Rocking Sheep

My dad collects rocking horses and Grevin got to ride the rocking sheep! He thought it was alot of fun!

Just like DAD!

How fast he grows!

I thought these pictures were interesting.  The first one is a picture of Michelle, Andrew, and Grevin when Andrew was just over 9 months and Grevin was 1 week old.  I wish we would have taken the second picture with Andrew but he was already in bed Halloween night.  Look at the difference of 8 months!

Missouri in November

We took a long weekend to fly back to Missouri to visit all of the grandparents and other family members. It was kind of nice because we didn't tell too many people that we were coming and we stayed pretty low key so the grandparents could spend quality time playing with Grevin.

I was worried about the flight because of the ear infection but he was super Grevin like always, winning everyone over with a smile. People are so nice to moms traveling alone with infants! Especially infants who don't sleep the entire 3-4 hour flight!! The flight attendant on the way to Missouri put on a clown nose and paraded him up and down the aisle so he could visit with all of the other passengers. I wasn't sure if this was the way the flight attendant always was or if it was because Southwest was trying to fix their image after kicking a mother and her 2 year old off the plane the week before. The flight home was just as great, even though he refused to sleep at all, and we made lots and lots of friends.

Grandpa Kearney picked us up at the airport and we headed to see Great-Grandpa Kearney. He kept trying to get Grevin with his cane but he thought it was a fun game and tried to take it from him! We also got to see alot of the aunts when they were decorating the historical Bingham house in Independence for Christmas(this is where we have the Kearney family Christmas each year because there are too many people to fit in anyone's real home!) Grey loved hanging out with Grandma Georgi and Grandpa, especially playing in the leaves and with all of their animals. He was in LOVE with Gray Bar, the cat. Grey was so good though, just chasing him around and petting him once instead of tackling him.  The cat usually runs from kids but Grey was so nice, he decided to hang out with him.

 Grevin with Grandpa Kearney and Great Grandpa Kearney

 Cuddling with Grandma Georgi

 

 Grandpa bough the coolest high chair ever! It converts into a go-cart!

 

We headed to Grandma and Grandpa Oglesby's a few days later to visit with all of the Oglesby relatives. Grevin had so much fun playing with everyone, including his cousins that I hadn't even met yet. He was a little disappointed when he couldn't ride on the 4-wheeler though with Grandpa Oglesby. His legs were too little to straddle the seat. Hopefully next summer he can go for a ride! Grey also was fascinated with Uncle Ben shooting his bow.  He loved playing with the arrows and thought that the targets in the backyard were fun! How often can you pet a wild wolf or bear?

We celebrated Grevin's 8 month birthday with Uncle Ben and Grandma at Mr. Sushi.   We sat at a hibachi table and he loved watching the chef cook all of the yummy food!

Grandpa Oglesby had so much fun playing with Grevin and found a very creative way to put him to sleep! The noise that he is making when he puts his head down is the noise he makes when he 'sings' himself to sleep.



It didn't take long for before Grey had worked himself into this position and fell asleep for over an hour (that is a long time for him to sleep) even though he was rocking him so hard!

It was a great trip, alot of fun seeing everyone, but we did miss Zippy.  It is good to be back home but I am already looking forward to next summer when we go back!

8 is GREAT!

Dear Grevin,
We are here again and I am a little late getting this posted because you keep me way too busy! I barely have a moment just to sit still because you hit the ground running when you wake up and you really would prefer not to sleep. There is way too much going on and you are afraid to miss a second of it.

Each and every month I look back and think that THIS month has been my favorite month so far. I am so sad that time is flying and you are growing so fast right before my eyes but I really am enjoying watching you grow into yourself. This month truly has been my favorite month so far (minus the ear infections!!).

You are a crawling monster. You love to cruise every where, you have mastered going up a few stairs, and pulling yourself up onto just about anything. You can walk the length of the couch if there is a powerful enough incentive at the other end (laptops, remote controls, cell phones are the biggest motivators!). You are in LOVE with cords especially the ones attached to the laptop and we are constantly trying to re-direct you away from the laptop. I was hoping that we could easily distract you for awhile longer but it lasted about 2 days. We can take you in a completely different room with other toys and you will work your way back to that laptop. Your dad can't wait until he can channel that dedication into a sport!

You hate being told no or having things taken away from you. Your little bottom lip sticks out and the real tears start flowing. You will continue until I give you a hug. You are just like your mom in that way, I HATE getting in trouble!

You are getting pretty good at throwing a ball or anything else you may have in hand. You love watching the way it bounces, any noises that it might make, and especially love it if we throw it back at you. You could do this for hours. When we were back in Missouri, you got to throw the ball for Grandpa Kearney's dog and you both loved it. I would let you do it for Ado but his ball is so disgusting and you would try to chew on it too!

You are an eating champion. You sometimes make a face the very first bite that we give you but then chow down on whatever it is. You LOVE puffs and mum-mums. We have to make sure not to give you any of these before your regular food or else you will refuse to eat anything else. You love it when I let you have bites from what I am eating like plums, pears, apples, and bananas. You look so proud that you can eat like a big kid. We have been trying to do more finger food stuff with you but you mash it with your hand before you get it to your mouth. I am still trying to figure out how to make the food where you can grab it with your fingers but still be able to chew it....

You are also starting to recognize some signs. We are starting with "more", "all done", "milk" and "drink." It is fun to watch your face when we say and do the sign. You know exactly what we are talking about! You are also recognizing other words like dog, monkey, and daddy. You still can't figure out your 'mommy' though but I am convinced that you just think we are one person. You haven't said anything that sounds like mommy or daddy yet but we swear you say "up" all the time(just not in context).  You also say "blij" (pronounced bly for you non-Dutch speakers!) all the time.  I think it is quite fitting since it means happy!  You talk constantly though and it will only be a matter of time.

Sleep continues to be interesting with you. You seemed to be doing a little better and then you got the ear infections and we went back to Missouri. I was complaining at work and my coworker cracked me up with her response. She said I would look back on these days with fondness when I am trying to get you out of bed to go to school!! This too shall pass :)

I love you, Grevin. Thank you for being such a happy, loving little boy who lights up our lives more and more each day.

(sorry about the fuzziness of this picture! My camera was left in the car-it was 37 degrees this morning when I pulled it out to take this picture!)

Happy Halloween!

Trick-or-Treating at Daddy's work

On Friday, Zippy's work had a trick or treat event. All the little kids came in and trick-or-treated to all of the different departments. All the kids were so incredibly cute and Grevin had fun playing with everyone...

Kisses for the little monkey!

This post is a few days late and I stole the pictures off of Michelle's blog since I haven't had any time to download the few pictures that I took. Grevin had a fun first Halloween. Luckily, he was feeling better and we headed over for dinner and trick-or-treating with the Wings. Grevin loved watching all the people going by in costumes, all the decorations at the house, but did not want to keep his monkey ears on! He was still the cutest little monkey around! He also loved hanging out with Andrew and playing with his toys! Andrew is so nice to share with him!

Fueling up for a night on the town

The fiercest animals around!

The gang trick-or-treating: hunters, a tiger, a monkey, a pirate, Thomas the Train, snow white, and a "baby" behind the camera!