New Tricks

Dear Grayson,

You are almost six months old!! You are finding your feet....you love playing peekaboo
(you are playing peekaboo with the blanket here)....and you love your family. You are such a happy little boy!!

This has been a month where you were sick several times. Last week you had some kind of fever virus--your temp was 103.8. We all worried about you then. You missed a week of daycare--and the daycare women called to check on you because they missed their favorite little fellow.

This last picture is of you and me (!!) totally passed out. It had been a long sick day for both of us.

Grayson, you will be six months old in two days. It is so hard to believe that we have only known you for such a short time. You have filled all our hearts to the brim with love for you. I can't wait to see what the next six months brings!! Love always, YaYa

Five Months Old!!

Dear Grayson, You turned five months old this week!! That seems really incredible. You are such a happy boy and you are learning all kinds of new things. You had a cold for the first time this week. The daycare sent you home with a temp of 99.3!! a little overkill, but that is OK. You then got to go with me to work one day. You were the best employee ever!!

I went to another church sale and bought you this super, fun exersaucer. You are a little overwhelmed with all the bells and whistles. Your head just bobs all over--you are SO close to being able to sit up alone! When you are tired or excited, it is definitely much more difficult to hold your head up and straight.

I have joined a children's book club! This is your favorite book so far--it has a speaker and magnets in it and it "talks" when you turn the pages. You especially love it because there is a baby laughing on every picture. You keep looking to see where that baby is!!

Since you've been growing so much (and especially while you were sick), your mom has been carrying you in the sling. You are almost too heavy for her to carry you AND your car seat!! You are a big, growing boy!! You do love the sling and sitting so close with Momma.

Happy five months old, Baby Gray!! I love you soooooo much!! YaYa

Football!!

Dear Grayson, You are certainly a little boy! Last Thursday you and your mom came over for dinner. You were tired and fussy from daycare and nothing seemed to make you happy. Finally, I suggested to Momma that she put you in the deranged bouncy seat. GrandDude had football on TV. And guess what??!! You totally stopped crying and started watching football!! You were mesmerized!!

We ate dinner in the dining room and let you sit and watch TV. Suddenly, you started crying and your mom jumped up to see what the problem was. She came back laughing--"Gray was crying because statistics came on the TV!! Now the action is back on, he's just as happy as can be!!"

Here is a pic of you and GrandDude watching football. I know he and Daddy are super happy that you are going to be a football kind of guy!!

Love you more and more, YaYa

Possessed Bouncy Seat and Tongues

Dear Grayson, We have had the best weekend with you!! We kept you Friday night, all day Saturday and several hours on Sunday. Grand Dude and I had a wedding to go to Saturday, and Lucinda was going to keep you. Guess what??!! Grand Dude "forgot" that he was supposed to take you to Lucinda's!! I think he really just wanted to keep playing with you all by himself.

We have found that we have a possessed baby bouncy seat. Before you were born, I went to several church baby sales and got clothes, toys, and the best purchase ever--a used, underwater baby bouncy seat. It has been terrific for you. At first, the chair just vibrated, but then Grand Dude put in new batteries for the top part which is supposed to be a soothing underwater theme. Unfortunately, your bouncy seat is possessed!! The water sounds like machine guns firing with lights flashing and a Brahms lullaby playing in a deranged fashion in the background.

We can hardly stay in the room while it is turned on. You, however, are totally mesmerized by it!! If you start to cry, we can put you in and you immediately stop crying. I think you just don't know what to make of the whole thing.....

it even makes you blow bubbles!!

and make really, really cute faces!!

It was definitely my best yard sale purchase EVER!!

This week you have also found your tongue. You love to stick it out when we stick ours out and ask you to as well. This is your best trick yet!!

Grand Dude is loving taking you for walks in your stroller and you love it, too.

YaYa and Grayson playing games.

Happiest bath boy!!!!

What fun we are all having, Gray!! You are a joy and a wonder. Grand Dude and I aren't sure how we entertained ourselves before you came along. Know that we love you more than you will ever know. Love you always, YaYa

Finding One's Thumb

Dear Grayson, We have had the best time with you this past week!! You are laughing and trying to talk all the time. Your momma and I think that you have something really big to say; you just have to figure out how to say it!! We KNOW it will be something very profound!!

Saturday we went and visited your great grandparents, Frances and Claude. And then we stopped by Miller and Phil's for a visit. It is super hot now--100 degrees and you are really, really hot riding around in your carseat.

When we got home you spent the rest of the evening working on getting your thumb in your mouth! One forgets how difficult it is to separate your thumb from those pesky other fingers!!

You worked and worked!.....and finally, SUCCESS!!
A thumb was just what you needed so you could take a little snooze. You are finding it harder and harder to nap during the day--you just know you are missing good, fun activities!!
A James Taylor and Carole King concert was on PBS late Saturday night. GrandDude held you and sang and danced with you. Check out that little eye!!--you are so hating to shut them!!
Finally, you passed out on Helen. You are loving having an aunt who loves you so much. And Helen LOVES messing with you!! She is really paying back your momma for the "messing" she did when Helen was a baby. Baby Gray, I love you so, so much. Everyday that love grows stronger--truly, truly a miracle.

Getting bigger and bigger!!

Gray, you love to come play at YaYa's house. You think all my friends are super fun. And you've started daycare last week. According to Mommy, you LOVE it!! The workerrs think you are The best and cutest baby ever. You are afraid to go to sleep there, tho--you are afraid you might miss something!!

GrandDude and I have been loving giving you baths--GD always squirts you with the squirter in the sink. You don't seem to mind at all. I mind, tho, 'cause I'm the one who gets totally soaked!! GrandDude and I told you the story of the "Three Little Pigs" this past weekend--with all the voices and sound effects, of course. I'm not sure you were too thrilled with GrandDude's "huffing and puffing". It made us both laugh.

Hollan continues to mess with you. She lays really close and swings her tail in your face. One day when you were sitting in GrandDude's lap, who should hop up to have her turn?? That big dog, Hollan!! There was literally no room for Mr. Gray--you were squashed!! Your mom did not think that was funny!!

I wonder what we will do this Saturday, Gray. Know it will be lots of fun!! Love, YaYa

6 weeks of traveling for yaya!!

Mr. Gray,

You are certainly a growing boy!! You are wide awake now and looking all around. You love sitting with Grand Dude, Aunt Helen, and, of course, with Momma. I can't believe all the things you are doing--cooing, laughing out loud, and giving us great big smiles when you first see us. You are a darling boy and we love you SOOOO much!! All my love, YaYa