Spring Time

Grayson has always loved balls and I have noticed he likes the bigger ones best.  We have been meaning to get him a giant ball for a while and I finally picked one up.  When we were at Target, we walked by a large basked of balls and Grayson got very excited.  I picked him one out and he insisted upon holding it himself.  It was so big that he had a hard time holding onto it, but every time I would try and take it and put it in the basket of the cart he would try and climb into the back so he could get his ball back.  It was really cute.  He has absolutely loved playing with it.

Daddy's helping Grayson bounce on his new ball.

Can't get enough of those baby blues.

Grayson now likes to climb on us if we sit or lay on the floor.  He loves to be bounced around or do head stands with dad.

We also got some bubbles and sidewalk chalk when we were at the store.  I realized that we have a wonderful balcony that can serve as an extension of our living room in the nice spring weather.  I opened it one day for Grayson to play with me outside and he loved it.  He kept walking in and out, in and out.  I think he liked practicing walking over the sliding door tracks.  I decided we needed to get some bubbles and sidewalk chalk to play outside with.  When we tried the bubbles, he just laughed and laughed.  I had to take a video.

Spring Break Week

Trevor had Spring Break last week, so we had some fun.  We took family pictures, tried some new restaurants, went to an antique store.  Also, we played both of Trevor's new games he got for his birthday.  We had such a fun week.  One of the definite highlights was our day in DC.  We went to the temple in the morning and then we spent the afternoon touring the Capitol.

We took the Metro downtown and arrived a little early, so we spent a few minutes walking around the Library of Congress, well one of the buildings, I had no idea there was more then one.  The architecture on the building was absolutely breath taking, even though we were only inside for a few minutes, it was absolutely worth it.

Trevor and Grayson standing in front of the Library of Congress.

The main gallery inside.  Absolutely beautiful!!!

We went to meet a friend and when we went through security, Grayson got a cool sticker.  It was cute, Grayson walked through the metal detector all by himself.  The security guards sure thought he was pretty cute.

Here Grayson and I are standing in the crypts below the Capitol in the exact center of the DC grid system.

These are the old supreme court chambers.

Grayson loved the rotunda!  He loved being able to run around.

Grayson loves pushing his stroller around!  He is such a big boy.

Best view of DC I've every seen.

We wore Grayson out, we put him in his pj's for the drive home and he was asleep within about 10 minutes.  Our tour was about two hours long and he was calm the whole time.  He had fun too!  We went into the house chambers at the very end and got to watch them vote, which was really interesting.  Of course, that was when Grayson started getting restless, so we called it a day.  He was really well behaved the whole time, I am so grateful for such a well behaved and mellow kid.  It was absolutely fascinatings learning about the history of the Capitol, it was a rare treat and a wonderful experience.  My friend was an excellent tour guide and we learned a lot.  We have absolutely loved living close to so many parts of our nation's history.  

Trevor's Birthday Bonanza

Trevor's birthday was epic!  For his birthday he got a snow day, so he got the whole day off from school !! We got about 8-10 inches of school and although we lost power for a couple hours in the morning we still had an awesome day!!  It started out with me waking up at about 5:30am and realizing I had left my contacts in...not fun.  I took them out and the power had flicked off twice already.  I decided to go ahead and get up to try and get Trevor's breakfast made before we lost power for good.  I was able to get the sausage cooked and the potatoes mostly cooked for our breakfast burritos before the power went out.  So, if the pictures are a little dark, then you know why.  After breakfast and showers (with candles in the bathroom), I sent Trevor on a scavenger hunt for his birthday presents.

He was able to find them pretty quickly, I didn't make the clues too difficult.  Grayson helped me to hide them and write the clues....mostly he just played with the cards I was writing the clues on but he sure was cute doing it.

Grayson did not like the flash on the camera, hence the goofy expression.  Dad was nice and let him hold his new tie clip.  Grayson loved that box.  

After presents, we had to go out and play in the snow.  Grayson wasn't sure how he felt about snow.  When we put him down, he walked around for a minute but then he usually tried to head back to the apartment.  The snow was still coming down fairly hard and he really didn't like it getting in his face.

Trevor made him a snowball and he wouldn't put it down.  He loved that snowball.

We tried to show him how to make a snow angel, but he was not a fan.  It was probably because the snow was falling in his face.

We were so excited to see so much snow!  We have missed having snow in the winters, so we really enjoyed getting to use our snow gear again.  We had a beautiful walk around our complex and enjoyed ourselves.

Our friends came over for lunch and luckily by then, the power was back on so we were able to enjoy a hot lunch.  We got to play a new game with them after Grayson went down for a nap.  We had a great time and really enjoyed the game.  It was so much fun to have Trevor home the whole day!  That evening, I made Trevor a birthday cake and we enjoyed it after dinner and watched a movie.  

Last night, we made Trevor's birthday dinner because we didn't have a chance to do it on Wednesday. He wanted pizza and sushi.  We have been talking about starting a tradition of making pizzas on Fridays and he wanted his birthday dinner to be the kick off.  

We got a sushi kit for Christmas a while ago from my parents and we finally put it to good use!  Trevor made some beautiful sushi if I do say so myself.  It made a lot, so we shared with our neighbors and they were very grateful and encouraged us to experiment making as many different types of sushi as we wanted.

We kept it easy for our first try, so we made a California roll.  I made the rice, but Trevor tackled the difficult part rolling the sushi.  I was very impressed with how it turned out!  We relaxed and ate our delicious dinner and watched a movie.  After the movie, we played one of Trevor's new games, "Ticket to Ride" and had a good time, despite the fact that Trevor beat me two out of three times. I am trying not to be bitter. 

Valentine's Day Weekend

Over Valentine's Day Weekend, Trevor was in DC from Thursday to Saturday for a Law Conference.  All of the wives agreed that it was not the best timing to plan a conference.  Grayson and I kept ourselves busy while Trevor was away.  We went to the park both days and met some friends there.  It was a lot of fun!  Grayson is really starting to enjoy the park.  He actually likes the big kid equipment better, which makes it fun for me since I get to chase him.  He really liked climbing through this one tunnel, which I could get through but it was interesting.  The funny part was when he kept trying to climb up the slide, he got very frustrated when he couldn't do it, but he sure made a very valiant effort.    After we left the park, we stopped by Whole Foods and got us some dinner and then went home.  We had a picnic in the living room and shared our tasty dinner while we watched The Aristocats.  The next day we went to the park again and then went to Married Institute (church study group) and enjoyed some time with friends.  Also, Trevor and I won some movie tickets (well I won technically but I figured I'll share with him ;) ) there.  Trevor came home late Saturday afternoon, but still enough time for us to go out to a tasty Valentine's Day dinner.  We went to Outback and enjoyed a delicious steak dinner!  We got appetizers and everything!  After we got home, we watched a movie with our friends who were kind enough to watch Grayson for us.

(Trevor here now): My conference in DC was great.  It was the 25 annual J. Reuben Clark Law Society Conference.  The Society is mainly for LDS lawyers, but is open to anyone wanting to promote religious values in the practice of law.  The highlights of the conference were speeches by Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve.  There was also number of break-out sessions discussing various legal topics and a lot of time to get to know other law students and lawyers from around the country.  All in all, it was a great time and hopefully I will get to go to others in the future.

My New Assistant is a Super Hero

Trevor's mom sent Grayson a ridiculously cute shirt that has a cape attached to it!!!  When he wore it for the first time, I had to take some pictures. 

That's right, he is a super hero in training!

Doing a little superman flying with daddy!

Grayson is mimicking us all the time, he has learned how to fold his arms when we say prayers.  I never realized how much Trevor and I fold our arms until Grayson started doing it every time we did.  I usually have to say 'Amen' and then he will unfold his arms.  It is pretty cute, he even folded his arms when he saw a woman across the restaurant folding her arms.  

He also has been paying attention when I do my yoga DVDs in the morning because he does an awesome downward dog!  He also tries to climb up my legs usually of course when I am doing a really difficult pose, which makes it that much harder.  He is just trying to help me get a better work out.  I was in an upward dog pose the other day and he came up and started patting me on the face.  It was really cute, but it made it difficult to keep the pose because I was laughing.

He is getting really good at walking now and he walks more then he crawls.  He continues to be very interested in helping me clean and doing what I do.  Now he really likes dusting.  I showed him how to do it and he is actually pretty good at it.  He ran around the house dusting everything, including my leg and the floor.  Now any time I get the duster out he is right next to me. 

He also likes to follow me when I'm vacuuming.  He isn't scared of it, but if I vacuum near him he moves away and usually follows behind me.  After he saw me cleaning his high chair after lunch one day, he pulled a paper towel out of the trash (another new fun trick that I am not very excited about) and started wiping his high chair.  I traded him for a clean rag and he liked that too.  I have had to dig a few things out of the trash, so today I put the trash can in a closet in the kitchen, hopefully that will be a deterrent.

Grayson also acts as my sous chef when I am cooking.  I was making a cake for my book group and he really wanted to help.  I pulled a chair up next to me so he could get a better look.  Some of the dry ingredients spilled out of the bowl when I was pouring it into the Kitchen Aid.  Grayson tried to eat it and I told him it wouldn't taste good, and when he started to put some in his mouth, I thought, this will teach him he shouldn't eat things when I tell him not to.  Down side, he really liked it.  He said, "mmmm" and started licking the counter.  It was hilarious!

He got flour all over his face!

Helping me load and unload the dishwasher (emphasis on UNload).  His favorite things are the silverware baskets.  Before I turn the dishwasher on I always have to search around the kitchen and living room to check for silverware.  

He loves to climb into the dishwasher and he was practicing his yoga in the dishwasher.  

Grayson's Twelve Month Stats

Grayson had his twelve month check up last Monday.  He is perfectly healthy and growing just like he should.  He was a champ, even when he got his shots.  He is such a little trooper.  Here are his stats:

Height:  30"  50th percentile

Weight:  23 lbs 12 oz  50th percentile

He is staying right in the middle for height and weight, but his head circumference is now in the 75th percentile.  He is growing the developing so much, it is awesome to watch the change.  He is very perceptive and mimics the things that we do.  He has four teeth now, two on top and two on bottom.  We have started brushing his teeth at night before he goes to bed and the second time I brushed his teeth I let him hold the toothbrush and he tried to brush my teeth.  He knew exactly what it was for.  Now every evening I give him a turn to brush his teeth and he does a good job doing the brushing motion and everything.  It is interesting to try and brush his teeth because he tries to like the toothbrush and he starts laughing when I brush his upper teeth.  

He is getting to be so big!  He has always loved my mugs, but now he has learned how to use the straw and he can actually drink out of them.  It is pretty cute, but now I have to fight him to get a drink out of my own mug.  Any time I get it out now he thinks that it is for him.

We got an ottoman for Christmas and keep some of Grayson's toys in there.  Grayson has really enjoyed having his toys in there.  He loves to climb inside and play with his toys.

Another big thing now, he is walking!!!  That's right we have a walker. It happened rather quickly actually.  When we came back from the break, he all of the sudden started showing interest in walking on his own.  I would look up and he would be standing in the middle of the floor trying to take a few more steps.  He liked to walk around holding one of my hands and would even push my hands away sometimes when I would try and  help him.  Within a week he showed a lot of progress and I see even more this week.  He is walking for longer periods of time and getting better with balancing.  Luckily, he is good about falling back onto his bottom so we haven't had any bad falls or bruises.  I love to see him walk, it is so cute!  He is very proud of himself too, every time he stands up, he has a huge grin on his face.

With his new walking skills, he has really been enjoying sweeping.  When I get the broom out to sweep the kitchen floor, he always wants to come help me.  

He even does a sweeping motion, he is pretty smart.  I'm sure all mothers think their mother is a genius, but i know mine is. :)

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.  We are so incredibly lucky.  

Grayson's First Birthday: Part 2

When we came back to Alabama, we had a small party with some friends from church.  Before the party, we had gotten a package from Trevor's parents and Grayson really loved playing in the box.  He got a fun Duplo set that he really liked.  Of course, they always like the packaging better!

We had the same theme for this party too, a Winter 'One'derland.  I made some snowman cupcakes and we had some blue candy and a hot chocolate bar.  I also tried a new recipe for a roasted corn dip, it was really good.  Our friends came over and the kiddos enjoyed playing with toys together and eating some food.  We sang him Happy Birthday, he didn't really know what was going on, but he was cute anyway.

I love the look on his face in this picture, I think he was trying to figure out what the candle was.

He did show a little more interest in the cupcake, he actual tried to pick it up.  I tried to help him with it, but he did not like that cupcake.  His face was classic!  He has tried other sweet things before, like pie and cookies, but apparently he does not like cake and frosting.

After cake, we opened presents.  He had fun playing with his new toys!  He was so happy to have so many people over, he ended up staying up way past his bed time, but he was very hyper the whole evening.  He would do his 'laps' going up and down the hallway from our bedroom to the living room and back again as fast as he could.  When I put him to bed, he fell asleep very quickly.

The next day, he was having fun pointing at things with the blue candy canes that were left over from his party.  I didn't think anything of it until he went into his room and he was quite for a while.  I went to check on him and some how, he had managed to take off the wrapper and he was eating the candy cane.  His hands and face were very blue.  It was hilarious.