Boys will be boys...



Add caption

We got our first goose egg on the forehead this morning.  He was playing on the floor in the kitchen and pulled up on somethng and face planted into the radiator.  He falls A LOT so I didn't think much of it, but of course, I loved on him.  When he pulled away from my shoulder and I saw the size of the knot on his head all my nursing practical sense went out the window and I was determined we might need to go to the ER.  It was so swollen and huge.  I had forgotten how large those goose eggs get on baby foreheads and it is totally different when it is MY baby's forehead, I guess.  After a second of mild panic and after he calmed down I realized he was fine.  The swelling has mostly gone down now, but he has this pretty bruise to show for it.  It doesn't seem to be phasing him though. 
As curious, determined, and active this little boy is....I am sure this is just the first of MANY! 

"Houston....we have a tooth!"

Grey has been so fussy since we got back and I knew part of it was due to the major change of being here in a new house and only having me as a familiar face.  But I also thought he might be teething because he was congested and was waking up like he was in pain at times.  He has been knawing on EVERYTHING, but that is not really out of the ordinary.  Finally, the other day I felt a little nub of a tooth under the gums.  I have been swearing he was teething since he was 3 months old and knew a tooth had to come through someday.  The tooth has finally broken the gums now.  I can feel the little ridges of his bottom right tooth, but I can't see it yet.  Mainly because he is very hard headed and has decided he doesn't want me to see so he does everything in his power to keep my hands out of his mouth when I am trying to look.  So at 9 months and 11 days I can finally say that he has his first tooth. 

The drool that goes with getting a tooth called for a couple of shirtless days. 

He is finally adjusting to being in our house here in Germany too.  He is actually exploring and going to other rooms that I am not in.  He won't go far and always comes back looking for me, but at least he is not staying at my feet fussing like he has been the past 2 weeks.  I am slowly, but surely being able to get things done now in preparation for Davis getting home.  My countdown is definitely not exact because as I have learned with the Army the only thing you can plan for is for plans to change, but according to my approximate countdown we just have 7 more weeks!!!  YAY!!!  WE CAN DO THIS!!!

This picture cracks me up.  I let him watch a Praise Baby DVD in the morning while I drink my coffee and he sat right under the TV and stared up.  I did end up moving him because it hurt my neck to watch him sitting like that, but it was too funny not to snap a picture first. 

9 months

Once Grey started crawling...there was no stopping him.  He is EVERYWHERE now and pulling up on everything.  I mean EVERYTHING, even if it won't hold him up, which makes for a lot of falls and  bumps and bruises.  He is a tough boy though! 
He is still eating anything and everything I put in front of him and he LOVES to feed himself and can surprisingly gum a lot of different foods I didn't think he would be able to with no teeth.  I am thinking surely he will get teeth any day now, but who knows! 
This month has brought with it lots of excitement with Grey's first beach trip, his first Easter, and our trip back to Germany.  Needless to say, we are both pooped! 
Let's start with the beach trip:

We went to PCB to see my 2 BFF's Emily and Caroline before we headed back to Germany.  I was so glad Caroline and her husband were down at the beach at the same time so we could see them.  It was a pretty quick trip all things considered, but well worth the drive!  Grey was not much a fan of the beach though.  He wasn't scared really, but he just didn't want to get down in the sand.  Luckily Emily helped me out and I got about an hour of sun.  Definitely not like the old days of laying out with a book and listening to the ocean.  I am afraid know those days are long gone!  I am asuming Grey is allergic to sun screen also because the first day I think it must have gotten in his eye or something when he was crying because he didn't like his sun hat and he broke out in hives.  He has gotten hives before, but I think it is because he is allergic to lavendar.  I am going to share this picture, but don't think that I abuse my child. 

This is when he got the hives and all that would make him feel better was mandarin oranges...so that is what he got :)

This is what his feet did everytime I tried to put him down.  He would draw them up as far as they would go and not touch that sand.

Grey loved his Auntie Em!

We brought the wind with us the first day so we didn't stay too long.

The second day was pretty and we got some beach time.

We had a great time, but once we got home it was off to work to pack boxes to send back to Germany and get all of the last minute stuff done. Easter was the next weekend and it was so nice, but a little bittersweet knowing we were leaving the next day.  I went to church with my parents and heard a great sermon and then we went to Davis' parents house for lunch.  It was delicious, as always!  Grey had a great first Easter, but we definitely missed Daddy!!!


Isn't Grey so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents?  I think so!!!

If only Grey would pose as nicely as Scout did :)





We headed to SC the day after Easter because our flight was out of Charlotte, NC...don't ask why...it just was.  Of course Grey got a high fever the night before we flew out (103.5 to be exact) and we had to make a last minute stop to an urgent care.  They wanted to make sure it was not a urinary tract infection so Grey had to get a catheter.  Of course, it was negative!  Turns out it was just something viral and it had to run its course.  Anyway, we left the next morning and after our goodbyes we were off.  I won't bore you with all the details of the trip because honestly, I was so tired I don't remember much of it (or I have just blocked it all out).  Let's just say that 2 overnight plane rides and a total of 10 hours of a sick 8 month old on your chest is not something I would recommend.  It went as well as could be expected thou and we made it to Germany in one piece....very tired, but very glad to be "home".  Jet lag and a 7 hour time change have been quite the adjustment, but we are getting there.  It has been nice to get reintegrated with all of my friends over here and with all of our stuff.  Now it is just about 8 more weeks till we get to reintegrate with Davis!!!  YAY!!!

Grey loves his Daddy Doll with Davis' picture in it :)

8 months

It seems like a lot of developmental changes started happening fast from month 7 to 8.

-Grey started scooting everywhere and got faster and faster by the day.

-He loves to eat! That boy will eat almost anything I put in his mouth. He started eating a lot more texture this month also. I have been making his food and so I started leaving it a little more chunky and he did great with it. I also started steaming carrots until they are really soft and he loves to eat them as finger food. The same goes with broccoli and cauliflower. I make sure the bites are super tiny though. He is definitely a "do it yourselfer". He also got to try meat for the first time this month. He liked it...still haven't found anything he doesn't like.

-Grey started having a little bit of stranger anxiety this month. Previously he would go to anyone at any time and he just now started to realize he wanted to hang with his mama a lot of the time. It didn't last too long though.

-If he is playing on the floor and I walk past and he thinks I am going to pick him up and I don't he starts fussing and will scoot to where I am and do what I like to call the "dying roach" dance at my feet until I pick him up. He thrashes his hands and legs and whines for me to pick him up....it ususally works:)

-Grey loves animals and some days if it is pretty I take him and we sit on a blanket and just look at the cows. He talks to them and just sits there and stares at him. He never sits that still usually. He doesn't like to get too close though because they moo pretty loud and it scares him.

-About 1 week before he turned 8 months old he started crawling. He still prefers to scoot because he can get there faster, but he can officially crawl.

Still no teeth, but he does this thing where he chews on his bottom lip all the time.  He looks like an old man with no teeth.  It cracks me up! 

7 months

I am waaay behind on updating, so I am just going to go with bullet points because they are a lot less overwhelming to me when I have so much to get in.

-Grey turned 6 months on my 29th birthday. We had a small celebration, but it was extra special because Davis was home to celebrate with us.

-Davis was home for the first 2 weeks of this month and we soaked up every minute with him. Grey just stared at Davis and studied him when we picked him up at the airport. He wasn't scared or anything, but just was taking it all in. He warmed up to him really quickly though and it was all smiles from there.

-While Davis was home Grey got to spend his first night away from me because Davis and I went to Nashville by ourselves to celebrate my birthday and just to get away. He did great and I guess I should add that I think I did pretty great too for leaving him for the first time. It didn't hurt that I could not wait to spend the time with Davis. I had heard so many people tell me it was going to be so hard and horrible the first time I left him and as bad as it sounds it really wasn't. It was hard leaving because I felt like I was going to forget something or forget to tell my mom or Davis' mom something, but once I was out the door it was all good.

-Grey also got to take his first trip to KY to visit Davis' grandmother and lots of other family there. It was nice for him to get to meet everyone there and it was nice for Davis and I to get to visit also.

-Grey got his first cold/sickness at the end of Davis' 2 weeks home. We have been so lucky that he has not been sick very much. We were also very lucky he was not sicker this time because everyone else that got the crud seemed to have it for longer and it seemed to be more intense than Grey's did.

-This month Grey started getting on all fours and rocking back and forth like he wants to crawl. He watches all his big cousins and you can just tell he wants to jump up and play with them.

-He started playing coy with people this month, which I think is about the cutest thing ever. He ducks that head like he is being bashful and my heart just melts.

-Grey loves watching Praise Baby on TV and I was letting him watch it almost everyday, but have slacked off lately because of all the bad things I have read about TV before the age of 2. I just use it when I really need to shower and he is up or if he is really fussy now.

-He continues to like just about every food I have put in front of him. A couple of times he has acted like he doesn't like something, but then when I give it to him again he eats it just fine. I guess it just takes some getting used to new tastes.

-He is nursing every 3 1/2 -4 hours and eating fruit and cereal in the morning and usually 2 veggies and some cereal at night. He likes the little puffs cereal a lot too.

-He sleeps from 7pm to 7am usually, but I still get him up for a dream feed around 10 or so.

Okay enough talk....onto the pictures

Doesn't he look like a natural?? I'm so lucky!

6 months

We started this month still in South Carolina and determined a tooth would pop through any day. By the end of the month....still no tooth.

A week or two after we got back from S.C. Grey got his first taste of baby food. He had bananas for the first time on 12/21/11. He loved them! I call him a little bird because before I can even get the next bite on the spoon he has his mouth open waiting for it. He loves to eat and has not turned down any of the food I have made for him yet. This month he has tried bananas, pears, butternut squash, and avocado. He loves it all. Ma-ma-ma calls him "Groceries" because he likes to eat so much.

On 12/22/11 , the day after he got bananas for the first time Grey rolled from his back to his front. He did it 3 times in a row and somehow I was sitting there watching him. For the next week or so he would not roll from back to front while he was playing. I did find him in his crib a few times on his tummy after nap time. He loves sleeping on his tummy so this new development has helped with extending his naps sometimes.

This is how I found him the first time he rolled over during a nap.

Christmas was fun this year, but Grey didn't really know any difference. He did enjoy watching all of his cousins run around Ma-ma-ma and Da-da-da's house for a couple of days while everyone was home. We spent Christmas Eve with the extended Ozier family. Christmas morning we woke up at my parents and then headed down to the Ozier's for presents and lunch. Later in the day we headed back home to see my mom's family. It was a busy day and we were both exhausted at the end of it, but very thankful we have such wonderful family to spend holidays with while Davis is away. Davis not being here definitely made this Christmas hard and bittersweet. At least Davis will be home next year when Grey will start to understand a little more about toys and presents. This year he just liked the paper:)

On Christmas Eve Ma-ma-ma and Da-da-da acted out the Christmas story for all the grandchildren...Donkey and all. It was a big hit!

Yay! Santa came to see Grey!!!

Opening his Santa presents.

Uncle Allen gave us an awesome hiking pack to carry Grey in when we travel in Germany. He wasn't too sure about it at first, but then he decided he liked it.Checking out his stocking and Nana and Pop's house.

This is a horse that was given to Davis on his first Christmas.

We were pooped after a long day of fun!

Grey posing with Kate and Lawson's babies.

Grey loves animals and absolutely loves my parents dog, Lucy. She comes up and kisses him and he just smiles and follows her with his eyes everywhere she goes. When he is able to crawl I am sure he will literally follow her EVERYWHERE.

Grey learned that when he drops things they go somewhere this month. He was playing in his little jumper and I had a toy attached to the side with a link. He would throw the toy over the side and then lean over to see where it was going. He did this over and over one night. He is a very curious baby. When I left him in the church nursery for the first time the nursery worker told me I was going to have my hands full when he learned to crawl because he was one of the most active, curious babies she had seen....I am afraid she is probably right.

The best thing that happened this month happened just a couple of days before Grey turned 6 months old.....DADDY CAME HOME!! Davis got his 2 week R&R and we were so happy to have him home! It was the best 2 weeks of Grey's life so far :) Grey was mesmerized by Davis and just stared at him for the longest time. I think he was kind of confused because I have been showing him the blown up picture of Davis' face and letting him listen to the books Davis recorded for him, but now all of that had come to life and it took him a little bit to understand that. Once he did he was in heaven loving on his Daddy...I am pretty sure Davis was in heaven too!