20 months old!

Happy 20 month birthday Grayden. This past month has been a busy month for you, you have changed and have become even more of an independent little person.

We are about to move into our new house here soon so we have been really busy around here. Theres not a whole lot new with you this month but you have become very independent and strong willed.
You don't like to be considered or treated like the "baby" of the house. You want to be like and treated like everyone else. When Brody, Makayla, and Jonah are here you REFUSE to be put in your high chair for snack or lunch. You run to the table and grab yourself a chair and sit there like everyone else. Even though your forehead barely reaches the top of the table and you can't see a thing, you still insist in sitting there just like your friends. You get onto your knees so you can eat whats on the table. Usually when you would eat in your high chair I would just give you food right on the tray but whenever you see the kids with bowls or dishes with their food in them you insist on having a bowl or plate too. When the kids aren't around for dinner you don't mind eating in your high chair but when there here you want to be treated like a big kid too......so cute!

You have become really attached to your friends. You play so well with Jonah and he is so good with you too (even though your almost 2 years younger) Its so fun for me to watch you play with them and try to "fit in with the big kids". You are so cute and its so fun to watch.

You are such a big helper! Whenever you see us working on something you try to get in on the action and help any way you can. You watched daddy take apart the computer desk and you found the tool he was using....crawled into the drawer and started sticking the screw driver in the hole just like daddy was......its all "monkey see, monkey do" right now with you.
You watch mommy put on my make up all the time and the other day I saw you get into my make up bag, take out my foundation and grab the sponge. You unscrewed the lid and started sqeezing the make up onto the songe as you wiped it on your face. haha it was so cute.

Brushing your teeth is still a nightmare :( you hate it yet everytime I say "AHHH" to open your mouth you still open nice and wide everytime. Don't get it ...but Im not complaining.....makes things a little easier for me :) You love to grab the tooth paste and put it on your tooth brush all by yourself but thats all you like about it.

We haven't started potty training at all but I think we will be buying a potty here soon and see how you do. Im not in a rush or plan on rushing you with this at all. I don't think you are ready yet so I wont be pushing this but I do want to try and see what happens.

You are still a big eater and love your food. Some days you get picky with your vegetables and pick them out but other days you'll eat them just fine. You are still nursing before nap, after nap, and before bed. For a while there I felt my milk depleting ALOT but I think now that we are getting closer and closer to baby it is picking back up again.

You go to bed on your own but still insist on sleeping with me when you wake up at around 2am. You still have about one night time nurse but once we get settled in our new house I will be weaning you from any night time nurses and helping you to sleep in your own bed all night long. You HAVE GOT to be sleeping through the night and in your own bed before baby is born or Im in BIG TROUBLE! I hope this transition is just as easy as you going to sleep on your own.....I can only hope I guess!

Talking is still the same.....you know how to say many words but you just dont.....really....like to.....talk!? You jibber jabber and say the words you know well all the time but as far as saying new words or using the words you know your just a quiet boy. It has made me a little confused and at times and I have often wondered if I am doing something wrong or not doing something but I have to remember every child develops at there own rate I guess and It wont be long before I can't get you to be quiet so I guess i should enjoy it while it lasts :)

LOVE YOU baby boy and can't wait to bring you into our new house!! So excited xoxoxo

Mommy

Such a CHARACTER

OH GRAYDEN....You did the cutest thing the other day. You have been pretty good with going to bed on your own for a couple of weeks now in your own bed. You went down for your 2 hour nap but woke up after only 45 minutes crying. I gave you a kiss and patted your back but you wouldn't stop crying. (it was your sad cry) so it made me think you maybe had a bad dream and needed some cuddles. So I gave in, picked you up and layed you on our bed. You closed your eyes and turned your body away from me. I layed with you for a couple minutes and snuck a few peeks of your face and your eyes kept opening and closing and when you noticed me looking you closed them right away but I could tell you were forcing them closed because they kept fluttering. All of a sudden you turned your body towards mine with your eyes closed and A HUGE SMILE ON YOUR FACE and you went right to bed. Haha it made me laugh so hard....It was your little cute way of saying "HA HA mommy I got my way" It was hilarious !!!

Sleeping on your own.......FINALLY!

We have had to rock you to sleep for far to long my little man. A week ago today you went to sleep all on your own. It has been a rough week with you being sick and all and Mommy just couldn't do it anymore. A lot of times we would rock you to sleep and when we put you down in your play pen you would wake up and sometimes not go back to sleep! I can't believe we have done it for this long!!!

At this point I knew the only way we would be able to teach you to fall asleep on your own was by letting you cry for a while. I was not ready to go through that myself but after a week of a non stop fussy toddler who has been attached to my hip 24/7.....I figured it was a perfect week to start and I would be able to handle you crying alone for a while :)

I waited until you were REALLY sleepy then nursed you. I picked you up, gave you a big hug and a kiss and layed you down, told you I loved you, and walked away. You were not happy about this at all.....You cried for about 5 minutes and I would go in after every 2 to let you know I was still around and that I loved you but you needed to go to sleep. Well after about 5 minutes you fell fast alseep :) I was so proud of myself and felt so relieved!

You have been doing awesome and now you rarely make a peep after we lay you down. Your used to the routine and usually shut your eyes as soon as I lay you down. It has been a huge relief for me and a big break! Its amazing and I just wish we started this sooner! lesson learned I guess!

Sorry baby #2 but you will be on your own starting day one! LoL

Love you little guy and thankyou for making this transition so easy for mommy!

A rough week.....plus reward!

I can honestly say this has been one of the toughest weeks with you Grayden! last tuesday when we went to bed you felt so warm but your temp was not feverish. You slept pretty well but out of no where you had a BM at 2am which NEVER happens. When you woke up you were SO hot. I checked your temp again and you were about 99*F You had no other symptoms but you had incredibly smelly BM's. Later in the day they started gettin runny so your olny symptoms were a bit of diareah and fever. I gave you lots of baths to help cool you down but you were attached to my hip ALL DAY LONG. That night was horrible You had about 4 BM"S and a fever of about 102*F We had a bath together at 2am and I ended up giving u some motrin. The next morning your fever reached a high of 103.4*F ....I was freaked right out and off to the doctors we went. It was a complete waste of my time......He didn't diagnose you with anything! He checked you out and everything seemed okay so he gave me a perscription for antibiotics and said this should help and that was it. I was soooo annoyed and frustrated and said my child does not need antibiotics for somthing you haven't even diagnosed .....Uhhggg doctors make me so MAD!! N E WAY i WALKED out without the perscription and we went home.

I had been so stressed the last couple of days worrying about my baby and not knowing whats wrong or being able to do anything about it is the absolute WORST! so after about 3 nights of no sleep, diaper changes, and lots of 2am baths. Your fever finally broke. FEVERS are the worst for me.....I know it's just the bodys way of fighting off an infection or whatever but it FREAKS ME OUT!

So I have no idea what was wrong with you or what you were fighting but you felt much better after the 4th day. You were still miserable for about a week after being sick and always wanted picked up. I am so happy to have my Grayden back and realized how much we take for granted when you are healthy!

I love you Grayden and so glad you are all better!

It's a BOY!!

We had a 3D ultrasound done yesterday at UC baby and found out we were having another boy! We could not be happier that Grayden will have a little brother to play with. If we had a girl we would have probably stoped at 2 kids but God has other plans for us I guess.

It was such a good experience to have an ultrasound that doesn't make you nervous by the tech just sitting there not saying a word to you or letting you know how your baby's doing. This time we got to just sit there and admire our new little boy for an entire hour. It was so AWESOME! He looks so perfect already and I cannot wait to meet him. He looked just like Grayden it was scary! Technology is amazing!

You look so perfect already little guy! I love you so much already you move around so much in mommies tummy it's Crazy!! It is seriously the best feeling in the whole world!
Can't wait to meet you!!