Griffin at 6 months

Wowza Griffin is such an easy going, good baby.  Crying is rarely his thing and even a stranger could put a smile on his face!

At 6 months Griffin:
Get on his hands and knees and push up on his tippy toes.  No crawling yet, but so close!
Sleeps 11-12 hours at night.
Puts himself to sleep.
Prefers to be on his belly and will just lay on the floor with his thumb in his mouth when he's sleepy.
Loves to play with toys on the floor.
Just likes being on the floor over any other place!
Sits unsupported for a moment.
Eats oatmeal cereal and baby food.
Constantly has his thumb in his mouth!
Admires his brother.
Giggles at animals, like dogs and cats.
Is in the 17th percentile for weight (almost 16 lbs) and 36th percentile for height, even though he doesn't look that little to me.

 

Snow!

A few weeks ago we woke up to a few good inches of snow.  As Layton got up I showed him the snow out his window.  He got very excited and ran out into the living room to get a better look.  He said, "Oh mom, it looks so beautiful!"  "Should we get our snow stuff on?"  "We need to go snowmobiling!"

We spent a good half an hour getting on his snow gear as it was quite chilly outside; all for a short trip outside and back in again.  (You know how that goes.)

My Layton Love

Layton is three, it cannot be!  I must journal some of the things this cute kid does.  We celebrated the big 3 by having a dinosaur birthday party (Layton's request).  Layton loves all things dinosaur.  He asks every day if we can watch a dinosaur movie and his favorite game to play on daddy's tablet is an application that makes dinosaur sounds.

 

Layton knows a lot of shapes thanks to Blues Clues, can identify a few colors, counts to 12 (skipping a couple every so often) and really has no interest in the alphabet. 

He just recently figured out how to open his door, making bed time a pretty big issue.  He has many "friends" (stuffed animals) that he likes to keep in his bed and if you listen carefully at night, you can hear him talking to them before he falls asleep.

Some of my favorite things he says are "I love you", "You look beautiful mommy", "Your hair looks nice", "Oh my goodness", "That's delicious", and "That's disgusting".  He has a large array of vocabulary and speaks in clear, long sentences.  He'll tell you some real crazy stories!

He is a pretty picky eater and prefers to snack rather than sit down and eat a meal.  His favorite food is BBQ "chipies" and chocolate milk.  Every morning he requests a "GoGurt" which is really a Danimals smoothie drink, and it must have a straw.

 

We visited the zoo this summer while they had the dinosaur exhibit.  As much as he loves dinosaurs, he was too scared to stand by them.  We got a picture by the giraffe instead.  A few months later and he still talks about the zoo.  Roaring Springs was another favorite trip for him, even though he didn't want to go on any of the slides or be sprayed by the water.  He is always asking when we can go back to the water park. 

We had a major storm this summer that flooded the streets.  Both Layton and I had fun standing out in the rain as the water rushed by our legs. 

Lately we've had to fight off the monsters before going to bed.  We get them with swords and tell them to go sleep somewhere else.  What an imagination this kid has! 

Layton loves paints and playdoh.  This particular night he would accidently get paint on his arm and call it a road rash.  I'm not sure where he got that from... ??

 Guess what we carved his pumpkin to be?  Yep, a dinosaur.

Still in love with his little brother. 

 



Griffin at 5 Months (almost)

 

Time isn't going to slow down even though sometimes I wish it would.  Griffin is such a happy, cute baby that I don't ever want him to grow up, yet I can't wait for him to walk, talk and all the fun things that growing babies do. ;)  And this kid is growing quickly.  He can roll over front to back and back to front.  You lay him down on his back and he immediately finds his way on his belly.  At this rate I think he will be crawling soon.  That sounds so crazy to say.  He grabs at objects and puts everything in his mouth.  Although he takes a pacifier every now and then, he prefers his thumb.  And anyone can give him a smile and he loves to shoot a smile right back.  (This always attracts the ladies.)  The best news of all...this kid sleeps through the night!

 

 

A comparison photo of Layton (left) and Griffin (right) at 3 months.

 



Griffin went on his first Rzr ride at 3 months. 

3 month photo with "Bobby".

 



He's a major wiggle worm!

 



Thumb sucker



First taste of cereal (4 months).  He loves it!  He'll grab at your hands or the spoon trying to get it into his mouth faster.

 

 

 



4 month photo with "Bobby"

 

5 months

Big Brother

The moment we brought Griffin home, I swear Layton grew 5 inches.  All I needed was a new baby at home to realize how much my first baby has grown up!  Layton loves being a big brother and is extremely helpful.  He always wants to be doing exactly what his mom or dad are doing.  Here's a glimpse of what he's been up to.

Layton doesn't really enjoy baths anymore.  One of the ways we talk him into taking one is by telling him he can take one with Griffin. 

I had Griffin in the carrier, and Layton wanted to carry his baby too. 

He's got his tool belt on, no pants, and a little bit of mommy's lipstick on his face too.

 

*I tried potty training twice-Christmas break and Spring break.  Both were failed attempts.  A week of letting him run around without pants on this summer and he did it all himself!  Hooray for undies! 

He loves to hold Griffin and pet his head.

 

 

We made some zucchini bread with our over abundance of zucchinis.  Layton liked dipping his fingers in the sugar.

Griffin at 2 months

 

This kid...

 

makes me smile.

 

 

Griffin is a pretty happy guy.  He eats, sleeps, and smiles.  At 2 months, Griffin follows objects (read: watches his crazy brother run around the house), smiles and coos/laughs, holds his head up a lot, rolled over at 6 weeks and does so every now and then on accident, and likes to sleep on his belly.  He's kind of a late night kind of kid and likes to keep his parents up until about 11pm (see why I'm scared for school?!) but then sleeps until about 4:30am. 

Layton loves Griffin, continuously giving him kisses and stating "I love Griffin".  In fact, we all love Griffin!



Putting it out there.

I came here to write about sweet Griffin at two months, but before I do, I must get something off my chest.  The past few weeks have been filled with anxiety for me; the calm before the storm.  School is starting up again soon and I AM SCARED.  My nights that have been filled with chasing littles around, giving baths, reading stories, giving night time kisses, and rocking a sweet baby to sleep, will soon be filled with reading textbooks and attending classes.  It seems this school thing will never end and I hate that it comes in between me and what I really enjoy-my family.  I can see the end to this long journey that I've fought so hard for, but at this moment, it feels just out of reach.  I'm going to struggle with this family, work, and school gig but as I tend to sweet baby Griffin every night, I look at the lovely Bob Marley quote up on his wall and I know...

Back Again

I took a moment to look back through my old blog posts and relished in all the sweet memories I've recorded of our family.  Now we have a new addition and I feel I must continue the chronicles of our life!  So, let's start by welcoming our sweet boy Griffin Lee!  Born June 7th, 2013  8lbs 2ounces.

Griffin's birth story-

As our doctor suggested, Chris and I decided that an induction would be in our plans.  I was very fearful of this choice, but at the same time, my body was telling me I just wanted this child out!  The induction was scheduled for Griffin's due date, 7 am.  I couldn't sleep at all the night before, as I was full of excitement and fear of the pain that was ahead of me.  I must have gotten a little sleep because the next thing I know, I wake up, look at the clock and it's 7 am.  I wake Chris and we both start to panic.  How is it possible that we sleep in on induction day?!  I call the nurse and she assures me it is ok and to come in as soon as we can.

We arrive at the hospital at 8:10am and after a few jokes about waking up late, we begin the process of having a baby.  It is so laid back and completely different than my labor with Layton.  The doctor gives me Cytotec at 8:45 to begin the process.  I slowly begin to have regular contractions which I can barely feel.  Up to this point I have no pain and can't believe how easy this labor is!  At 12:30 the doctor comes in and breaks my water.  She tells me I should get my epidural now.  I hadn't asked for it yet since I wasn't in pain.  There are 2 patients in line before me requesting epidurals.  A half an hour later, the pain is coming on strong and the epidural can't come soon enough!  At 1:30 the epidural process is started and doesn't take into effect until about 2:15.  At this point, the pain is pretty unbearable.  I can feel everything, including baby Griffin trying to make his entrance.  With four contractions/pushes, baby Griffin was born at 2:27pm.  I can't believe how easy that labor and delivery was!  The induction process, luckily, ended up being a wonderful experience for me.

When Griffin was born, he never really cried.  The whole time he was poked and prodded by the nurses, I kept commenting on how quiet he was.  The nurses were in awe at how long he was (22 1/2 inches) and hadn't seen a baby so eager to get back to his mom!

Griffin is the perfect addition to our family and we have all fallen in love.  Even big brother Layton can't get enough of this sweet baby.

(A few belly shots to start with)

 

21 weeks

 

 



 28 weeks

 

 

 

33 weeks 

36 weeks 

39 weeks