My water baby

Today we took Grayson for his first swim lesson, more of an introduction to the pool really. He absolutely loved it. I haven't purchased a bathing suit to hide my new mommy body, nor do I look forward to the shopping, so Dad got in the pool with Gray. They had so much fun!

Making faces. Gray has started copying faces we make. It is quite funny. Steven and Gray could carry on forever doing this!



Gray is also getting his first tooth. It has just broken through the gum, so it won't be much longer before he has his first pearly whites! It's funny, for months people have either asked about him teething or suggested he was teething due to certain symptoms. Yet, once a tooth finally did erupt from the gum line it was all pretty uneventful. No crankiness (a little yesterday and today, but not much), he is still sleeping regularly, no excessive drooling, fever, nothing!

As written for Gray's dedication

This was written specifically for Grayson, so I wanted to include it in the blog. This will serve as a reminder to the promise we have made, as well as a reminder to Gray one day for just how truly loved he is.

-----

Steven and Kelly want to engage in an old Christian tradition of dedicating their son to God.

Matthew 19 says, “One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering Jesus. But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.’ And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.”

Steven and Kelly by presenting this child for dedication today, you are testifying to two things: first, your own faith in Jesus the Christ and, second, your desire that Grayson will understand from the earliest beginnings what it means to walk in the way of Jesus and to entrust his life to God. This is a sign of your prayer that Grayson will live and live again as a Christian.

To move toward this beautiful goal, you pledge as parents that, with God’s fatherly help, you will bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, making every reasonable effort, with patience and love, to build the Word of God, the character of Christ and the joy of the Lord into their lives? You must guide Grayson’s education so that he can become a blessing to the world.

But above all these, you have two fundamental responsibilities.

First, you are to set an example for Grayson. What you do will forever shape Grayson more fully than what you say, so live well – with humility, gentleness, and service.

Second, your deepest and fullest responsibility is to love him passionately and faithfully because if he clearly feels your love for him, then it will be so much easier for him to feel God’s love for him.

Will you commit your life to fulfilling all these duties toward Grayson with the help of God?

Parents: We will.

No one is a Christian alone. No one can be a Christian alone. No one raises a child to be a Christian alone. We are in this together. We need each other. Steven and Kelly believe the old saying it takes a village, so now I turn to you, friends and family of Grayson.

This is your child! Grayson is your child also. We share the responsibilities of helping Grayson to understand the ways of God and to learn to live like Jesus. We share the dual responsibilities of example and love to Grayson and to all of our children.

So now, I have a question for you.

Will you commit yourselves to lead by example, of a life full of love and compassion? Will you love them and support them? Will you serve them as teachers and helpers and playmates? Will you support Steven and Kelly in the difficult journey of parenting Grayson toward Christ?

People: We will.

We want to finish this dedication process by sharing a blessing and praying for him. I invite those that wish to whisper a blessing to Grayson to come up at this time.

Gray's Dedication

Today we held Grayson's dedication. We are no longer a part of a church, so we took awhile in figuring out how we wanted to do this. In the end, it was made more meaningful than it ever would have been had it been held in a building with our previous church family.
I picked today since it was the equinox, and seemed appropriate to me. We held the ceremony at Steven's parents house, and it was led by our good friend Anne. Anne married us back in 2006, and has been a dear friend of ours for years. She actually became a grandmother for the first time just a week before Grayson was born!
We also planted a tree in honor of our little man.


It was perfect, and I am forever humbled (on a daily basis) for the love that is given and shown to Grayson. We really believe that it takes a village, and what a wonderful village we have to help raise our young man in.

A moment for everyone to whisper a blessing to Grayson. It was such a sweet part of the ceremony. Even the kids came to whisper in Grayson's ear. Such a loved little boy!

7 months

On Friday, my little man turned 7 months old. I can't believe he is now closer to a year old, than to a newborn! He is such a personality already, and keeps us laughing and smiling.
Gray is becoming quite the ladies man already. He has learned to wave bye-bye, but only shows off the new skills to ladies so far. He also has started shaking his head no. . .I would have preferred yes, to no, but what can you do!

He is not crawling yet, but somehow manages to move around all over the floor. He pulls himself to where he needs to go, or we see him turning himself around on the floor a lot. He has pulled himself up a few times, but we are in no hurry. In mere months he will be walking in getting into things. Hard to believe. I savor every second I can, and yet it still seems to go to fast!

Strawberries and bananas

We have started introducing more and more to Gray, and he is such a good eater that it really has been fun to watch him explore. This week I put bananas and strawberries in a this cool food/net contraption and he loves it. It makes the transition from liquid solids to true solids a little easier. Plus I don't have to worry about him choking on anything in the mean time. He enjoyed the banana so much I had to share. Little stinker ate one container of carrots, nursed and still managed to eat one whole banana (excluding what he is wearing)!

Thank you Kat for the yellow mat. Not only has it saved my table from the banging he does with his sippy cup, but it is also handy for cleaning up messes at home and when we are out and about.

13 wks vs 6 months

So around this time last year I was about 13 weeks pregnant. We had already made the announcements to family and friends, I wasn't showing, in fact all bloating from the very beginning had disappeared. I could still touch my toes, was attending a Tai Chi class, and felt absolutely wonderful. We were thrilled beyond belief and spent nights talking about all the possibilities and what our baby would be like. . .was it a boy. . .was it a girl? Would we be good parents? How would we pay for everything (okay, only Steven worried about that)? Would they have curly hair, blue eyes, long legs? All we knew was a heartbeat. A heartbeat that made us cry every time we heard it. It was the most beautiful sound in the world to us. We were so in love. . .just hadn't met him yet.

http://thehokiepokies.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-know-cheesy-but-i-am-so-in-love.html

And now that we have met that precious bundle of joy. . .we are so in love. It's hard to believe that 6 months have already flown by. He is growing way to fast. He is quickly becoming a toddler and less of newborn. He is curious, wants to get in to everything, has those precious blue eyes we dreamed about, the sweetest smile that melts my heart every time he flashes it, and the best laugh in the world! If it wasn't for how hard parenting and marriage can be at times, I would swear we were living in a dream world. Every day is like Christmas at the Hokie Pokie house.
So what has changed from the 13 wk preggo me and the official Mom, me? Where do I start. . .

• The new me is no longer worried about being selfish. I would spend my last dime on Grayson before I bought anything for myself.
• If anything the new me could use to be a little more selfish. Those size 6/8 jeans aren't going to fit otherwise.
• I love the new man in my house. Nope, not just Grayson, but the man that is proving to be a great father and husband.
• We do the best we can. Nope, I wasn't going to use pacifiers, and only cloth diapers, no formula and he would only eat organic food. Well, he started using a paci the first night he was home. We use cloth at home, but disposables at daycare & when we are out & about for long periods of time. He is now on solids that are mostly organic. But not always. And at times, since I've been back to work, I've had to supplement with formula.
• I have always been pretty modest when it comes to showing skin. As Steven put recently, "Man, you'll just whop those things out anywhere nowadays"!
• I have touched poop, pee, and vomit more than anyone could ever realize (unless they too are mothers).
• I hate baby socks. I am working on an invention to keep those damn things on. Why hasn't this been done before?!
• I know longer worry about my decisions as a mother. I know whats best for him. I may not know everything, but I do know my child, and I feel pretty confident in my choices that I have already made for him in his 6 months. In fact, I am much more confident in myself than I have been at any time in my life.
  
• I'm back to touching my toes and sleeping soundly through the night, just like the 13 wk me.
• I love my Moo even more. I am so thankful now that I know what a mother's love is like. It's a good thing we don't know that growing up though. . .can you imagine what brats we would all be knowing we could get away with it?
• Wow. I know how hard it all really is now. There are times I miss pre-Grayson times with Steven. We are tired a lot. I Hate being away from Gray. It pulls at my heartstrings to be anywhere other than, with him. There is never enough time to get things done, and I am pulled in a million different ways.
  
• Have learned there is a new division in friends. . .you know, married, single, with kids, without kids, pet owners, etc. There is also working moms and stay at home moms. Few people in my life have defied all these divisions when it comes to our friendship. Those are your best friends.
  
• I knew I would love him. But there is no way to know how much. Does he really have to grow up and move out of the house? I know, ask me again when he's 13 how I feel about this.
  
• My body, life and mind will never be the same.

In two days my little man will be 6 months. He is rattling off ba-ba and ma-ma and da-da. He pulls himself up so he can stand. He is eager to run and play with Cadha pups. He has such a personality without saying a word. And thank goodness he loves his Momma.

When did I blink?

Where's the manual?

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked. . ."Do you think he's teething"?

Let me tell you, this newbie mom is clueless. Months ago, he started drooling enough to fill a swimming pool. That's when the questions started. Well the pediatrician at his 4 month told me not to get too excited. Excess drool and putting everything in his mouth was just part of his development. Wow, I guess things could be worse. Oh, and they do. . .

Then started the nighttime fussiness. Well, we thought, okay this is it. Then. . .the fussiness went away and nothing. Hmmmm. Well, maybe these things take time.

So then he starts not only putting everything in his mouth, but then he is chewing on it. Blankets, tags (oh, how he loves tags) fingers, his feet (maybe this is a yoga move) toys, mommy. . .they all get the gummy wrath of Grayson. But still no pearly whites.

The most recent is spitting up. Steven had a 24 hour bug on Saturday. . .so it may be that Gray picked something up. But wow, he is spitting up everything. I gave him some bananas last night to see if that would help. BRAT diet. . .mom's mentioned it before. . .banana's, rice, apple juice, ??? what's the 'T' for??? Anyhow, this morning before we all had made it out the door, Grayson had made sure that we were all christened. Thanks bud. So maybe this is it. . .maybe it's just more leading up to it. Just like he had to raise his head first, then roll on one side, then the other, then before we new it he is rolling around everywhere.

It would be nice if there was a manual. Sure there are lot's of books to help. But every child is different. A manual, a good warranty, and a return policy. We don't get any of that. Of course, it wouldn't matter anyways. I can't imagine starting my days out right now without a little baby puke and that gummy smile.