Oh This Third Boy of Mine...

Sometimes I'm speechless when it comes to Grayson.  My sweet Little One.  My number three boy.  My oh-so-crazy mischievous independent adventurous one...

*If he's not climbing on the counters, he's climbing up my legs.  This boy l-o-v-e-s to be held by Mama.

*He is following in his big brothers' footsteps and has a mind of his own when it comes to clothing and accessories.  I totally totally love it and completely support it!  Whether the clothes fit or not, this boy will try them.  (On the day below, he insisted on wearing sweat pants with a swim suit over them.)

 

*Underwear.  He has two big brothers who get to wear underwear, so he insists on wearing underwear, also.  I have to remind him over and over that we will put the underwear back on after I change his diaper.  And I have to tell him over and over that when we go out of the house, underwear goes under our clothes...not over our shorts or our swimsuit, or our pants.  Under.  He's getting to the point where he will run to Austin's drawer, pick out a pair of underwear and try to put it on himself.  He usually get two legs in one hole and then I hear, "Help, mama.  Unwear.  Help, mama.  Unwear."  And his favorites are monster underwear and Spiderman underwear.

In these pictures, Grayson was trying to unlock the door so he could go outside.  He couldn't quite reach the key standing on his own two feet.  So, he grabbed a wooden hamburger bun, stood on that and voila, just the right height for the key.  Little stinker.

On this day, he was so upset that I didn't let him wear underwear to the pool.  He took a pair out of the drawer on his own, and while driving to the pool, he put it on himself.  He was so proud, I hated asking him to leave it in the car for after swimming... 

Just wearing my underwear, over my backward jammies, eatin a muffin.  What's the big deal?

 

* Have I mentioned that G likes to climb?  I arrived at Gammi and Poppi's house to pick up the boys one afternoon only to find Grayson LITERALLY climbing the walls.

I find him balancing like this a lot.  On the kitchen table.  On the kitchen counter.  On the kid table.  I'm at the point where I don't panic or even rush to "help" him.  Because honestly, he's fine and doesn't really need help.  He climbed up and he's happy to be there, dangling or not.

I was making cookies and stepped away to change the laundry.  When I got back to the kitchen, not three minutes later, I found this.  Grayson.  On the counter.  Eating cookie dough.  And oh so proud of himself.  He gave me an enthusiastic "YUMMY!"  (I can't blame him for this one...)

 

Oh, and then there was the day I found him going through the chip shelf...

Speaking of climbing...  Did I mention that Grayson has a new trick?!  He climbs out of his crib.  Of course my number three boy would be the one to do this.  But genius Daddy came up with the idea of putting Grayson's sleepsack on BACKWARDS.  Bam.  Try to unzip that Little One.  So now Grayson sleeps in backward jammies so he can't take his diaper off, along with a backward sleepsack so he can't escape his bed.  I'm wondering how long we have this battle won...

Good thing he is incredibly adorable and a complete snuggler.  He will curl up in my arms at any time, he loves to lay his head on my shoulder and he showers me with kisses throughout the day.  Sometimes, when he's running around with his brothers, he will pause at me, kiss my leg, and then continue on with the brother fun.  He will also lay in my arms, tuck his head under my chin and say "snuggle."  And, he's starting to say "love you, Mommy" or "love you, too" completely on his own.  He is my baby--and I'm pretty sure he knows it-- and he sure knows how to melt his mama's heart.

You keep me on my toes, my sweet number three.  But I couldn't love you or adore you more!

The Day He Read "Big Red Barn"

Big Red Barn has always been a favorite book in this house.  First, it was Cooper's...then Austin's...and now we read it nightly to Grayson.  I can recite the entire book without even looking at it.  I remember when the book was fresh and new, with clean pages, crisp corners, a firm binding.  I remember reading it to Cooper over and over.  We would talk about the animals and what sounds they make, who else might live in the barn, and where all the animals go at night.  We started reading it before he could even talk, when he would just point to different images on the pages and make a little toddler "this?" sound, like he wanted to know the name of each item on those colored pages.

And then, in the blink of an eye, he is six (well, 6 3/4, if you ask him) and he is reading.  He picked up the book off of Grayson's table and began to read.  Word after word, page after page.  He read.  The boy who used to curl up in my lap, with a blankie under his arm, and listen to Mommy read Big Red Barn, read the same book on his own.  He needed help with a few words along the way, but he read.  Sure, we've practiced reading site words and beginning reader books throughout the year.  But this book is different.  This book holds a special place in this mama's heart.  This book has created memories.

05.18.2015

We Sneaked Away to the Zoo

Coop and Austin had an early afternoon dentist appointment, and well, instead of taking Cooper back to school, we sneaked away and went to the zoo!  It had rained earlier in the day, but luckily, by the time we arrived, the sky was clear and the zoo crowds were gone.  We basically had the entire zoo to ourselves.  Love it!

They have a new dinosaur exhibit, where you can ride a train and look at all of the dinosaurs scattered around the path.  They are motion activated, so as the train went by, the dinos would roar and move.  The boys were all over it!

A mama and her monkeys.

Checking out the alligators.  The boys thought it was hilarious that one alligator was completely asleep on top of another alligator, under the water.

We got a glimpse of a six-month old giraffe.  So cute!!

 

Coop leaned over to kiss my cheek, Austin followed.  I luckily had my phone in my hand and caught this sweet moment with my boys.

We had such a fun, fun day!  Looking forward to more fun outings over the summer with all THREE of my guys.