shermalicious!

This is one of my best friends, Jami Sherman. She is a pediatric nurse and is currently traveling across the US, doing 13 week contracts at different children's hospitals. She stayed with us for the second time last week and was a huge help, going with me to run errands and hanging out with little Gray. She even came with me to the hair salon so that I could get a much needed hair cut and maybe also some highlights; that is, if I weren't a natural blonde who didn't need highlights :) She is the best and we miss her already. Thanks, Sherm!

pool party

We had a fabulous Memorial day weekend over here at the Byrne household. JC and I finally got out of the house and ran some errands. Additionally, we went out to lunch TWICE. It was awesome. Although- at the Italian restaurant pictured below, we learned an important parenting lesson- even when the special of the day includes 3 courses for one low price, don't order it. By the time you've eaten your salad and your entree comes out, the baby is all fired up and ready to bolt. And forget about dessert. Order your entree and ask for the check all at the same time, in case you need to make an early exit.

The next day, we drove into Old Town, Alexandria, and walked around. We ate lunch at the Fish Market and JC ordered a schooner of beer, which we learned was about this big:

Of course he drank it all. Do you even have to ask?

Monday we started the day with a trip to the grocery store (finally! I hadn't been there since the baby was born- I'm too chicken to go by myself. What if the baby needs changing? Where would I do it? The floor of the produce aisle?) and bought the fixins for a barbecue. JC's parents came over, as well as his sister Kate and her boyfriend, Josh. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of them, I'm not sure why. My dad came over as well:

And, never one to shy away from a camera, Uncle Jeff made an appearance, too:

This was a historic day, in that we decided to bust out our new baby pool. It was a total success. The baby seemed to like it, and JC was definitely sold. I think we'll be spending alot of time out there this summer.

After all that swimming, Gray was a little tired:

So if you're in the neighborhood, feel free to stop by and take a dip. But be forewarned- there is a

100% chance that Gray peed in the pool. And a 70 % chance that JC did, too.

enter sandman

No, the glass in the above picture is not Graydon's. Although, if I thought it would help, I would be making him manhattans every night because the boy Will. Not. Sleep. Seriously, JC and I are going craaaaaaazy. Most nights we rock him (usually while he's bawling) for 45 minutes up to TWO HOURS in an effort to get him to sleep. Lately, I have been pushing him in the stroller in the kitchen for 20 minutes just to get him calm enough to rock him! Seriously? Is this how all babies are? Because THIS IS NO FUN!!! Please, explain to me how a baby that does this all day:

Plays on his activity mat

Or this- bounces in the bouncy seat

Or this- staggers around in his jumperoo

Or this- holds himself upright in his bumbo seat

Or this- sits without assistance in his boppy

Or this-- flops around on his belly and tries to crawl

How can a child who does all of this, and more, all day long, not collapse exhausted every night? And the capper is that he never naps. I have to force him down for a nap, and I don't even know why I bother, because he's up 30 minutes later without fail. Aaaaaargh. We are at our wits end.
It's a good thing he's cute:

Because otherwise he'd be up for sale. Cheap.

Profile

Seriously- whose nose is this? We can't figure it out.

Gangsta G-money

Oye, esse! You'd better RECOGNIZE before I go all GANGSTA on you. You don't want me to PEE on you, do you? You definitely DON'T want that!

month three- the socializers

Month three is where we came out swinging. Admittedly, as first time parents, and especially as the parents of a colicky newborn, JC and I were a little gunshy about taking the kid out of the house, or even out of the nursery. Liable to meltdown at any moment, without provocation or warning, Graydon was more like a ticking timebomb to be handled veeeery carefully than a carefree baby to just toss in the baby bjorn and trot out the door. But month three, we decided to throw caution to the wind and get the baby OUT THERE. It was either that or I was going to jump off the roof. So we strapped the baby in the carseat, and after a few traumatic carrides, we all got the hang of it and haven't looked back since. Ok, that's a lie. He still hates the car seat, and many trips end in baby and mommy both howling. But we are still getting out there, and that's what counts. Here's some of what we've done and who we've been hanging out with this month.

Dinner party at the Kleemans- totally fabulous. Graydon was an angel- but JC I had to threaten with bodily harm in order to get him to leave the party and come home (we hadn't been out in quite a while). Our first family shot:

Katy and Gray

My good friend Jami came to visit and forced me to go shopping with her, a trip that will be forever ingrained in my brain because Graydon screamed so loudly, he shut down the food court and we booked it out of there without even eating. I swore after that we were never going to out again. However, Jami wouldn't take no for an answer, and we went back out to lunch the very

next day- and it was fine! But I still haven't gone back to the mall.

We met out with a lot of people this month-

Nurse Tara gave Graydon one last chance to flirt with her before she gets married- congrats, TJ!

Gina went temporarily insane for the day and invited 3 more babies over to play with her twins

Kyung introduced Gray to his first friend, her son Ben-- suuuuch a cutie

We went out to lunch (again! we're getting cocky!) in Georgetown with Jessie, Kim, Megan, and the always popular, ever-chubalicious Casey Elizabeth (at whom Graydon stared lovingly the entire lunch. Well- when he wasn't peeing himself). This lunch marked the first time that I changed the baby in public- there were no changing tables in the bathroom, and hell if I was going to lay him on the bathroom floor, eeeew. So with Kim's help, we did a little quick-change AT THE TABLE. Jessie held up a dinner napkin to block us from view. It was gross. If you're ever in Georgetown, don't eat at Paparazzi's big corner table near the front window.

Great-grandmother invasion!

Graydon is lucky to have three great-grandmothers in his life and he has already met all three! Too cool, right?

First up was Nana Thompson- he looooooved her-- she was actually the first person to get him to coo back at her. They had a full-on conversation. Nana T lives in Pennsylvania so we'll get to see her pretty often.

Next, Gray met Grandma Jules. She was visiting from Michigan. She was a very calming influence on Gray, especially since we saw her in the evening- prime time for a meltdown. But he responded really well to her- clearly, he has good taste!

Finally, we met up with Nana and Pop-pop Matecki. They stopped by my dad's house in Maryland on their way up from Florida to Jersey. Graydon spazzed out a bit because they arrived on the late side and it was past his bedtime. But he calmed down in time for a photo opp:

Rounding out the ladies in his life, here's a shot of the two grandmas- Barbara and Chris. Chris does a great job of helping us out here, and we know that Grandma Barbara (along with his Great-grandmother Valerie) is looking out for him from a slightly different vantage point and is sending love and good karma our way.

month two

Month two started out much like month one- a whole lotta crying, fussing, and general discomfort. And that was just JC ! We're pretty sure the baby was suffering from a mild to moderate case of colic, as he was really gassy and cried a lot. A WHOLE lot. So I cut out all dairy from my diet (including chocolate! and cheese- that almost killed me) and he seemed to improve... slightly. At any rate, it was pretty tough, and I think we might have tried to return the baby had he not started to do this:

So, we decided to keep him. For now.

Month two was also notable because we began to take car rides (which he hated)

We also started to do alot of tummy time (also hated)

And tried to contain a raging case of baby acne (mommy hated).

All in all, month two was a little rough and we are glad it is OVER with!

Month One

The first month- pretty much diaper changes, diaper changes, and more diaper changes. That's all I remember from the first month. Oh- and getting peed on All. The. Time. I guess I breastfed somewhere in there and supposedly we slept a little. I honestly don't remember. Oh--except for week 3. Because that's when the crying started. Welcome, colic!

You know, Stella has been surprisingly great with the baby. We were a little worried at first, especially she has been known to ever so gently nip our guests (sorry about that, Mindi. Oh, and Jami. And of course, Lenny. and that UPS guy on T Street). At any rate, we love that mutt, totally insane though she is, and we were super anxious about how she'd react to a bambino. But thankfully, she has been AWESOME! She loves the baby, and acts very maternal towards him. When he cries, she is the first one in the room. She is constantly trying to groom him ,and if we let her, she'd probably try to carry him around by the nape of his neck like a puppy. So to all you doubters out there (Aunt Marianne)-- Stella did NOT eat the baby. Yet. :)

bathing beauty

As many of you know, JC and I plan to one day set up camp down in Wilmington, NC, living a leisurely life in a house near the beach (maybe we'll let you all come visit. Maybe not:) At any rate, we were hoping that our kids would love the water as much as we do, and at least with Graydon, it seems like we've been successful. Of course, at his first bath, he pitched a total fit and freaked out. But ever since, he really enjoys his baths and is a true water baby. He gets bathed a couple of times a week, depending on the frequency and volume of poops he has gifted us that day. As his bathwater consists of about 20 percent urine and 80 percent DC tap water, I'm not sure that he's actually getting that clean. But he does seem to be enjoying himself, so it's all good :)