Eleven Months Old...and still my baby

My baby....

10 Month Milestones and Memories:

• Griffin is about 22 pounds (we think!), but TALL!  He is outgrowing his one piece 18 month stuff and moving on to some 24 month...yes, the 24 month is a little big, but looks much more comfy than the 18 month stuff.  18 month shirt and shorts fit Griffin perfectly.

• I think we just bought our last box of 186 size 3 diapers....They fit, but look like we might could give a size 4 a try. 
•  Griffin is absolutely LOVING this new world of table foods.  He still loves cheddar cheese any time of day, but also really likes spaghetti and lasagna.  He likes mexican food, too!  The food with just a little mild spice doesn’t seem to bother him at all!
• Griffin really likes broccoli and spinach.  I but those little fruit and vegetable pouches and he probably eats two a day.  He loves the ones with strawberries in them, too.
•  Griffin is really starting to drink out of his cups very well on his own.  He’s been doing this for a while, but it’s like he really enjoys a good swig of the watered down apple juice I give him in between his bites of spaghetti or chicken.  It’s cute.
•  Griffin wallers himself to sleep.  I don’t know how else to describe it.  While I’m sitting with him in the rocking chair, he and his blanket just waller all around until he finally falls asleep.  Sometimes it’s painful, but always sweet. ;)
•  Griffin started WALKING this month!  Just four days after he turned 10 months, he surprised Chris and I and took 3-4 steps on his own.  He’s been slowly, but surely getting more and more brave and walking more as the month has gone on.
•  Griffin got his first pair of walking shoes!  They are so cute - read sneakers with Elmo on them. :)
•  Griffin LOVES books right now.  I can almost always guarantee a moment to get something done if I put a book in front of him.  I love that he loves them.
•  Griffin has started playing peek a boo on his own - I mean he starts the game.  He holds his blanket or a curtain in front of his face and pulls it back quickly waiting for someone to shout “Peek a boo!”  It is so cute!
•  Griffin has lots of sounds now.  He says “ma ma ma ma,” “da da da da,” “ba ba ba,” “la la la,” “ta ta ta,” “ssssss,” “ga ga,” and even a “ka ka” every now and then.  The sounds he makes the most are the M’s, D’s, B’s, and L’s.
•  I call Griffin “G,” “Baby,” “Champ,” “G Force,” and “Griffin.”
•  Griffin is still pretty good at riding in the car.  He makes himself busy watching out of the sun roof or playing with a book.
•  Griffin is getting better and better about making it all the way through church - mostly because he getting better about eating and drinking and looking at books!
•  Griffin moves all. of. the. time.  He LOVES to crawl or walk.  If he’s being held, the holder should be moving.  He loves to swing.  He’s getting scarily good at climbing...into the toy box, into the cabinet, onto the toilet, up the stairs...
•  Griffin loves to play with balls and cars.  He rolls them on our concrete floor, and then chases after them.
•  Griffin is a super early riser.  He wakes up between 5:00 and 5:30 EVERY morning...I’m thankful he sleeps without waking until then, but I’m not gonna deny that I’m tired.
•  Have I mentioned that Griffin loves, really loves loves loves, his daddy?  It’s so true.  You oughta see the speed that this then month old can muster when his daddy walks in the room.

•  Griffin has started clapping, too!  It’s wonderful and beautiful.  Aunt Rachel takes him to story time at the library, and when they play a song, she says that he stands and claps sometimes...oh how my heart longs to see that for myself...the lament of a working mom...
•  Griffin has started dancing, too.  But he’s a bit of a bad boy and only dances to music that we try not to listen to!  It’s kinda funny!
•  Griffin is still loving Mickey Mouse, the Toy Story movies, and Backyardigans...I gave Yo Gabba Gabba a try the other day.  He seems to like it - he sat still - but I don’t know if I can handle it!
•  Griffin had his first stomach bug this month and threw up all over mommy a couple of times and then was sick for almost a week!  He a tough kid though, and after he passed it to Chris and I, he was much better. ;)
• Griffin's PaPa came to visit this month and stayed the night.  He chased Papa down the hall everytime he got up!  I know Griffin's Nana can't wait until Chris and I leave for San Diego in a few week.  She and Papa are gonna come down and keep Griffin for the whole weekend!
•  Griffin's new favorite toy is his toothbrush...I know...nerdy kid.  But think about who his parents are.... 

• Okay - and here’s the mom’s lament.  On August 15th, I started back to work.  It’s been hard.  The work is good, but my time home with Griffin flies by.  Chris keeps telling me it won’t be like this forever....Griffin, we are doing everything we possibly can to make sure you are being raised in the safest, most loving environment possible!   Sooooo, August 16th was Griffin’s first day of “school.”  He goes to Circle of Life Learning Center, and he actually seems to really love it.  I know the people there seem to love him.  Chris drops him off at about 8:30 and picks him up around 4:30 so they can go home and eat dinner together.  It’s kind of the daddy and Griffin day - good times. ;)
•  Griffin was a hospital cutie this month, too, when he went to Graham a couple of times to visit my mom while she was there having her knees - yes both - replaced.  We got some cute, cute pictures of this.

•  And Griffin still love, love, loves his cousins...it’s a party EVERY Monday and Wednesday when Griffin gets there....poor Aunt Rachel!

Griffin is a CLIMBER!  He climbed into his toy box by himself!

"I'm not sure bubbles are all they are cracked up to be..."

Dare Devil

my pride and joy!

Did I mention he climbs?  All the way to the top of the stairs?

Would someone please get the neglected child some toys?

Griffin, you’ll never know the absolute delight you are to your dad and me.  We love to see you smile and laugh and we pray continually that we will be the best parents we can be to you.  We love you forever, baby, and are so proud of you... and you will always be my baby, whether you are 11 months, 111 months, or 1111 months old.

A Working Mom’s Lament

I wrote this one night right before I started working full time.  Now that I've been at it a month, I figure I'm gonna put it on my blog.  I think it will be important for me to be able to look back and see my feelings.  So, here ya go, Lydia's Memory.  One more time:

Oh sweet Baby, how I miss you already  -
You stay on my mind all day and weigh on my heart every second.
Your sparkling eyes and captivating grin have no idea that they won’t be met with mine for the rest of the day, and then all day tomorrow, and then all day the next...
And my teary eyes and forced smile are heavy with my burden of guilt as I hug you goodbye this morning.

You are growing every hour, changing every second. 
You are a perfect design, so malleable to any and all forces of good and evil anywhere your are.
Your perfect and divine design cries out for it to be your mother who nurtures you to the forces of good and protects you from the evil, who trains you in the Lord, who loves you with touch and treasures memories of your blessed innocence through the day...
But our world is not perfect and neither is your mother -
Your perfect design is being forced to adapt, and because it is divine, it will do so beautifully, and because it is divine, it will do so only at the cost of your mother’s tears -
Because mothers, too, are divine designs, connected so intimately to their young, that her baby’s pain is ever so much more intense than personal pain... that mothers go hungry long before their young hungers.... that mothers are exhausted in order for their babies to be rested...
And though mothers are a divine design, she is human.
And the humanity brings the flaw of guilt ... the tears of missing her baby.

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of family to help raise babies.  Thank you family (Rachel) for being so dear to us and being likely the only reason I stay sane through this.

Griffin.  I miss you sweet baby.  I won’t be like this forever.

My little walker...err...wobbler

On Friday, August 19 - just four days after Griffin turned ten months old - he took his first steps.  This was right in the middle of a mean stomach bug, but Griffin took 3-4 steps and just took the breath right out of Chris and I.  It was AWESOME.  Since then, he has been teetering here and there a few times a day, getting braver and braver.  Here is the first good video we have gotten of him walking.

AND, because I am his mom and I believe in things like "new job earrings" and "first day of school shoes" and "I'm a college graduate purses" - Griffin got a pair of "I can walk now shoes."  If I don't say so myself, they are darling.

Griffin doesn't even know who Elmo is, but I love that Elmo hugs his little feet while he walks around church, or the zoo, or Aunt Rachel's house, or our yard....

Of course, Griffin thinks they are also good for snacking on.  There isn't much that isn't good for snacking on these days. :)

Griffin - our lives changed forever when you were born, and we pray every night for you to grow healthy and strong.  So, in our faith, we knew this day would come.  We knew this day of your Independent Mobility would also change our lives forever.  And, Baby, in all of our naivety (I had to look up how to spell that), we can't wait and are thrilled to literally walk with you as you continue to explore this wonderful world God has given us.

the blanket boo boo built

how do ya like that alliteration! (all the b's in the title)

My mom and I went shopping for minky dot and satin fabric to make a replica of a blanket Griffin has grown particularly fond of several months ago.  The blanket he loves, was a gift - a sweet, sweet hand-me-down gift - from his big cousin, Micah.

Micah has a blanket almost exactly like the one he gave away, minus the embroidery.   That blanket is his Softie.  A very, very, very special security-type blanket for him.  It is the sweetest thing that he wanted to give his baby cousin a piece of his protection from this crazy world.

Micah brought this blanket to Lake Granbury Medical Center on October 15th in anticipation of meeting his first cousin on his momma's side...A lot of you who read my blog know the story of Griffin's birth, and know that Griffin was taking a helicopter ride to Cook's and Micah didn't get to give Griffin his present.  So, I took it and gave it to Griffin when I got to go see him the next day.

And, wouldn't you know it?  These boys know what they like.  Griffin fell in love with this blanket.  Of all the blankets a baby gets, Griffin fell in love with the one that nobody makes anymore, so we don't have a back up when it gets pooped on or thrown up on or left somewhere....

SOOOO, BooBoo to the rescue!  My mom and I found the fabric we needed.  I had noticed that Griffin really likes tags and textures, so I picked out several different types of ribbon, and asked her to sew them on like tags (like the Taggies blankets).  She brought the finished product to Griffin at church one Sunday a month or so agao and it was a hit!  He went straight for the grosgrain football taggie and then buried his face in the soft satin just like he does his other blanket.

So far, he doesn't seem to notice the difference.  He just finds the taggies as bonuses when he has that blanket.  Mom is working on another one for his back up.  Thanks, BooBoo, for this special, special gift!!  We love you!

Ten Months (on monday 8/15)

Mr. Griffin, you are ten months old!

I can't believe I'm trying to think about what to do on your first birthday...

As always, you have continued to be a complete joy - but strangely more challenging!  You want so so so so so badly to be walking all by yourself.  I love walking holding your hands, but my back is about to break!  I'll try to cherish each breaking second of it though. ;)

so here are a few highlights from the ninth month of Griffin's life:
- Mommy calls Griffin "Champ" "Boogi" "G Force" and "baby"
- Daddy is still sticking with "lil man" and Griffin :)
- Griffin learned how to get all over the house this month, climb on the couch, climb over the couch, open cabinets and drawers, and make a completely perfect nine month old mess
- Griffin learned to suck from a straw, but he doesn't know it.  He LOVES the pouches of fruit you can buy now and just sucks them dry.  He will suck out of a straw from my drink, but he hasn't put it all together to suck from a straw in one of his cups.
- Griffin is all about table foods now, too.  He loves anything with tomato sauce, like spaghetti and lasagna.  He LOVES Chris's grilled chicken.  He eats grilled cheese sandwiches, scrambled eggs, and lots more!  He hasn't turned down much, but I don't think he likes grapes.  Isn't that crazy!
- We took Griffin to his first Texas Rangers game on July 28.  I was a little bit nervous about taking him to an evening game, but he did great!  His friend Sam Tindell was there.  Sam is 9 days older than Griffin and I have a feeling they'll be good buds. :)  AND we made it up on the Jumbotron!  What camera man could pass up these two cuties all decked out in their Rangers gear?
- Griffin went to the zoo for the first time and really liked it!  His favorite seemed to the the gazelle like deer.  I think because they were the ones actually moving around in the heat!
- Griffin started cruising like crazy this month
- Griffin started standing by himself on July 29!
- Griffin also started clapping by himself!  It's so cute and he gets so proud of himself.
- Griffin says "ma ma ma ma" ALL the time, but I'm not sure he knows it's my name yet.
- He still says "ba ba ba ba ba," too, and every now and again I hear a "da" sound
- I'm not positive, but I sort of think his first word was "haba" for "headbutt."  Great, right?  We say it to him all the time, and he was repeating me one night saying, "haba, haba..."  I don't know...  Maybe I'm crazy.
- Griffin has had at least one bruise on his forehead all month.  He's such a brave and daring little guy and probably a little more confident than he should be. :)
- I just love him.  His personality is really coming out.  He's starting to throw tantrums, when he doesn't get his way.  I'm a little annoyed by this, but a little proud that he so strong willed and smart. :)  He gives the sweetest smiles when he is sleepy.  He LOVES to snuggle his blanket.  He burrows all over Chris or me when we are trying to put him to sleep until he just can't do it anymore and then falls asleep.  He thinks stuffed animals are so funn
- Griffin loves Chris.  Yes.  I feel like chopped liver sometimes, but I love that Griffin loves him so much.
-Griffin LOVES books.  He likes to read them to himself.  He still pulls all the flaps open on his peek-a-boo books and then turns the pages.  I caught him "reading" a magazine one day, too!
- It is SO HARD to change Griffin's diaper.  SO hard.  He is really really a mover. :)
- Griffin is quite the little fish, too.  He really loves to be in the swimming pool, and I love that.
- Griffin likes to walk bare foot on the grass - he always lights up when we take him outside.
- Griffin has been cracking us up this month.  When I talked about his personality coming out - I think we've got a live wire.  He is kinda mean to his cousin Bonnie.  He almost always just takes away the toy she is playing with.  He has a friend, Sam,  who is 9 days older than him and Griffin always takes his pacifier right out of his mouth when he sees him!  I promise - we will really work on the sharing!
- Griffin still just adores his Yogi.  He and my dad seem to have a really special bond, er, beard. ;)  I don't know if it's the beard or not, but whatever it is, Griffin is happy to see him.
- Oh and his Aunt Rachel - Griffin really loves her, too.   We are SO THANKFUL that she and Uncle B are such a big part of G's life!
- Griffin, everywhere - literally everywhere - we go someone mentions your eyes.  I really tried to pay attention for a couple of days, and it's true.  You, sir, with your beautiful blues, are forcing you mother to be a lot friendlier to strangers because they compliment her baby so!
- Griffin is still absolutely attached to his blue blanket.  My mom made him the cutest replica of the one he has, but she added ribbon "taggies" on the border.  He LOVES it.  I'll hopefully post on it soon.
- Griffin loves to play with dishes and one of his favorite things to do is hang out at the dishwasher when the door is open.  He walks himself around and around it...I don't know what it is about it!

Well, I guess I've momma-gushed sufficiently.  We love you and are so proud of you.  May your little heart grow bigger and bigger to hold more and more love for Jesus and your family and friends.  We love you so much!

Enjoy the pics!

just my little cutie

at the rangers game! (G took his hat off)

oh -did i mention he watches tv sometimes?

At the Splashpads with Aunt Ra and the cousins

loving the blankie

LOVES to walk!

my little fish!

Hi, Mom!

Reading Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.  Yogi would be proud.

SOOO cute! (yes, that onsie says DunderMifflin on the booty)

Daddy is so funny!

at the zoo learning the scientific latin names of tigers...haha!

looking at the deer at the zoo with daddy

Nine months old...where does the time go?

Griffin Wayne, you are nine months old!!  And like I say every month, I just can't believe it.  I feel like now that we've hit the nine month mark, the 75% of a year, the only three months left of formula mark...well, my baby is just growing up.  But - as sad as this makes me, I think I would be so much more sad if for some reason he wasn't growing!  What a blessing and miracle to have a happy and healthy baby boy.  Thank you, God!

This month he was extremely disinterested in smiling and posing for the camera, as you can probably tell:

This month, his stats at the doctor were:
21.2 pounds - between the 50th and 75th percentile
29.3 inches long - above the 75th percentile
head circumference - above the 75th percentile

Griffin has been going and going this month.  He began crawling right after he turned eight months.  He has a funny little crawl.  I think it's because he likes standing so much, but he pushes off of his right foot instead of his right knee.  The physical therapists in me is going crazy, but I'm trying to accept and love Griffin just the way he is.  Judging from the other glimpses of his personality we see, I think he does it on purpose - just to be a little different, a little out of the ordinary, a little bit in a hurry to get on his feet and walk!

Griffin LOVES to walk.  He grabs onto two trustworthy hands and takes off.  It's the cutest thing because he's a little wobbly, but his smile gets so big when someone will just walk with him.  I love it.

Speaking of being upright, Griffin is pulling to stand.  I think we lowered his crib right before he turned eight months old, but it's a good thing we did, because he is reaching and grabbing for anything that will help him get to his feet.  Toward the end of this month, he started getting the idea and the courage to try cruising, but I think I'll be able to officially say that he's mastered it next month. :)

Griffin still says Ba ba ba ba ba, but he's also started ma ma ma ma ma and a little bit of ga ga ga and ka ka every  now and then.  I love hearing him talk.  Most of the time he wakes up talking to himself or his Woody doll from Toy Story that is in his crib.  I like to just listen to him being happy and independent.

Griffin has become quite the eater!  We started trying some table foods this month.  He's eaten chicken spaghetti and regular spaghetti.  He LOVES it.  It's so funny to watch him try and work his not-so-coordinated hands to get those noodles his hyper-paranoid mother has chopped to choke-free standards into his ravenous mouth...Chris and I just watch and laugh... and usually end up helping him out some.  Griffin also LOVES cheddar cheese.  I used to just give him shredded cheese, but now I buy the slices and cut them into shreds that he can pick up more easily.  This has been magic.  He is very happy in his high chair with some cheese!

This month Griffin also went to camp!   He had his first airplane ride and it was a doosy...It turned out that he had double ear infections when he was on the plane, so he was in big time pain when his ears were trying to pop.  I felt so bad for him... I never would have put him on a plane if I knew he had ear infections!   Oh - first ear infections this month!  Ha - 10 days of a pink antibiotic and he was good as new.  The airplane ride back home - after the antibiotics - was great.  He was a little flirt and charmer.  It was pretty fun.  Also, when we got to camp, we had been without Chris for five days.  Before we saw him, I couldn't really tell Griffin was missing him, but once Griffin saw him, he was a Daddy's boy for the next two days!  It was so sweet.

Griffin and his mommy on Griffin's first airplane ride!

Out to eat with the Carrs and Cox's - Griffin's friend Ethan helped keep him happy.

Stroller King - at camp!

playing on the floor in the dorms at camp

Chris dropping us off at the airport on the way back home from camp.

Other "stuff" about Griffin this month:
- Mommy has started calling Griffin "Champ" - not sure why.  I also still use the ol' "Boogi" and "Baby" and "G" names...
- Griffin loves playing at his music table.  He also loves to play with balls and cars on the kitchen floor.
- Daddy childproofed the house this month!  A must!
- Griffin really likes to swim... his favorite is with his daddy.
- Griffin got to go stay at his Nana and Papas and had a great time with them!
- Griffin and Ollee are really getting along.  I think they are gonna be good pals.  It's really cute to see Griffin chase after Ollee.  The look out the window together sometimes, too.

- Griffin is slowly growing out of his 12 month stuff and moving more toward all 18 month.
- still in size 3 diapers and I think they are fitting pretty well
- I really love putting Griffin down for naps - most of the time. :)  He usually reaches for my face, nose, eyes, cheeks, chin and just plays until he falls asleep.  Sometimes he'll fall asleep laughing because I laugh when he's playing and he laughs back, eyes closed and all.  Precious memory for Griffin's momma.

- Griffin still love the Backyardigans - and he's starting to like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse a little bit, too.

And here are just more fun pictures:

You can always count on BooBoo for some sweet spoiling!

Loves to play in the kitchen!

Griffin really loves his cousin, Bonnie

C and G

playing with PaPa

and playing with Nana!

proud mommy moment - first oreos!

LOVE that smile...

and this one....

and this one.... :)

Griffin, I can't believe our first year with you is coming to a close - well, in three more months.  It makes me sad that this phase is ending, but it's so exciting to imagine what we have in store as the parents of Griffin Robey.  We love you so much!