How is is possible we have a 9-month old?

As of November 2, Grayson is 9 months old. That whole time flies thing is no joke! I can't believe that the holidays are already upon us, either, but I'm really excited to celebrate Grayson's first Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. By Christmas, I suspect he'll be walking, what with how close he is getting day by day... I waited to post these pictures until I had his official stats from the doctor to go with them. Here's the run-down:
Height: 30 1/8 inch - 90th %
Weight: 21 lbs, 5 oz - 75th %
Our big boy is staying up there with the tall, skinny kids!

And the pics of our smiley boy...

This last one has a story... On our honeymoon, Brant and I got this shirt for our future firstborn to wear. We promptly lost it upon unpacking, and though we searched high and low for it over the years, we deemed it lost forever. Well, I found it about two weeks ago in a very odd location - the kitchen cabinet of odds and ends, and it just happens to be the right size for Grayson! Meant to be...

Cruising?!

9-Month pictures to come after I have a chance to edit them, but THIS happened this morning... a story told in captioned pictures:

"Mommy, did you hear what Elmo just said? That guy is a real hoot."

"Oh, hey, Rosie."

"What, Rosie? Follow you? Okay..."

"Hey! I can see the back yard from here! Oh, and there's Sam!"

Note that I did stand him up at the kitchen to begin with, and I did put his feet back under him after picture two when he started to slide. Otherwise, he made this move all on his own! Oh, boy... Guess he may skip crawling after all.

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch today! There were so many sights, sounds, and smells (thanks to the petting zoo), and Grayson was very interested in taking it all in. He was also very interested in sampling the flavors of hay, leaves, and pumpkins. Yum! Grayson is going to be a ferocious dinosaur for Halloween, and we took a few pictures in his costume at the patch along with a good family picture thanks to a kindly stranger. Here they are:

Quite behind... 8-month pictures!

Now that it's been over two weeks since Grayson Ray turned 8-months, I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures and a video. I actually did take these on time, though! They're accurate. I weighed the little mister the other day, and he's right at the 22 lb mark, and he's definitely gotten taller because we've had to go up a size bracket in clothes - especially visible in his now high-water pants and pajamas. Here he is, starting to look a little too mature for his months, if you ask his mama:

7-Month Pictures and More Birthdays!

I'm remiss in updating about some more grandparent and birthday fun we had a couple of weeks ago! Grammy Jyl and Grandpa Dave came to visit for Grayson's Aunt Fifi's (aka Andrea) birthday, and it was just on the heels of Grandpa Dave's birthday too, so we got to celebrate both of them together. Grandpa Dave has a knack for animal noises, which are Grayson's favorite these days, so he was a big ol' fan of hearing Grandpa read stories with animals in them. I'd like to also update that I weighed our big boy this morning and he's pushing just over 20 lbs now and tall enough for 9-month clothes. Oh, and how could I forget words and teeth! Grayson is now saying Mama and has his two bottom chompers, of which he is very proud and making good use (ouch)! Pictures:

7 Months - a month of firsts!

It's been a month of fun firsts for Grayson, starting with his first swim that I posted about last week. Two of his grandparents celebrated 60th birthdays in the last two weeks, and each one gave us the chance to go on a little getaway with some extended family and the chance to take Grayson to some old family haunts! The first trip was for Grandma Darcia's birthday. We took a drive up the coast to do a little wine tasting and stay at the Apple Farm, a place Brant went many times with his mom and sister growing up. Grayson enjoyed walking around in the shops with his Grandma D and looking in the toy shop with Daddy! We all had a great time, and on the way home, we hit the beach in Santa Barbara for his first time! He had a blast putting his toes in the sand.

The second trip was for Papa Terry's birthday. We drove up into the mountains to Mammoth Lakes and stayed in a cabin, another great family tradition making Grayson the fourth generation of Bridges to vacation at Lake Mary! Our outdoor-loving boy enjoyed all the time outside feeding birds and squirrels with his Papa Terry and Grammy Suzie, and on the trip, which is itself an important first, Grayson went on his first hike! He took a snooze on the way up, but he was happy to look around at the trees on the way down.

So here we are at seven months, and we get to see Grammy Jyl and Grandpa Dave this weekend for some more awesome family time and (belated) grandparent birthday fun! It's so great to get to see our parents with our sweet little man.

Water Baby

As promised, here are the photos of Grayson's first swim! He loved the water, as I assumed he would given his affinity for bath time.