M.I.A.

Apologies for the delay in posting. After a whirlwind trip to Houston, I've been trying to get our house and laundry back under control in between a work trip, pre-wedding errands for my little sister (Saturday is the big day!), and miscellaneous to dos for a friend's baby shower (also this weekend). 

To illustrate the priorities in our household -- all of Grayson's clothing, bedding and bibs are freshly washed, meanwhile Michael and I are scavenging for clean underwear. To top it off, I just picked up my bridesmaid's dress from the cleaners and it looks worse than before they steamed it. Arg! 

The good news is somehow we'll find a way to get  everything done and I promise to be back soon with new Grayson pics and anecdotes. Thanks for bearing with me! 

Like A Weed

Grayson has definitely hit a growth spurt. All of a sudden he's at the end of his 9 month size pajamas and we've had to move his exersaucer and jumperoo up to the highest notches. 

I remember when we first put him in the exersaucer (around 4 months) and his arms could barely reach the toys because he was so short in the seat. Now he's an old pro, spinning the seat around to give equal time to each toy and sticking them all in his mouth. 

He's also working on a new skill: chewing. We've progressed from totally pureed foods to chunkier meals and I must say he's not a fan. He would prefer the food to smoothly slide down his throat so that he could take another bite as quickly as possible. Now that he has to take time to chew, it takes entirely too long from one bite to the next. 

I gave him a few apple flavored rice puffs and he contorted his face like I had betrayed him and was pulling some kind of terrible prank. This from a boy who sticks everything in his mouth, we finally found the one exception -- rice puffs. Instead he's content moving them around on his high chair tray and then throwing it on the floor or breaking it up in his hand so it becomes a million little pieces. 

Grayson has also begun testing some boundaries such as lifting his feet up in the high chair (when the tray isn't attached) or trying to grab the feeding spoon with his hand. I think he's beginning to understand the word "no" but choosing to consistently obey it is a whole different story. There's only about 18+ years of that phase, right? 

He's going to have to work on his poker face because he's starting to get a certain look in his eye when he knows he's testing his limits. Most of the time he realizes that if he's playing with his feet during a mealtime or grabbing at the spoon it's going to delay his next bite, so he quickly falls back in line hoping the feeding will recommence. 

These are just a few of the changes I've noticed this week, but I'm sure it will seem like there's a lot more for Nana, Popper and all of Michael's family that we're visiting in Houston this weekend. Most haven't seen Grayson for three or four months so it will be fun to show off some of his new tricks. 

Pearly Whites

It's been a big week for teeth in our household. On Monday, Roxy went in for her first teeth cleaning. The vet had to put her to sleep to do the deep cleaning procedure. It's common for them to pull teeth at the same time, but luckily Roxy's all checked out okay. While her breathe is not minty fresh, it is considerably better and I think she feels a little better too. 

In other dentistry news, Grayson's outcropping of teeth continues to evolve. He has one tooth a little over halfway up and the one right next to it (on the bottom) is also beginning to surface. He doesn't seemed as bothered by it as the first one, so that's been good news. I tried capturing his teeth on camera, but of course he was less than cooperative. After about 20 pictures of his chin and nose, I was finally able to get these. They aren't wonderful, but it's the best I can do for now. 

More Holt Pics

My dad sent over more pictures of baby Holten and I can't seem to get enough of him. We got to Skype with Amy, Ben and Holten tonight so we could be properly introduced. I'm pretty sure I saw Grayson and Holt swapping secret baby code over the webcam. I'm sure this is just one of many conspiracies they will form against us. 

Looks like Ben has quickly learned the art of multitasking! 

Welcome Baby Holten!

CONGRATULATIONS are (finally) in order for my sister Amy, her husband Ben and daughter (now big sister) Kayla. They welcomed baby Holten Sanders Gibson to the world this evening.

Holt weighed in at 9 lbs. 8 ounces and is 23 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well. I've been promised more pictures are coming!

One to Remember

I can't believe the week is nearly over and I haven't had a chance to post about my wonderful Mother's Day gift. Michael made portrait silhouettes of our family and they are the perfect way to mark my first year of motherhood.

My terrible photography skills are not doing these justice, but hopefully you can see them in person soon. I tried taking some close ups to show how he amazingly captured the tiny details. Click on the individual images and they should get bigger.

Our Evening Entertainment

(Disregard Michael's black socks with shorts. Apparently he's becoming an old man and dresses this way once we're home from work. I tried to keep the evidence out of the camera shot.)