We have a ONE year old - a toddler! Oh, boy...

This is quite overdue, but our little baby Grayson is now ONE and officially a toddler! A couple of steps turned into five or six, which quickly turned into toddling around from place to place. He's a very fast cruiser, and is getting more and more confident with his walking by the day! Grayson seems very proud of his new skills, let me tell you, and he is greatly enjoying the new freedom it gives him, too.
We've been working hard to capture his walking on camera, but none of the videos are any good. Bear with us while we keep trying...

We had a great time with our families celebrating Grayson's birthday on the 2nd! The requisite cake smash was a success, and he is definitely a loved and spoiled little boy. All five of his grandparents were able to fly in (or drive over) for the occasion, and even his honorary great-great aunties made it. It was a really fun time to reflect on our first year of parenthood and watching our sweet son grow.

What a year it has been! It seems unreal that it's already over. I read somewhere, "the days are long but the years are short," which has definitely been proven to me tenfold. It still seems like just last week that we brought Grayson home, and yet, so much has happened and so many wonderful milestones have passed! I am one lucky mama to have been given such a happy, sweet-natured child, and I so enjoy being his mommy.

A year in review, birthday party pics, and a couple recent shots just for fun...

 

11 Months and Standing!

Grayson turned 11 months on January 2nd, which just does not quite compute in my brain. How is it possible that in just about three weeks our teeny-tiny baby will be ONE?! I cannot comprehend this time warp.

The last month has brought about several new motor developments for the buddy:

• Sitting independently
• Pulling-up to stand independently 
• Cruising 
• Several play-related milestones (stacking and sorting types of things)
• Dancing! (perhaps the cutest of all)

He went from sitting himself up to pulling up to stand within about a day, so that was a big leap that I can tell he's been mentally working on for a while. During naps is his favorite time to try out these new skills, of course... Anytime there is music from a toy or even on the radio or TV, he bops up and down dancing along, which is perhaps my favorite baby milestone since smiling! It's so much fun, and he really seems to love music.

I'm pretty behind in his first birthday planning, so my apologies to the family and friends who will be getting a last-minute invitation. We'll have all five grandparents in town to celebrate, and we're so excited everyone could make it! What a celebration it will be!

Anyway, pictures...he was in far too wiggly a mood to get very good 11-month pictures, but you get the idea.

"Mommy, let me see that camera you've got there! I want to push the buttons!"

Standing in his crib for the very first time! 

He crawled on over and pulled all the books off the shelf...

Running around and around!

Gray's First Christmas(es)

What a lucky boy Grayson is! He got to have not one but TWO first Christmases!

First we went to Kansas to celebrate the pre-Christmas weekend with my family. Lucky for Grayson, there was a little snow on the ground, so it was a partially white Christmas! He had a great time playing with Mommy's childhood toys, his grandparents, and lots of aunts, uncles and older cousins.

Next, we came back on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas Day at home. We had a fun Christmas morning just the three of us and then were joined by Grayson's aunt, future-uncle, and grandma for the afternoon and evening.

In all of this, two things are certain: Grayson is spoiled (lucky?) and Grayson is loved! It was such a magical first Christmas - which Mommy and Daddy surely enjoyed more than our little mister, but I've been overwhelmed with joy and hope for all of our future Christmases together. Having kids around at Christmas REALLY makes it sparkle!

Photos and videos galore...

Trying out his new walker:

Playing with Little People baby Jesus:

Our first Christmas as a family of three!

Watching cousin Emily play the piano:

Playing with his new walker toy:

Grayson squealing on Christmas:

Crawling & Cruising!

Grayson is crawling! He's doing the army man shuffle, but he's moving across the floor all on his own. I was really mean to him and made him crawl to me to get him on camera, so here's that:




And here's one of him dancing with the singing snowmen decoration:

10 months...

Time is flying! Grayson Ray is 10 months old! He's picking up speed with his walking (while holding onto someone's fingers), he's getting closer and closer to pulling up on things, and he's just getting more mobile day by day. While he's not walking or crawling in the formal sense, he certainly figures out how to get where he wants to go with shimmies, wriggles, and rolls. Books and buttons are his two favorite pastimes, and of course, the Sesame Street kitchen remains his favorite toy.

We're gearing up to celebrate Grayson's first Christmas, and the tree ornaments are definitely intriguing! He's quite happy to shake the jingle bell moose ornament, which is fully non-breakable (win-win). It's going to be very fun to see if he 'gets it' on Christmas morning... We'll be traveling to Kansas to spend the pre-Christmas weekend with my family, and he's sure to have a blast with his cousins and grandparents! We're so excited!

The 10-month pictures...

A Tennessee Thanksgiving

Last week, we traveled to Nashville to spend Grayson's first Thanksgiving with his Papa T & Grammy Nana and had a great time! Grayson was a good flyer, thank goodness - as long as we kept the snacks and story books coming, that is. Luckily, we'd packed many of both! He thoroughly enjoyed his turkey and sweet potatoes. While we were there, Grayson had a few new animal encounters! He met a horse, and we took his first trip to the zoo where he got to see lots of new animals and even pet some goats. He seemed most impressed looking at the reptile, amphibian and aquatic animal tanks, and he loved spending the day outdoors.

Adventures in Nashville...

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...