7 Months

No, we have not fallen off the face of the earth! Time has completely gotten away from me. Griffin had his first cold, Thanksgiving break was here and now we have a crawling child! I tell you, this month has been so crazy, I just don't know where to begin.

Griffin turned 7 months on the 22nd of November and things started to move from there. Just before that, he got his first 2 teeth (bottom). Then, he got a horrible cold. So apparently colds are supposed to last 7-10 days, well not his. It's been well over 15 days now and he still is snotty nosed and has a little cough. We are still letting it run it's course; on the bright side of this, he is a very happy baby! You would never even know he was sick unless you look at his nose. I guess we are very fortunate for this. Now, his newest trick is crawling! He started doing the "worm" (sometimes army crawl) across the floor, but now we have an official crawler. It sure makes things difficult now since we haven't technically baby proofed the house so we constantly have our eyes on him unless he is in his jumper. As I was putting the Christmas tree and decorations up today, I noticed that I couldn't leave the cords out while putting everything into place. I guess we'll be on our way to Target/Babies R Us very soon.Here is a picture of my "sick" Grif

Another thing we did recently was take Griffin to go see Santa. Okay, so I know kids cry when they see him. I was well prepared for that, but Griffin NEVER cries when any unfamiliar faces hold him, nor does he really ever cry. (Okay aside from his usual "I'm overly tired or hungry" cry.) So I was really optimistic about his visit. We waited in a very short line for what everyone in the Kansas City area calls "the best Santa", then I walked him over to Santa. Griffin took one look at him and immediately started to SCREAM! Oh geez, I've never heard my child scream this loud and hard. I tell you, it is the worst thing ever when your baby is scared. I have never experienced him being scared before, so it broke my heart and I started to cry. It was a horrible experience for the both of us.

Grif right after his traumatic experience

The next day we went to go pick out a Christmas tree. Luckily this experience was a lot better. NO tears! He was his typical happy self and went along for the ride. (I can post those pics later.)

Family photo on Thanksgiving

Halloween

Pumpkin Carving! I always leave this one up to Tanner. I find that I totally lack creativity when it comes to pumpkins. I can typically come up with something crafty but really struggle when it comes to carving so Grif and I decided to sit back, watch, and......play in the "guts"! He really enjoyed this and by the end of it, he had it in his mouth, all over me and the floor. Definitely a bath night after that explore time.

Happy Halloween! Grif's first Halloween was pretty low key. Tanner and I went to the Chiefs game and left him to hang out at my parent's house. Then we picked him up, took him to Tanner's parent's, then made a very brief stop by Opa and Oma's house, before rushing home to get to bed. Here are a few pics of the happy little guy. Didn't he make the cutest little monkey???

Busy Weekend for a Little Boy

Look who is now 6 months old!Well this past weekend, I definitely felt like we had a 6 month old. It was a very busy weekend with lots of "firsts" for Griffin. The first one is kind of a big step for me. I didn't want to feed him solids since that meant that my baby was growing up, but as I know I couldn't put if off much longer so we went ahead and started him on solid foods. We gave him rice cereal for the first 3 days and then introduced green beans to him. It went very well! (He definitely was ready for solids.) He is a bit impartial to the cereal; however, he really likes the green beans. He is starting to open wide for his bites and really likes the spoon. I'm sure that will continue, judging by his size. The pictures below really sum up his first food experience. Notice by the end, he was reaching out for it and wanted more.

He definitely likes it!

The next few pictures show a couple of his "firsts". He has been leaning on the ottoman for the past couple of months but now he is really doing it all by himself and already LOVES the remote! Oh geez, I guess another guy to fight over the remote with.

Now this one is very exciting...he is pulling in his knees all by himself! I guess we are almost is crawling mode. He only scoots backwards and rocks back and forth but I bet it's going to happen sometime soon. Time to baby-proof the house!

6 Month Appointment

Today was Griffin's 6 month appointment. The doctor was very pleased with his stats and his developmental growth. She said he was very "advanced" for his age and size. As you can see he is already sitting up by himself, which she said most babies don't sit this well until the later portion of their 7th month. He still isn't technically 6 months yet, (he still has a few more days) and he is rapidly moving up the charts. His new stats are:

height: 28 1/4 in. (95%)
weight: 21lbs. 11.4 oz (96%)
head circumference: 17.9 in (91%)
***he's definitely taking after Daddy in the head area...Mommy's head is very small!

As a parent knows, taking their child to a well visit isn't the most fun thing ever...it means shots! I hate this portion but Griffin was really a trooper. He obviously cried during them but quickly got it together so that we could go home. Once we got home, he talked up a storm and then since the doctor gave us the go ahead for solid foods and water, (boo...I don't like him growing up) we put him in his chair during dinner and gave him his sippy cup with water. He really did a great job with it. He didn't make a face to the taste and he quickly learned how to hold the cup. He didn't understand the fact that he had to tilt it high for anything to come out, but once I showed him, he started to figure it out on his own. We are going to wait for the weekend to start on solids but I will keep you updated as to how it goes. I'm sure funny pics will follow that blog!

waiting at the doctor's office

Ignore the bottle of wine, that was for Mommy and Daddy's pleasure!

sippy cup fun

New book! This month starts the book program at the ped's office.

New Swing

Here are some pics of Grif testing out his new swing. I think he approves! :)

Deanna Rose Farmstead

This past week was parent-teacher conferences so we always get Friday off since we work such long hours throughout the week. As soon as I saw the school calendar, I started planning what Griffin and I would do that special day. What better way to spend a fall day than at Deanna Rose! Tanner ended up taking the afternoon off too, so our little family ventured off to the farm. Since Griffin LOVES doggies, we thought he would love the goats too. Sure enough! He wanted to reach out to pet them and also he "talked" to them. He wasn't really in to the larger goats, he wanted the baby ones. After this trip to the farm, we definitely think this will be a place we visit frequently.

Hello Fall!

Fall in Kansas is one of the greatest seasons. I love the smell outside, the leaves changing colors and the crisp mornings. Just over the last week or so, it started to feel like fall. Our temperatures were in the 60's and the sun was definitely shining so Tanner and I thought it would be a great weekend to take Griffin to the pumpkin patch. (Okay, so maybe Tanner didn't think that, I just suggested it and he went along with it.)

We decided to go to Powell Pumpkin Patch in Louisburg. Neither of us had been for awhile so we went ahead and headed south. Griffin loved it! He went for his first wagon ride (in his Bumbo) and held his first pumpkins. He was so content the entire time, then as soon as we put him back in the car, he fell fast asleep. I'd say the bumpy wagon ride wore him out!

Enjoy the few pics from our day!

5 Months

Happy 5 Months, Baby Griffin! My goodness, the time has gone by way too quickly and this little baby is quickly growing and developing his own individual personality. He laughs and smiles all of the time. He loves his daddy, mommy, doggy, Roxy, being startled, being outside, going for walks, playing in his jumpers, sitting up and webbed activity balls. He is very independent and can keep himself occupied for quite a while. It makes me a bit sad because I just want him to be my baby forever! I tell him everyday that he can't get any bigger and each day he does the total opposite! The other day, our babysitter had her 13 month old sitting right next to Grif and he was the same size as her! (She isn't even tiny.) I swear he grows each day. At least I know he is healthy that way. Right now we are just trying to soak up as much time with him as possible, before he is tearing around the house.

New Toy

Last weekend Tanner and I were doing our usual Costco shopping and we came across this adorable "little" teddy bear. We couldn't pass it up so Griffin got a new toy.
I know it's huge, but how cute is he with it??? It works perfectly, because Grif is working hard at sitting all by himself and it gives him that little support around his waist that he needs. Before we know it, he'll be jumping onto the bear.

The next picture is just of the boys. Notice Grif's shirt...he doesn't like to keep it down! He is typically putting it in his mouth or pulling it up. Apparently he likes his belly. :)

How cute are these???

4 Months Old!

I know I've been keeping everyone in suspense as to what is going on around here. This school year has been very stressful already, so I haven't wanted to do much when I get home. My routine is pretty much, rush home to see and play with Griffin, put him to bed, then go straight to bed myself. I forgot how exhausting 5 year olds are this time of year!

I'm really doing much better now about going to work. Each day is a new day and I hardly cry. I did make the mistake last Friday of calling my mom (she was watching him) during lunchtime and I heard him crying in the background. It broke my heart and I started crying! Sheesh, I may only text now.

Griffin is growing like crazy! Last week was a big week in the Brous household. Griffin rolled over from his tummy to his back and now he does it constantly. He's pretty much a tummy sleeper since he keeps rolling over. AND he has been sleeping through the night...12 hours! (***knock on wood***) I love it! It makes me such a happy person. I don't NEED to drink a pot of coffee anymore, I just do it because I like too. That's a big change.

Each day Griffin amazes me. He is so much fun to be around everyday. He constantly tells us "stories" about his day and always laughs and smiles. I'm so glad he is such a happy baby.

A couple weeks ago, we had our fabulous photographer come over and take his 4 month pictures. If you haven't seen the slideshow yet, you should check it out: http://www.rebeccapetersblog.com/little-ones/griffin-4-month-session-2
As you can imagine our house is full of her wonderful work! She's the best!

Drumroll for his new stats...
weight: 17 lbs. 10 oz. (90%)
lenght: 27 inches (95%)
HC: 17.73 inches (79%)