Future Accountant??

Grady is 8 Months!

Another month = more fluffy hair. I think Grady is ready for his first hair cut. His hair just keeps growing and standing higher and higher on his head! Notice his long hair is cut off in the picure... I rest my point. Speaking of hair - I still can't beleive that my son has blond hair. I don't think I ever imagined that. I guess it makes sense as James was blond as a kid, but odd just the same.

In all seriousness, another month means more excitement and joy in our lives. Grady is soaking in information like a sponge and seems to learn something new everyday. We are still busy having so much fun! As usual, here are the highlights of the month.

1. Grady finally popped 2 teeth on January 27th!! So no more toothless grin for this guy. When he smiles really big (or cries really loud) you can get a pretty good view of them. I used to let Grady chew on my nose but not anymore as it has started to hurt. Those little guys are sharp!

2. Grady had another cold. A couple days after we thought the worst of it was over he started to refuse food. Like really refuse it. He wouldn't take solids and would barely take a bottle. He would gag when you put the nipple in on the worst days.... We figured it had to be the teeth or an ear infection which I have heard are really common after colds for these little guys. So off to the doctor we went - it was not an ear infection so we figured it was the teething. I wish I would have known that a sign of teething is refusing food... I guess I'll know for next time. I guess those are the trials and tribulations of being a first time mom!

3. Grandma Paulette was here for a visit this month also. She was here the week Grady would not eat.... lucky her. She was a trooper though. She came with us to the walk in clinic where the line was too long and also to the doctor. After me bragging about Grady being such a big eater he sure didn't live up to that. The day Grandma was leaving his appetite started to perk and was back in full force on Friday after 5 days of only having a few bottles a day. In between the trips to the doctor and force feeding Grady we made some trips to the mall and walks in the stroller.

4. Speaking of the stroller... we have had some minor success in this area. We have determined that Grady doesn't mind the stroller outside but is not particularly fond of it indoors, i.e. the mall. I am just so happy that he loves it outside as when the weather gets better we will be spending plenty of time outside going on walks and heading to the park. I just can't wait!

5. Grady also celebrated his first valentines day. We didn't do anything special that day. We took a drive to future shop and bought webs cams for us and Grandma Paulette. So far we have had a few chats using our camera. So she can see us but we can't see her. Grady and I will be bringing her web cam to her next month. James and I went out for dinner in the evening. Nice to have an evening out of the house... and we didn't even talk about Grady the whole time. I'd be lying though if I said we didn't talk about him at all... Thanks for Grady-sitting Nana!

6. Grady is still up on all fours with no movements. He is getting braver as he will reach for a toy while in crawling position but hasn't quite figured out how to go forward. If he stretches too far he just falls on his belly... I expect that by our next update we will be in serious need of baby gates!

7. Grady and I also made a visit to my office just last week. It was great to see everyone and catch up as there have been so many changes since I left. Grady even decided to leave a little memento of himself... spit up on the floor. Can't believe it is only 4ish months before I am back there everyday. Not ready to think about that yet.

8. Continuing from #7....We have had some daycare success. We are not confirmed yet but they were really optimistic. It is great location relative to our house. The price is OK. But what I liked best was all the big windows in each room. This is the first daycare we have seen with windows at all! The staff seemed friendly and both James and I agree that so far this is our first choice. The problem is they don't offer part time so we would have to pay 5 days a week and he would only be going 2 or 3. Before I get bombarded with questions of whether I am going back part time... no I am not. Nana has graciously volunteered to take Grady 2 days a week and between James and I we should have 3 Fridays off a month. So lucky for Grady he will only really need to be in daycare a few days a week. We still intend to look into day homes starting next month and see what other options are out there....

9. Grady and I also went to the pool close to our house all by ourselves! I must say I was proud of myself for 2 reasons... 1. I don't like to do anything by myself and 2. it is a lot of work to get him to the pool and in the water. But once all the hard work was done he loved it! We headed to the West Side Rec Center which is 3 minutes away (I timed it) instead of the VRRI pool this time as the swimming times were so restricted at VRRI. At West Side it is open all day and is so close I just couldn't resist trying it. My only complaint is the cost. It is double the price of the other pool. The great thing is there is a huge kids pool that is like a beach where it gradually gets deeper. There is also some fountains and a water slide for when Grady is older. The best part is a little pool the size of the hot tub that is really warm and has toys. It is so much like a bathtub... Grady loved it! It is great because it is shallow and Grady could 'stand' and jump in the pool and giggled away. It took him a solid 30 minutes to start smiling and enjoying himself but once he did he didn't want to leave. After an hour I finally called it a day as I was just waiting for the meltdown to start. Thankfully we made it home first.

10. Some new foods for Grady include yogurt, cheese, and toast. He really likes the yogurt and toast. He usually gags on toast because he puts to big a piece in his mouth and someone has to get it out of his mouth. He doesn't seem to mind. Not so interested in the grated cheese. We show him that mom and dad eat it... but he just plays around with it on the tray. Hasn't quite made it to the mouth. I continue to try each time I grate cheese though.

11. Grady also started consistently sleeping through the night... Finally! It started about a week ago. For the past 6 weeks, usually once a week he would give us a full nights sleep - but that was it. It has now been 10 days and counting of no night time feeds. I must put a disclaimer by saying that his 'through the night' is 715pm until about 530am.... but I'm not complaining too much. As long as I can get to bed by 10 I get a fairly good rest. And the one day he slept until 6am was heaven... Now that I have shared this with you I have to go find some wood to kncok on.

12. And last but not least... Grady welcomed yet another friend into the world. Karter was born on Jan 31st a few days before his due date. Yet another boy to add to Grady's list of friends. Congrats Alynne and Mark! Grady can't wait for his play date next month!

(Side Note: rumour has it a little girl will be joining the posse in July. She will have many little boys vying for her attention. If you are reading this Sara... Baby P is best suited to Grady. I'm not biased or anything!)

Sunday Swinging

***UPDATE***

I had a few comments on the link I provided in my last post about the number of babies given each name in AB. I was sure there was a similar link for SK. I did some looking around and I could only find this link for you SK folk: www.isc.ca/default.aspx?DN=2013,2010,10,1,Documents (couldn't get the link to work - you will have to copy and paste)
It provides the top 20 names for each year and the number of babies with that name

The Name Grady

So I have been obsessively checking for the all inclusive list of Alberta baby names since mid January and it is finally up! I was interested to know how many babies were named Grady in 2008. In 2007, there were 32 baby boy named Grady, meaning person of nobility. In 2008, there was a whopping 52!!! So looks like the name is gaining popularity. I didn't want Grady to end up with a name that was every where. So 52 Grady's across Alberta is not to bad. I am 100% sure that our Grady is the cutest :)

You can check the list out at www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/807.cfm.

Our Little Valentine!

For Valentine's Day, Grady surprised James and I with pictures of our most precious valentine... himself! Technically, Grady needed a ride to the photo studio so asked me to help him. Grandma Paulette helped us too as she was here that week! Grady was such a good boy that afternoon... he was full of smiles and there were just so many good ones to choose from. Usually I think the bath tub pictures are cheesy but I couldn't resist picking it as the look on his face makes me smile every time. Turns out that is James' favorite. When we put him in the tub - Grady's instinct was to try and get out. So he kept laughing and grabbing the tub and pulling himself up and trying to climb out... it was so cute. He actually had an audience by the end of the photo shoot! That's our boy!

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's day!






PS - In case you were wondering... we got the pictures done at the Superstore in Deerfoot Meadows. For the 3 poses and 9 sheets of pictures is was only $45! Such a great deal and I think they did a really good job.