Mish Mash

We are still down at my parents' house....we had a great Thanksgiving dinner with family -- and I will say it was the best turkey I have ever had (as well as a lot of other yummy food). Nice work, mom! Other than eating, we have just been hanging out and relaxing while we are here. Below are an assortment of different pics that I've taken so far.

Griffin has a new FAVORITE toy -- Tucker! He follows him around and laughs at everything he does. One night before bathtime, we were playing with Tucker and Tuck was running in circles and "motorboating" around the house (running crazily with his butt low to the ground and his tail tucked between his legs -- hence "motorboating"). Well Griff thought this was the most hilarious thing he has ever seen -- and again, his laughing fit made the rest of us crack up. So, so enteraining and adorable.

G really wishes he would play with him 24/7, but even Tucker needs his breaks.

G and Grandpa Bill

G and Momma!

Bouncin'

G and Grandma Cathy

One of the only times Griff gets fussy is when he is getting dressed...he really despises it and generally the entire process turns into a wrestling match.

Clothes stink!

Who needs a bounce house when you have an air mattress?

Griff is very into drinking from cups and glasses. He does not like the sippy cups with handles, but instead would rather drink from water bottles or other big-boy glasses. He will reach for ANY drink on the table...and he is seriously FAST. My reflexes, in turn, are becoming more developed!

He really, really wanted Momma's beer...

Good thing it was empty! (promise)

And, if Tucker is Griffin's new toy....Griffin is Darby's new toy. Darby loves to try to play with Griffin and lick his face. Not to mention with Griffin around there are a lot more toys to play with! Dobber also enjoyed playing with Darby...for a few minutes, at least, until Dobber decided to fake a paw injury to cover up the fact that he can't keep up with a four-month old puppy anymore. Dobber had us all worried and doting on him for an entire evening, night, and morning - he wouldn't put any weight whatsoever on his paw and cried much of the night. The next morning he was still "injured"...until more company came over for Thanksgiving dinner and he decided the act was simply too much to keep up with...all of a sudden he was entirely fine, and even went for a three-mile walk that evening. Faaaaker!

Though this picture doesn't show it ("pouty face" is one of his new fav expressions), Auntie Kayla and Uncle Eric brought Griff some fun Christmas gifts because we won't get to see them on Christmas. He loves them -- especially his Eeyore. Thanks Auntie K and Uncle E!

The Many Faces of the Griff Man

This morning Griff and I were having some fun playing at school, and one of his teachers and I were talking about how funny his facial expressions are. So, I decided to take some pics. Below are a few of our little guy's "faces" - what is funny is that I took all of them in less than four minutes, and his expressions change so much! As Ms. Becky says....Griff has a VERY strong personality. Wonder where in the world he gets that?!?!?!?!

The tongue move is fairly new, but entertaining.

The reproachful look

Bored, already?

Thoughtful

Motivated

Interested

On the move

Whatever you say, Mom.

You don't say? Really?

No way!

Cozing on Mom's bag is pure hilarity.

Weekend in Florida

We had a great weekend in Florida visiting Grandma Kris and Grandpa Tom. Griffin was, not surprisingly, an angel on the plane, both there and back (though all of his stuff was a bit of a handful)! Griffin was very excited to see his Grandma, Grandpa, and his daddy. And, lucky for us, Ben's client was dismissed from the trial so he got to come home with us. Griffin swam, and loved the water. Griffin also went under the water with daddy, much to my dismay at first. But, he was unfazed and just laid back and enjoyed floating, kicking, and splashing. We all enjoyed the nice weather....that's right, it was 85 degrees...makes it a little bit harder to stand Illinois in November. Griffin went on a long walk and a golf cart ride and checked out many animals including a little baby blacksnake and some funny lizards that run quite fast. And the adults got to continue their Hearts tournament that was started before Griffin was born. And, much to Ben's dismay, I am winning. :)

Thanks for the great weekend, Grandma and Grandpa, and we can't wait to come down again in January!

drooling is COOL!

Yes, Griffin's cute little swim shirt is a bit small. It's now his cute little BELLY shirt.

Grandma and Griffin



Griffin and daddy!

Getting ready for the golf cart ride

Grandpa is still very, very funny!

I could get used to this!

Ready to Roll

I ordered a new umbrella stroller this week for our weekend trip...it came today, and from where he was playing, Griffin noticed I was putting it together in the kitchen - so he crawled in to investigate (this is going to take some getting used to on mommy's part). We decided to give it a test run...he was very pleased and didn't want to get out of it...I think that's a good sign! He looks like SUCH a big boy in it.

For Daddy

Ben wanted to see a video of Griff crawling...so here you go, daddy! Miss you, and can't wait to see you on Friday!

Independence

The other day, Griffin decided to take his bottle from me and try to do it himself....and I think he would have succeeded if he could just tip it enough.

And today when I went to visit him at school over the lunch hour, he was moving from one end of the room to the other...playing, trading toys, and laughing with his best pal Ty. It was the first time since he's been at school that he really was not concerned that I was there to see him...which is good for Griffin (but a little sad for Mommy).

So he's definitely gaining some independence.

7 Months Old!

As of yesterday, Griffin is officially 7 months old. My how the time flies! He is still SUCH a good baby...last night, we went out for an early Turkey-Day with Auntie Lisa and Uncle Bill (deep-dish pizza for Thanksgiving - that's our style!) and we were out before/during/after Griffin's bedtime. However, he was smiling and happy the entire dinner -- and dessert! We couldn't ask for anything more. He is (army) crawling quite well, and definitely can get to where he wants to go (for example, as I type this it seems that the most interesting toy in his play area is mommy's laptop, and no matter how hard I try to divert him, he keeps coming back to this spot from across the room). He's sleeping better...and we thought this day would never come (13 hours Friday night!). And, he is still our big boy -- mostly wearing 18-24 mos. clothes now (much to my dismay as I have to put away all of the cute outfits in smaller sizes already at only SEVEN months). And, this might be my favorite -- he is still a snuggle bunny! One of his teachers commented last week that G really likes his one-on-one snuggle time...and I hope that continues, because it is my favorite time with him.

And other tidbits that I don't want to forget about: G is enamored with Mickey Mouse...each and every time he comes onto the TV screen G breaks into a huge grin. DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba gets a smile every time, too, but not quite as big as the one Mickey gets. He is hardly ever fussy -- even when he has woken up from naptime or in the morning and he wants to get out of his crib...I can see him on the monitor patiently looking toward the door in his room waiting for me to come get him. As soon as he sees someone in the doorway, he starts smiling and holds up his arms.

Here are some pics I took today of him in his 7-month onesie.