Kelly in NC

Today, Grayson had his 2 month doctors appointment. He continues to grow like a weed, weighing in at 14 pounds (the 95th percentile) and measuring 24.5 inches (th 90the percentile). Now here’s the interesting part…his head only measures at the 50th percentile, so does that mean that he has Beatle Juice Syndrome?? Just kidding. His head does not look that small compared to his body!
Anyhow, the appointment went well, except for the immunizations. 3 shots total between 2 legs. He screamed his little head off and has been sleeping since. I felt so bad for him. Poor baby!

Grayson,
Already another month has passed. You are now over 13.5pounds. You are quite the growing boy and have grown out of all of your 0-3 month clothes. We really didn’t get much use out of them. You love to eat and if I would let you, you’d eat all day long. (I guess you really did take after both of your parents in that respect.) This past month, I broke you from eating every 2 hours to eating every 3. Mommy really does have other things to do than feed you every 120 minutes! You have put yourself on something of a schedule: Eat-20 min, Play-30 min, sleep (for 15-60 minutes), alert watching 15 min, sleep 15-30 min, eat again!!! I can pretty much predict what you need, which has made life much easier… for all of us.
This month, you officially learned to smile. You grin from ear to ear when I change your diaper and usually at dinner when you’re sitting in your “vibe” chair watching Daddy and me eat. Daddy has figured out that “ooo”ing and “ahh”ing will also get you to smile, but it is obvious that you are still practicing. Of course, maybe you enjoy watching us look like idiots standing over you all of the time, “ooo”ing and “ahh”ing, smiling like the Cheshire cat.
Speaking of “ooo”ing and “ahh”ing, you have gotten so much better this month at letting us know when you need something. While I wouldn’t consider your sounds as “talking” just yet, you have learned that there is more than one way to communicate. You have learned that you do not have to let off an ear-piercing scream to get our attention. Of course that ear-piercing scream is what got you the nick name “Wild Cat” from your Uncle Marc, but I must admit that Daddy and I will not missing the frequency of that scream too much. Now, when you are getting bored, hungry, tired or just need a position change, you will let off a series of grunts, alerting us to make a move before the real “wail” ensues! We have learned to react quickly.
You continue to amaze us and others with your strength. We get comments all the time about how well you can hold your head up all on your own. You have always been very good at this in my opinion, but I must admit that I almost never hold your head anymore unless I am picking you up from a lying position. You are also very good at kicking and standing up. Of course you still need some support while standing on your own, but you are able to hold up all of your 13.5 lbs. on your chubby little legs! You do not have much desire to stay on your stomach anymore. We will have to continue working in that area!
Grayson, besides your smiles and “ooo-ing”, you have had lots of other “Firsts” this month too. You were able to meet your Uncle Joe and Aunt Amy for the first time when they came to visit you over the Memorial Day weekend. You took your first trip to the beach and were able to see for the 1st time your Great Grandpa and Grandma Brun, as well as all of your great aunts and uncles on the Brun side. Your first real hair has finally begun to grow on the top of your head and you have finally discovered the wonders of watching television. Last, but not least, because you were here, we were able to celebrate Daddy’s first Father’s Day.
With each passing day you become more and more fun to be around. I am looking forward to next month and watching you perfect your smiles and sounds. You are the best baby and Daddy and I couldn’t imagine our lives with out you. Thank you for another 30 days of unimaginable happiness!
Love- Mommy

Since having Grayson, it has become my duty in life to educate my niece on the beauty of breast feeding….
It all started on the day after Grasyon’s birth when my sister, Renee’, and her daughters, Kellynn( 4 yrs old) and Ella (1 month), came to visit us in the hospital. As a new mother who was not very keen on the idea of breast feeding to begin with, I was a bit self conscious about feeding in front of others. And of course what happens while they are there to visit, Grayson decides he needs to be fed. Kellynn offered to hold him and this is how our conversation went:
K: “Can I hold Grayson?”
Me: “Not right now. I think that he needs to be fed.”
K: “Oh, can I feed him?” (FYI- She helps bottle feed her baby sister.)
Me: “Uhhhhh…no Kellynn, you can’t. ” (looks of PLEASE HELP ME dart accross the room to Renee”, who just smiles innocently.)
K: “Why not?”
Me: “Well, I don’t feed Grayson with a bottle.”
K: “Well how do you feed him then?”
Me: “With my boobie.”
So now Kellynn stares at me like I have three heads and Renee’ continues to sit in the back ground smirking. I’m thinking, “OK, so how much should I tell her?” “Is this my job to tell her?”
Kellynn then finally says: “Why”
Oh the ancient question of why! How I hate that question!
Me: ” Well, when mommies have babies they can decide how they want to feed their babies…either with bottles or with their boobies. ”
K: “Oh!”
I am pretty sure that I had pretty much blown her mind by this moment. She turns away and I quickly take this opportunity to throw a blanket over my shoulder, shove Grayson under the blanket, and begin to feed him. Within a few minutes, Kellynn returns and being the curious little girl she is, she picks up the blanket, takes a gander at what’s going on under there, and finally lowers the blanket back down and walks away. If only I could have read her mind at that moment.

Well, it has taken me a while to finally capture a photo of Grayson smiling. He has been practicing for the past few weeks, but we couldn’t get him to smile on cue. Tim figured out a few days ago that if you repeat his “ooo”s and “ahhh”s then you can usually get a smile out of him. It has taken me days and countless bad photos, but finally I have one worth sharing!

Also, I swear that it happened overnight! On Sunday morning, we woke up to find that Grasyon has finally begun to grow hair on the top of his head! Now he has always had hair on the back…it currently looks like he went to a monastery and asked for the “monk” cut….but now there is just a bit of fuzz growing everywhere else! Yea! I just can’t help but touch it all day. It is so soft. I hope that my constant touching doens’t make it fall out!

Ok, did anyone else see the Brintey Spears interview last night? If not, you are in luck they are repeating it again tonight on NBC. (You can also go to DateLine and read the transcript.) All I have to say about Brintey is “White Trash”. You know I guess that having an insane amout of money (she’s worth over $1oo million) doesn’t necessarily make you a classy person. I couldn’t believe what I saw on dateline. Here is this 24 year old, one-time gorgeous popstar who has totally let herself go and to top is off she sounds like an idiot on TV. Ok, yes, I know she’s pregnant again. But here’s my point. If she has so much money, couldn’t she afford to have someone choose an outfit that doesn’t reveal the cottage cheese on her thighs? And am I the only person who was afraid that at any moment, Britney might accidently pull a “Janet Jackson” with how lowcut her purple tanktop was? I am all about looking sexy when your pregnant, but Britney you didn’t even hit close! It looked as if she was trying to fit into some of her “prepregnancy” clothes. What was she thinking? And was anyone else really distracted by what appeared to be a fur ball on the edge of her right eye lashes? Was her fake eye lash coming unglued, or was that some kind of prank by the make-up team? I can’t believe that no one at Dateline ever fixed that problem.
OK, enough about her looks (but seriously Britney You do have an image to uphold!), what about her comments? Here are some of my favorite quotes:
Lauer: What do you see in him? What is it about Kevin that makes you love him?
Spears: He’s very simple. Women complicate everything. He’s so simple. His simplicity and just he’s like a boy. He just, you know, and he cares. He cares so much and his—his heart is awesome. He has a really big heart and I love that.

WOW! That’s heart touching. Would you want your significant other to use that explanation for why she loves you? Surely she could have come up with something better (I.E> He is a great friend, lover, father. He makes me feel special, etc.)
Lauer: How far along are you?
Spears: I don’t know. I think six to seven months.
What? You have not idea how pregnant you are? When I was pregnant I could tell you how far along I was and how many days left until my due date. How contradictory? She loves being a mother, but she doesn’t seem too “in” to this pregnancy. I call that wierd!

And last but not least:
Lauer: When you were driving with Sean on your lap did it—clearly…
Spears: That driving incident, i did it with my dad. I’d sit on his lap and I drive. We’re country. That’s what you know what I mean?
Ok Brits…I grew up in the country, but I am pretty sure you will never see me driving with my infant in my lap. That is just stupid. Don’t try to blame you mistake of growing up in the country! Give me a break.

All right, I am finished bashing Britney. To be honest, I do feel sorry for her. I do think that the media is giving her a hard time. But, if you want to clear your name Brits, try to look like a respectable “mom” and quit using the words “like” and “you know” in EVERY sentence!

Check out my photos from our beach trip by clicking here.
This will take you to the Kodak site. Just click on the photo of us at the beach and that will take you to the slide show! Enjoy!

Well, we got back from the beach on Tuesday. Grayson was an angel, sleeping the majority of the 6+ hour drive to the beach and back. He was also exceptionally good while at the beach...of course it probably helped that there were 16 other sets of arms always willing to hold him. With all of that back up, I was able to relax, catch a few rays on Sunday, and of course..."get my drink on"! (FYI- Yes, I "pumped and dumped"!) I completely enjoyed my long weekend. As I said in my last blong entry, I love hanging out with Tim's family and as usual the food was delicious.
But here is where the "lovely" story ends. Since getting back from the beach, Grayson has been an absolute pill! As in, I would be willing to go back to work today, kind of pill! I have come to realize that everytime someone comes to visit us or we go away for a while, it takes a good 72 hours to get my child back into his normal, sweet, happy routine. Not only has he cried insesintly to be held, jiggled, and bounced, but last night he woke up every 1 hour and 15 minutes to be fed. He would refuse to burp and then spit up all over his bassinett when I laid him down. Needless to say I am not in good spirits this morning! I am hoping that this is the 6 weeks growing spurt everyone told me about...because if I have to go through this again in a few days, I will absolutely die!
So I ask...was this miny vacation worth it??? Hell yeah!

On a happy note, Grayson did start smiling this weekend! Of course right now he is trying to get on my good side by smiling at me. It is amazing how quickly those smiles will make me forget how annoyed I was at him only a few hours ago.

1. We will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of Tim’s grandparents. Wow 60 years! Who stays together that long these days? Now there is something to aspire to! Congratulations to them!
2. There will be a plethora of family members ready to hold Grayson through out the day!
3. My in-laws will be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary…congrats to you too!
4. I could use a little sun…I am looking like a ghost!
5. All of my husband’s family are great cooks! I am looking forward to eating their cooking over the weekend!
6. No one thinks you have a drinking problem if you have someone else to drink with before noon! Bring on the beverages.
7. The house we are staying at is amazing. Check out the link!
8. I will probably get to sleep in on at least one of the mornings because Nagy is a baby hog and will hopefully offer to take Grayson after his 6 am feeding! **hint, hint**
9. I could use some exercise and walking on the beach is one of my favorite things to do!
10. I will likely have to time to read a book!
11. We will actually get to see Tim! He has had a lot of woodworking jobs keeping him busy the past week and a half. Luckily, he can’t take that with him!
12. I might get to go out on a date!
13. I love hanging out with my husbands family and it will give me a chance to get to know some of his cousins that I barely know!
(banner is courtesty of http://www.peanutwagon.net/blog/T13/)