Awesome Adventure

We went hiking yesterday with the boys.  I have tons of pictures to post but here is a pretty awesome one for now ...

Tummy Time

I've been horrible and haven't done any tummy time with Grayson until today.  However, since he was born, I've thought he had a lot of head control already.  Looks like Grayson's doing okay with the limited tummy time ...

Rylan had fun "playing" with Grayson for awhile on his playmat :)

Recent Pictures

These are some of my random recent pictures since Grayson was born ...

A couple of days after I got home from the hospital, Carter had pajama day at school.  His class got this reward for earning 25 clovers during their specials (such as PE and art).  Clovers are given for good behavior during the class.  It was also the first Friday of the month (which is spirit day) so I put Carter's school shirt over his pajamas.

It was warm enough for a few days when Grayson was about a week old to walk Carter to school.  After that we had a bunch of days we had to do the drop off line because it was so cold or wet.  It was the first time since school started that we had to do that though.

This is what happens when we are at home for too long - Brian sets up our rock climbing rope on the stairs so the boys can go "rock climbing".  They usually just pretend using Charlotte's old leashes and harnesses.

Grayson had his first bottle last weekend.  I haven't been pumping much (mornings are usually too hectic), but I finally fit it in.  It took Grayson a minute or two to figure it out but he finally did and drank almost the whole bottle.  Yay!  Rylan would NEVER take a bottle and it made it impossible for me to leave him for very long.

The big boys had all week off from school for Thanksgiving.  On Wednesday I took them all downtown for storytime since they never get to go anymore.  This was Grayson's first storytime, and he slept through the whole thing.

Since we were already downtown, we also went to the Adventure Science Center for a little bit.  Their new temporary exhibit was "RiverWorks Discovery", which is all about rivers.  We spent most of our time in this section.

Grayson slept the whole time, again.

He even slept through his first time in the Body Battles laser game.

It was really good to get out after being stuck in the house last week with strep and then not doing much early in the week.

Lane Motor Museum

With no plans for the day and it being too cold outside for Grayson, we decided to try out a new attraction in Nashville.  The Lane Motor Museum had free admission today in exchange for a toy for Toys for Tots.  So we used some toys from my birthday stash and got in free.

I'd never even heard of the museum but Brian came across it this morning when looking for something to do.  According to their website, the Lane Motor Museum features 150 unique cars and motorcycles and is home to the largest European collection in the U.S.  The vehicles date from the 1920s all the way up to modern day and feature a varied collection of microcars, amphibious vehicles, military vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles, prototypes, one-of-a-kind vehicles and motorcycles.

I was a little worried about the kids' level of interest but they did awesome.  There were a ton of unusual cars which we could talk about that kept the boys' attention.

Carter really wanted his picture taken in front of this ...

 Carter didn't like that he had to be the girl ...

Carter begged Brian and I to stand in this one and he took our picture.

We toured the main part of the museum for over an hour.  A couple of times a year (including today) they also open up the basement for tours.  There are more cars down there and we spent another 45 minutes doing that.  Rylan did fall asleep for a few minutes when Brian carried him for a bit.  And Grayson stayed asleep the entire time.

I'm not much into car museums but this one was a little better than most because of all the unique cars.  Plus it was free today and a great way to spend a few hours on a cold day!

Thanksgiving

It's unanimous.  Rylan, Carter, Brian, and I are thankful for this guy this year ...

We are spending a quiet Thanksgiving at home this year.  Just the five of us.

3 Weeks Old Update

Grayson was 3 weeks old on Monday.  He already seems so much bigger (and I think he really is - I got on the scale with and without him this weekend and I was getting that he weighed over 10 lbs already!).  He's starting to get the wide belly that Rylan had.  And while he's filled out and has some mini-rolls, they aren't like the ones Rylan had by now.

Grayson is not a super easy, laid-back guy (isn't #3 supposed to be that way?!?!?).  He's often fussy when he's awake and needs constant attention.  I can't just put him in his bouncer and he'll chill.  But luckily he usually sleeps enough during the day that I'm not going crazy.  He's definitely better when we are out and about.  His worse time is the evening.  From dinner until he goes to bed is usually filled with screaming and us walking around with him trying to calm him down.

Like Carter, Grayson spits up a lot.  A friend gave me some of the giant Aden + Anais bibs and those are the only thing that saves us from going through several outfits a day (I hate leaving Grayson in soaking wet clothes when it's cold).  Grayson doesn't seem overly bothered by the spitting up though so I don't think his crying is because of a hurting belly.

Grayson's belly button stump finally fell off on Monday.  It was holding on by a string for a few days.

Grayson is a pretty good night sleeper.  However, I'm horrible and have been letting his sleep on me or next to me in bed.  I have yet to use the portable crib.  But it's working.  I'm getting sleep.  I have 3 kids to take care of now and really need sleep to manage all our activities and life!

Grayson is keeping his dark hair so far.  However his eyebrows are light (more like Rylan's).  Rylan was born with dark hair that fell out and was replaced by the blonde.

Unlike the big boys, so far Grayson his regular eyelashes (short and thin).  Carter and (especially) Rylan have thick long lashes and I think they had them from birth.

I totally shouldn't post this because it'll change then, but Grayson is the first of the boys not to pee every time I take off his diaper!  He's only gotten me twice.  The other two were always peeing as soon as the dirty diaper was off.

Speaking of diapers, Grayson is in size 1 and isn't growing out of them quite yet but they are definitely not big.  I have another box and a half of size ones so hopefully he doesn't grow too quick!

Grayson is definitely out of newborn clothes.  I'm putting him in 3 month sized clothes but they are big right now.  He's growing too fast!!!

Grayson is a great eater.  I have had no trouble with nursing - he latched on immediately within an hour of being born.  Sometimes though he seems to want to eat a little too often.  But because he throws up so much, I've only been nursing him on one side during each feeding.  So I think he gets hungry a little quicker.  But I feel like I keep more in his belly if I don't let him eat as much.  I have no doubt he's getting enough though because he's putting on weight fast.

Grayson has instantly become a part of our family and I can't imagine not having him.  We love this little guy so much!!!

Christmas Decorating

The boys have the whole week off school.  Since we had a lot of visitors when Grayson was born and I don't think it's a good idea to drive 10+ hours with a 3 week old, we are spending Thanksgiving on our own this year.  That adds up to a very long week :)

So we are going to work on Christmas decorations all week.  Yesterday the boys and I did their tree that goes in the bonus room.  This is our "ugly" tree with lots of bright ornaments and all the ornaments the kids have made.

Grayson "helped" too (by sleeping for over an hour so we could get it done!).

Hopefully by spreading it out all week the boys will stay interested and want to help!

First Walk

We finally had a warm day yesterday (about 60F) so the big boys and I took Grayson for his first walk around the neighborhood!

First Snow

We had our first snow of the year on Monday (November 17th).  It wasn't much but we also got a little Tuesday morning.  We didn't get any significant snow last year.  I'm hoping for just one big snow this year because I know the big boys would love it!

Six-Year-Old Checkup

Carter had his six-year-old checkup on Tuesday.  Other than being diagnosed with strep throat, our pediatrician was happy with his development and growth.  We got the usual "lecture" about eating more vegetables, but that was it.  Plus, no shots or finger prick!

Here are Carter's current measurements:

Height: 3'-9.5" (51st percentile)
Weight: 44 lbs (40th percentile)
BMI: 14.94 (36th percentile)

And his 5-year-old measurements for comparison:

Height: 3'-7" (50-75th percentile)
Weight: 40.2 lbs (50-75th percentile)
BMI: 15.26 (25-50th percentile)