It has been FAR too long!

Well, I never really intended to take a 3 month hiatus from this blog, but I hope to be back!  I am so sad that I don't have the last 3 months of Grayson's development documented in some manner.  He  has changed so much since my last post - our lives have changed a lot since that last post! 

We moved to Dallas at the beginning of June, and that was a story all on its own.  Let's just say that after initially only renting one Uhaul, we ended up with an additional one which was also packed to capacity and a caravan of 4 cars/trucks got us to Dallas safely.  On our way into Dallas, (our plan was to move in with my parents until we were able to find a rental home) we stopped by a rental house at 11pm to view it with our realtor.  We couldn't actually get in to see the house - turns out those lock boxes won't open at all hours of the night - so our realtor gave us a tour through the windows.  I'm sure the neighbors thought we were casing the joint!  We came back the next day, liked it, and by the end of the day, we had the keys to the house.  The next morning, the movers unloaded our Uhaul trucks into this house.  Craziest 3 days ever. 

I started my new job 10 days after we moved to Dallas.  I am enjoying corporate accounting so far!  Hopefully I'll still be saying that at year end! 

When I started my own job, Grayson needed a new school.  We didn't feel like we saw that many schools close to us, so we signed him up for one that we weren't 100% happy with because we didn't have any options.  Grayson had a very difficult time at first, but after about a month, he was doing much better at drop-off.  Unfortunately, a combination of things made us decide to look for a different school.  He started at a Montessori school near my office this week, and although we are going through the rough drop-offs again, I really think this will be a great place for him.  They even have show and tell on Fridays!!

G's first day of Montessori School 9/3/13

Gray has been pretty fussy and had a low-grade fever for the last month, and we have his 2 year molars to thank for that!  As of now, his two bottom molars are in, but it seems his top ones must be coming soon.  We have not had to give him "me-sen" (medicine) for the top ones yet, but I think they are going to start coming through soon.

Our move to Dallas means a new step in P's schooling.  He completed his PhD(!!) and is now back into the medical school groove.  He joined back up as a 3rd year medical student, so he is in the hospital or doctor offices on a daily basis and studying when he gets home.  This is a crazy new schedule for the whole family, so we are trying to become used to Daddy either being at work late, or studying instead of playing with us in the evenings/weekends.  It is challenging, but we're making it work, and it is precisely why we are happy to be near family!

Grayson's vocabulary/speech has been improving by the day it seems.  We have started working on 2-3 word sentences with him, and he is really getting the concept.  A funny story from last week:  I had put all of the dinner plates on the table and Grayson was in his highchair and P was still at his desk.  Suddenly Grayson said: "Daddy, eat, NOW!"  Needless to say...Daddy came right to the dinner table after that!  

Another reason that I want to get back to this blog is that I have barely taken any pictures of G since we moved up here.  With the exception of one day and some cellphone pics - this is basically it!  Sorry that they're all blurry.

Double-fisting cellphones - toddlers these days!

School Happenings

I love it when Grayson's teachers send me pictures of what they're up to at school.  We are so lucky to live in a time where his teachers can easily take some pictures and email them to us! 

08.17.12

I think he may have gotten a little paint on his paper...but I'm not sure!!

08.27.12

His class had Olympic Events a couple of weeks ago, and their final project was to paint their medals.  The pictures are just adorable - I don't even know how they got such good ones with a class full of kids crawling around.  Here is what his teacher said in the email that accompanied the pictures:  'Our Creator Olympics are over! And we are so proud of Grayson! He won gold for crawling and a gold for throwing! He even went home with the gold superlative for best snuggler!'  So proud of our 3X gold winning Olympian.  ;)

Teacher Reports

Grayson's teachers tell me some pretty funny things that he does at school sometimes, and I thought I would start recording them a few at a time.  The following are some stories that I remember from the past few months:


:: I have been told a few times now that G steals other kid's snacks during the afternoon.  Last week Miss L told me that Grayson took a handful of someone's gold fish.  No, I have never fed him goldfish, but I guess he has had some now!  I am kind of confused that someone Gray's age would already be eating gold fish, but I guess they can chew them well enough.

:: Last week I was told that G was kissing on girls one day!  It has already started...

:: Grayson occasionally escapes out of his classroom and sits in the hallway watching people go by and playing with the big strollers that they have.  His teachers said that another teacher came by and told them they had an escapee...but they assured her that G was just the hall monitor. 

:: Grayson keeps his teachers entertained throughout the day.  They say they really miss him on Fridays.  He is pretty silly...he gets it from his Daddy...eh hem.  Right.

:: G has been working on standing without holding onto anything lately.  They have told me that he yells out when he is balancing on his own for praise - just in case they weren't looking.  :)

:: Oh, this is a fun one.  Gray's teachers are convinced that he has started to talk back to them when they tell him no.  One day a few weeks ago they said that any time they would say no or keep him from doing something, he would yell out something at them.  I believe it, too!  He sure does like to do the things we tell him not to - sure can't wait for those terrible twos...

Crab Buddies

Grayson and a schoolmate showed up in the same outfit last week.  His teachers were nice enough to send us a few pictures of the two cuties :)

Grayson's Art

When I picked Grayson up from daycare on Monday I noticed that he had paint under his finger nails and glitter on his face.  I figured this meant he had been to art!  When I picked him up yesterday, this was in his bin!

 These are exactly the colors that he had under his nails!  His teacher said that they put paint on bubble wrap and then just let the kids go to town beating on top of it.  I am not sure how that resulted in so much paint on his hands, but oh well.  He tends to make most occasions pretty messy these days.  I put his artwork on our fridge, and I look forward to putting more things up there. 

I can't believe he already knows how to write his name!

And now, for some cute bath time pics from last night:

My mom got him a rubber ducky for the bath and this was our first time to try it out.  I think it was a hit-  well, until we had to end the bath because he reached too far over to grab it and his face must have gone under water.  He was just fine after a minute of cuddles and breathing though.  

Happy Thursday!

Daycare

This post is coming quite late...Graybean is already in his third week at our daycare, but we took some pictures, and it's a big day, so here is a recap. The daycare was closed for the New Year holiday on my first day back to work after the Christmas break, so P stayed home with G one more time. Our plan was for us both to take Grayson to "school" on his first day before we headed to work, but I was not feeling well (some sort of cold), and ended up calling in sick that day and going home after we dropped him off.  We paused to take a couple of pictures before we left for the day.

"Oh, this is going to be a fun day with Mommy"

"Wait, you're taking me WHERE?"

"But, I don't know if I want to go there..."

When we got to his daycare, we were shown to his room, introduced to the two women in his room, shown his crib, and the daily sign in/communication sheet. The sheet is how we let them know the last time he ate before getting there, and how the daycare let's us know when/how much he ate, how many diaper changes/what was inside (oh, the joys of parenting!), naps, if he is running low on any supplies, and daily activities. His teachers seemed really nice, and we were comforted by the fact that there were only two other kids in his room when we dropped him off. G is definitely the youngest one in his room (the others can sit on their own, so I am hopeful that he gets plenty of time in the arms of a caregiver throughout the day...plus he is the cutest one there...duh! Once we felt comfortable enough to leave him in his room (no tears from any of us!), we went into the office to fill out paperwork and get our fingerprints scanned. I love this security feature! The only way to get into the area where all of the kids are, is to scan your finger. When we left, P and I decided to go to our favorite coffee shop for a cup of joe before he went into work. I was very happy that I got to do that (although I hated feeling sick), because we got to spend a little one on one time together before our new normal started up. I think that I have just been very realistic about the fact that G would have to go to daycare from the very beginning...yes, I miss him terribly and hate that I am not with him all day, but I am thankful for my job and the fact that I can provide for my family at this phase in our life.

The other thing that really has helped me have a positive attitude about daycare is the fact that Gray doesn't have to go on Fridays.  His Daddy stays with him in the morning, and then at 11, I leave work and get to spend the rest of the day with my little squishy man.  Two and a half days with Graybean every week??  I'll take it!