9 months

Greydon turned 9 months last week and I can't believe how fast the time has flown.  I feel like he was just barely my newborn little baby and now he is a busy, curious little guy!

Greydon is a speedy little crawler and all over the place and into everything.  If the fridge or pantry gets open, he is right there trying to explore and if you close the doors and don't let him in, man does he throw a fit.  Leila is notorious for leaving these doors open, so I can't tell you how many times I have come into the kitchen to find that Greydon has pulled things out of the fridge or dumped out bags of cheerios or chips.  Last Saturday Greydon dumped out a bag of cheez-its and sat on the pile smashing the crackers and shoving them into his mouth, before I could get them cleaned up I had to run upstairs to help Leila and when I came back he had gotten a bag of hot dog buns and had those all dumped out and smashed with a giant bun hanging out of his mouth. He also loves crawling around our kitchen island playing peek-a-boo.  I love playing because  he gets so startled, its so funny to see him jump and then laugh and laugh. 

One morning Leila and Greydon decided to unload the dishes but instead of putting them away they just unloaded them all to the ground (what good helpers, ha ha). 

Greydon is pulling him self up on everything, he never wants to be just sitting on the ground.  He will crawl over to furniture or the wall and then walk around holding on.  I think it is so cute when he will stand up in the middle of the room with out holding onto anything.  His balance is improving every day.  He can now reach down and pick up a toy and still stay standing or bounce up and down.  He is going to be walking in no time!

Greydon is an incredibly messy eater, even with a bid his shirt still ends up messy.  Greydon is now completely on formula and usually gets 4 bottles a day.  At the end of June I started losing my milk so I began pumping and feeding him what I could but it didn't matter how much I pumped my milk supply kept getting smaller and smaller so by the beginning of August it would take me two + days to pump enough for one bottle.  So I gave it up and it made me so sad,  I have no problem feeding him formula other then it costs a fortune but I was more sad because it wasn't my choice to stop nursing.  I loved the bonding time, luckily Greydon has no interest in holding his bottle so I still get to snuggle hime everytime I feed him a bottle but it still is not the same as nursing.  He also has three solid food meals a day, each meal usually consists of two jars of baby food and some puffs or crunchies.  He hates carrots and green beans but will eat garden veggies,  mixed veggies, squash, peas, any fruit and yogurt.  He still struggles with anything other then baby food, he hasn't quite figured out how to mash things in his mouth, he just sticks the food in and then his tongue pushes it out.  We keep trying so hopefully one day he will get it.  He has tried watermelon, peaches, pears, grapes, cheese, turkey, green beans, peas and mac n' cheese.  He makes the below face a lot, he loves to scrunch up his face and make a heavy breathing sound, he especially loves when you make the face back at him 

Greydon loves to give kisses, if you make a kissy sound he will give you a big, wet, open mouth kiss. 

Greydon loves to wave hi but doesn't quite get the goodbye yet.  When he waves he makes an 'h' sound that sounds like he is trying to say hi.  He also loves to say "dada" especially when he is waving hi.  He still says mama but it is usually when he wants something, is hurt, tired or whiney.  When we say, "so big" he raises his hands above his head and laughs.  He loves to play peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake.  He likes to be thrown in the air and play airplane on my feet.  He also loves to pat his mouth or my mouth to make indain sounds. 

I have come to realize my kids just are not great sleepers and never fall into good sleeping habits naturally, it takes a lot of work and a lot of months to get them sleeping good and just when they have it figured out the get a tooth or a cold and it throws it all off again.  Greydon goes to bed at 7 and sleeps until 7 and several nights a week he still wakes up at 4 to have a bottle.  I know it is a really bad habit but man is it a difficult one to break.  He doesn't always get up but when he does there is no getting him to go back to bed without having a bottle first.  He then takes a 2 hour nap from 9-11 and another nap from 2-4.  He is reall good about going down for naps and for bed.  I just lay him down with a blanket, stuffed animal and binky and he rolls over and goes to sleep.  He loves to have several blankets in his bed because he rolls around a lot when he sleeps and that ways he can always find a blanket. 

This is a common face I see after Leila starts bugging Greydon .  Other then Leila bugging Greydon, he is a really happy guy.  He loves to explore and get into things but he is also content just hanging out and watching all that is going on around him.  The only things that I can think of that Greydon deosn't like are getting his diaper changed, getting dressed and undressed, having something taken away from him especially if it is something he is not suppose to have like a coin or wrapper. 

The red inner tube is one of Greydon's favorite toys, he carries it all over the house, and can be entertained by it for a very long time.  He also loves playing with Leila's necklaces, balls, and his basketball hoop.

Greydon loves the water which means he loves his bath, shower or playing in the pool.  he doesn't even mind getting dunked in the swimming pool. 

Greydon loves his sister more then anything and she can get a laugh out of him like no one can.  Most days they can play really well together but sometimes she likes to bug him and when she does she ends up in timeout.  Greydon is so quick to forgive and hates when she's in time out.  He sits outside the room and cries for her.  I love the picture below with Leila reaching her hand under the door and Greydon grabbing for it. 

Greydon loves the stairs and makes a break for them when ever I'm not looking and there is nothing blocking them. He can climb them so quick and will be to the top before I can even blink.  He has taken a couple of tumbles down a few steps but no major harm caused.  He still doesn't understand that he needs to turn around to go down the stairs. He tries to go down head first or he sits down on the step and tips backwards and falls.  So needless to say there is almost always a gate up

Greydon we are so happy you are a part of our family and can't even remember life without you.  You are such a joy and blessing in our home.  We love you!