5 Months

This month has been fun and filled with "1st" along with every other month. Grey had found his feet previously, but this month he decided it was really fun to put his feet in his mouth...all the time. I felt guilty putting footed pj's on him because he couldn't get to his toes to suck on them. Actually, EVERYTHING still goes straight to the mouth.

His favorite thing to do still is to jump in his johnny jump up. He goes crazy in that thing and just squeals with delight. I worry he is going to hurt his feet because he pounds down so hard on them, but it doesn't seem to bother him in the least.

He is really reaching for things and deliberately grasping things.

He is so observant and loves to watch people (especially little people like all of his cousins). His cousins LOVE holding him and talking to him so it works out well for all parties involved. (Mac got to help give Grey a bath while we visited them in SC.)

(Grey loved watching cartoons with Lawson.)

(Kate is a wonderful helper and so sweet to Grey.)

We started rice cereal when he was about 4 1/2 months old and that boys LOVES to eat. I only gave it to him 1 time a day for the first couple weeks and he picked up eating with a spoon in no time. He opens his mouth wide before I even have the next bite on the spoon.

Grey got to celebrate his first Thanksgiving. We went to Birmingham to my sister Amelia's house and had a great lunch. Two of my brother-in-laws fried their first turkey and it was divine!

Grey got his first picture taken with Santa. Nana (Davis' mom) and I were at the Decatur Mall and decided it was a must, but the Decatur Santa is not the happiest. You can tell by the picture. Grey looks really cute though and he liked reaching for Santa's beard and studying his face. He was not scared at all.

Grey and I made our first road trip alone this month also. We went ot SC to see my sister Allison and her famliy for a few days. It was fun! On the way to SC we stopped at Chick-fil-a to get some lunch and since he has become a hip baby it is easier to take him out of the car seat sometimes instead of lugging that huge thing in. So I took him in (sans carseat) to change his diaper and for me to go to the bathroom also. I didn't think ahead about what I was going to do with him after I changed his diaper and I had to go to the bathroom. After much contemplating and almost wetting my pants I asked a really nice lady in the bathroom to hold him. I was so embarassed, but she was really nice and had a little girl with her and I heard them talking about God so I thought it would be okay. I have never gone to the bathroom so fast in my life! Lesson learned....never take him to the bathroom by myself without something to put him in.

He did get to sit in his first high chair at Chick-fil-a and he loved it. He could see everyone and just people watched the whole time I ate lunch.

When we got to Allison's he was super fussy the first couple days. I didn't know if it was because he didn't like sleeping in the pack and play or if something else was wrong. He started running a mild fever and did not want to eat at all so we took him to an after hours clinic worrying it might be an ear infections....it was not. They just said he was probably teething. He started feeling better the next day, but still no teeth. No telling what was wrong with him. Besides that he was really easy to travel with. Well, as easy as it can be to pack up 2 huge suitcases, toys, diapers, wipes, bedding, sound machine, etc., etc. He slept mostly in the car and then would wake up to eat and we would stop and have some stretching time and then he would play in his carseat and fall asleep when he was tired. He is such a good little boy!

We also quit swaddling this month. We phased it out because I was getting worried about him rolling over and being swaddled. He was also kicking out of his swaddle a lot more often. He did not like the sleep sack at first, but he has gotten used to it and hasn't looked back. I have to admit it was pretty amusing finding him sleeping halfway swaddles as in the picture below.(Look at those precious chunky thighs:)

He is still eating every 3 hours for the most part. He can go 4 sometimes, but I have noticed when we go longer during the day he wakes up more at night. I ususally don't feed him during the night if he wakes I just let him fuss for a little bit and he will sometimes go back to sleep, but sometimes I just go pat him and he will go back to sleep. On a perfect night he will have his dream feed at 10:30 and sleep until 7...but, that is a perfect night and we only have those about half the time. If he wakes up and he fusses at around 3 am and then settles back in until 7.

He is so happy and has such a quick smile. He makes everyone around him happy!

(In the interest of full disclosure...he is not sitting on his own yet. My hand just happened to make it out of the photo in time and he feel about 2 seconds later....we are working on it though)

This is how most of the photos turned out :)

4 months

Grey,

Each month seems to get better and better with you! You have definitely adjusted to being in Decatur now and seem to LOVE all the attention you get. You make everyone so happy because you are so smiley and will smile at anyone. That makes me so happy. You started really laughing this month. You don't do it very much though. It is a very lazy laugh ususally. Strangers that talk to you usually get the best laughs and it makes me so jealous because I make such a fool of myself trying to get you to laugh at me.

You have found your hands and CANNOT keep them out of your mouth. You will stare at your hands and then shove them in your mouth. Sometimes you will go cross eyed trying to study your hands and it cracks me up. You are reaching for things that I put in front of your face now also.

You can roll from your front to your back, but have not mastered the back to front roll. You don't seem to mind tummy time most of the time, but you will only stay on your tummy for a few minutes before you roll or get a little fussy. I put you in the "johnny jump up" that hangs over the door for the first time this month and you were hooked! You love to get in that thing and it will always entertain you no matter how hungry, tired, or fussy you are.
{You were not really sure what to do the first time I put you in the jumper, but you caught on quick!}

{You are a little houdini and usually manage to get at least 1 arm out of the swaddle}

{You have started to like bathtime more}

You are still nursing and eating every 3 hours during the day and we finally got you back on track at night toward the end of this month and you are sleeping from 11-7 most nights. We have also started the bed time routine of bath, books, and eating. I still swaddle you because you wake yourself up during the night trying to suck on your hands and it makes you mad and you end up crying so I just swaddle them down. I have tried leaving your hands out, but you always wake up. Your bedtime is 7:30 or so and then I do a dreamfeed at 11 so that you won't wake up in the middle of the night. We have not started rice cereal yet, but we will soon.

{Mamama had a picture of your daddy blown up and put it above your diaper changer. He is our little celebrity that we kiss and talk to everyday.}

We send your daddy pictures and videos almost daily so he can watch you grow and change. You are such a good baby and I am so thankful for that since your daddy is not here...save all your shenanegans for when he gets back :)

Baby boy, you have brought me so much happiness and I love watching your grow and explore this new world of yours. I love you!

*Sorry for the quality of some of these pictures. A lot of them were taken on my phone since it is always handy and easy to send them to Davis.

Halloween

Grey and I went to Birmingham for Halloween because I really wanted to go with my niece and nephews trick or treating. Grey was obviously not trick or treating, but he came along in the baby bjorn for a little while. It was so much fun!

How cute are they?

We rode in the golf cart some of the time just to watch Kate, Jackson, and Gregg go door to door.

Grey did not think this outfit was fun! Doesn't he look cute though...it made for good pictures at least and that was about it.

He is the cutest little pumpkin I have ever seen :)

3 months

I am again way behind on this update since Grey is now almost 4 1/2 months, but just want to make sure I have this stuff documented for later.

Grey turned 3 months old about a week after we got to Alabama. He had just started sleeping through the night really consistently about 2 weeks before we left Germany when he was maybe 10 or 11 weeks old. That all changed once we got to the states. He was so turned around and he picked up the middle of night feeding again, but his naps were still really good and I really couldn't complain about just having to wake up one time at night and figured he would drop it again when he got more adjusted.

He still eats every 3 hours and naps after every feeding. He can only stay away for about 45 min. after each feeding and sometimes he can last an hour, but that is pushing it. He is so happy and so quick to give out smiles. He has found his hands, but can't really use them for too much just yet. He loves to look at them though and will go cross eyed trying to focus on his fingers.

His neck and back are getting so strong and he loves to hold his head up, but it gets tired pretty easily.

He loves to lay on his back and watch the animals that are on his play gym. He does not really care for tummy time, but will tolerate it for a few minutes here and there. I feel like from 2 to 3 months is when he really found his voice. He loves to coo and talk and sometimes will even scream and almost scare himself. It cracks me up.
He is such a happy, fun, easy going baby!

Aunt Allie Comes to Germany

Toward the end of September Allison came to Germany to help me wrap things up and to help me fly/travel with Grey. I picked her up at the Munich airport and met her with many happy tears. Grey was so excited to meet his Aunt Allie!

We headed to Oktoberfest because you can't be that close to it and not take the opportunity to see what it is all about. Grey was great and just slept in his stroller most of the day. We just went in one of the beer tents to get a feel for it and walked around and we had already had enough of the crowds so we headed back to the car. This was the first time I had to figure out the trains without Davis and quickly realized I should have paid closer attention. We made it though and only missed one train.

Grey sleeping through his first Oktoberfest

Don't worry, I didn't let him try it this year!

Once we made it to the car we headed to the little town of Fussen. It was getting dark and the GPS took us some crazy back way with no street lights. It was quite scary and after multiple near panic attacks we finally made it to our hotel.
The next morning we woke up on this cute little town and headed to Neuschwanstein. It is the castle that the Disney Cinderella castle was modeled after. It did not disappoint! It was gorgeous! Grey did fabulously again, but this time in the baby Bjorn.

That night we headed back to my town of Eschenbach to get things ready to go back to the states. We took some little day trips and Allison got to meet some of my friends in Germany and kind of get a glimpse into my life over there. It was so fun!

Finally, we were ready to fly home after 3 huge boxes were mailed to the states and I crammed all I could in 2 oversize suitcases. Luckily we were able to take Grey's car seat on the plane because they had an extra seat so he slept most of the flight. He just woke up to eat and did not cry once. Everything was perfect until we finally got to Allison's house in SC after 26 hours of traveling and only 2 hours of sleep and I was ready to pass out. Guess who wanted to party? Grey thought it was morning time, which it was in Germany, but it was 1 am and I was pooped. The next couple days are truthfully a blur. I was so tired and Grey was so confused with is sleeping and eating, but we survived and were so glad to see family!
Now we have 5 months to enjoy family and friends in the states until we have to make another long trip back to Germany!