopped me from finishing it. I'll actually be lucky if I get it finished now. At any rate, we spent Valentine's Day snowed in our house. Dominic ended up staying home from work because the roads were so bad and Grayson and I had no plans anyway. Grayson enjoyed spending the day with his Daddy and I enjoyed a little bit of a break.

Grayson and I gave Dominic a picture of the two of us. This was a real treat to accomplish, but somehow I pulled it off. I actually took the picture myself, with a very grouchy toddler at the time, but I think it turned out okay. Here's the shot:I had originally planned on trying to go to a professional to have it taken, but we ran out of time. Oh, well. I think Dominic was pleased with it.

I do have a few other updates for you. Grayson finally got two more teeth this weekend. He now has four on the bottom and three on the top. I can't believe how long it's taking for this poor kid to get his teeth. He already loves to eat, I can only imagine how much he's going to love food when he has a mouth full of teeth!

He's also starting to say the names of people in his life (other than Mommy and Daddy). His favorite name seems to be Tevyn, his cousin, it comes out as "TEV." It's capitalized because he says it with such excitement every time. He's also starting to say Heidi, another cousin, although we call her Aunt Heidi because she's just a couple years younger than I am and she's more like an aunt than a cousin. And, he's starting to say names of his friends. He has a friend named Omar and it comes out "Mo-mar." It's quite cute! He can even pick him out in pictures. So, since he's started to pick up on names, I'm going to start working with him a little more.

And finally, he's gotten a lot of his animal sounds down. He knows a cow says moo, a sheep says baa, a cat says meow (he's been doing that one for a while), a tiger says grrrr, a duck says quack, etc., etc. He knows a ton of them, I won't bore you with the rest, but for some reason he still refuses to make a dog sound!! I think he does it just to frustrate me, like so many other things right now.

One last update...his fifteen month check up was last week. It was scheduled a little early so I could get him in with my favorite pediatrician in the group. The appointment went very well. I talked to the doctor about his eating, since he eats so much I was a little concerned, but she said not to worry. He's in the 75th percentile for both height and weight and that's where he has consistently been, so he just must need the food for energy. By the way, he weighs almost 26 pounds now. Unfortunately she didn't have any suggestions for me to get him to take a nice, long afternoon nap like most other toddlers. I'm trying to be consistent, but I think the problem now is a bit of separation anxiety. He screams when I leave the room. This has also made it tough to get him to bed at night, but we're working through it. He also had his twelve month bloodwork last week, which was a complete nightmare. It took four of us to basically keep him still and get the blood. Unfortunately the doctor's office called this week and said he needs to go back because his white bloodcell count was a little high and they want it redone. I am NOT looking forward to that!

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!!

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!!

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.

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

Merry Christmas!!

This past week has been very, very hectic, but I think Grayson had a lot of fun. We've been busy visiting with family and friends, going to church, and opening presents. Grayson's schedule has been completely messed up, but I think he's recovering well today.

Christmas started out rough because our dog Sarge passed away that morning. He was a Beagle/Shepherd mix and was around 13 years old. He was a very loyal and sweet dog and put up with a lot from Grayson. Grayson loved to roll around on the floor with him and pull at his long hair, and Sarge never minded. Shortly after we got the new camera, we were able to get a picture of Grayson with Sarge. We were never able to get one with the old camera because it was too slow, so I'm glad we have some pictures to save of them together.

After the sadness of the morning, the day started moving pretty quickly. We opened our gifts together and then started getting ready for the family who would arrive at 1:00 for lunch.

With the family here, we opened more gifts and then headed over to my Aunt Dee Dee's house for the night. All three of us were very, very tired by the time the day was over.

Grayson, Wil, and Tevyn

Grayson was more interested in playing with the paper he tore rather than any of the actual toys, other than the books he was given (he wanted to sit down and read them right away), but now that the toys are open, it's a whole new ballgame. He's really been enjoying them, especially his computer keyboard. He has always wanted to play with the computer and I did a little research and found the Comfy Easy PC. I can't even explain how much he loves it. He hasn't sat still like that since before he started walking!! I'm going to order more programs for it soon and hope he continues to enjoy it.

Camera Crazed!!

Dominic and I bought a new camera last week because the old one just couldn't keep up with Grayson. We missed so many pictures of him because the shutter speed was so slow or I had to wait for the flash to warm up. Well, not any more! We purchased the Nikon D50 and it is AMAZING!! I am addicted to taking pictures. We bought the camera Friday night and as of yesterday I had taken over 200 pictures of Grayson. I'm now sorting through them and trying to delete a few, but I'm amazed at how incredible and clear each picture actually is.

I took a lot of pictures yesterday when I took Grayson to the park to play with his friends. Yes, we went to the park on December 17th - it was over 70 degrees!! He had a blast and I had a great time breaking in the new camera. Here are just a few of the pictures I've taken over the past few days. I'm going to upload more in Grayson's photo album when I get the chance.

Day One With the Camera

Eating with a Big Boy Spoon

Playing in the Park

Communication is Key

Grayson has really seemed to grow up a lot just in the past couple weeks. Maybe I just never really noticed it before, but recently I am amazed at how well he communicates. New words are constantly becoming a part of his vocabulary. There are really too many to name, but he's been saying "bath tub" for a while now and he's really starting to try to say "please." Right now the "p" sound is about all we're getting, but he's saying it right after we tell him to say please, so I think he's trying. He also says "ball" and we recently took him to his cousin Brooks' basketball game. He loved watching the kids running up and down the court, we even think he was trying to give them some advice, but we could tell he wanted to be down there with them. And yesterday he added the word "bubble." At the end of gym class they always blow bubbles onto the kids and yesterday he kept saying "bub-bull" over and over again as the bubbles were blown into his face. We're also noticing that he's beginning to make up his own words and we have to try to figure out what they mean. For example, I learned that "ta-ta" means cracker. He now has applied the word to all types of food, but I'm also trying to get him to learn some basic food names.

In addition to all that talking, he's comprehending what we're saying to him very, very well. He just may not always listen. If I ask him to put something away, he usually does it. I especially noticed this at gym class when they put the bells and balls away. He loves to go get others in addition to his own and give them to the teacher. He also understands when we're leaving the house (as he constantly repeats "bye bye"), when I'm talking about food, the instructions I give him when we're playing with his toys, etc., etc. I'm truly enjoying this stage!!