Grayson Update

Grayson is already 3 months old.  And he's awesome :)

The biggest difference between him and the other boys is that he sleeps so well at night.  For the last several nights, he's slept through the night until sometime between 4:30 and 6 am.  He's been falling asleep in his bouncer after we put the older boys to bed and then we just move the bouncer with him in it upstairs when we go to bed.  I'm sure we're still going to have plenty of nights when he wakes up to eat but when that happens, he's still falling asleep while eating and staying asleep with I move him to the bouncer or to our bed.  I promise I'll put him in the crib soon :)

Grayson's still a great eater but he doesn't seem to be getting as big as fast as he was before.  Basically he's not as crazy huge as Rylan was :)  He's still spitting up and spitting up and spitting up.  But we're all getting used to it.  I don't even notice all the splotchy stains all over my clothes anymore :)

Grayson has the SWEETEST smile.

He makes up for all his fussiness when he looks at you like this!

Grayson is less fussy but still pretty demanding.  He has good days when I can get stuff done around the house, but there are a lot of days he just fusses.  He's usually great when we are out and about though.

Grayson doesn't like a paci and I've stopped even trying to give him one.  He does like to chew and suck on his hands though.

Grayson does not cuddle at all.  He's just too active.  His arms and legs are always going when he's on his playmat or in his bouncer.  He's only still when he's sleeping.  He reminds us a lot of Carter.

We love this little guy and can't imagine not having added him to our family!

3 Months Old

Happy 1/4 Birthday Grayson :)

Chatty

Grayson is starting to make a lot more sounds - he can be quite noisy sometimes!

2 pts = $2

Carter had another basketball game yesterday.  His team played the 6U commissioner's team, and we knew they were really good.  We gave Carter a little warning that it was going to be a tougher game than the week before.  Carter then asked if he could get a dollar for every point he scored (apparently a lot of his teammates have deals with their parents).  I honestly didn't think Carter was even going to have a chance to get a shot off so I agreed.

Carter has gotten so much more confident after last week's game.  He actually wanted to bring the ball up the court and instead of trying to pass the ball right away, he'd turn his back to the kid guarding him to protect the ball and continue dribbling.

Carter got close enough to the goal to take a shot in the first quarter and got fouled.  Unfortunately he didn't make either free throw.  But then he took another shot in the second quarter and it went it!  Those were the first two points for our team of the game and I owed Carter $2.

Carter didn't score anymore during the game but he got a couple rebounds and was trying to take the ball away on defense.  He even got called for two fouls!

Carter seems to be having so much more fun now that he has a little confidence.  It's a lot of fun to watch him!

Star Wars

Over the Thanksgiving break, Brian introduced the boys to Star Wars.  They watched Episodes IV, V, and VI.  And they LOVED them.  I tried to watch them too but I usually would be nursing Grayson and we'd both pass out :)

For Christmas the boys got a playset of characters from each movie.  The boys have since watched the movies a couple more times and now they like to act out the entire movie while it's on with their characters.  They are just as entertaining as the actual movie!

Bros

Skate Night

On Tuesday night Carter's school had Skate Night at the Brentwood Skate Center.  Even though we weren't sure if anyone we knew would be there, Carter decided he really wanted to go.  I was able to leave Rylan at home with Brian and took Grayson along with us.

We got to the skate center as soon as it opened because we had to leave a little early for basketball practice.  Getting there early also ensured us that Carter would get one of the beginner walkers (as well as slower roller skates).

I ended up putting Grayson in the Baby Bjorn and walking with Carter the whole time (luckily he's not too cool for his mom yet!!!).  And thank goodness it had been awhile since I'd fed Grayson and he didn't leave any slippery puddles on the floor (at least none that I knew of!).

I felt like I'd walked a mile or two by the time we were done that night.  Carter usually went around at a nice steady pace but every once in awhile he decided to get speedy!

Eventually a couple of kids from Carter's class showed up.  Ian didn't have a walker so Carter was nice enough to share his.

They were very cute skating together and luckily never hooked skates!

It was fun getting to spend some time with Carter without Rylan.  Rylan and I have Mondays and Fridays without Carter so we get a little bonding time then.  We both enjoyed our workout!  Carter was so tired since he didn't take a break for the hour and 15 minutes we were there.  Luckily some snacks in the car gave him enough energy to do basketball practice!

Scared Eyes

Every once in awhile Grayson gets these huge eyes and looks scared to death!

5 Points

Carter scored his first points in a basketball game yesterday!  Woohoo!!!!!  Yesterday was his team's fifth game of the season and their best one yet.  They finally played a team that was closer to their ability and experience level.  They only lost 24 to 21.

It's hard to admit, but Carter is the worst player on the team.  There are only 6 kids on the team and none have played before so no one on the team is great.  Carter's main hold back is he's timid or scared of the ball.  He's not overly aggressive on defense either.  He basically understands the game, but he lacks experience and so he doesn't react very quickly in the game.  But he's improving and still never complains about playing.  He actually says he likes it.

Carter took a shot in the first quarter and got fouled.  He'd probably only taken a couple of shots total in the first four games so it was impressive that he felt confident enough to shoot (he usually panics and tries to pass the ball).

I think both Brian and I 100% believed he was going to airball both shots (that's what he does in practice).  BUT HE MADE BOTH SHOTS!!!

Carter was the only one to score any points for his team in the first quarter.  We were crazy proud of him.

Carter got fouled in the second quarter too and made the second shot.  He was up to 3 points for the game!

And then in the third quarter, one of Carter's shots went in!  Yay!  He had a total of 5 points for the game.

In addition to his improved offense, Carter had some great defense.  He rebounded a couple of times, stole the ball once, and caused a few jump balls.  Go, Carter!

After the first game and realizing that it was going to be a rough season for our team, Brian bought bracelets for the kids as rewards.  He planned to use them like baseball coaches use game balls.  A player can earn the bracelet by hustling which means defense gets rewarded.

Brian had the bracelets made so they say "2014-15 EWA Tigers" and "MVP" on the opposite side.  (EWA is the league the kids play in - East Williamson Athletics.)

Brian has been bringing 2 bracelets to each game.  This week the two players that earned them were Cade and Carter.  They are our 2 weakest players and both had great games.  We were so proud of these boys and the entire team!

We also got our basketball photos this weekend.

Front Row (L to R): Cade, Carter, Katie (I'm not sure what's going on with that hair!

Her mom works nights and her dad brought her to pictures.)

Back Row: Owen, Joey, Fisher

Coaches: Brian & Kevin (Owen's Dad)

Brian also got a nice plaque for coaching!

Twins