Merry Christmas from the Robins Family

7 Months and Mobile- VERY MOBILE

Grayson is 7 months old today! I feel like time is just speeding by. I realized, some of the things that entertained him when he was little are just plain boring now. Funny things he used to do- he hasn't done in weeks, or even months.
Here are the stats:
Grayson is weighing in at 14.5 pounds and is just under 25" tall.
He is just now starting to really fit into 3-6 month clothes, although many 0-3 month Carters still fit him (but that brand runs very long)
He has one tooth that is completely broken through the gum and it's friend is making it's way through right now...Looks like he will be getting his two front teeth for Christmas

Latest Tricks Milestones:
Crawling- very quickly
Pulling himself to a standing position
Walking along the edge of the couch, mom, dad, diaper cases, and anything else that is the right height
Getting into EVERYTHING
Leaning himself up to get out of the car seat
"Headbanging" his head in the direction of something he wants
Slapping his hand on things
Saying "neh-neh" when he wants to nurse

His Current Interests:
Mickey Mouse
Books- LOVES BOOKS
Anything he can bang on
Getting into things he shouldn't be- cords, plastic bags of groceries, the Christmas presents
Dancing around the house with mommy

Food front:
Not to interested in purees anymore, although Oatmeal is still yummy
Loves the puffs that melt while they chew them
Loves bread, bananas, mashed potatoes, tiny pieces of apple
Still mostly breast/bottle fed

Now, for the best part- Pictures! He is such a ham and talking all the time!

I have given up on trying to keep him from walking too early. Others are pushing him to walk so there is no point in Mike and I trying to slow him down.

Also, he has gotten to the whiny momma's boy clingy phase. Half the time he won't even go to Mike. He just wants his mama! So, that sad sigh from a 3-4 months ago when he no longer wanted to just be held....yeah, now replaced with the, "Please let me just get some lunch without you crying because you can't see/touch me."

This age is fun, exhausting, and entertaining. I hope that time will start to slow down a little after Christmas so I can just enjoy this time with him.

Standing

So Grayson has been pulling himself to a standing position for a while now. Unfortunately, I have never caught it on video and now he is really fast at it. He has also started trying to go from one item to another! I need him to SLOW DOWN! I think he has inherited his Uncle Eric's daredevil-gotta-get-moving gene. Hoping he is not RUNNING by 9 months like Eric! YIKES!
Anyways, normally he is too fast for me to get the camera and catch him pulling himself up on video but he had fallen a few moments ago and bumped his head on the floor so he was moving more carefully this time. He had only gotten to his knees before I could start filming.
Ignore my messy floor. We are still decorating (hence the box of ornaments) and had toys all over to keep Grayson entertained...but I guess standing with a box of diapers is more entertaining.

Holy Snow Batman!

I really should have posted about ths sooner! The snow in which I am referencing has almost all melted away. However, better late then never!

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Boise got a HUGE amount (for Boise) of snow. 8-10 inches in a 12 hour period. That was on top of the 2-3 inches that was already on the ground.

Well, I couldn't pass up taking Grayson out in it so I bundled him up like the little brother on Christmas Story:

and out the door we went.  I feel I should add, these clothes were purchased after I knew Grayson's gender at the end of season clearance from Children's Place. Thinking my little boy would be 6-7 months when he would even begin to need fleece lined jeans, I purchased 6-9 months thinking they may be a little big but would work. Well, little did I know at 6 months he would still be in 0-3 month clothing. While the jacket works (without the waterproof shell) the pants were GIGANTIC on him.

Although, the snow was pretty deep, above my snow boots. So I didn't dare just set Grayson in it while I took pictures. So, I found this Redneck Sled (aka rubbermaid lid) to sit him on.

He was more interested in the scenery then looking at mommy while she took pictures. Plus it was still snowing!

That evening, Mike and I took him back out so he could really play in it with Mike while I took pictures.

Trying to get Grayson to make a Snow Angel was Mike's goal. Didn't work out so well.

I think Grayson enjoyed the snow- What do you think?

Precious Moment

Grayson was playing on our bed today after we moved our furniture in our bedroom around and put on some fresh, clean white sheets. Him playing in his white onesie on the clean linens was just PRECIOUS!

A Mommy Moment

Well, I had a mommy moment the other night. I shared this on my breastfeeding blog, but wanted to share it here.
I must admit, I used to hate that people would get up and say "You never truly understand Heavenly Father's love for us until you have a child of your own." As someone who was TRYING to have children but couldn't it drove me nuts! I will admit, it still does. To someone who wants children and can't, or has not met their eternal companion yet, it is telling them that they can not truly appreciate Heavenly Father's love and plan for us. I completely disagree with this. I think you can understand this without having children.
What I think people MEAN to say is, your perspective changes when you have children. This is what has happened to me this Christmas season. I am not suddenly "understanding" I am just seeing it differently.
Every song this Christmas that has to do with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus is bringing me to tears this Christmas. "Mary Did You Know", "Mary's Lullaby", and "Joseph's Lullaby" are the top culprits. Anything that talks about them just wanting to hold Him and cherish Him as their own and not think of what his future holds starts the water works.
A few nights ago, Grayson was particularly fussy due to teething. While trying to get him to sleep, I was nursing him while rocking. I began to sing to him "Silent Night" when the thought occurred to me. Mary probably had nights like this, nursing baby Jesus, while rocking and singing him to sleep. That did it. I could not fight back the tears. I tried to fight through my sobs to continue singing but could not do it. I finally had to take a moment and just cherish the thought that had come to my mind.
We are all entrusted with these precious little ones. Heavenly Father has given us each the WONDERFUL responsibility of raising HIS children here on Earth. Not just parents, but as a community. If you be an aunt, uncle, Sunday school teacher, school teacher, ANYBODY- you have this amazing role in a child's life. Like Mary was chosen to be the mother of the Savior, we are each chosen to play a role in the upbringing of those precious little ones around us. What a wonderful thought!
I already understood my Father's love for me, it isn't that my understanding has changed, it is just my perspective has changed a little.

Wait- Christmas is When?

I can not believe how fast time has gone by. I feel so behind. Normally, all my Christmas stuff is up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Between a teething baby, a husband who has been busy with work and school  (or watching any football game that may effect BSU's standing) and not able to help with the decorating much, our trip to Texas and colds - I have found myself VERY FAR BEHIND on everything Christmas! I was so enthusiastic this year that I would make all the presents....but as time is flying by, I am starting to think that may not happen. I just BARELY set up the last of my Christmas decorations (well, what is getting put out this year) last night!
I looked at the calendar today and realized that Christmas is only 2 weeks and 2 days away! Holy Christmas Tree!
I feel like I have dropped the ball. Luckily, my husband reminded me that last year, I only had a job that took up 40 hours a week. This year, I have a job that requires my attention 24 hours a day 7 days a week, making it okay to be a little behind, not have perfect Christmas decorations, and that I shouldn't feel like I need to have everything "ready" by a certain time.
So- to all the other moms out there- I feel ya'! Especially for those with little ones who are still attached (aka breastfeeding).

Texas Part 2- Pictures Pictures Pictures

These are some pictures from Texas. They are in no particular order (sorry). I have so many I may just end up doing a slide show and posting it on here.

Alia got out one of her old pull-ups she had stored somewhere (or maybe it is from a little girl Terrie babysat, I don't know) to show us the diaper that Grayson couldn't wear because it was for girls. (It had The Little Mermaid on it). I guess it makes a great hat though!

Of course, Mikey had to play with the boys. He had a to-do-list that said "Tickle Vigo" on it. Drake got to box with Mike in their front yard. Cory got a lot of great pictures from this. Here is one I randomly clicked on to upload.

Friday, the day the kids were still in school. While Alia was napping, Mike and I took Grayson out to the front yard to enjoy the warm weather and sunshine.

So, for all of you who know Terrie, I thought I would include pics of her kids that I snapped so you can see how big they are getting. This is Alia, their baby girl- now 4 years old- in La Valitta.

And here she is in the zoo playing.

Here is Maya at the zoo. Maya has SUPER long hair. She is writing a book and it is really good so far.

 

OK- here is one of Grayson as we explore Baby Led Weaning (a form of starting solids-not weaning from nursing)

Here is Terrie and Alia having a mommy daughter momen at the zoo as we took a moment to cool off under the fans in the "hut" that is located in the African part of the zoo.

Here is a picture of Mike and Grayson I snapped while at the Tower of the Americas.

Here is Mike wearing Grayson in the Ergo. In all honesty, Alia was worn in the Ergo as much, if not more than Grayson, except on Mike's back.

Here is a picture of Drake and Grayson at the Tower of The Americas. You will notice that Drake and Vigo both put on white shirts and jeans so they could match Mike, Grayson and I.

And here is Vigo and Grayson. I love Vigo's eyes and smile in this picture. His personality really shows. By the time Vigo and Grayson sat down for a picture, Grayson was tired and having none of this.

Below is a picture of Grayson at the top of the tower where you can go outside on an observation deck. It was really windy and we enjoyed the faces he would make from the wind.

He would literally lean into the wind and then make these faces and LAUGH!!!

You can see Terrie in the background viewing the sites (mostly likely through a camera lens)

I already posted the one picture of Addison and Grayson that I have edited.

The amount of pictures we took is a little overwhelming but I will try and post more.

Texas Part 1

As I stated early, we took a trip to Texas. We left the Thursday before Thanksgiving and came back Thanksgiving day. It was kind of sad that we were not able to do a real "First Thanksgiving" for Grayson but the money saved on plane tickets by flying home that day was well worth it. The purpose of this trip was to visit our friends- The Bolanders.
We arrived late Thursday night and Cory picked us up at the airport. We basically to to their house and went to bed. The next day, the kids still had school so we took that day to rest and to pick up some groceries.
On Saturday we spent the day playing with the kids. Then the girls went shopping at the mall by the riverwalk. The boys then met us at the church house for Nina's (Terrie's sister) ward Thanksgiving dinner.
Sunday we went to church and then Terrie's family had a get together that Mike, Grayson and I crashed. Here Grayson decided that he was going to be a walker when I was simply holding him in a standing position. He just took off when he saw his daddy.

Monday, we were blessed that the Bolanders had a friend who was able to get us in to the Tower of the Americas for free. It was a lot of fun to go to the top and look at the view of San Antonio. It was very windy up there!

 Cory was nice enough to take a few family pictures on the grounds there. The grounds were GORGEOUS!

Terrie took this picture while Mike was holding Grayson in the air with the Tower in the background. LOVE it!

I snapped this shot of Addison giving Grayson a kiss at the top of the tower. She has grown up so much and is such a beautiful daughter of God.

Tuesday we went to the Riverwalk and La Valitta. We went past the Alamo. We had gone in there before so we didn't really stop, but the grounds there are so beautiful and well maintained. here is a picture of us in front of the Alamo.

And while we were in La Valitta, Terrie snapped this picture of me nursing Grayson. I use a cover (because he is so easily distracted) and you can see where his hand is standing straight up under it. It was so hot and humid that day that I did end up lifting the cover up to let his head get some of the nice breeze on it.

Tuesday was also Mike's birthday so we enjoyed some pizza for dinner. It was a great day all in all. The mosquitoes were the only down side to the humidity that kicked in that day. We both had enough bites on our legs that it looked like we had chicken pox. That night we took in a dollar movie. Grayson did pretty good for his first trip to the movies but I had to take him out and play with him a bit towards the end.

Wednesday we went to the zoo. I love going to the zoo with children. It is so much fun to see their interest in the animals.

Sadly, Thursday- Thanksgiving- came all too soon and we had to pack up and go home. The flight back we were on a much smaller plane where they took our carry-ons that didn't fit under the seats and would gate check them. It was a lot bumpier ride then the bigger plane but it was nice that there were only 2 seats on each side of the aisle so we didn't have to worry about bothering someone else right next to us.

We enjoyed the trip so much and are SUPER excited that the Bolanders are moving closer and we can hopefully see them more often.

I will do a separate post with more pictures later. I have so many to go through it is CRAZY! But now, I am home, trying to get the house cleaned and decorated for Christmas. We have debated whether or not we would put up a tree due to space but I can not see NOT having a tree up for Grayson's first Christmas.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Texan Half Birthday!

We have been in Texas for the last week. During that time- Grayson turned 6 months old. I can hardly believe it has been 6 months! Time is just flying by and he is growing and changing so fast!

So- I realized at the end of the night I had not taken a picture on his actual 6 month and snapped this. Pardon the bad coloring/lighting.

So- here are some tidbits about Grayson at 6 months

He weighs in at 14 lbs 2 oz as of tonight.
He is around 25 inches long.
He is still wearing mostly 0-3 month clothing (except Gerber onesies in the packages)
He is not interested in purees anymore so we are going the Baby Led Weaning route to introduce solids
He army crawls all over and can now pull himself from sitting to standing, He is still working on going from laying to sitting though
He will walk if you are holding him in a standing position. I am hoping this does not mean he will be an early walker.
He still fights naps like none other (Terrie saw first hand what I mean by this...people never understand until they see it.)
He talks when he is tired to keep himself awake
He loves to laugh and make others laugh
He enjoys anything with Mickey Mouse on it
He loves books

Our trip was wonderful but it really threw Grayson off and he had just adjusted to being in Texas when we came home and now he is having trouble getting back into the groove of being home. He got so used to sleeping with us in Texas that he won't sleep even the first part of the night alone. I hope to get a chance to post pictures, etc from Texas soon.

The best news came the day we were leaving for Texas when the Bolanders called to let us know they are going to be stationed in Colorado in May/June of 2011. We are super excited to have them closer where we can hopefully see them multiple times a year.

Army Crawl

A little video of Grayson's army crawl. He gets going really good when not ditracted by a camera.

Busy Busy Busy

So we are super busy in this house. Mike is finishing up school stuff that must be done before we head to Texas in a few days. I am busy getting photo CDs together (I have 6 to get out before we leave), cleaning, and trying to start packing. Meanwhile- my not-even-six-month-old son is CRAWLING!!!! It is an army crawl but he is SUPER QUICK at it. (I will try and get a recent video and post it since the one I have is a few weeks old and he was just starting to get it down.)

Just a few updates- Mike is healing well from his wreck but he is still SUPER sore. He will not be up for normal Mikey play when we go to Texas- yet, I don't think he will let that stop him. I am sure he will tickle, wrestle, chase, and more. He has already promised Vigo non-stop tickles.

Grayson had his six month appointment. He wieghed in at only 13 lbs 7 oz (although right before leaving to go I weighed him on the baby scale at 13 lbs 15 oz and my scale is usually UNDER the drs). His length was 24 1/4 (or maybe it was 3/4)". His head was 17 1/2". So- His head is in the 59th percentile, while both weight and height are in the 3rd percentile. According to his doctor he is PERFECTLY PROPORTIONED! I was worried because we can not get him to eat any more than 22 oz of breastmilk and formula combined in one day. The pediatrician assured me that he is getting plenty and if he ate too much more he would probably be overweight for his height. This doctor has started going by the WHO guidelines which take the weight by height into consideration. Grayson was too young to get the flu shot, but I was not going to have him get it anyways since I am still breastfeeding.

On the solids front. Grayson was very interested in them at first. We got through quite a few foods. Now he doesn't seem interested. So, I am kind of excited. Knowing he does not have allergies we are going to be able to really explore Baby Led Weaning. (Not weaning from nursing) Also, Grayson is quite distracted during the day and as such, he was not nursing well. I developed a few clogged ducts over the last month or so and the last one was in the "beginning stages of mastitis" according to the LC. I spent Tuesday and most of Wednesday sick with a fever, chills and more. Luckily, I was able to catch it early enough to treat it with natural healing methods. Grayson is now eating more- but at night. He is waking every 2 hours again! This is known as reverse cycling and I don't mind it too much right now but I am not sure if I will want to keep this up for too long.

I had a birthday last week....Mike and I are using Texas as our presents this year and so my birthday was pretty low key. My sister had a candle party on my birthday and so I went to that.

Finally, this week Grayson enjoyed- for the most part- his first Hockey Game. He did really well for the first part but then the noise, etc seemed to get to him. We got to see one really good fight but the score was zip to zip when we left 10 minutes early.

I hope to get on and do a few updates from Texas. Especially since we will have Grayson's 6 month/half birthday when we are there, Mike's birthday, and so much more.

The Ol' Pen

Today I went out to the Ol Pen to take some photographs for a gal I used to work with and her boyfriend. I had never gone out there before and I really enjoyed it! Here are two of my favorites!

I loved the walls in the Women's Block. They were sea foam green. The light coming through the window made for a picture that fit this couples personality and style perfectly.

I have a lot of fun doing photographs for people in the area that may not have the money to afford an expensive session. It has helped me develop a hobby and learn a lot.

First ER Visit as a Mom---

And it wasn't for Grayson!
Around 8:30 last night I heard sirens right by our house. Knowing Mike was on his bike, and knowing how often bicyclists are hit by cars in Boise, I was worried it was him...I just knew it was him.
Well, I walked outside to see if it was where I could see it...nope. Right as I walked in, my phone rang. It was Mike telling me I needed to go meet him at the hospital. He was only on the other side of the gas station that is next to our apartments when he wrecked, hit his head, got knocked out, and didn't wake up until the EMTs were there.
Luckily, someone saw him wreck. We think he slid on some loose gravel...
Here he is after his CT Scan and before they cleaned him up....

So, this all happened right as I was getting ready to put Grayson to bed. So, he instead, got put in a car seat- which he hates when tired! Dragged to the hospital...where he wouldn't nurse because I forgot a cover and there was so much interesting stuff to look at. Luckily I thought ahead and grabbed a bottle. He hung out with me there, my parents came up. We decided after knowing Mike was not too injured, that I would take Grayson home, put him to bed, where my parents would stay with him.

I went back to the hospital and got home around 11:30 to find Grayson had woken up at 11:00 for a snack and was not happy to wake up to Grandma and a bottle instead of Mom and a nursing session....poor lil man.

He was back in bed after a good nursing session by 12:30 and was kind to me and slept until 8:30 without waking. He is quite clingy this morning...

Back to Mike- he had to have 2 sets of stitches. 4 below the brow and 6 above. He has some good bumps and scrapes but is ok. He even went to work this morning. Not sure it will last all day but he is trying.

Who would have thought my first ER visit as a mom would be for Mike.....