XOXO

Dear Greyson,

Yay! You are giving hugs again at bedtime! We went through a short phase where you didn't want to give hugs or kisses and it made me so sad. NOT TODAY THOUGH! Both Dada and I got 2 kisses and you insisted on a family hug.

While eating dinner tonight you puckered up for no reason and gave me a kiss. I took full advantage and stole quite a few of those yummy kisses. Dada snuck a few, too!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

Happy Mother's Day!

Dear Greyson,

Because of you, this is probably my most favorite holiday, now! I love love love being your Mama. You slept in until 8 this morning. Awesome! Then you and Dada got up and played while I slept in more. Around 9 you came running into the bedroom saying, "Mama!" carrying a big bag and you said, "here you go". I lifted you up and opened up my presents! You and Dada both got me cards, which you decorated. You also got me two books about how much Mama's love their babies. PERFECT! We read through them and on the last page is a Mama with lighter hair holding a boy and you pointed to them and said, "Mama and me!" You also got me a picture frame that says I LOVE MOM. Dada printed out the picture of you and I that is at the top of this post. After we got up Dada made us yummy pancakes and cut up some strawberries.

After we got around we met Jenn, Greg, and Kaleb at the zoo. This is becoming a tradition that we started last year. It was beautiful weather and you really seemed to enjoy the animals. We saw Baby Louie, the elephant do tricks, which was pretty neat. Aunt Jenn brought Apple Jacks, which were a HUGE hit for you. After seeing your reaction we might need to purchase some for you. I think the highlight of the trip was the aviary. You just love ducks (birds). We got your picture in the egg again, once they are up I'll post one!

One more funny word that you made up that I forgot about yesterday! You love your cousin Kaleb, but you can't say his name yet. So instead you call him Shoe. I don't know where it came from or why, but that is what you call him. Silly buddy!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

Ducks!

Dear Greyson,

Just a few quick things about you that I never ever want to forget!

I love all the silly words that you say. For instance, all birds are called "ducks" and you say "fuffle-bo" for a buffalo. Woody from Toy Story is "Wo-ee" and Jessie (from Toy Story and Grandma and Boppa's dog) is "Sassie". Elmo is "Mamo". Gabbas still all have their own names, "Mumu, Booboo, Pac, Teetee, and Fao". You call Grandma "Ma". We try all the time to get you to say bird, and you say, "yeah, duck!". "Hu-ach" is both hug and walk. We sometimes have a hard time with this one because it's the same word.

Dada bought you a hockey puck at the Wings game last night and gave it to you. You needed to sleep with it tonight. We put you to bed and after a little bit you started crying. Dada went in to check on you and you were crying, "hockey". Dada thought you heard the TV, it wasn't until Mama reminded him of the hockey puck, and lo and behold you dropped the hockey puck. Dada handed it to you and all was better!

Dada and I bought you a new sippy cup today. It has Toy Story characters on it. You were so excited that you felt it necessary to take it into the bath tub. We just went with it! LOL!

Bedtime is for the most part pretty easy. You don't really like giving us hugs and kisses anymore before bed. When it's bedtime you really just want to lay down in your bed. You always lay in the exact same spot, facing the wall on you side and you insist on things being the exact same. You get your bink while we are giving you kisses and hugs and then lay you down. Then we hand you your milk and cover you with purple blankie and then your gabba blankie. Mumu has to be laying next to you on the green pillow and you lay on your white Brobee pillow. Dada and I have found out the hard way that we have to cover you with those blankets in that order. You tell us if we did it wrong!

You have a few new obsessions. Sadly, you have moved on from Gabbas. This makes me a little sad to be completely honest. You still play with your gabba toys in the tub and sleep with them though! Elmo has entered your world. It's pretty cute! The other new obsession is Thomas the Train. You see a train and you say, "Choo-choo!" We have a Thomas movie that you watch, and one part is where there is a train chase and the bad train falls off the track into the water. The whole time it's happening you go, "Oh no! Choo-choo! Fall down!" It's pretty amusing that you actually understand. You still love your cars. We have introduced you to Matchbox Cars. You love love love them! You will bring them over to us and hand one to each of us and then the three of us have to drive them around. You insist! "Mama Car"

You still love being read to. You like not only being read to, but you love to look at books by yourself. For Easter both sets of grandparents got you lots and lots of books. When Ma and Papa are home you make both of them read to you before bed. Ma and Papa just eat it up! You also love looking at a book that Ma and Boppa got you for Easter, it's a recorded book with their voices about how much they miss you. Each time you turn the page and hear their voices you act all surprised and say, "Boppa!" or "Ma!" It's pretty cute!

You majorly surprised us the other day when we were at the park with Kaleb, Big B, Jason, Libby and Dada. An airplane flew overhead and you pointed to the sky and said, "Air pane!" We didn't even know you knew what that was! Smarty pants!

A game you and Mama play in the car is pointing out EVERYTHING! "Mama, wass dat?" You want to know what everything is. You also want to know where everyone is. "Mama, where Dada go?" Mama, where Sassie go?" "Mama, where Nannan (Camden, a friend from daycare) go?" etc, etc. After I answer over and over you will start telling me where everyone is. "Mama, Sassie nigh nigh". It's super cute. Then we point out all the cars we see!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

Lotsa Pictures!

Dear Greyson,

Bath time makes you so happy!
You are so sweet. You love to share your toys!
We had a play date at Sylvania Play Place. You had so much fun going down the slides!
Here you are swinging with your new friend Natalie!
You are fearless! Not even this huuuuuge slide scared you.


Funny story about this picture. This is after bath time and I asked you to come get your clothes on. This was your response! "Noooooo". Shortly after I snapped the picture, you pee'd on the floor.

Stuck!

Dear Greyson,

Happy February! In this first picture you and I posed for a V-day picture! I shared my chocolates with you, which you loved!!

Smooooch! This is a new face that you make! I love it! After we give you our bedtime kisses and lay you down, you say, "Mama" and then make this face. Irresistible! Another cute bedtime thing you do, we always get kisses from you and now, you grab onto both our heads to give us a hug together. A family hug! I love it. You also then run our hair afterwards, which is weird. Silly buddy! I love our bedtime hugs and kisses.
Speaking of hugs, Hug is your new word! Except when you say it, you say it with a -ach at the end! Hu-ach, (think Ach-med the Dead Terrorist). So cute! When you give hugs you squeeze super tight, too. Right around the neck. Takes my breath away literally and figuratively!
Valentine's Day you sent cards to your far away grandparents. You made them each a hand-print page and colored a card for them. You loved coloring the cards and got so mad at me when I took the cards away so we could send them in the mail. Both grandparents loved the cards and painting you did though.

We have had such a fun February so far! Mama and Dada both got sick early this month, (that was not so much fun) but because of that, you and Mama had our first cooking experience together. You were so helpful making chicken noodle soup! You helped put the celery and carrots into the crock pot, helped add the spices (you loved that part) and stirred the soup throughout the day. You kept trying to lick the spoon after stirring, which I had to put a stop to because there was uncooked chicken in the soup. Overall, it was a lot of fun for both of us.

The Bink Saga. You love your bink so unbelievably much. It is getting better, but we still aren't quite ready to be completely done with it. We just have to shake the bink, so the handle makes a noise and you come running with a smile on your face. You only use it now to help you fall asleep, once you are asleep it falls out and you don't use it the rest of the night. You have no problem telling your bink 'nigh nigh' and then throwing it into bed once you are up.

You were digging around in the diaper bag one night and out you pulled a spare bink. You got a huge smile on your face and stuck it in your mouth. When I went to get it from you, you took off running! You headed straight for Milo's bed and climbed inside. I tried to get it from you and you actually swatted my hand away saying "NO!" and then closed Milo's door. What could I do? I laughed and grabbed the camera, of course!

Stuck! This is your new favorite word. You put a huuuuuge emphasis on the -ck at the end (again, think Ach-med the Dead Terrorist). It's hilarious. You like to get yourself in a tight spot and say it. If you can't get something, you say it. When you want out of your highchair, you say it! It pretty much applies to everything anymore!

Let's see, you have more new words! You keep surprising me with your words! You say sock, shoe and coat. My favorite phrase you say is, "what did you do?" A lot of times you say it, "what di di di di di doooooooo?" So cute! Dada and I like to say it now, too. You call Cindy, Yaya. We aren't really sure where that came from, but it works. Although, when I was taking you to Cindy's today, you said, "Ninny". So who knows. You call goldfish crackers 'yi yos'. That one I cannot figure out at all. I keep thinking maybe cheerios, but we never give you cheerios anymore.

I'm pretty sad because you are getting so big. You don't sign as much anymore and when you say more, you actually say 'more' not 'mo'. You are losing your baby giggle and are sounding more and more like a big boy. Today, I noticed that you are also beginning to say "Milo". I'm gonna miss you calling him "Mimo". Stop growing so quick baby!

I can't remember if I mentioned your awesome manners in the last blog post. Even if I did, they are worth mentioning again! You say "Thank You" to everything! It's so cute. You actually say "tane choo". LOVE IT! When you pair it with, "tane choo mama" it makes me smile every time. The great thing is, you understand what it means and say it unprompted! If we give you crackers, 'tane choo dada', if we give you a sippy, "tane choo mama", if we get you or a toy unstuck, 'tane choo mada'. Even bedtime you remember your manners. We give you your kisses and hugs, lay you down, cover you up and hand you your sippy. Once you are down, you say, "tane choo". My favorite is when we say "I love you" you say, 'Tane choo". I look forward to when you say I love you back, but for now I love that you say "Tane choo".

Mada-this cracks me up when you say this. When you talk to both of us, you call us Mada. Or if you are talking to one of us and start to call us the wrong name, you call us Mada. Hilarious!I'll have to get a video of it sometime!

You have started calling Dada, Daddy. Made Dada and I both really sad. We don't ever call each other Mommy or Daddy. We have just always been Mama and Dada. I will be devastated when you call me anything other than mama. I know Dada was pretty upset. It hasn't been a consistent thing, so we're hoping it doesn't stick!

I love you buddy, forever and longer!

Love, Mama

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