Mr. Potato Head...literally

Dear Greyson,

Happy Birthday Dada! We spoiled Dada big time for his birthday this year! He got a new hoodie, 2 new shirts, a pair of slippers and a Kindle! You were so very helpful while trying to wrap his presents! You kept sitting on the wrapping paper, messing with the tape, and tried multiple times to stand on top of the box that held the slippers. You were of course very helpful in opening his presents, too! Grandpa came over and you decided that Grandpa wanted the wrapping paper that came off the presents. After presents we went out to dinner at Dada's favorite restaurant, Frickers.
Every Sunday we go over to Jason and Libby's to have dinner with them and Grandpa. We used to go out to restaurants but lately we've been staying in and taking turns cooking dinner. I have to admit, I like this better! It's nice getting home cooked meals and we've been getting more and more creative! I'm already looking forward to next week because Uncle Jason is going to make Open Faced Chicken Pot Pies.
Anyways, tonight, Grandpa made his famous Swiss Steaks and Libby made mashed potatoes and other veggies. I decided that since you haven't tried mashed potatoes in a long time we'd try them again tonight. I handed you a spoon and put some on your tray. I turned my back to go get myself a plate and some more food for you to try. BIG. MISTAKE. You stuck your spoon in the mashed potatoes and then flung them onto the table. Then, and this is the best part, you stuck your spoon back in the mashed potatoes and then stuck your spoon in your hair. Awesome. I'm not sure why you thought this would be a good idea, but you continued to do it. Over and over and over. Who knows, maybe you are on to some new hair treatment...

I've said this before and I'll say it again, you love Jinx and Milo. You have renamed Milo though. Instead of calling him Milo, you call him Mimo. It's so sweet! As soon as we walk in the door you go right to his bed and say, Mimo! Once I let him out, he jumps up on my legs to be pet and you wrap your arms around him saying, "MIMO!!!" Milo doesn't always love your affection, but I do!

And Jinx, poor, poor, Jinx. You don't get to interact with Jinx as much as you would like to. You get so excited when you see him, though. You chase him a lot and say, "mow, mow, mow". You don't say Jinx or kitty, but you do say "Mow" (rhymes with cow). All cats are "mow", Jinx, Jason and Libby's cats, cats on TV, in books, etc. You show him a cat and it's a "Mow".

Cute story, you were sitting and reading books with Dada this morning. You were all snuggled together for about 10 minutes. The book you two were looking at was First 100 Words which you love! Each page is a category, with smaller pictures that correlate with the category. You and Dada were pointing to the pictures and you would identify them if you could, or Dada would tell you the word. When Dada turned to the page about Homes you pointed to the picture of a table and said, "doooooowwwwwwnnnnnn". Dada and I almost peed ourselves from laughing! The reason this was so funny is because you love to climb onto everything! We actually had to take the coffee table out of the living room because you kept climbing on it. Whenever you do climb on something you aren't supposed to, we say to you, Greyson, dooowwwwnnn! So of course, you would see a table and say, "dooooowwwwwnnnnnnn"!

Ahhh the bath tub! I cannot write you a letter without bringing up the bath tub! Bath time is so fun for you and we love to watch you. But most times you want to play by yourself, so we let you. We sit back and relax while you play. Lately though, you have decided that you need to play with us more. It's so cute! And you don't want to play with just one of us, it has to be both. You hand each of us a squirt toy and get one for yourself and we squirt each other. You have to make sure all three of us have a squirt toy though! You pick one up and say, Mama...Mama....Mama until I take it. And then you do the same for Dada. If one of us puts it down before you are done playing with us, you pick it right back up and say, "Dada....Dada..."

I love you Buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

The Bathtub Incident

Dear Greyson,

You little boy, are a hoot! You make us laugh every single day! Earlier this week, Dada and sneezed really loud and you stood in front of him and laughed and laughed and laughed. Literally, for about 5 minutes straight, you laughed. Towards the end it was a goofy, overly fake laugh, which made us laugh harder. This of course egged you on and you continued doing it. I loved it!

You love Milo. You also like to lick and kiss Milo. A few days ago, you were playing with (bothering) Milo and were licking Milo and kissing him. You grabbed his face like you always do and puckered up to what I thought was going to be a kiss on the nose. Instead, you surprised Milo and Mama by sticking his entire nose in your mouth! It was disgusting and hilarious all at the same time!

Now, on to the bathtub incident. We all know how much you love baths. We can say the word bath and you take off running for the bathroom. I always turn the water on and then go get your towel, and set your PJ's out. Usually you follow me around until it's time to get in. This time though, you didn't. I walked into the bathroom and there you were, standing in the tub, fully clothed. Dada and I started laughing so hard. Lesson learned, don't run the water until everything else is ready!

Last night was a little rough. Back story, you have an ear infection, which throws off your sense of balance. Couple that with an impulsive, risk-taking 18 month old and you have an accident just waiting to happen. You were playing on your slide when all of a sudden you fall off the back. Not only do you fall off, but you land face first. Dada picked you up right away and you were screaming. Blood was coming from your mouth and I freaked out! I was ready to rush you to the ER, but Dada stayed calm and collected. He applied pressure to your mouth and I ran to get the Tylenol. It took a little bit, but you finally calmed down. You were up pretty much every hour from there on out. It was a long, long night. I don't know if it was from the fall or your ear infection or both, but it sucked.

So, about that impulsive, risk-taking, 18 month old. Those words describe you better than anything. Your favorite spot to sit is on the back of the couch while flipping the light switches. You also enjoy sliding over the back of the couch. You hang for a few seconds and wave to us with a giant smile on your face before sliding down. You also like to stand on the MegaBlocks table that you got for Christmas from Grandpa. You get on top on it and once you are standing up completely you hold your hands up over your head and say "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" (ta-da). It's really cute but not at all safe!

We were going to attempt to get rid of the Bink. It didn't go so well. We thought that going cold turkey would be the best approach. We were wrong. Very, very wrong. The night we tried, we did our bedtime routine the same as we always do, laid you down, covered you up with your blankie, handed you your sippy and then started to walk away. That was when it hit you that you didn't have a bink and panic doesn't even begin to describe your reaction. You sat straight up and started saying "bink, bink!" while sliding your hands along the mattress desperately searching for a bink. You screamed and cried! Dada and I lasted 10 minutes before we came to your rescue. We gave in and gave you a bink and decided you were definitely not ready. We did poke a hole in the bink, but it hasn't seemed to make any difference to you. Dada and I have been much better though about only giving you the bink at night time though. You still go up to your crib and say bink and point to it, but then we leave the room and say, "Nigh nigh bink" and walk away.

Bedtime tonight was super easy! We were hanging out in the living room and you were running around playing. It was only about 7:30 and Grandpa had just left. You all of a sudden said, "Nigh nigh" and walked to the bedroom door and stood there. Dada and I looked at each other, shrugged and said, ok... We did a quick, abbreviated version of our bedtime routine. Dada layed you on the bed to change your diaper and you started crying and saying, 'nigh nigh" so we hurried up and laid you down. You gave us our kisses, waved and we turned out the lights. Easiest bedtime ever!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

Pictures part II

More pictures!! This is just the beginning...there are many more to come!

Pictures!!

Dear Greyson,

So much has happened! We celebrated Christmas, we went to Florida, we missed Dada bunches! I don't think words can describe it, so here are some pictures instead!!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama