7 Months

Grant turned 7 months old on November 5th. This month was more quiet at our house then the last and it's starting to feel like we are settling in a little better to life with two little ones. Everyone is sleeping great at night. Payton is really helpful when I am home on my own with the kids and Grant is getting better at playing on his own and entertaining himself. The walker the Erchalus handed down has really helped on that one, he can be on his own, but still near the action. The next couple months bring holiday firsts for this little guy and we are looking forward to enjoying them with him and big sis, of course!

 

Grant Robert @ 7 Months

 

Measurements: None to report as he doesn't go back to the doctor until 9 months, but he is in 6-12 month, 9 month or 12 month clothing depending on the brand and size 3 diapers. He seems pretty average to me when I see him around other babies his age.

 

Eating: He is taking a bottle every for hours during the day and is drinking a mix of formula and mom's milk. I switched from nursing to pumping full time shortly after he turned 6 months as it is what works for us right now. Thankfully he doesn't seem to picky about what is in the bottle. He really likes solid food and is eating it usually 2-3 times per day. I think he tried apples and green beans this month and seems to do fine with avocado now. He isn't thrilled about green beans, but will eat them.

 

Sleeping: He is doing great at night, sleeping from 7-8pm to 7-8am, which is fantastic. Naps are still a struggle, he is just really inconsistent with how long he will sleep and whether or not he has to cry himself there. We put him down for a nap 2-3 times per day and he will sleep anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours (on a rare occasion) usually for a total of only 2 to 2 1/2 hours for the day. I'm trying to accept that he is just not a great napper and be thankful for the long night time stretch! He seems to do fine on little sleep during the day, just gets rough if he goes too long before bed without a catnap.

 

Tricks: He loves the walker and it only took a few days for him to figure out how to maneuver it to where he wants to go. He is really working on crawling, he will get onto all fours wither on his knees or on his feet and rock back and forth and even go backwards a bit. I have a feeling he will get it in the next month. He says ma ma, da da and ba ba (not really on purpose yet) which is fun to hear. His bottom two teeth are trying their hardest to make an appearance which causes him a little grief, but it's not too bad. He is still a very happy baby, full of smiles and laughs!

 

Happy 7 months buddy, we love you bunches!!

 

 

 

 

I love styling his hair in a little fau-hawk

 

This is the happy little guy we see most of the time :)

Sweet  picture courtesy of Lexi

 

loving the walker! He really likes to chase the dogs, they don't love that so much

He graduated from the bath chair and thinks it's pretty cool to sit like a big boy and splash!

California

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to our San Jose office for meetings. We decided that it would be a good time for the crew to tag along and visit the Cross', Kole's family friends who live in the area. We flew out on a Thursday morning, I worked Thursday and most of Friday while Kole hung with the kids at the hotel. My coworker brought her 11 year old daughter along as well and she helped Kole while we worked. Friday afternoon we took off to spend the weekend in Gilroy with the Cross'. Grandpa and Grandma joined us which was a special treat! We were out back in 2007 before we were married, so it was fun to go as a family 5 years later.

 

My boss and his wife invited us to their condo in Santa Cruz, we took them up on the offer and spent Saturday at the beach. It was only about an hour drive from the Cross' home in Gilroy.  The weather was perfect, the water of course freezing, but that didn't phase us or Payton. Taking the kids to see the beach/ocean for the first time was one of those great life moments. I know Grant won't remember but Payton was old enough to appreciate it all and watching her reaction to walking barefoot in the sand, and playing in the ocean is something I will cherish forever. It was probably the most peaceful, relaxing afternoon we have had in quite some time.

 

I work for and with some of the most wonderful people at a company that values people and their family life, which hasn't always been the case for me so I am incredibly thankful for my job.

 

It was a great trip, too short, but I am so glad we went. We got an adult night out in San Jose with Josh and Maria which we very much enjoyed! The kids did really well with all of the traveling which helped and it was great time spent with family and friends!

 

Sorry for picture overload it was too hard to pick only a few favorites :)

View of the marina from the condo

Foster kitten that Payton got to hold

 

Snacking on some sand...

 

Payton and Sydney, Jason and Abby's little girl, she's a year older then Payton and they had a great time playing together. Thank you Cross' for opening your home to us, it was so wonderful to spend time with you all!

We were lucky enough to fly back to Denver on the same flight as Grandma and Grandpa on their way back to IL, which is definitely the way to travel! Can't wait to see you guys again at Christmas!

Halloween

We carved pumpkins this year with Mike, Sarah, Josh and Kelsey. It was bittersweet as it was one of the last things we did with Mike and Sarah before they moved back East for Sarah's new job. We had a great time, but already miss them a lot.

Payton chose the design for she and Grant's pumpkins and Aunt Kelsey drew the flowers on for us. Payton liked the carving and would put the pieces back in that I was carving out. She didn't like touching the inside of the pumpkin and all its guts though.

Finished products

Sarah found a fish pumpkin on Pinterest that she was determined to replicate. It involved a lot of scraping and even drilling, but it turned out great!

 

I wasn't planning on asking Payton what she wanted to be as I didn't think she would care and I figured it was my last chance to choose for her. As soon as people started talking Halloween and dressing up she told me she wanted to be a princess. It wouldn't have been my first choice for her, but I didn't have the heart to tell her no so a princess it was. Rapunzel from Tangled to be exact, she looked pretty cute. There were a couple of costumes I really liked for Grant, but just couldn't bring myself to spend the money on them so I picked up a dragon costume at Costco and Grant went as Pascal, Rapunzel's little buddy in the movie. Pascal is actually a chameleon, but he didn't seem to notice :)

 

 

Halloween last year...

She was Grant's age in this picture (2010)

 

 

 

2012 Pumpkin Patches

This fall in Colorado was probably one of the best we have had in a long time. Lots of 70 degree days and great colors. We continued our annual pumpkin patch traditions with Papa and the Hargraves and even met up with the Trujillos as well this year. Payton was definitely more into picking out her pumpkins this year and insisted on helping Papa saw them off the root.

Love this one, but wish they had been looking at the camera

Tried to get some shots of little G at his first pumpkin patch experience, but he was fixated on the dirt/hay/grass on the ground and refused to look up!

 

Last year at the pumpkin patch...

 

I've been going to this patch with Lex since she was little and now she loves to go with our kids. She is so great with them and truly loves them which just makes me smile.

I think Marjie maybe got the good no-sneeze shot, but I like this one :)

The fabulous weather made our pumpkin patch visits even better this year. It's a great little Halloween tradition that I love doing with the kiddos and our friends and family.