All better

Grady woke up from his second nap yesterday recovered from his shots and in a wonderful mood. He did some world-class sleeping though to make up for those traumatic shots!

Grady has gotten more and more smiley and social these past few days. I think I may have even replaced Lion decal as the receipient of the most smiles. Glad to know Grady knows which side his bread is buttered on. Even so, he does love that lion - so much so that he knows it by name.



Did you get that?



I think he says lion pretty clearly!

Here are some shots of Grady from this morning playing with his play mat from Aunt Michelle and Uncle Michael.

First he's trying to figure out what exactly is going on, but he quickly starts to really love it!









I'll pretend that last shot is artistic, rather than a display of my inadequacy at the camera.

Here's Grady just flirting with the camera after he got tired of the play mat.







And here's a slightly better shot of Grady lifting himself up on his arms during tummy time from this morning.



Grady's just recently started to grasp objects (other than fingers) with his hands. I don't think he realizes what he's doing yet, but it's still exciting. I also think he sort of mock rolled over to his right side earlier today. I put him in his travel crib while I was getting ready to meet Jada and Rose for our walk, and when I came back to him he was definitely more to the right than when I set him down. He wasn't completely rolled over, so I'm not sure whether I can really call it a roll. I'm being extra vigilant when he's at the changing table, though. He's also become really enamored with lights recently. It's just fun to watch him start to understand the world more and more.

Tomorrow we are having Jada, Rose, and Jada's husband Trevor over for barbecue. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. The forecast looks nice, but I'm not holding my breath!

Two month doctor's appointment

Grady had his two month appointment with the doctor today. This is the one where they get a lot of immunizations. I tried to explain what was going to happen to Grady before we got there, but I don't think it really sunk in until he got poked with the needle. Three times. Poor guy. He was so calm and sweet getting ready, too.



Grady weighed in at 12 pounds, 7 ounces. He's now in the 68th percentile. He was at 8 pounds 13.5 ounces at his 2 week, which was 53rd percentile. He grew 3 inches - so he's now 24 inches - 2 feet even! He went up there too from 64th to 85th percentile. And his head circumference increased 4.5 centimeters in 6 weeks to 40.5. Isn't that crazy? That kid has some brain growing in there!

He's basically been sleeping since we got home, with one huge screaming bout in between naps. Even trusty mobile couldn't calm him down. Hopefully he will feel better when he wakes up from this one. He's had a tough day!

Yesterday Grady and I went to meet with some of the mothers from our birthing class. There were four of us there, and we compared stories and experiences. We had an 8 week, 9 week (Grady), 10 week, and 11 week old there, so it was neat to see how the different aged babies acted. Mostly they all just slept!

Grady did some impressive tummy time yesterday too - here's a picture of him pushing himself up on his arms.



Excuse the blurriness. Er, and the massive drool rolling off his chin.

Two months old

Grady is two months old today.



He's already learned so much, and we've learned so much about him.



It's hard to imagine our lives before this little guy came into them.



He just makes us so happy! And we try our best to make him almost as happy as the decals do.



So happy two month birthday Grady Bear! Here's to many, many more birthdays to come.

Family visit

We had a wonderful time showing Grady off to Grandma, Joy and Cliff this weekend. Grady was so excited to meet Cliff, he did a little dance while decked out in his and his uncle's favorite baseball gear. (Sorry Matt's family. And Matt.)



Joy and Grandma left early this morning and Cliff left just an hour or so ago. The weather cooperated Saturday and today, but there was a lot of rain in between so we were pretty limited in outdoor activities. That left plenty of time for taking pictures of Grady, though!







And for some lazy afternoon pictures.





Because the weather was so nice on Saturday, everybody pitched in for a family barbecue. It was nice to finally spend some time outside, and Matt did a great job of manning the barbecue.



Once Grady got the sun out of his eyes, he was ready to sit back and relax!



Grandma, Cliff and Matt also managed to make it out to the rose test gardens while Grady napped and Joy and I caught up.

We tried to take a few pictures today with Grady and Cliff, but Grady was pretty sure he had enough of people taking his picture, thank you very much.





Of course, Grady still had plenty of smiles for his best friend the lion decal.



The cats were a little jealous of all the extra attention Grady was getting, so they went all out with the cuteness these past few days too.





And don't forget! It's not too late to vote for them for cutest pet! They are numbers 34, 35, and 36.

Grady has been pretty good with his morning nap these past few days, although that may be in part due to his earlier 4:40 wake up time, which mom is not too happy about. We're still working on getting him to take better afternoon naps. It does feel easier than it did a week ago when we were just starting. I think mostly because I've calmed down about it!

Tomorrow Grady turns two months old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how much he has grown.

Goodie!

Yesterday, my grandma and cousin Joy arrived to meet Grady (and you know, see me and Matt). It's a long trip for my grandma, who is 92 years old!, so we are especially grateful that she was able to come out. We basically just hung around the house yesterday, taking refuge from the 22nd straight day of rain in Portland. Here are some pictures of Grandma and Joy with the baby.





They are off to see Mount Hood today while Grady and I meet up with Rose and Jada. They'll be back for dinner tonight. Tomorrow Uncle Cliff comes!

I mentioned I think on the last post how Grady has become enamored with the decals by his changing table. I think I have also mentioned on numerous occasions how well Grady can carry on a conversation. In this video, he clearly roars, tells me he's looking at the zebra, tells me the sound a zebra makes, agrees that he says neigh, and then says oh goodie. He is brilliant. No doubt about it.



We're continuing with trying to get Grady to sleep better in his crib for naps. He had a solid 2 hour nap in there yesterday morning, but blew it in the afternoon, opting to coo at his mobile instead. He slept for 40 minutes this morning, until the white noise maker went off. We have ocean sounds playing, but maybe I should change it to the rain sounds - then he would just sleep the second he gets into the crib what with this weather!

Well, we better get primped for Grady's date. He's already taken his bath, looking quite regal while he was at it.

Video time!

Grady is really starting to crack me up more and more. He is so in love with his little mobile. Here's a picture, but the video does his glee a little more justice.





I had to move the mobile further down the crib today, because he kept waking himself up from his naps and cooing at it. I thought mobiles were supposed to help kids sleep? I'm not buying that.

He has also started talking to the animal decals by his changing table. I think I heard him roar at the lion, but Matt thought he was just grunting.

I think I mentioned yesterday that Grady is getting better at his kick toy, and really likes to wind up. Here's a video of that from this morning as well.



We are still working on getting Grady better at napping in his crib. It is very hard for me, but we're going to stick with it for at least until we meet with the pediatrician next week for Grady's two month appointment. Two months! I can't believe how fast it's gone.

Grady got a fun surprise this evening from his aunt Anna Mary. She sent him a gorgeous stuffed elephant who we named Peanut, and a book called Ferdinand. Grady really seemed to enjoy it, and Ferdinand reminded me a lot of Fuzz! Unfortunately after reading it, I dropped the book on Grady's head. This is, I'm sorry to say, the second time I've dropped a book on Grady. I take full responsibility (credit?) if he decides not to become an English major like his mom. Here's a picture of him with Peanut.



In cat-related news, Besa and Fuzz have 3 pictures in our vet's cutest pet picture contest. Feel free to vote! They are numbers 34, 35, and 36.

Awake to Nap

My friend Susie bought Grady a beautiful children's book called "Awake to Nap." It's a book that has a picture and words that start with the first letter of that picture, but it's really artistically done by a mother while she was at home nursing her baby. Anyway, I sort of feel like our days have become "Awake to Nap," as we've started trying to get Grady into a sleep routine.

Matt and I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, on the recommendation of our good friend Cat who has two kids of her own (and who is such a fantastic resource for me right now!). The big take-away for me at this point is that babies need to sleep within 1-2 hours of waking or they will get over-tired. Grady has been going sometimes 4-5 hours without a nap, so that was a bit of a wake up call. (Ha! No pun intended.) I think it is good for Grady to get into a routine, but it has been hard for me. I feel like I never see him, and when I do see him I am either feeding him or getting him ready for his next nap. I'm sure it will get easier as we both get used to it and as it starts to take less time for him to fall asleep once I put him down.

This last time I tried to put him down, he was obviously tired but not having any soothing. I left the room for a minute because I was feeling frustrated and didn't want to take it out on him. I thought he would start crying as soon as I left. However, I've been listening to him on the monitor for the last 25 minutes talking to the animals on the mobile! Anyway, Grady is sleeping so well at night, so I really have nothing to complain about - it's more me being selfish and missing my baby during the day!

Here are a few cute pictures of Grady from earlier today playing with his kick toy. He still really loves it! I think he's figured out that when he kicks it makes the noise, because he really gears up for kicks!





And here's a picture of him getting really good at tummy time (but still really frustrated he has to do it). He came close to rolling to his side a few times.



Finally, here's Grady wondering who this handsome devil is.