Breastfeeding vs. Formula

Anyone who's been reading this blog for the last [almost] two years or anyone who knows me, knows that breastfeeding was just not for me and Grant. I wanted to, I tried, I did it for a while...and I hated it. Every time. That is not an exaggeration by any stretch, it was awful. I can remember just one feeding that made me think "If it was like this everytime, I wouldn't mind this a bit". But, for the most part, when he was hungry I felt like I was raising a tiny piranha that was bent on my destruction. And I dreaded every feeding.

So, having said that I need to point out that I am not anti-breastfeeding. I think it's wonderful that there are mom's out there that are able to nurse their children and it works so well for them. And I know that every situation is different so it gives me hope that if we have another baby someday, I could try it again and it may work better for us.

What I am against is the constant guilt placed on mom's who can't or just simply decide not to breastfeed. It was the guilt placed on me starting in the hospital that kept me going when I so desperately wanted to quit. After trying and trying and failing and failing AND in my very emotional state feeling like a failure, I finally said "I really want to give him formula". I was told by a nurse that No, you don't want to do that because that's not what he needs. Instead of the rage that I feel now looking back at being treated like I couldn't make a decision, I felt guilty for wanting to quit. Guilty for feeling like I was doing wrong by my child. I cried so many times in the hospital out of sleep deprived frustration because it just wasn't working. Part of me wanted to leave the hospital so bad to get away from the opinionated, pushy nurses but part of me wanted to stay too. Because what happens when I get home and I have no one to ask for help and I can't do it?

Then I got home and it was working a tiny bit better because I was able to figure out what was better for me without the nurses hanging around telling me I was doing it wrong. But it was still terribly painful and every time I had the feeling of needing to quit. So the guilt continued. And I felt guilty confessing to my husband how badly I hated it and I felt like he'd be disappointed in me if I did. Like I was a bad mother. (For the record he never said or did anything that made me think he felt this way, it really was all in my guilt-ridden head.) I am no longer ashamed to say that I hated feeding my child. I even resented him some because of the pain. You should NEVER EVER feel that way. I was supposed to love holding him and spending that time with him because it was just for us. But I didn't. For how ever long he was attached to me, I knew it wasn't supposed to be that way [for us]. Afterwards when Grant would be all sleepy, I would cuddle with him, no longer in pain. I'd think about how great it was to be his Mama and then I'd feel bad for how much I hated nursing. And sometimes I'd cry some more.

I was told time and time again by our pediatrician that if we switched to formula full-time (because I did substitute it when I had to) then everything would be fine. She said the formula they make now is awesome and that she has plenty of patients who started on formula day one and that there is nothing wrong with it. My mother-in-law said the same thing, that she never nursed either of her children. And I knew it, I knew he would be fine if I switched...but there was guilt. And it was there when I finally did quit but I just couldn't do it anymore. I pumped for about two weeks after that but then quit that too. And you know what I realized? I loved feeding Grant a bottle. I loved his feedings from start to finished and the more I did that, the more that guilt subsided. My guilt ruined my 9 weeks of maternity leave and I so wish that things had been different. But you live an learn.

So, what's prompted this post? THIS ARTICLE about the mayor of NYC's breastfeeding iniaitive. No man should ever be allowed to implement something that they can never fully understand:

"Michael Bloomberg is now launching the Latch On NYC nursing iniaitive in early September, which will encourage hospitals to keep formula locked away so it will need to be signed out by nurses like medication.  Moms who want to formula-feed will still be able to, but they will first receive a talk outlining the benefits of nursing. The hope is that this voluntary program will promote breastfeeding as the default option and make it a bit harder to reach for formula."

Are you kidding me?? Mom's who choose to formula-feed have to sit through a talk? I can't even express how angry this makes me. And it makes me sad. Sad for any new mom giving birth in one of the NYC hospitals that are implementing this program. Because even if they go in there intending to breastfeed but maybe, like me, they just have a hard time and know it's not for them they will have so much guilt pressed on them by this program. It's disgusting to me that someone who can't ever know what he's doing to those women because he can't ever understand what an experience (either good or bad) like that feels like can put a program like this into effect. He shouldn't even be allowed to present to anyone in order get it underway. I guess I just need to be thankful that I don't live in NYC.

New Recipe: Cheesy Chicken Casserole

I have lost count of how many recipe websites have my e-mail address. But there are enough that I get at least 20 new recipes in my e-mail every day. Some I delete because I know I'd never attempt to make them and some I delete because they just don't look good. But the ones that look yummy AND Grant friendly? Keepers. This recipe for Cheesy Chicken Casserole I saw in an e-mail and I made it the next night. It's a little bit like the Chicken Tetrazzini that I posted a while back. Nothing went to waste, it was super yum.

Cheesy Chicken Casserole

3 to 4 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

(you can use the meat from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli)

1 (16 oz.) package egg noodles, cooked

1 (24 oz.) container light sour cream

2 cans Campbell's Healthy Request cream of chicken soup

1 (8 oz.) package shredded cheddar cheese

1 (8 oz.) package shredded mozzarella cheese

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

1/4 cup margarine, melted

1. Combine chicken, noodles, sour cream, soup, and cheese in a large bowl.
2. Pour into a 13" x 9" baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Mix together cracker crumbs and margarine and sprinkle over the top.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the crackers are golden brown.

Adapted from: myrecipes.com



Toddler tested. Toddler approved.

Notes/Suggestions:

• My only real problem with this recipe was that it needed a vegetable added to it to make it feel like it was better for me. Only that didn't occur to me until we were eating it. Next time I'll probably add some broccoli and/or maybe some carrots because that's Grant's favorite veggie.
• Reheats well for lunch the next day. And then for dinner again. It's kind of a huge casserole. 

Enjoy!

Grant's 1st Hair Cut

Oh the day I had been dreading. The first hair cut. The only thing I had "hoped for" when I was pregnant - besides wanting a health baby - was that our little guy would have his Daddy's hair. Guess what? He does. I think that little head of blond hair is just the sweetest thing. And I knew that would make it so much harder to cut. Grant had so much hair when he was born and seems to have grown at an alarming speed. It had gotten to a point that I really wanted to cut it but he was so young then I couldn't. And in the past few months it has become shaggy but adorable. His "surfer look" as so many people have pointed out. But I did it, I made the appointment. On a Saturday so Husband could go and we could make a little event out of it.

The night before I had tried to do a mohawk on Grant, but his hair is so fine and I didn't have the right stuff. So it just looked messy:

And then Saturday morning we headed to the hair place. They put a little cape on him and he sat in my lap. He was nervous and didn't like having his hair wet down with the spray bottle but I knew things would go much worse if he washed his hair first so I nixed that. He gets his hair washed every night anyway. So with his little head damp she set to work.

He did really well. Only fussed a little but when Husband came around to one side to take more pictures Grant saw him and wanted to be held by Daddy. So we switched places.

At this point he'd had enough. So we gave him a cracker to

keep him busy until she was done.





All done! My little handsome man!



Later I tried to get him still long enough to get a good picture
of him with his new 'do. But this child is barely still for
anything anymore. Always on the go!



I have to admit that it looks so much better. And the hair cut went much better than either of had thought. We figured he'd be pitching a fit the whole time trying to get down. But until the end he did well and the girl who cut it was super patient. I'm glad it went well and I'm glad I'm happy with it. The only problem is that it makes my guy look so much older :(

Sandbox Trauma

I had said in my previous post that Grant got a sandbox for his birthday and that I'd do a separate post about it. It's an adorable turtle shaped sandbox that has a moat with little floating squirty toys. So on Sunday during one of Grant's naps, I set up the sandbox. First I dragged the sandbox up to the deck. Then 100 lbs of sand. Then I filled the moat with water and put the squirty toys in it and waited for Grant to wake up. When he did, I put his little swimming trunks on him - my excuse was that A) they're adorable and B) he'd be playing with water toys and needs them, yes? - and brought him outside to the sandbox.

It was all downhill from there. I picked up Grant and stood him in the sandbox. As soon as his feet hit the sand he screamed like I was throwing it at him. He was so loud that Nate came out of the house and asked if Grant had fallen on the deck. So we sat him down and tried to show him it was ok.


But it was apparently not ok.



Oh wait, there are toys. Maybe it is ok.



Nope. It is definitely not ok.

At this point, Nate got in the sandbox to show Grant that it's fun (I should have taken a picture of my Jolly Green Giant husband in that little sandbox). He stood there and stomped in the sand "See buddy? It's ok. It's fun!"


"Oh yeah? If YOU like it so much, it's YOURS!" 

 The whole process only took about 20 minutes. We were afraid to let it carry on too long because Grant really was so loud that the neighbors were probably getting suspicious. We have yet to try again. Maybe if it's nice again this weekend we'll give it another go.

Grant's 1st Birthday Party

Yes, I'm FINALLY posting about the party.

This should really be called "Grant's 1st Birthday Weekend". Since his actualy birthday was on Friday, August 26th. So even though I had a ton of stuff to do to get ready for the party, Grant could not go to daycare on his birthday. I couldn't let it happen. And we had a great day together, even though we didn't leave the house (Grant didn't seem to mind). He even got to have his first scrambled egg with toast (egg was a first, toast was not).

So the "birthday weekend" comes in because of the hurricane. I've probably been planning Grant's birthday party for his whole first year (I say "planning" but I mean "thinking about"). It's kind of a long story - short version: I'd waited a long time to do this. So of course, on the most planned day of my year...hurricane Irene decided to party too. Which meant that our  monster themed party in the park moved to our not-so-spacious house. However, I sort of think that was a blessing in disguise. It allowed me (and a very patient friend) to decorate the night before which saved me a boat load of time on Saturday. Some of the decorations:


Kitchen table with some decorations



Some monster silverware holders I made (idea came from Pinterest.com)



A picture board of Grant's 1st year



The pom-pom garland which wouldn't have happened without
my Mother-in-law's help in making the pom-poms.



The birthday banner I made (that I may recycle for birthday's to come)

I am sure that Husband is super annoyed that, over a week later, almost all those decorations (and some I don't have pictures of) are still up. But, as my friend Elizabeth who took time out of her very busy Friday to come help decorate, pointed out: my house is decorated for fun - why take it down?

The party turned out to be lots of fun (at least I hope everyone had fun!). We were able to celebrate Grant's 1st birthday with a lot of family friends who were able to make it even though the hurricane tried her best to keep people away. We did have some that couldn't make it due to more severe weather in their area than ours but thankfully everyone made it through the storm.

We had a cookout lunch (after moving the grill from the deck to the garage - poor Husband trying to please to high-strung wife) which Grant got eat too. He loved my pasta salad and mac & cheese. And then he got to open his presents (pictures courtesy of my Mother-in-law).






(A separate post about this sandbox coming soon)





That is a giant stuffed dog (a.k.a. a new wrestling partner)



We got Grant the little tikes cozy truck. Thank goodness he
loves it because that thing was super annoying to put together.

We did cake after presents. Grant got his smash cake: 



As soon as I blew out the candle and before I could stop him
Grant grabbed the top of the candle and burned his little hand.



But he got over the burn real quick.

And everyone else got to eat this:



I'm pretty excited how it turned out - and it only took me about 10 hours :)

 Immediately after the party-goers left, Grant crashed. Hard. He must have slept for two hours only waking up because we woke him up for dinner. And then, because of the storm, he had more visitors on Sunday and some during the week. My spoiled man!

I wasn't able to get any good pictures of Grant wearing the shirt I made him (that matched his invitation and his cake). But I managed to get one at some point that weekend.



One Year

I'm a little late with this. I've been super busy this past week and it's hard to find the time or desire to sit down at the computer. So I figured since I'm so late with Grant's one year post that I'd just wait until after the check up and do an all-in-one update :)

It's hard to believe that we've already gone from this:

One day old

To this:

One year old

According to yesterday's appointment Grant now weighs 19 pounds 9.8 ounces - which means that his daddy can continue to use the infant carrier car seat (at 22 pounds he'll reach the max) even though I think he needs to switch because - regardless of the weight requirements - he is just too big for it. He is 29 1/2 inches tall and his head measured 18 inches (if anyone cares - she said it's growing well which is all I needed to hear). We've been given the green light for whole milk which means NO MORE FORMULA. Hallelujah! That crap is expensive and I can't imagine that it tastes great because it smells terrible.

Grant is such a little man now. I've been asked recently "At what point can you call him a toddler?" And I say now. He's been ready to be a toddler for a few months now. So independent and ready to give his opinion. He is almost never fed from a spoon anymore. He always wants to feed himself and has no interest in baby food (except the Gerber ravioli - he tears that up). I do have some learning spoons that we practice with and he seems to like that.

Thanks to our trick the switch from bottle to sippy became easier and Grant only got a night time bottle until last night. He seemed ready to start moving away from that because he would only drink a couple ounces of the bottle or refuse it completely. He's always awake when I put him in the crib and puts himself to sleep, rarely waking during the night. So last night it was a sippy before bed, which he didn't want much. I'm thinking that we'll be getting him in a totally non-bottle routine very soon and - knock on wood - it seems like it won't be that traumatic.

Grant's thing right now is "uh oh". We would say it every time he fell or dropped something. When he first started to say it back we'd get so excited. He soon made the connection between "uh oh" and our big smiles. But now it's "uh oh" all the time. He throws his sippy cup on purpose so he can say "uh oh", he drops food on the floor for the dog so he can say it, and bath time has be come a 20-30 minute game of Grant throwing his bath toys on the floor finishing with -  you guessed it - "uh oh". It's really cute, though. It's hard not to say it back when he does it, but that definitely encourages him and we seem to have done enough of that in the "uh oh" department. He also loves to clap and high-five (he's so proud of his high-five). When I start saying the words to patty cake he knows he's supposed to start clapping. Same thing if I start singing "If You're Happy and You Know It". It's really amazing to realize how much he's understanding. He points to things he's curious about and seems to be trying hard to communicate with words.

Growing up so fast. Trying to be so independent. So fearless that it's scary. All boy all the time. My little guy :)

The Daycare Call

Yesterday wasn't a great day. My morning started off with a phone call from one of our assistant commissioners. Believe me, I am low enough on the food chain at work that those kinds of phone calls are enough to make me nervous. Or at least they used to. Ever since I saw this man rudely sleeping through presentations at meetings, I'm slightly less intimidated by him. And the phone call was just so he could talk down to me and give me something extra to do because, of course, I must have nothing else to do. It all could have been done through e-mail but the guy is about 107 years old and probably doesn't really know how to use it.

Then about 10:30 came the day care pone call. "Grant's ok but he bumped his head. He wanted to look out the window and lost his balance. We wanted to let you know because he is going to have a bruise when you pick him up. We put ice on it and we've checked his eyes to make sure they're dialating properly. We just always like to let the parents know what's going on when they're kids will look different at pick-up than they did at drop-off." I appreciated the phone call and it wasn't the first of it's kind. I thanked her and told her that I understood. He hits his head at home too. I briefly wondered about them checking his eyes. He hit his head hard enough for that? I texted Husband who immediately went into Freak-Out Mode. I repeatedly had to say that if Grant wasn't ok, they would have insisted we take him to the doctor. He was happy and playing, I was sure he was fine. Husband picked him up from daycare at the usual time and promptly texted me that "Grant looks bad." I have said in the past that I rarely freak out. And rarely do I say that anything looks as bad as Nate makes it sound. It looked bad.


Bumped his head? I can't believe he didn't split it open.


I will say that he was completely Grant-like the entire night. Fussy from refusing sleep. Pissy because I tried to feed him dinner when he and all his Independence wanted to do it himself. And then, after a brief nap, ready to go for bath time. All signs point to him being ok. But that is one nasty looking bruise. Just in time for his birthday. I think he just wanted to give us one more good scare to cap off the year.

*Side note: right after lunch I had to have a first aid report filed for me. I was trying to move my chair - which is supposed to roll - closer to my desk. I moved and the chair did not. I ended up on the floor but in the process did temporary damage to my arthritisy hip trying to keep my balance. They seriously filed a first aid report for it, I guess in case I needed medical attention later. I should have just gone home when the day care lady called about Grant.

Big Guy PJs

When Grant came home from the hospital and was still my tiny peanut, he slept (I mean, when he slept) in a onesie and was swaddled with a receiving blanket. And when he got "too old" for that, we moved up to the sleep sack. I reluctantly switched to one-piece pajamas at Husband's insistence and that's where the PJ progression has stalled. Until recently. We went shopping a few weeks ago and, lacking the ability to find a single thing that I would willingly wear in public, I turned to baby clothes. Buying baby clothes is never painful (ok, maybe a little when you look at the tiny ones you used to buy compared to the gigantic ones you're putting in your basket) and they always fit :) However, it almost all winter stuff. Since I have been unable to convince Husband to move to Alaska, we were not yet in need of winter stuff. "We should buy something, you have that coupon they e-mailed you" Husband said. Oh, twist my arm. PJs! I thought. He never seems to have enough and they were all on sale. So I decided it was time to try some "big guy" PJs. The two piece kind without the feet in them.



They are two-piece but it's hard to tell.


Adorable. I tried to get one of him while he was sitting still - no, wait, no I didn't. Because he doesn't sit still anymore. Ever.

Party Decorations

Another birthday post? That's what you're thinking, right? Sorry, aside from our adventures in "real food", it's what I've got going on right now. Somewhere I saw an idea for a decoration - pom pom garland. It's basically a bajillion of those yarn pom poms that everyone used to make as a kid tied to fishing line, or twine, or something. You can buy them on Etsy, but I won't. Because of course, I look at it and think "I can make that". And so begins a DIY party decoration.

I have no pictures - yet - of a finished project. Because the pom poms are still in the process of being made. My mother-in-law, bless her, came over on Saturday to help make some and now has a bunch of yarn at her house to make more in her spare time.

I actually started this amusing project two weekends ago. For some reason that I can not explain I decided to start it at the tail end of Grant's afternoon nap one day. So, of course, he woke up mid-pom pom. A diaper change and a snack behind us, I put him in baby maximum security prison and sat down to churn out some more pom poms. With the sudden realization that there was a plastic barricade between us and I was otherwise occupied with something that was not him, Grant got fussy and that quickly turned to severely unhappy. Ok, how much harm could be done by letting him run amok while I crafted?


Yarn. Apparently more fun than baby toys. (Um - yes, it's
around his neck. No, it wasn't tight around his neck. I'm
not a fabulous parent but I'm not an idiot either.)





Mmmm...yarny.



It was everywhere. First he started pulling from the package (spool, ball, whatever) of yarn and running all over the living room and kitchen with it. But I had a bunch of loose pieces I had cut for a project that didn't work out well so I gave him that to play with too. That's what he's got in all the pictures with the orange yarn. He had so much fun with it. I can't say that I got too many pom poms made (mostly because I couldn't put the camera down) but he was so much fun to watch. Such a silly guy :)

Making Martha Proud

I like to make things. It doesn't always - almost never - turn out the way I'd like it to. But I enjoy attempting craftiness. A few weeks ago, I decided to price a custom onesie or t-shirt for Grant to wear at his birthday party. I don't know what I expected...but I certainly wasn't expecting to pay as much for a tiny shirt he would, likely, wear that one time as I would for something new for me to wear. I couldn't do it. I'm sure it would have adorable and well crafted. But, as I've said before, I over-think and I just couldn't do it. I had talked myself into having him wear just a regular outfit that day and show off his handsomeness. But then my inner Martha Stewart said "What makes you think you can't make him something to wear?" I explained to inner Martha that I don't own a sewing machine nor do I have oodles of time. But she calmed my fears and even got me a little excited. Like said...I enjoy being crafty.

So here are my end results. First, a picture of one of the monsters on Grant's invitation (I went with a monster theme "Our little monster Grant is turning 1!" So adorable).

I had no luck finding a plain onesie that was any color other than white. So I went with a red t-shirt. I removed the pocket and washed it to remove the Wal-mart germs and to get rid of the thread holes where the pocket was. I had bought some white and black felt for the eyes and mouth. So I cut my pieces and started sewing them on. By hand. It would have been easier had I thought it through. The project was a bit of an impulse decision. But one I'm glad I made because I'm pretty happy with my results:

I can't wait to see my little monster tearing around the park in it :)

(Stay tuned for my endeavours in making the party decorations - I had "help")

Best Advice Yet?

The switch from bottle to sippy cup has been super stressful. To say the least. And incredibly unsuccessful. So much so that we entertained the idea of just going back to the bottle for the time being. My problem with that being that we've already started and going back to the bottle would just be giving Grant what he wants. Most babies are spoiled, but I'd rather not have mine be a spoiled brat because he always gets what he wants.

Grant will not take formula from a sippy cup. Absolutely refuses it. Screams when you put it in front of him. But give it to him in a bottle and it's gone before you know it. And IF you can get him to take even a sip of formula from the sippy, he will gag and then open his mouth so the liquid dribbles out. But he will take the water/juice mixture we give him. So weird. However, we've quickly learned - as I'm sure so many parents do - that our child is definitely aware that we are trying to pull a fast one. And he's trying to let us know he's on to us.

The new day care has been a huge help to us and it's such a relief to not hate the place where we leave Grant every day. They've gone a long way with helping us work real food into Grant's diet and now, bless them, they're helping us with the sippy cup. We had no idea where or how to start. One lady, Ms. Rutha, told us to bring two sippy cups with formula and one bottle. She said they would offer him the sippy and if he didn't take it - he just didn't get the formula. By day two, she said, "he gonna take that sippy". Yesterday was day 6 and he was having nothing to do with the sippy. I was starting to get very worried. I don't worry often, but when I do, I want a solution. Grant had gone from about 28 ounces of formula per day to less than 7 ounces. I was to a point where I didn't know what to do. I called the pediatrician and they told me that as long as he was getting calcium elsewhere then he "should be fine". But I was not ok with that answer.

Husband mentioned the problem to Ms. Rutha. She said she'd seen that problem a lot. She suggested maybe putting some chocolate syrup in the formula. I thought: GENIUS! But instead, I went with:

Strawberry Nesquik. I figured it had extra calcium and what-not in it. I had absolutely zero hope that it would work. After a doctor's appointment for an ear infection yesterday we went home and I made a sippy with 4 ounces of formula and a 1/2 tablespoon of the strawberry nesquik. Nothing. So I let Grant watch me open the cup and I gave him a spoonful of the formula. He took it and cried. Another spoonful. He took it and cried. He watched me put the top back on the cup then I gave it to him with a graham cracker and went about my dinner preparations. I looked back a minute later and he was chugging the formula! His head was tipped back and he was devouring it! I was so relieved I cried. It's stressful wondering if your baby isn't getting all the nutrition he needs. Thank you Ms. Rutha! I need to bake her something. Hopefully - I'm keeping my fingers crossed - it goes just as well at day care today.  

Update: While Grant didn't drink all his formula at daycare today, he did make a good dent in it. And even drank some this evening at home before and during dinner. So it looks like the strawberry Nesquik is working it's delicious magic and is helping us out for now. I do know that this is just one more thing we'll have to break him of in the future but the pros out-weigh the cons.

Eleven Months

On Tuesday, Grant was eleven months old. Eleven. Months. Where has this year gone? I have said before that I'm excited for Grant's 1st birthday - and I still am - but every day he seems so much less like a baby that it makes me sad.

Eleven Months Old

We are working on getting him off the bottle, although the bedtime bottle is still what gets him to sleep. And "real" food is going better. This child can pack away a banana like nobody's business. We've agreed to let him eat food from the day care menu for breakfast, lunch, and snack time (providing I approve - on days when they have sausage biscuits and such I haven't agreed to that yet). So now, most days, instead of pureed baby foods he's eating things like cinnamon toast for breakfast or mac & cheese w/ broccoli for lunch. And snack time has introduced him to all kinds of things (Cheezits being among the popular items).

He always wants to stand or run around. There
is no more being still for this little guy.

Walking is how he gets around now, he rarely ever crawls anymore. He's quite sure of himself on his feet and even running is getting a little better. I'm not saying he never falls. He definitely does. But it's not as traumatic as it was a few weeks ago.

This last month brought about our latest ER visit but Grant seems to have completely recovered from his butt cheek infection. He does have a little scar but it's really tiny. And I'm just glad that everything healed for him the first time and no other procedure was necessary.

We've had some not too in depth conversations about trying to break Grant of the pacifier. But I have to say, I'm really reluctant. He's not as dependant on it as he could be but when it's needed it's a savior. (Anybody out there ever get "advice" about the paci? The people that tell you that "you really should think about breaking him of that". Or the ones who get that look on their face and say "You use a pacifier?" People are so judgemental about the paci! But they aren't the ones who have to deal with my screaming kid. )

Anyway, Grant is waving bye-bye more often and even sometimes sounds like he's trying to say bye-bye. Although, sometimes he sounds like he's trying to say Brodie's name too. It's hard to tell. But he's definitely still doing "Mama" and "Dada" and I love to hear him say those :) And at daycare, in addition to helping with the bye-bye, they're also trying to teach him to high five. He practices with Daddy too:

He'll have it down before too long.

It's so hard to believe that this year has gone by as quickly as it has. And I know that this next month is going to go by the quickest because there is so much going on. I'm going to miss him being a baby so much (although he does sometimes still act very much like a baby) but I'm also looking forward to what's coming. Grant gets more and more fun every day. It's exciting to think about all the things we'll be able to do with him soon.