Grayson Year 3

Oh, my baby boy. You've grown up so, so much.

He's now 25 lbs, and about 3 ft tall. He's got sass, is extremely well spoken, and hardly ever shuts up ;). He's got a crazy awesome imagination and tells us stories, engages in imaginative play, and comes up with crazy ideas. He's my little tornado, has the energy of a hummingbird, and never holds still, even in his sleep. He's mastered potty training, which I'm thrilled with. He's obsessed with Mickey Mouse, and we've ended up with a DVR full of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He still loves cars and trucks, and boats and trains, and anything else with an engine. He loves being outside, regardless of heat or bugs, and especially loves water, whether it's the Gulf, the bay, a beach, the splash pad, the hot tub, or even baths. He's wearing 3T shirts, but is still in 18-24 months pants, with size 7-8 shoes. He's been moved up in school, and is loving the more school-like environment. I still can't get over how grown up and intelligent he is. He talks constantly and comes up with crazy stuff: saying Gaga is "nervous" instead of "hilarious," congratulating the pilots on driving the plane well, and the absolute hijinks he gets into with his little girlfriend L. <--Seriously, they kill me with their cuteness. I've loved the last three years getting to know him, even when he's as stubborn as me and we butt heads. I can't wait to keep watching  him grow and see the kind of man he becomes.

3 years silly

Park time with the baby dinosaur

Birthday party

Dolphin cruise; we told him to look at the camera

Caught a crab

Hawaii

Napping with Gaga

Sibling love

First baseball game

Feeding his cousin

Battleship selfie

My silly goose

<3 <3 <3

Helping to clean up sticks

Ainsley Month 11 and 12

Sure, I didn't do month 11 and we're almost to month 13, but it's been a busy couple of months, so bear with me.

It seems like around this age, everything starts changing fast. You wait, and wait, and wait for milestones, and the seem so few and far between, and then BAM, all of a sudden they seem to happen every other day.

Over the past few months, Ainsley has started sitting up from lying down, waving, saying "bah bah" for bye bye, pointing at things she wants, standing all over the place (including in her crib), cruising along, walking with help, and babbling her head off (we've heard attempts at yellow, doggy, moo, moon, knees, boo, Pippin/puppy, and even pumpkin!) She makes mmmm noises when eating something yummy and says bye bye and hi, as long as you don't expect it on command. Daycare is getting better. She's still not napping nearly as much as at home (3 hours at home vs 1 maybe at daycare) but she's not screaming bloody murder when I drop her off either.

We've also got a climber on our hands. G was never that interested in climbing anywhere, but even though she can't walk, she hoists herself up onto the back of the couch, tries to climb on the windowsill, and treats me and James as a jungle gym. I have a feeling baby proofing will need to be a bit different with this one than with G.

We're still nursing! She's pretty good about solids, but we still nurse a few times a day. I've decided I'm going to let her decide when she's done, but I'm also not going to continue pumping or using fenugreek or worry about supply. So once she's done with the freezer supply of my milk, we'll switch to cow's milk for daycare and I'll nurse when we're together til she decides she's done.

She and G have been getting into some sibling rivalry too. Mostly about toys, since she always wants what G is playing with, and he likes her toys too. This ends with her "scratching" or trying to bite him, or just screeching at him. Then he tattles (no, really), or screeches back at her. Sometimes he knocks her over, but we're working on all that. I'm sure it'll get worse in some ways and better in others as they grow up, but we're trying to teach them how to behave while still letting them be little.

Here are the pictures from the last few months:

11 months

Bathtime fun!
(Photoshop courtesy of Amanda, since I had two photos, one good of A and one good of G and she spliced them together!)

12 months!!

My adorable 1 year old!

The end result of the cake!

Quick mama update:
-I've lost all the baby weight, plus 20-25 lbs more, bringing me back down to my normal, pre-SD weight. Usually this would be awesome, but it's mostly because I don't feel like eating because of all the stomach issues I'm having.
-My PPD is being handled pretty well between medicine and therapy, which has been hugely helpful to me.
-Hips and the diastasis rectii are still an issue, but hopefully at some point I'll find something that actually works. For now, the PT, chiropractors, etc I've seen haven't really been much help.
-I'm still job hunting. I've had a few interviews, but nothing that has gone farther than that.
-I think I'm up to thinking I've got this mama thing down about half the time now, which is pretty good. At least, the kids seem relatively happy and I get love from them, which always makes me smile. <3