Air and Space- photos courtesy of Melissa Shmelzer

We went to the Dulles version of the Air and Space museum last week with my friend Melissa and her boys Tyler and Jack (who are only 10 months apart! Melissa is a rockstar!) Gray looooves being around the big boys (Ty is almost 4 and Jack is almost 3) and we had a great time tearing around the museum with them.

Checking out a space shuttle? I think? I was too busy trying to keep track of Graydon who was whizzing around like a pin ball to notice many of the exhibits. Whatever this is, it's freaking big:

Gray sitting in the cockpit of a Cessna plane, my baby pilot:

Outside the museum, trying to climb into the fountain (I didn't let him):

Getting some tickle action from the Shmelzer brothers:

Good times had by all!

new pics

Here are some shots from the last week. I can't believe what a BOY he looks like in some of these. No longer a baby, so sad!

Trying to finish his daddy's beer (it was empty)- I'm sure this is a shot we'll see again and again:



Also, he is going through a phase where he hates to wear clothes but loves to wear shoes and hats. So most days find him in a diaper wearing shoes, sometimes his but more likely mine or JC's. Below he is sporting a pair of my winter boots- it took alot of effort on his part to get these on:



Looking not at ALL like a baby:




Hanging with his Aunt Carrie! He loooooved her, especially because she let him play with her phone and read him his new favorite book, Thomas the Train (thx Aunt Barb!):

Topless yet again:

Casey came to visit! These two are confirmed best friends- they play so well together and just laugh and laugh. This visit they spent alot of time under the dining room table for some reason- usually Graydon just goes under there to poop, ha! Isn't Casey gorgeous? We love when she visits!

Up to absolutely no good- probably fishing through my diaper bag and looking for my wallet. Graydon is obsessed with taking my credit cards out and hiding them. Not so much fun for me.

Wearing Casey's shoes, he refused to take them off. Also has some shaving cream in his ear, he loves to squirt JC's shaving cream on his hands and then pat his face with it, just like he's actually shaving. Hilarious!

I swear, he does wear clothes some times. But he also gets heat rash easily, so I don't mind him stripping down when he's just inside the house. What a nut.

Also, just an update on El Segundo. I am in total denial that this baby is going to be here in 33 days. Thus far, everything has been going well. I am just soooooo tired. The nursery is ready and the baby clothes have been washed. Basically, we just need to buy some newborn diapers and we are physically ready for the baby. Mentally, well, that's a different story:)

hi there

Hi. Hi! Remember me? Oh, you don't? Because it's been almost 2 MONTHS since I last blogged? Really? Really??? My, how time flies when you're 8 months pregnant, caring for a crazy little man, and moving to another state! It seems to me like I last posted mere days ago, but I guess that's not the case. Sorry, everybody!! Will try to be more regular about this site from here on out. Part of the issue was that I packed my camera cord in the move and couldn't find it, thus preventing me from both taking and downloading pictures. But tonight I found it! So here's a glut of pictures from way back in the beginning of the summer.

Since we last left off.... Graydon is now 18 months and is proving to be part angel, part hellion, and total daredevil. His legs are a testament to his fearlessness- he is absolutely covered in bruises, scrapes and scratches. But they don't seem to bother him, and they are impossible to prevent since he insists on running everywhere. At his last peds appointment, he was measuring 50 %tile in head circumference, 10th percentile in weight (still only 23 lbs, yikes!) and 95th percentile in height (34.5 inches). The doctor isn't worried about his weight since he is clearly growing up, just not out. He is running, jumping, climbing, dancing- he is physically and developmentally acting like a two year old. The only thing he's still not doing is talking-well, english. He babbles nonstop in some sort of crazy toddler language. He knows a few words and can point out different animals and toys in his books. But he's getting there, and we're hopeful he'll be talking by first grade :)

So, just tried to download some photos and for some reason it's not working, of course. I also have some videos that I'll try to upload this weekend, including Graydon's first haircut! So fun!

summertime

We have been having a busy summer, the little man and I. It is IMPOSSIBLE to spend a whole day in the house with him, we usually average three walks plus at least one outing (sometimes two) and he STILL is a horrible napper. He usually sleeps like a rock at night, though, so I'm not complaining. I know that my cherished uninterrupted night times are about to come to a screeching halt this fall, so I am enjoying every minute I can right now. Which is not to say that I'm sleeping through the night- I generally average 10-30 wakeups a night these days. Ah, pregnancy.

Here's a quick photo recap of some of our good times thus far this summer-

Rocking his shades:



Hanging out in Baltimore:



We visited my good friend Mindi and her sweet son, Max. These two were super active- in fact, the only way we were able to get a photo of the two of them together was to strap them into their strollers:




Visiting Foutsy! in Annapolis- I'm so jealous of how close she lives to the water, it's awesome:

Testing out the waters with Daddy- we were surprised, he loves the bath and the backyard pool so we thought he'd take to the bay like a duck. However, that was not really the case:

And.... he's out of there!

One of my favorite shots:

In other news, he's still not really talking. However, he did just start making these strange noises ala Donald Duck. It's all very odd. He has said some words, but he doesn't use them on a regular basis. Hopefully his language will explode one day in the near future, it would be nice to know why he throws these obnoxious tantrums sometimes (like today). Also, why he has decided to stop eating anything that doesn't contain at least 80% sugar. And why he insists on pooping under the dining room table. My mother in law says this means he's ready to be potty trained, and she might be right, but I just don't have it in me to train him and then have him regress once the new guy rolls into town this september. I am too fat and too cranky to deal with newborn stool AND at-large toddler poop. Throw in Stella and my job as a nurse and that is entirely too much poop for one person to have to deal with. Seriously.

kali alexa

Sweet little Kali (my cousin Tracey's baby) passed away on Saturday. Although she had a myriad of health problems due to her prematurity, it was thought that she had a decent chance of getting out of the hospital. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Our family is heartbroken for Kali and her parents. We are off to the funeral tomorrow.

great news!!!

Dolan's test results all came back in the clear! The cancer hasn't metastasized, and the tumor biopsy came back as a low-risk type of neuroblastoma. He'll be closely monitored for some time yet, but it's extremely likely that he may get out of this without even needing chemo or radiation! It's the best, best case scenario, and I am thrilled for D and his family. Thanks to everyone that kept Dolan in their prayers. But keep sending good thoughts their way, as well as my cousin's baby, Kali, who is still awaiting the results of her liver biopsy. Here's a link to my cousin's blog for anyone who knows Tracy and wants to follow Kali's progress:

http://ourspecialbaby.blogspot.com/

I know I owe a post, or twenty. I am the worst blogger ever. I am just soooooo freaking tired after chasing our maniac around. Just as an example, today I made the mistake of trying to get some shopping done at the mall since I am lacking in summer maternity clothes. While in the dressing room, I gave Graydon some crackers to try to distract him. He immediately dumped them all on the floor, then stomped on them and ground them into tiny pieces. Then, while I was trying to clean up cracker crumbs, he grabbed my pants (I was in my underwear) and took off running toward the store exit/into the mall. So I had to throw on the pants I was trying on and sprint after him, by which time he had already made it out the door and was heading for the escalators, all the while laughing hysterically. So I ran out and grabbed him while wearing my as of yet not paid for pants and the store alarm went off. Sigh. Then I had to convince the store employees that I wasn't in fact shoplifting. Then I felt guilty because of the store alarm and the crackers mess and so I bought the pants even though I don't like them. And seriously, at this point we had only been at the mall for fifteen minutes.

We lasted only ten more, after an ill-considered detour into a toy store, in which Graydon threw a MASSIVE fit because I wouldn't take the trucks out of their boxes so he could play with them. He swept an entire shelf of stuffed animals onto the floor, and after I spent five minutes putting them all back in place, I had enough and we were out of there. Time spent to get to the mall and back? 50 minutes. Time spent in the mall itself? Twenty, MAYBE twenty-five after paying for parking. It suuuucked.

How in the world do people manage this with TWO? arrgh.

crapola

Just wrote a long post and then accidentally deleted it. Argh. Will try again tomorrow.








In the meantime, please keep Dolan and my cousin's daughter, Kali, in your thoughts. Dolan is undergoing more tests this week to figure out which type of treatments will work best against his specific type of cancer. And Kali, born ten weeks premature, is battling a host of issues and undergoes a liver biopsy tomorrow morning. I am so sad for all these sick babies and their families; what the hell is going on here?