Payton's First Day of "School"

Payton started a Mom's Day Out (MDO) program on Friday mornings. She was so excited to go, we went to the open house a couple of weeks ago and she has been asking almost every day since if we can "go to stool". It was lady bug day and the kids were asked to wear red and or black, turns out we had a perfect shirt for the occasion!

I warned her I would be dropping her off and leaving and she couldn't have been more ok with it.

She is such a sweet, independent kid who loves an opportunity to make and play with friends. Her teachers said she did great and when I picked her up she asked "to go back to stool" before we made it to the car so I guess she like it!

Me and my two, I am one lucky girl!

First "school" project, it was too cute

Five Months

Grant turned five months old on September 5th, I can't believe it's over a week passed already! At least this month I am closer to 5 months then 6 months and I do always manage to get pictures either the day of or right after. This month was a little better and easier in most ways.

Grant Robert @ 5 Months:

Measurements: none to report until his 6 month check up. He has been in 3-6 and 6 month clothing for a while now, but everything is starting to get a little snug so we will be on to the next size soon, just in time for the weather to change thankfully. Still in size 2 diapers.

Eating: This was better this month, he eats every 3-4 hours during the day and we started solid foods which he seems to enjoy. He has had rice cereal, oatmeal cereal and avocado. Not sure he tolerated the avocado well so we will wait a couple of weeks and try again. He usually eats a morning/lunch meal and a late afternoon one. We don't give him reflux meds in the morning and only occasionally at night so he is doing much better!

Sleeping: We ended up having a little sleep boot camp for him as we decided it was time for him (meaning selfishly, us) to sleep through the night. It took about 3-4 nights of letting him cry it out when he would wake before 5:30am. He never cried for more then 30 minutes and he really only screamed the first night and fussed the rest. Each night went a little better until he was consistently sleeping from between 7-8pm until 6-7am, up to eat and then back down until 7-8am! Yay Grant! He still will fuss once or twice during the night, but he always goes back to sleep. We are relieved now but it was a TOUGH couple of nights letting him cry. We dropped the night swaddle at the start of the sleep boot camp and never looked back. Naps are a different story. We still swaddle him as it seems to be the only way to get more then 20-30 minutes out of him. He usually does ok for his morning nap sometimes waking around 30-45min but goes back to sleep a lot of the time. In the afternoon he maybe gets an hour if we're lucky. I think he needs nap boot camp and I am fine with letting him cry it out in the morning, but Payton's nap is at the same time in the afternoon and I am not willing to risk hers yet so we will see.

Tricks: The boy can squeal! It's pretty funny to hear, he is loud and knows he is doing it. We will chase Payton around holding him and he just screeches with excitement. He is rolling everywhere, both directions, and can cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. He can sit unsupported for a minute or two and for a while if he has the bobby pillow to help. His cooing is turning in to sounds of "ma", "da" and "na". He has discovered the dogs and is fascinated with them, watching them and reaching for them if they are around. Big sis is still his favorite.

Happy 5 Months buddy, you are such a joy and we thank you for sleeping better!!

Solid Food

We started Grant on solid food shortly after his four month appointment. We started with rice cereal, he wasn't too sure at first, gagging some and making weird faces, but over time he has gotten the hang of it and I would say even enjoys eating now. With stuck with just rice or oatmeal cereal for the first month to give his little tummy lots of time to adjust. I was really worried it would mess him up again, but honestly it's been fine. I decided to make my own food again since it went well with Payton and this is what I started with. Avocados, bananas, pears, peaches, and sweet potatoes, I follow the guidelines of a book called "Super Baby Food". We gave him avocados first, right around five months, but after a couple of days I decided to stop as it seemed to be upsetting his tummy a bit. we'll try again in a few weeks. After a few more days of just cereal I gave him some banana, he really liked it and it didn't seem to bother him at all. He had some pears for the first time this morning so we will see.

We started with just one meal of cereal at night and have added a second in the morning (sometimes it's lunch) that includes the other food we are giving him. So far it's going pretty well, he is always watching us eat and reaching for our food and drinks so he was ready!

My food cubes, these will feed him for at least a month, probably two and it cost less then $10! You can feed them avocados raw and ripened so I didn't freeze any, same with bananas, but they are hard to keep around sometimes so I went ahead and froze some. The rest had to be steamed first. The whole process took maybe a total of two hours, not bad!

He is a total mess when he eats! He spits already, puts his hands in his mouth while "chewing", grabs at the spoon constantly, spilling food everywhere. At the end of a meal he, the highchair and a lot of times the feeder are covered. I forgot how baby cereal turns to glue when it dries! I have a few videos to post when I can figure out how to get them from my iPhone to the blog.

We have also given him a sippy cup to practice with, he loves playing with it, but doesn't really get the drinking part yet.

About a week ago I gave him Baby Mum Mum's, I discovered these with Payton and she loved them. There are just a rice cracker that dissolves almost instantly so no chocking but he gets to practice putting food in his mouth. I bought the banana flavored ones since he had already tried banana with no reactions. He LOVES them and they keep him entertained for quite sometime.

Grant Robert you are growing up way too fast, slow down!!

Haircut (part 2)

Grant's hair grew back quickly after his first mini haircut with Aunt Kelsey so on Sunday August 26th we had her give him his 2nd haircut. As you can see above he had long pieces hanging down in front and over his ears, you can't see that he had random long hairs in the back, but take my word for it!

So much better and such a handsome boy! He looks so much older and more like a little boy! Thanks Aunt Kelsey!

We have come a long way since this crazy mop, looking at this picture makes me laugh, poor kid! :)

Catch Up

Due to the high number of pictures in this post and the fact that I have about 4 more posts to get to this one will be short and sweet!

We had the annual family Rockies game with my dad in August. It was Grant's first and the first time Payton understood we were going to a baseball game. She still isn't old enough to really sit and watch, but she had fun hanging with her peeps, eating ice cream, playing at the little park and wearing purple!

First Dipin Dots, loved them of course!

Thanks Papa for a great time as always!!

Playing at the park with Kari, Bri, and Lexi. More of Lexi's great pictures...

Playing at the park with Madi and the Platt kids, way too much fun!

Showing off a cute dress from Aunt Carol

Meeting new "friends" Little Andi is a few months older then Grant, but he thought she was pretty neat!

Four Months

Grant turned 4 months old on August 5th. (I am well aware that he will be 5 months old tomorrow, but thankfully I can edit this out when I make a blog book and he will never know!) This month didn't really get much easier, but with every month more of Grant's little personality shines through. He is a very sweet, happy, cuddly little guy that is starting to show signs of preferring the members of his "inner circle", meaning he cries when strangers hold him and sometimes even when they just talk to him. Often if someone other than me is holding him and he can see me he starts fussing, we could be in for some challenging times ahead. The stranger anxiety is uncharted territory for us since Payton never went through it as a baby and to this day believes that all others were put on this earth to be friends with her.

We had our first plane ride and trip back to IL with two kids this month and it went better then expected. Grant did great on the flight, mostly ate and slept, and adjusted to life at Grandpa and Grandma's just fine. He got to meet all of his cousins, including little Grayson who is only a few days younger then him. Separate blog post to come on the trip.

His 4 month visit went great, he is on track for pretty much everything and I talked to the doctor some about his sleeping habits and got some tips. His reflux seems to be back so we are giving him the medicine again to keep him more comfortable. His doctor thinks (and I agree) that he has issue is more just an overall immature digestive system that will get better over time. No shots yet, we'll start vaccines at his next check up at 6 months.

Grant Robert @ 4 months

Measurements: 13 pounds 10 ounces ~ 13 percentile, 26 inches ~ 84 percentile. He is still long and lean, I don't think he looks like a 13% for weight and his doctor agreed and said it's probably because he is on the longer side.

Eating: This month was a little harder. He is still eating every 3 hours and sometimes stretches it to 4, but he was having lots of reflux and other tummy related issues. He quit going to the bathroom on his own and we were having to give him suppositories every 4-7 days to help him out for about 3 weeks. He seemed to get pretty uncomfortable and terribly gassy each day he went without going, poor kid. After a lot of research I decided to try cutting dairy out of my diet and using soy formula to see if it helped him. After about a week of no diary he started going on his own again, but I couldn't really tell if it made the difference or not. I have since started eating it again, but far less then I was before. We got the green light on starting solids so we will probably try some cereal in the next week or so.

Sleeping: Well this did not go so well this month. I don't know if it was related to what was going on in his little tummy or a development thing or what, but it was rough. He still won't nap for much more then 30 minutes no matter what we try so we continue to work on that. It makes it so hard to get anything done during the day. He as also been getting up earlier and more frequently at night which has made for a tired mom and dad. He still spends about 11-12 hours in his bed at night, but with lots of intervention from us. I'm hoping with adding cereal and doing things to help his tummy this will get better. We may have to do a little sleep boot camp soon though because I am learning that months of sleep deprivation and I do not mix well. We are going to work on getting rid of the swaddle too.

Tricks: Still lots of smiles and laughs and a whole lot more cooing. He has rolled both front to back and back to front, but isn't doing it regularly yet. He doesn't seem to mind being on his stomach as much now. He is doing much better playing on his own. He is content to play on his mat, on the floor, in the Bumbo and even in the exersaucer now for at least 30 minutes. Happy play time lasts much longer if big sis is in sight. He still adores her and she continues to love on him and be as sweet as ever with him. Despite our eating and sleeping woes this month he is generally a pretty happy easy going baby.

Happy 4 Months little man, we love you so much!!