Double Digits!

Griffin hit double digits today...turning a big 10 months old!  Looking back through a few older posts, I found it so hard to believe how much he's grown in such a short period of time.  Just over the past month, he's become so active and his personality is really starting to shine through.  He's very quick to let us know exactly how he feels and what he wants or doesn't want..and I'm beginning to wonder if we may have a little problem with sharing haha!  I know we shouldn't encourage it, but it's SO funny when he grunts and turns away if you ask for something he has.  Maybe we should work on that a little? :)

He absolutely LOVES to eat, and always wants a bite of anything we've got!  He pulled a pickle off of my Subway sandwich the other day, and ate the entire thing!  He sprouted two new top teeth this month, taking the total number to 4!  We're having fun trying new finger foods with his new chompers, and as you can see...we may or may not have bribed him with Whales Crackers (one of his new favorites) just to get these pictures taken this afternoon...but hey, whatever works at this point!

Every time we turn around, he's pulled himself up to stand with the help of a toy or piece of furniture.  He'll point to something and maybe even let go for a little while, and then realize he's on his own and drop straight to the ground.  This new brave stage has been so scary because he's bound to go crashing down one day :(  He's also absolutely obsessed with bouncy balls, and has even learned to throw them to us!  We're building quite a collection since we can't leave a store without buying a new one ;)

Something really neat that we've recently noticed is that he's becoming more vocal, trying all kings of new sounds....and even humming the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Hot Dog" song!  (Seriously!)  He also loves being outside and riding in his big red car.  So much so, that he wont let you take him out of it until he's ready!  I have no idea where he gets this attitude/temper.... hahaha!  It's definitely been an interesting month with lots of new experiences, and so crazy to think that in just two more months we'll be celebrating his first birthday.  In the meantime, we're gearing up to go on our first family vacation, and also celebrate our friend Kaz's first birthday, which is just a few short weeks away...shew!

Happy 10 months, little man!

Griffin Gets Busy at Gymboree :)

Griffin got to experience his very first session at Gymboree Play & Music today...and LOVED it!  (Thank you so much for suggesting it, Mary and Barrett!)  As Griffin grows and becomes more and more active, I thought this would be a great way for us to spend time together on my days off, and help him develop physically, socially, and cognitively.  He really enjoyed his teacher, Miss Robin, and loved playing with the other babies his age.

From the moment he hit the floor in the big gym, he was on the move...exploring everything he could get his hands on!  This session was centered around climbing, with several different structures built to challenge his little body :)  He did great pushing the big "log", as he worked on becoming more confident with his walking skills...and it was SO cute when one of his classmates stopped and made his way over to push the log next to Griffin :)  Miss Robin brought out a huge parachute and some bubbles, and we did a couple of cute "Mom & Me" activities to end the class.

Gymboree also offers a Music class, which we're going to preview next Tuesday.  I'm anxious to see how he responds to the activities and songs...especially since Daddy-O is so musically talented ;)  Overall, we had an exciting day today, and enjoyed the warm weather and sunshine once we made it home.  I'm hoping all the new excitement has him sleeping like a rock tonight!

Sippy Cup Success!

FINALLY!  After buying a new sippy cup every time we're at the store, and trying every kind of "spout" possible, Griffin found a sippy cup worth drinking from!  We knew it wasn't a matter of holding the cup on his own, because he'll tip back his bottle without hesitation.  This was simply an issue of realizing he could actually drink from something other than a nipple.  Most sippy cups these days have a hard spout that's shaped nothing like a nipple...which apparently is not an acceptable replacement for his beloved bottle!  We quickly learned to hand him a new cup and run...because once it touched his lips, it instantly got launched across the room with disapproval.
Over the past week we've introduced him to a straw, and let him take sips from our own drinks.  It didn't take long for him to learn that he could suck from the straw...with a little help from Mommy's sweet tea, of course!  So today, feeling brave, I pulled out a new sippy cup...but not just any sippy cup!  This was a Mickey Mouse sippy cup (go figure!) - with a special spout that was soft like a nipple, and required you to drink from it like you would a straw.  He immediately pointed to Mickey with excitement, and let me put the spout up to his mouth.  Then, right before my eyes, he started drinking!  Success!!!  Looks like we'll be adding a few more of these to our (rather large) sippy cup collection!

THE cup!

So big...

Loving some banana slices!  No more mushy ones for this big guy!

9 Month Check-up :)

Griffin paid a visit to good 'ol Dr. Badger this week for his nine month check-up.  I thought for sure there would be some needles involved, but I was wrong....thank goodness!  As far as stats go...he's long and lean!  He weighed in at 18lbs 12oz, which is around the 30th percentile.  His length came in at 28.25", which is right at 50th percentile.  Dr. Badger said he must've gone through a growth spurt over the past three months, because that was a 3" increase compared to his 1/4" increase between his four and six month check-ups (that's what we like to hear)!!  His head circumference was 18.11", keeping consistent with his 70-75th percentile sized noggin :)


After asking the usual questions, like eating habits and new motor skills, the Doctor seemed very pleased with Griffin's development.  He even noticed the TWO NEW TEETH poking through Griffin's upper gums!  He was impressed with his ability to point or go after certain things like "Mickey Mouse" or his "green ball", and gave the OK to go ahead with fun new finger foods.  (Here comes the messy stuff!)  Overall, besides the nasty sniffles and snot these past few weeks, we have a happy, healthy, growing little boy!

I'm outta here!

Can't catch me, 'ol Badger!

Griffin got a sticker for behaving so well during his visit!

I'm not sure what this is, exactly, but I like it!

...and you're not taking it from me, mom!

Celebrating Gr8ness!!

Griffin stayed up past his bed time to witness his first (of many...we hope!) NCAA Championship game between our beloved Cats and the Kansas Jayhawks.  The Cats pulled off an exciting win, with a final score of 67-59.  When the team rolled back to Big Blue Nation earlier this week, they unveiled the 8th NCAA Champion banner that will hang in the rafters at Rupp Arena.  This was definitely an exciting season, and maybe next year, Griffin will be more accustomed to all of the yelling and cheering that goes on during the games!  Banners up!!