Griffin turns 2!

Oh buddy!

This year went warp speed with Dylan being added to the mix. I sometimes feel a little sad that I maybe didn't get to cherish and savor some of Griffin's 2nd year milestones and moments like I would have wanted to, but seeing his adoration for his sisters reminds me that there are many more moments to come and I'm sure I've hung on to enough haha! 

Griffin ADORES his sisters! He lights up when one of them walks into the room or when we pull up to Brooklyn's school he starts yelling "Yay! Sissy's 'kool!!!" 

Griffin is our happy camper! He has a bounce (literally) in his step wherever he goes. He is down for anything as long as it involves being around people and being free to roam. He has such a sweet disposition (except when he's hungry then he literally lays on the floor and cries like you stole his dog.) and is my kid who stops to wave at every car that passes, or walks up to strangers and pats them to say hi. He's quick to apologize, hug it out, and be best buddies and he's so far been a go with the flow guy.

He still sleeps like a champ! He takes a 2-3 hour nap and sleeps from 7:30-7. He eats all the time and could eat his weight in fruit. Protein, eh, not so much but hey, he's a pretty diverse eater for 2 years old.

 He wakes up dry several mornings a week but is too focused on getting to the breakfast table to bother with trying to sit on the potty. He's still in his crib and I have no plans to move him anytime soon haha! 

He has taken off with his verbal development and is trying 4 word sentences. I can usually only understand half but hey he's trying! He can count to 6 and loves to dance. He loves puzzles and is finally willing to sit and read a book from start to finish. He could spend hours pushing a cart or stroller around- Practicing backing it up, maneuvering it around corners,turning it around Etc.

He has grown leaps and bounds just since his 18 month post! Praying this year that God would help us to always be pointing Griffin to Jesus! We love you Griff!!!!

Griffin is 18 months

Alison Frenzel Photography

This is the last of my monthly posts and now I move to my half year posts! How has his 1st year and a half been such a blur?!? Here's what Griff has been up to this past month:

Alison Frenzel Photography

Height: 31 inches

Weight: 26 lbs

Griffin is such a joy! He is always on the go and walks/runs with a little bounce in his step. He is my peacemaker and my welcome wagon. He's they guy who greets everyone at the door with an enthusiastic "Hiiieee!"  (or climbs up to peek into Dylan's crib each morning to say Hi) and stands at the door and yells "Bye guys!!!" until he can no longer see anyone. He loves to give hugs.

Alison Frenzel Photography

• He's cutting 3 canines at the moment bringing the tooth count to 14 - just missing 1 canine and 1 molar before we get those 2 year molars in!
• Still my best sleeper with 11 hours a night and a minimum of a 2 hour nap each day!
• Starting to become a more picky eater as each month passes
• Can climb up onto the couch on his own and can almost climb up the ladder on the slide by himself
• Words words words! It's still so hard to understand him, but he essentially tries to say whatever you say to him

Likes
-fruit... all day, every day
-making sure Dylan is OK
-counting books
-Mickey mouse clubhouse
- Playing on the slide and running everywhere

Alison Frenzel Photography

Not so much:
-meat
-teething
-getting tackled by Brooklyn
-sitting still

Griffin is 17 months

Height: 30.5 inches

Weight: 24.5 lbs

Here's what my little ham has been up to this month:

• Working on using a fork and spoon!
• We have 1 new molar bringing our tooth count to 11 and I can see those canines getting ready to pop through. 
• More new words (although most are unrecognizable without me there to translate) 
• Climbing up and going down the little slide by himself! 
• Getting better at and therefore more interested in puzzles. 
• Looooves to take anything he can find and put it in a cabinet or drawer so if you are missing something at our house check our kitchen or bathroom.
• He has finally noticed that Dylan exists and he adores her! Every time I go to get her up from nap he'll run up to her crib and excitedly screech "Hiii-eeee!"and ask to be picked up so he can see in. He also randomly walks up to her throughout the day and will gently lay his head on her to give her a hug.
• He's officially down to 1 nap a day every day now and it's usually a 2-3 hour nap (yay!) 

I love that we are finally beginning to see his personality. He has a gentle spirit and seems to be aware of the emotions of others. He's curious, funny and always down for an adventure. He's pretty fearless and has yet to meet a stranger.  

Griffin is 15 months

Height: 30.5 inches

Weight: 21 lbs 12 oz

Milestones:

He's walking everywhere! He walks about   90% of the time. I adore drunken baby walking!

He tries to say everything - some new favorites are "oh no!" "Mote" (remote), "haa-doh" (hot dog), "beh-gee" (veggie) and "naack" (snack).

His molars are coming in and as a result, chews on everything.

More into books finally! He'll sit and have you read a few of his favorites over and over. Currently we read "How Big?" "Good night my love" and anything Thomas on repeat.

He's definitely finding joy in testing boundaries. We'll tell him no and he will grin and try again. 

Loves:

books, shape sorter, veggie tales or Mickey Mouse clubhouse, stacking cups, food and bath time.

Hates:

Being told no, meat, plates and bowls. 

He's such a happy little dude!

Griffin is 14 months

Height: 30 inches 

Weight: 21.5 lbs

Milestones:

• We have a walker! He's not great at it but when standing can take about 15- 20 steps before plopping down on his rear! He loves practicing and gets a little better each day so I'm hoping to have a confident walker by the end of summer.
• No new teeth to report this month.
• Still rocking 2 naps!
• Has added several words although many of them are only understandable to me and Daniel. Up, Nana, Papaw, BeBe, Grandad, snack, 'me-mo' (Mickey Mouse), and poop (I know-proud mom moment) are a few of his favorites.
• Starting to problem solve. While working on his stacking rings or cups he has learned that if one doesn't fit he'll take it off and try a different combination until he gets it.
• Identifying and making animal sounds! He's got a dog, snake, elephant, monkey and lion down!

It has been so fun to see him literally learning and discovering new things every day. He is such a hoot and he certainly wears his heart on his sleeve!

Griffin is 13 months

What a big month for this guy!

Height: 28.5 inches

Weight: 20 lb 10 oz

Milestones:

He's completely off baby food (eating 3 meals and a morning snack)and essentially off formula (except when we run out of milk lol) and drinking whole milk 3 times a day. So he has 5-6 oz at breakfast, before afternoon nap, and again before bed all via straw sippy cup! He eats - Ohmygoodness-he eats so much food!

Still at 2 naps a day and they are solid 1 1/2-2 hour apiece naps! 

Got 2 new bottom teeth this month for a total of 8 so far.

Verbally he's babbling way more but has only added "huh-yo" (hello) "uh-oh"  and "ah-wub-ooo" (I love you) to his small vocabulary of mama, dada and baba (which he says for bubble, Brooklyn and bottle).

He's a speed crawler and can cruise along furniture well. He's also starting to let go when cruising or pulling up and will stand unassisted for a few seconds at a time.

He can high-five and he likes to answer his play phone (often missing his ear) then hand it to you.

Got his 1st real haircut this month. I held off hoping it would have some curl as it grew out like Brooklyn's did but it's stick straight and doesn't quite lay well when it's longer lol!

Keeping on par with sister he also got his 1st ear infection this month. Hopefully it will be his only ear infection .

Likes:

• Emptying any box, tub or container he sees by way of throwing things haphazardly behind him.
• Elmo counting book, and a random ABC book (the only books he'll sit still long enough for you to read most of).
• Climbing on everything.
• Anything his big sister is playing with/doing. 

Dislikes:

• Having his face and hands wiped after meals
• Not getting his way
• Being still for more than 10 seconds

He is such a social baby. Not clingy where he wants to be held always but more interactive. I know most babies self explore and play until they are 2-ish but he definitely prefers to have someone to hand things to or sit by or play peek-a-boo with.

Happy Birthday Griffin! 1 year!

One year!

What a wild year it has been! We met this little monkey a year ago after a slightly early arrival (5 days) and a fairly short labor (9 hours).

Griffin has just been a little ball of sweetness his 1st year in the world. He adores Brooklyn and all of her shenanigans and is happy in nearly any situation as long as you have food handy and his lovey-bear. 

His well baby check is tomorrow but the ol' at home measurements have him at 19 pounds and about 28 inches long.

He is an awesome sleeper, eats like we starve him, drinks out of a cup with a straw, and always wants to go,go, go. He's finally learned to crawl normally in the last few weeks, can get himself from laying on his belly to sitting, and can pull himself to standing often only holding on with one hand. He's still at 2 -hour and a half naps a day and we are holding strong at 6 teeth.

He loves his "how big" book and any book that has different textures he can feel. He's always ready to dance to music and enjoys stacking, banging and throwing anything he can get his hands on. He's a wild man in the tub- I'm considering wearing rain gear for bath time because he loves splashing so much. 

We have loved seeing him change and grow and can't wait to see his little personality blossom!

Griffin is 10 months

Mr. Wiggles is 10 months and I am having trouble keeping up with this guy!

Height: 27.5 ish inches

Weight: 19 1/2 lbs

Milestones:

-Still just army/inchworm crawling but he's quick. It looks funny because his arms and legs are doing the right thing he just won't pick up his belly! 

-eats everything all the time. He drinks about 30 oz of formula a day and we've added in water in a sippy cup (which he's still mystified by- partially because he refuses to hold his own bottle/ cup) at meal times . He eats 2-3 jars of baby food per day but we are doing less baby food and way more table food which he prefers over the puréed stuff. Loves every fruit and veggie we've given him. Only drawback to table food is that he eats 90% and stores the other 10% in his  chipmunk cheeks and hasn't figured out how to get it out. 

- he loves to play "hide & seek" with Brooklyn and just learned "so big" this past week (videos below).

- he loves to open and close- He'll sit and open/close the kitchen drawer, bedroom doors, play kitchen cabinets etc. forever. He loves to put things "in" places.   He'll take all of his toys and put them in the nearest basket or on the nearest shelf/ledge he can find. This is a great quality unless you are doing laundry in the living room - then you just end up fishing a bunch of baby toys out of your washing machine because someone stuck them in the laundry baskets. Which is why this toy (below) has been a great distraction for him

-no new babble sounds yet.

- 1 of his 2 front teeth I can see coming through so that makes a total of 3 lil teeth!

- starting to wear some 12 month clothes. 

-I'm seeing the beginnings of him wanting to pull up. He tries but can't get himself up without help. 

Still loves Brooklyn the best! This is the morning routine. If B gets up 1st she comes in his room to help wake him up, if he gets up first, he always helps me wake her up and she makes him "sit by me Griff!"

Happy 9 months Griffin!

I'm in denial that in 3 short months this little booger will be a year old! Maybe it's because I'm working, or because he's the 2nd kid or because I've been pregnant most of his 1st year or possibly a combination of all these things -but I feel like it's all flying past me at record speed and I'm just frantically grasping at every moment possible before it passes by.

Homeboy isn't digging the month stickers these days!

Sorry that got a little sappy for the monthly update but it's true. I don't want to miss a moment because they are only tiny for a moment in time. ::grabs tissue:: Ok, so now that I've gotten that out- on to the milestones.

Height: 27.5 in (16%)

Weight: 18 1/2 lbs (40%)

Noggin: I cant remember but he's in the 50th percentile

Milestones:

• We have a teeth! I'd say about 3 days after I posted his last update 1 little bottom tooth popped up and a week after that another was there!
• Babbling more sounds we have now added "Ma-ma-ma" and "Ba-Ba-ba" to his usual "Da-Da-Da".
• Eating 4 - 7 oz bottles a day, solids 3 times a day (baby food or cooked/soft veggies fruits) and puffs/cheerios. He's getting really good at chewing- loves cheerios/puffs and his "real food" 
• still up on all fours rocking and army crawls/ inchworms but still no official full crawling
• Officially down to 2 naps

I love, love, love this stage. He has been such a little joy to watch grow and each day has been a new adventure!

Griffin is 8 months!

Officially 2/3 of the way through his 1st year!

Length: 27.5 inches
Weight: 18 lbs

Milestones:

• Griffin has figured out how to clap and shows us his new trick frequently.
• He is up on all fours and rocking.
• Sitting completely unassisted
• Still sleeping amazingly at night (7-7) and takes 2 naps (1-1 1/2 hours each) plus a power nap around 4 pm (30 minutes) although we are shifting towards just the 2 naps per day.
• Still no teeth but copious amounts of drool
• Starting to babble! For a while it was lots of raspberries and bubble blowing the past week or so he's been saying "da-da-da-da" and it's adorable!

He really is such a happy and fairly laid back little dude (unless it's time to eat, then he's pretty demanding!)

Griffin is 7 months

So before he turns 8 months - here's his 7 month post. This guy is a wiggle worm!

7 month stats

Length: we didn't measure this month -oops

Weight: 18.2 pounds

Milestones:

Sleeping through the night for real this time! Right after I posted his 6 month update he started going to bed at 7pm and getting up at 7am. On the occasion he wakes up during the night he usually peeps a little and puts himself back to sleep. Hallelujah!

Doesn't need to be constantly entertained. He's happy to roll freely on the floor to play and discover without having to move from activity to activity every 15 minutes. 

Sitting up! We still stick the boppy behind him cause he's wobbly but he's getting pretty good!

He's starting to scoot himself (see video below).

Enjoying lots of new foods! We've tried (and liked) sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, green beans, bananas apples and pears.

We are loving seeing this happy little guy grow and discover new things daily!

Also, in case you were wondering....Brooklyn is still his favorite person!

Griffin is 6 months (and bonus material)

My how things change in a month! (I’m a few days late posting but what’s new)

6 month measurements:

Weight: 17 pounds, 2 ounces

Length: 25.75 inches

New and notable:

• Same feeding schedule, just up to 7 oz. for every feed. We have also just now added in baby oatmeal in the mornings and are trying (with no success so far) sweet potatoes and carrots.
• He is such an inconsistent sleeper in that he’ll sleep 11 hours for 1 or 2 nights then for the next 2-3 nights will wake up once (sometimes twice) hungry or cranky. I suppose on the spectrum of babies sleeping, a 6 month old sleeping 11 hours a night half of the week isn’t too terrible.
• He’s rolling both ways and actually now sleeps on his tummy because of it!
• So much drool y’all. We have entered the stage of “wear a bib during playtime so I don’t have to change your outfit 5 times a day.” Which leads to….
• …chewing on all the things. I can feel something bubbling on those bottom gums so I’m wondering if in the next month or so we won’t have a tooth or 2.
• He’s starting to try to sit up on his own- he’s really more like a weeble-wobble toy but it’s because I think he’s trying to skip sitting and just crawl. He just lunges at everything.

He is such a happy little chunk !

Oh- and I suppose I ought to let you know that it appears a 3^rd Hare kiddo will be making his/her appearance around the end of June 2015.  Yes- they will be 13 months apart and yes, I nearly passed out when I found out too.

Pray, people, Pray.

Griffin is 5 months!

Is it just me or has Sept. and Oct. just flown by?!? I always feel like the fall is gone before I even knew it was here. Maybe it's all the school events, football games, birthday parties, meetings and such that keep our days full! Here's an update on the littlest Hare...

5 month measurements:

Weight: 15.7 pounds

Length: 25 1/2 inches

Milestones:

• We are down to 5 feedings a day. He eats 5 oz at or around 7 am, 10:30 am, 2 pm, 5:30 pm and has 7 oz at 9 pm.
• He's back to sleeping through the night again he goes to bed between 7-8 pm and we wake him at 9 for a feed then sleeps until 6:30 am (although sometimes he gets up at 5 am but can usually put himself back to sleep.
• He has started babbling and squealing. It's amazing how similar his happy squeals sound like Brooklyn's when she was his age.
• Still only rolling from tummy to back. He can roll his bottom half from back to tummy but he can't  seem to get his shoulders all the way over - and it makes him cranky.
• Attended his first (and most likely his only) Baylor football game. We took him to the TCU game and he was amazing (and slept through the best part lol!)
• He is such an observer. I really do think he's a little old man trapped in a baby body while he's looking around and taking in the world he always looks so concerned with his little eyebrows.
• When he smiles it's major. Griffin doesn't halfway smile- he give you the biggest toothless slobbery grin his little face can possibly make.

He loves...

• chewing on everything
• his lovey
• going for walks
• those o-ball toys
• Brooklyn making silly faces and watching her run around

He hates....

• pacifiers
• Brooklyn giving him "extra big" hugs
• any type of nose sucker
• playing on his mat while we eat dinner - he would rather be at the table with us (soon, Buddy!)