My Little Running Buddy

This is Grady and I post run. (This was early last week before the snow fall in case you were wondering)



I think the run tired him out.

Help!

The baby gate is FINALLY installed. Not sure what Mr. Grady thinks of it...

"What is this thing?"

 

"I think that latch up there is my ticket to freedom"



"Mom.... HELP!"




"No Really.... I am ready to come out"

10

(Notice the haircut that I gave Grady just the other day... I did a good job if I do say so myself)

This post cannot be labeled '10 Months' as I would usually label it as there is no way that 10 months has passed. I am in denial. Yet I have this little boy that shows me everyday just how old and independent he is becoming... tear tear. Without further a due... here are the happenings in the life a Grady this month.

1. We started off this month, like many others in Calgary, with the flu and cold. First me, then Grady, then Dad, then Grady again. It was not good. To sum it up, 1 trip to the children's hospital and 2 trips to the doctor later, Grady was back to his busy self. Looking back we probably didn't need to take him to the hospital.. but as a new parent, seeing your baby covered in vomit is very scary. I did learn a lot and next time will be able to handle the situation much better with less panic (I hope). I also hope that the next time is a very long time away...

2. As I have been reporting - GRADY IS CRAWLING!! After many months of the same lame update that Grady has made no progress, in the past 3 weeks, he has progressed leaps and bounds. He is crawling on the floor, upstairs, over things, under things, standing etc etc. He is such a brave little boy which makes him injury bound. What happened to my sitting little boy?? In all honesty, since he started moving he is so happy, independent, and busy busy. A happy baby = happy mommy!

3. Grady's sleep schedule has always been a challenge (to say the least). This month has been no different. At a mere 9.5 months... Grady has decided he only wants/needs one nap. Really???? He gets up at 6am and stays up until 11am. Yes - 11am. He sleeps 1.5 to 2 hours and then is up for the day. Realistically he is ready for a nap shortly after 6... but you can't put a kid down for a nap that late unless you want them up until your bedtime! So we are in full transition mode to one nap. This really means that we are very busy parents for the last hour of the night trying to occupy a very cranky tired child. I hope by next month this has passed!

UPDATE - for the past few days we have been putting Grady down at 9am for a nap in hopes that he will have a second nap later. So far it has been working OK -a s in his second nap yesterday was only 30 minutes and he was a little monster by 530pm. We started doing this as when he tried to cut out at nap... our good little night time sleeper went away with the second nap. Not sure if the 2 are related - but boy am I one tired mama. I hope that by bringing back the second nap the good little night sleeper will reappear. How did I ever survive the first 5 months of multiple wake ups!! How quickly we forget. I'll let you know if this resolves it self. Wish me luck!

4. Grady is letting us know his likes and dislikes in the food department this month. If he doesn't like it... he doesn't eat it. He routinely eats what we eat and prefers to eat of moms fork then his spoon. Go figure. We are having fun introducing him to different food and by far fries have been his favorite! James fed him grapefruit once and it didn't go over so well! Speaking of food, Grady has become quite attached to his bottle. He sees one and he goes wild. Pretty soon we will be spelling things so he doesn't understand. I don't know if he will ever give that bottle up!


5. Grady also has separation anxiety. He is becoming more and more of a Mommy's boy. I leave the room and he is looking if he can't find me he may even cry. Now with the crawling he just follows me... whether it be to the kitchen or to the bathroom. Great... what I always wanted - a bathroom partner! Speaking of which - he loves watching the toilet flush. He is fascinated by it. Can't explain that one. Everything that I have read on separation anxiety says it is normal and that they outgrow it by 18 months... that feels like a long 8 months! Especially once I have to go back to work. Let's not talk about that though.

6. Since spring as now sprung... (until the big dump of snow we got on Wednesday-see pic below)

Grady and I have been getting out in the stroller (him, not me) at least once a day. We are both loving it! We go to Superstore, Second cup, Zellers, Reimans' (see prior post), and anywhere else the wheels take us. Can't wait until Grady can play at the park. It will be so much fun.

That about sums up our month. Although the post is shorter than prior posts, Grady's development has been huge! We are so proud of our little G-dawg. I just wish I could keep him at this stage forever when he likes getting kisses from me. I know that won't last forever... But I am looking forward to him calling me by name and telling me he loves me. So I guess he can keep growing up for the next year or 2 and then he can slow down :)

You know you are a Mom when... (Part 2)

You know you are a sleep deprived mom when you make banana bread for your husband and use baking powder instead of soda even after triple checking the recipe. My loaf weighs a ton but didn't rise. It is the thought that counts... right?? My dear husband says it still tastes good.

You know you are a Mom when....

You know you are a Mom when your friend tells you she went to Reitmans and attempted to leave the store with a shirt on a hangar hanging from the bar of the stroller that she didn't even have time to try on. My friend said the salesperson chased after her asking for her shirt back. My poor friend was quite embarrassed. Glad it wasn't me :)

Fry Guy

Slow Down!

In the past 3 weeks today... Grady has gone from a boy that sits and plays nicely to a boy that is an accident waiting to happen. He is into EVERYTHING!! He tries to stand on things he shouldn't, climb stairs, and pull down anything he can reach from his new standing position. In the past week he has had countless minor injuries from falls including a bloody nose when he got his arms stuck under him and face planted into the lino.... Enjoy the pictures of our little trouble maker doing what he does best!

Standing on the speaker in front of the TV.



Standing on the ottoman.



Standing on the fireplace.


Climbing the stairs.



Cute PJ butt!

Lunch at Earl's

Last Saturday James, Grady, and I headed over to Earl's to have lunch for the first time just the 3 of us. Grady was the best behaved little boy. There were no tears shed, I didn't have to stand or pace the restaurant, and Grady even stayed in the highchair through a portion of my meal!

Here is Grady playing with his toys before the meals arrived.



Then he moved on to my lap and enjoyed eating the avocado right out of my salad...



Then he sat with Dad who continued to feed Grady off my plate! Grady's BIG appetite is back!

Happy Easter! (UPDATED)

HOT OFF THE PRESS... Marla just emailed me some family pics she took for us this afternoon so I wanted to update the post to include them.

Grady and Mommy



The best family pic of many



One of numerous outakes involving Grady removing Dad's hat!



Original Post:




James, Grady and I are celebrating Easter just the 3 of us this year as Marla has the flu and Bo has a cold. We are all keeping our germs to ourselves :). We started the day with our first annual Easter Hunt where Grady got a lot of good loot. Then we headed over to Nana's for 'touch free' visit in our easter outfits. Grady is napping now and the lasagne is in the oven so wanted to post of few pics of 'Easter Grady'.

Hope everyone has a great Easter the the Easter Bunny brought lots of calorie free chocolate!

Hope you feel better soon Nana!




Reading his first clue in the Easter Hunt



Reading his new book 'Tails'




Grady and Iggle Piggle from the TV show In The Night Garden. If you have a child under 1 and don't know this show.. you need to check it out. I personally think it is stupid but Grady LOVES it!! It is on Treehouse at 5:30. Trust me.



Grady with his chocolate-free easter loot.



Check out a few more pics on the Picassa Link! Enjoy!

Good Friday Indeed

We planned to go to the zoo yesterday but as we were pulling out of the driveway my neighbour came running over to tell us the zoo was lined up on to memorial drive and there was no parking. Apparently us and the rest of Calgary decided it was a great day to go to the zoo! Since we were already in the car we decided to head to Prince's Island Park for a walk and snack.

YEAH for the park and the sunshine!



I don't go anywhere without my cookies!



I like to pull Mommy's sunglasses of her head and then hit her with them... lucky Mommy!



Look at that blue sky... and not to mention my blue eyes. Still can't figure how Grady ended up with blond hair - it looked so blond in the sun!



I uploaded a few more into the April gallery on picassa. Link is to the right.

The Unthinkable....

We went on a family walk today and Grady 'gasp' fell asleep in the stroller. Of course, he refused to have a second nap so it was 6:00 so not the ideal time AND he fell asleep more than 30 minutes into our walk and our house was already in sight. James and I sat on the front step and watched Grady sleep. It was the best part of my day... actually... my week.

A little photo shoot in the front yard while we were waiting for Dad to finish getting ready.



Dad pushing Grady just past our house when we realized the little man was sleeping. And yes it was that nice in Calgary today - FINALLY!



I took about 15 pictures of this sleeping beauty because I think the last time he fell asleep in the stroller was when we went to the zoo in August. Yes... it has been that long.



Our little angel.... cookie and all!

Milestones

Sunday night, James and I each accomplished milestones as first time parents. I spent my first night away from Grady and James was Mr. Mom.

I had a great time. James suvived. Grady had fun. The night was a success!

To sum up my night, I left Sunday afternoon to meet my girlfriends in Edmonton for the night. We shopped, ate, swam, and visited. Bath and Body Works is now open in West Edmonton Mall and was by far my favorite stop. If nothing else... I (and everyone else who washes their hands at my house) will smell great!

The best part of being away was coming home and seeing the look on Grady's face when he saw me. He was so happy and just wanted me to carry him around for 30 minutes. I just felt so missed and loved... I just love that little boy to pieces. Oh, and I think James was happy to see me too :)

James and Grady went for walks, read books, and just had quality Daddy and Grady time.

I am so happy with how the night went I may have to do it more often.

I am so proud of both James and I for surviving the night!

Bath Time with Mom!

A fun benefit of having long hair...

Introduction to the Tupperware Cupboard

This is fun... why haven't we done this before??



There are so many to choose from!



I think I missed a few back there....



I wonder if these things taste any good?? Only one way to find out!



Good thing Mom picks up after me!

Pretzels

Grady is just getting over the flu, a nasty cold, and teething so has essentially stopped eating solids for the past 10 days. I grab a pretzel from a huge bag that James left open on the table and guess who wants it?? I figured a pretzel was better than nothing and Grady proceeded to suck the salt off the entire pretzel.

Here is Grady loving his pretzel.



He even shared with Mom! But notice I was not allowed to hold it.... and so it begins!