The Bud

Dear Greyson,

The Bud, Buddy, Budders, Monster, Monster Mash, Greyson Monster, G-Man, G-Money, G, Kiddo, Stinkbug, lovebug, kiiiiiiiiiiiiiidapotamus. It's amazing that you even know your actual name considering we very rarely call you Gresyon. It's not that we don't love your name, we do and it fits you and your personality. We just really love your nicknames too! I'm not really sure how some of these names even came about, but they did and have stuck. Buddy and The Bud are probably the names that we use the most and other people use too.

We went over to Aunt Jenny's house tonight. We originally went over to swim, but we never quite made it out there! We played inside and just hung out. I think you were disappointed a little because Uncle Greg was out of town and you just love your Uncle Greg. You two are definitely buddies. Aunt Jenny spoils you rotten though, just like your other aunts do! KB, well, he'll come around! :) I have no doubt that in time you two will be great pals. Until then, we'll keep your helmet on whenever KB is around.

We brought you pasta pick-ups (a gerber meal) but you wanted none of it. So I grabbed one of KB's green beans packs and heated it up and you devoured it! This amazed me because normally you don't like green beans. I'm not sure what changed in you today, but you loved the green beans! Then you ate some blueberries and raspberries and mac-n-cheese. When we first got there I didn't think you were very hungry, but apparently I was just feeding you the wrong thing! Crazy boy!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!
Love, Mama

Uh-ohhh

Dear Greyson,

Your vocabulary is developing! You now know how to say ball (bah) and uh-oh (uh-uh). You started this one just yesterday! You drop something or fall over and you say, uh-uh. It is hysterical! The only thing that isn't so funny about uh-uh is when you deliberately throw stuff on the floor, like your sippy from your high chair and look at us and say "uh-uh". Mama doesn't mind so much, but it drives Dada crazy. Gramma and I also think you are starting to associate milk with 'ba-ba". You see a glass of milk or your bottle and you say "baba". You amaze me everyday! You are so smart buddy!

We went out for breakfast this morning in Wayne. We, you, me and Dada, met up with Gramma and Papa, Great-Grandma Bruns, Great Aunt Judy, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Emmy, and Cousin Cole. You were such a hungry buddy! You are 2 1/2 pancakes (they were small) and Gramma shared some of her ham with you. You could not get enough of Cousin Cole. You kept watching him roll his Monster Jam around the table. This made Aunt Emmy sad because she just loves you so much and she wanted all your attention for herself. You just kept looking right past her to see Cole. Don't worry though buddy, she still loves you. Just like everyone else that you meet, Emmy is so in love with you that she's ok with you not paying her any attention. Just like Mama, she just wants to see your smile and hear your giggle, even if it isn't intended for us.

You didn't nap again today very well. I'm not sure what is going on with that. I'm thinking today is because you woke up really late this morning. You slept in until 8:20 and then played in your crib until 9:20! An entire hour! Holy moly was that awesome for Mama. The only bad part about that was when I finally did go and get you, I realized very quickly that you had a major explosion. There was poop EVERYWHERE! Normally you hate to sit in poop, but apparently this morning it didn't bother you one bit. We had to take everything out of your crib and throw it in the washing machine, sheet, quilt, purple blankie, and stuffed animals. All your other toys had to be taken out and washed, too. G-R-O-S-S! Milk is doing some strange things to you, buddy! Hopefully it gets better soon!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!
Love, Mama

Best Gift Ever!

Dear Greyson,

This morning you gave me the best gift ever. Quite a few of them actually. You were playing around and all of a sudden walked over to where I was sitting, leaned over and planted a big wet kiss on my lips. You looked up at me, then Dada and then did it again! You did it probably 4-5 times. It totally made my day! When we were over at Aunt Libby and Uncle Jason's you did it to me one more time through the slats in the baby gate, you on one side and me on the other. I love your kisses! I don't get them very often but this morning you were full of them. I'll take them when I can get them!

The rest of the day you were very grumpy. I'm not sure if it's because of your teeth or if you aren't feeling good due to the milk, or what. But it made for a pretty long day. Your naps were pretty messed up, you got up early, and every thing made you upset. When it was bedtime, you pretty much passed out right away, which is why I had to take a picture of you! You are sleeping in that picture in the same position I laid you down. That never happens. Just goes to show you exhausted you were.

Last night we went for a walk. We walked from our house to the city park and around the loop. It was really nice out and you were so good! You sat in your stroller and just enjoyed the ride. Mama and Dada took turns pushing you and talked pretty much the entire time. I love our little family.

I was thinking today about how lucky you and I are to have Dada. He is the best. He is my best friend and I love being able to talk to him about everything. I hope that one day you are able to talk to his as openly and freely as I do. He is full of great advice and knows so much about lots of different things. He is always teaching me something new, whether I want to learn it or not. He is so helpful and I really don't know where he gets his energy from. We are so lucky to have him. He helps with diapers and feedings and never complains. He puts up with my double standards when it comes to what you can eat, ok, he complains about that but he does it anyways. And ever since you were born, he has taken turns with me getting up with you at night. Even though you sleep really well at night, we still switch sides in the bed, just in case. We are the definition of team when it comes to taking care of you. I don't know how in the world we got so lucky, but we did and I am so grateful for him. You are, too! I can tell by the way you look at him.

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

You're so vain...

Dear Greyson,

You love to look at yourself in the mirror. You smack the mirror, laugh, and lots of times try and kiss your image. It's too funny! We were playing on the bed last night and you were in the silliest mood. You kept walking up to the mirror, well, bouncing is more like it, and screaming. I have to admit though, I can't really blame you for wanting to look at yourself. You are the cutest buddy and I cannot get enough of you!

When I got home from work tonight I once again got the amazing little smile that you give us. It makes my whole day! You walk right up to me with your arms raised up and I cannot resist. On the off chance that I don't pick you up, you plop your butt right down and start to cry. When you do that I can't help myself and I pick you up right away. Dada says I shouldn't do that because I'm creating a bad habit, but I think he's just as guilty as Mama.

We had BBQ ribs for dinner tonight. You probably ate more than Mama. As soon as I could put some on your plate you were grabbing it right up and shoveling it in. You were also slurping the BBQ sauce off of your hands. They were very yummy but your reaction was awesome. Gramma loved how much you enjoyed them and Papa laughed each time you'd slurp up your hands.

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

30 Minutes

Dear Greyson,

30 minutes. That's it. That is the total amount of time I got to spend with you. Doesn't seem fair, does it? 30 very short minutes. I didn't get to play with you at all. My time with you today was getting you ready for the day and putting you to bed. No exaggeration. It breaks my heart to think of how much I missed today. I have gone in just to look at you so many times this evening. You were so tired this evening that you went down without a peep. Normally I would be jumping up and down about that. Today, not so much. You drank your bottle, Dada went and refilled it, finished that, I popped the bink in and you were out.

Aunt Jenny and Uncle Greg picked you up from Cindy's today. You went home with them and they fed you dinner, but Jenny said you didn't eat a lot. You haven't had a very big appetite the last few days, so that didn't surprise me very much. Then, you went to the swimming pool with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Greg and KB. They said you had so much fun. Unfortunately, with 2 little ones they weren't able to get any pictures of you. That bummed me out, but I'd much rather you be safe. I cannot wait to go to the pool with them another time. I will get so many pictures to make up for the first!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

Worry Wart

Dear Greyson,

So, I was a big worrier before you ever came around, but now that you are in my life I am so much worse! I worry about anything and everything you can imagine. I actually drive your Dada crazy with how much I worry about the two of you. After reading an article in the Washington Post this evening I am so grateful for how much I worry about you and how often you are on my mind. It was an article about people forgetting their children in their cars. I cannot imagine how heart-breaking that would be for a parent. What is worse, the parents in the article, were not bad people. They were loving, adoring parents, who made a mistake. Things like this make me crazy with worry! This is one of the reasons I always ask Dada to send me a picture of you when you wake up, or if I take you to Cindy's I call him after to tell him how it went. You have been sleeping through the night for a few months now, but I haven't actually slept an entire night since before you were born. I still get up and check on you throughout the night. I stand over your crib and watch you breathe. You are so amazing and full of life. You are my whole life, and I have a feeling that as I watch you grow, my worrying is only going to get worse.

I love you buddy, forever and longer!
Love, Mama

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Greyson,

Today was our very first time celebrating Father's Day. You, buddy, have the best Dadders in the entire world. He is the most loving, funnest, caring dadders. He can make you giggle just by looking at you. Sometimes I get a little jealous of the relationship you two have, but then I think to myself, how lucky are you? You have a Dada that cannot get enough of you. Your eyes light up as soon as you see him. It's the sweetest thing! The picture shows how much you love your Dada.

We spent this past weekend camping with Grandma and Papa, Aunt Emmy, Uncle Kevin, Sami and Cole. Aunt Jenny came up for the day on Saturday with KB and Evan. It was such a great weekend. Friday night was a little scary because of a windstorm/thunderstorm. You slept through me running across the campsite into Gramma and Papa's camper, thankfully. Saturday we went to Maumee Bay's beach. That was a lot of fun! You just loved splashing in the water. Sunday was Father's day, so we spent some time just the three of us before heading out to Jamie's grad party and then dinner with Grandpa Jon and Aunt Libby, Uncle Jason and baby Brenden. You just love getting to spend so much time with your big family! Dada and I do, too!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

Busy busy busy...

Dear Greyson,
Busy is probably the best word to describe you. You are not content to just sit. You are constantly moving, looking at things, throwing things, chasing the kitty, eating cheerios and just walking up and down the hallway. Today you and I went out to make Dada's Father's Day present. I won't go into much detail, but let's just say your busy-ness did not make it easy!

Dada and I have started discussing whether or not to continue occupational therapy for your torticollis. We don't notice your head tilt unless you are really tired and we aren't sure you are making any more progress being there. So what do we do? We aren't really sure. You can turn your head really well both ways now which was our biggest concern when we started, (that is what caused your flat spot to never round out). I am so afraid of making the wrong decision for you. We're probably going to at least take a few weeks off and work with you on our own and then go back and have you re-evaluated.

I love you buddy, forever and longer!
Love, Mama

11 Months Old

Dear Greyson,

I have come to dread the 14th of each month. It means you are getting closer and closer to being 1 year old. Where in the world did the time go? I felt like the first 3 months of your life were the longest months of my life (having a newborn was hard!) but after that they have just flown by and it's time that I just cannot get back! I dropped you off at Cindy's today and left pretty much in tears. Yes, I still do that. Pathetic, I know. 11 months is a pretty big deal! I'm going to be a mess next month I'm sure!

We decided to start transitioning you to whole milk. We were going to start today, but we didn't make it to the grocery store until this afternoon. So you'll start tomorrow. Unless I just can't bring myself to do it, and then we'll push it back again. :)

We spent the evening over at Aunt Jenny and Uncle Greg's again. Mama and Dada had to work late, so Uncle Greg picked you and Kaleb up. When I got there you were running around the backyard with your crazy cousins (KB, Evan and Cole!). Having all these boys together is so much fun! You were very snuggly while we were outside, which I loved! You would run and run and run and then walk up to me with your arms up. How could I resist? I think you knew that I was needing you, too. The only thing was, you were usually wanting to be held after getting into the pool.

I love you buddy! Forever and longer!
Love, Mama

Lazy Sundays

Dear Greyson,

I love Sundays! We had a very lazy day and it was great! You didn't wake up until 7 and then played in your crib for an HOUR! Dada brought you over to our bed and we played in bed together for another hour! Mama was really tired so she went back to sleep and you and Dada went into the family room for breakfast, to play and a bath. You and Dada came back into the bedroom for a diaper change and then naptime at 10. You were so snuggly and slept for two hours. I love watching you sleep.

We finally got up around noon. We ate lunch and played and before we knew it, it was time for another nap! All three of us crawled into bed and snuggled. You and Dada slept, while I read my book. I don't know how many times I would put my book down and enjoy the warmth of the two of you on either side of me! I am one lucky Mama!

We went over to Uncle Jason and Aunt Libby's for a cookout tonight. You were your usual happy self. Chasing a ball around and making everyone laugh. At one point, Brenden was in his bouncy seat and you went up to him and crouched down in front of him to take a peek at him. It was so cute seeing you act all big, looking at the little baby. It was hard for me though, to see you like that because you are still my baby. You also kept trying to steal Brenden's bink. It was too funny!

You have developed a not nice habbit of hitting. I don't know what to do about it. You don't do it to be mean, but it's not nice regardless. When you do it, we take your hand and show you nice touches, but so far it hasn't done much to stop you. We're working on it and I'm hoping it eventually helps. I don't want you to be a bully!

I love you, buddy! Forever and longer!
Love, Mama

The weekend is here!

Dear Greyson,

It's Friday! Friday's are the best because it means we get 2 days together. Lots of Mama/Buddy/Dada time. Tonight we went over to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Greg's. We went over because Jenn and Greg got a new pool for KB and wanted us to come over. Of course we wanted to come over, you love swimming! Unfortunately, the water was too cold so you didn't want a lot to do with it. You and KB had fun playing outside though!

We went inside to eat after awhile and then you and KB ran around in your diapers together. You both kept raising a big green ball around. I kept throwing the ball and bouncing it off your your heads. You laughed every time I'd do it.

Dada picked you up from Cindy's today and brought you home. Dada got out the Blue's Clues microphone/radio and showed you how to talk into it. Dada would hold the microphone up to your mouth for you to talk and you'd put your mouth on it and kind of grunt an "oh." You talk non-stop all other times of the day, but into the microphone all you'd say is, "oh."

I love you buddy! Forever and longer!
Love, Mama

Bed Time

Dear Greyson,

I love bedtime. I love it when you are snuggly. I love it when you are taking your bottle and can barely keep your eyes open. You are so sweet at bedtime. We have a pretty set routine for bedtime. Somedays it goes off without a hitch, other days we aren't so lucky. Regardless of the outcome, I look forward to bedtime and this usually quiet time together. At around 7:30 we make a bottle, where you, me and Dada head to the bedroom. We lay you down on the bed, usually propped up on a pillow and Dada and I lay on either side of you. You hold your bottle and Dada and I talk to you, rub your forehead, play with your hair, sometimes rub purple blankie on your face and kiss you. When your bottle is gone we give you your bink and one of us picks you up. We rock your for a minute or two, kiss your face and then lay you down. You like to fall asleep on your side, so we lay you down that way and give you one of your stuffed animals. Lately it's been your alligator, which is almost as big as you are! You wrap yourself around his and we cover you up with purple blankie. Then Dada and I bolt for the door.

We can usually tell when you are sleepy. You yawn really big, and you are NOT quiet when you yawn. You actually have started yelling while you are yawning! You also rub your eyes a lot and get a bit snuggly. When you are laying down and sleepy you pull/play with your hair. This isn't easy to do because of your helmet, but you make do!

At dinner tonight I could not get over how much you ate! You had a crazy amount of chicken and peas. I didn't think you were ever going to finish. You just kept going and going! A lot of times you drop a lot of food or throw some of it on the floor for Milo. Not this time though! Not a lot was wasted and poor Milo had very little to clean up. You must be growing!

I love you buddy! Forever and longer!
Love Mama

The Happiness of Cheerios

Dear Greyson,

I am pretty sure that you would do pretty much anything for a cheerio. You literally followed me from the kitchen, through the dining room and into the family room all because I had cheerios in my hands. We keep cheerios stocked in your leapfrog play table. You know exactly where they are kept and you let us know if there aren't any in there. You look up at us while opening and closing the lid. You are so smart!

You had peaches and veggies for dinner today. You could not get enough of the peaches. They were pretty slippery so I was cutting them up and then helping you eat them with a spoon. The problem was, you were not patient enough for me! You would slurp down a peach and then lean over to meet the spoon that was cutting up another peach on the tray. You were practically licking the tray you loved them so much! I will definitely have to remember to give you peaches more often!

We had swim class this evening. You love swimming. You splash and yell pretty much the entire time! Dada and Mama were both in the pool with you tonight. Dada dunked you under the water and you didn't even cry! You didn't seem to mind, but I sure did! Jeanne got out a big beach ball for you to play with. You kept saying "bah, bah, bah," even when you didn't have it. Dada and Jeanne kept throwing it up really high and you would never lose track of it! Smarty pants!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!
Mama

Giggle Guy

Dear Greyson-

I love your laugh, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Your laugh just makes my heart smile. Tonight, while Dada and I were snuggling you in bed and giving you your bottle, you kept looking at me and grinning. So, of course I have to do something to make you smile bigger! What did I do? I licked your hand. You started laughing, so I did it again, which made your giggles louder and longer. It became a huge ordeal of me puppy kissing your feet, hands, face, belly, legs, anything I could get to. Your laughs and squeals were so funny! Dada and I aren't very good at making bed time relaxing because we just love listening to your laughs.

You did the cutest thing while snuggling with us. Gramma came in to say good night and get after Dada and I about not being quiet for you (she loves to hear your giggles, too though so don't let her fool you!) and you had to sit up and get a hug from her. She gave you one and then put you back down and you jumped up quickly and whimpered a pathetic little whimper while reaching out to her. Haha, Little boy, you have us all right where you want us! We are all suckers for you.

I took you to the doctor today to follow up from when you got pneumonia two weeks ago. Dr. Lemon said your lungs sound nice and clear but the heavy breathing will take 4-6 weeks to go away. We are keeping you on the Singulair and will try and wean you off it in July, that way it's nice and dry with no seasonal changes. He said with your history of bronchitus and pneumonia you are considered pre-asthmatic, and weaning you off the Singulair will tell us if you just have really bad allergies or something else.

I love you forever and longer buddy!
Mama

"Bah"

Dear Greyson-

Bah- your very first word. Yes, you did say mama and dada, but you still haven't associated those two words with us yet. But balls, you know balls. You love balls, or "bah" as you say. It's so cute. I love repeating you when you say it and then you repeat it again and again.

This afternoon we played outside with your cousin Kaleb. We got a bunch of balls out and played before dinner. You went from ball to ball, picking up each one and throwing them as far as you could.

I love you buddy! Forever and longer!
Mama

Days Like This...

Dear Greyson,

I hate days like this, especially on the weekend. I saw you for a whopping 3 hours today. I hate missing you. I missed breakfast with Grandma and Papa and lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Williams. I missed your morning and afternoon naps. I missed your grouchy afternoon. I missed your bath. I missed dinner with you. Daddy kept you up later so I could see you and play for a bit before bed. Being a mama can be heartbreaking.

You were so funny this evening though. You were slap happy and making everyone laugh and laugh. You would take Papa's cell phone and hold it up to your ear and talk. It kind of sounds like you are starting to say hi! You would get really excited and literally walk in circles screaming your short, high pitched little squeals. I loved it! Then it was bedtime. I laid down with you and gave you a bottle. Rocked you for a few minutes, kissed your cheek and then put you in your crib. Instead of rolling over and sleeping you popped up and played. You yelled at us, threw binks out and all your stuffed animals. I finally went back in after 30 minutes to get you. I attempted to rock you a little more but you got the giggles. I still have no idea what was so funny, but the I got the giggles and it was a viscious cycle, so I gave up. We came back out and played some more in the family room for another 30 minutes. I can't say that I was upset about this, because I missed you so much and wanted to spend more time with you. I think you wanted the same thing.

I love you forever and longer buddy!

Baby Book

Dear Greyson-

I love being a mama, and I have to admit that I'm actually pretty good at it. But there is one thing that I'm not so good at...the baby book. I love baby books, I really do, but I am awful at remembering to fill it out. Yours, I am embarrassed to admit, is completely empty. Not a single memory has been recorded in it. I know most of the important things, you sat up unassisted at 4 months on November 12 (I have a picture!), you took your first steps on April 7 at 8 1/2 months (I have a video) and walked across the room for the first time on April 22, you had your first solids (green beans) at 4 months on November 30. I could go on and on, actually, I probably should because one day I won't remember these things.

Hmmm, what else can I add? You got your helmet on January 26th, which is also when you started crawling! And you got your first tooth (both bottom teeth came in together) on April 8th. Your first trip to the emergency room was March 9. We took you because your fever was really high, it got all the way up to 105. You were diagnosed with pneumonia. Your first road trip was out to Iowa when you were only 3 weeks old.

There are things I've already forgotten, I don't know when you were able to wave, well I do, but I don't know an exact date. It was early May or late April. Or the date you started saying your first word, which is ball. That was just last week, but I don't know when we decided that you actually knew what it meant (you say 'bah'). I have no idea when you first smiled at us or laughed. I know you were smiling when we went out to Iowa and haven't really stopped since. For the longest time you made the cutest noise when you laughed, I have pictures of you and your first laughs from September, so it must have been around then that you started doing that. THe noise was like a deep breath in while making a noise in the back of your throat and holding it a long time. It was adorable.

Here are some of my favorite things about you:
1. Your silly laugh. You laugh at anything and everything. You walk around just laughing for no reason. And a lot of times, when you do it, you slap your belly. No matter what mood I'm in, your laugh gets me giggling.
2. When you are being silly, you often walk around and look up as high as you can, tilting your head waaaaaay back. It often knocks you over which makes you laugh, too.
3. You always look around to see who is looking at you before you do something funny.
4. You absolutely love Milo and Jinx. You go up to them and lay your head on them and say 'awwwww'.
5. Your smile is so big! And you also smile with your eyes.

I could go on and on and on.

Today, we went garage saling with Aunt Libby and Grandma Michelle. It was really hot and I eventually took your shirt off. You were miserable, but still had smiles for anyone that talked to you or looked at you! I got kind of offended today while we were out. Some lady at a garage sale said, 'oh poor guy' for no reason. I can only assume it was about your helmet. I don't normally get upset about that, I love it when people ask about it because I want people to know, I like educating people about plagio. What I don't like is when people assume the helmet is a bad thing. You are the happiest little bud and there is no reason why ANYONE should feel sorry for you.