Our day at the fair!

Today we took Grayson to his first Puyallup fair....well, besides when he was in utero (which was very early on in the pregnancy so I was fighting a bit of nausea). Anyway, we went early enough that it wasn't crowded at all, which was a first for me. We parked near where the kids rides were, so when I saw the train I knew that I wanted him to go on it with me. However, the kids are supposed to be two years old. Well....he looks two, right!? So, off we went on our little train ride...which was quite short. I think he liked it, but he didn't really say too much. He did like looking at all the other big rides and he "oohed" a lot. The main reason we wanted to take him was so he could see the animals. Since he loves feeding the sheep and chickens so much at the farm.....and loves to make "moo" sounds (which is a long grunt noise) when he sees cows, we thought he would enjoy seeing a whole bunch of them. I think he had a pretty good time looking at all the different animals. He got to be close and pet our friend's horse, but he wasn't so sure about it. That was his first close up with a large animal (other than a sheep). I think he really wanted to get down and run around for the most part and do his own animal exploring. We weren't going to let this happen because I think he wanted to go run up to the cows that were lying down. He did do some of his signature "mooing" and his pig oink....which he scrunches up his nose and snorts. He even got to talk to one of the grunting pigs and pet some goats and a cute bunny. Oh...and he started clapping his hands when he saw the sheep because this is how we call them on the farm. It was cute! After the animals it was time for some lunch and then off to look at some of the booths. As we were leaving we caught a little bit of the acappella group, The Coats (previous name was Trenchcoats....they probably ditched the trench part after the whole trenchcoat mafia thing). Anyway, they've been around for quite some time and I've seen them perform a couple other times when I was in high school. It dawned on me that I used to know one of the singers.....oh yes, he was one of the tennis pros at Sprinker where I used to take tennis lessons. My memory did ok on that one!

All in all I think Grayson had a fun time today....he definitely is a tired little boy! Next year he can do more rides! Sorry no pictures....I forgot the camera!

Lookin' like a toddler

We've really noticed lately how "grown-up" Grayson is starting to look. After his mama's professional haircut :) yesterday, he looks even more toddler-ish. Just a reminder for everyone....savor every moment, because time sure does fly!

For some reason, Grayson kept running away from me when I tried to take his picture and get him to smile. He said "no-no-no" and turned the other way. I guess there was too much fun stuff to do at the farm. I kind of liked how this photo turned out though....with him off center and the sheep in the background. My attempt at art for the day!

Yee Haw!

One of Grayson's favorite things to do these days is to go in our closet and look up at Heath's hats and say "hat, hat, hat, hat, hat"....until we get the hat down and put it on his head. Then he will take it off and say "uh, uh, uh, uh, uh" (translation: "on") for us to put it on our heads. This can happen up to several times a day.

Speaking of words that he is saying, the other things he says a lot are dada, dog dog (which also sounds quite similar to dada....but we know what he means), no, num (or yum), sometimes mama, something that sounds like night-night, and a version of milk. He also has a variety of gibberish type words that I can usually translate into English. His signing is much better than his verbal words. He will sign "more" (all the time), eat, milk, baby, dog (which is a panting noise), book, all done, bib, apple, no, flower and a various versions of some other signs. Most of the signs he learns from a baby sign language book. It has pictures of kids doing the signs along with the actual item or action. Although it isn't true American Sign Language (the true deaf sign language---also what I took as a "foreign" language elective in high school), I think it is beneficial for him to learn any sort of communication. Not only that, he really enjoys looking at the books and doing the signs and will constantly look at them or want us to read them to him. Along with sign language, he is also learning Spanish from his DVD he watches while I take a shower. I will peek at him sometimes to see that he is completely enthralled with it and smiling. This is the first interest he has shown in any sort of TV program (which is good). He really likes to see little kids and babies in this movie....I suppose this is why the Baby Einstein empire is so successfull.

My buddy Clayton

Grayson sure loves his buddy (and cousin) Clayton! He waves "hello" to him every time he sees him and will even wave randomly when he is hanging out with him. They are such a pair of goofballs!

Corn, corn, corn!

As you can see, Grayson really enjoys corn from the garden like his mama! He does quite a good job eating it and isn't TOO messy with it. However, if I'm not watching closely he will pitch the cob to the ground....that's where the mess truly is!

Just us....

So, it was brought to my attention that it appears to some that I've been reading pregnancy books again.....according to my new Goodreads book list that I've added. So, I just want to clear things up before we get the grandparents excited or something! When you rate a book you've read on Goodreads, for some reason it says on there that these are books I've "recently read". I actually haven't read them in quite some time, I just remembered that I liked them and I thought I should rate them for others :) Anyway, I started thinking that I better point this out before people start to wonder (Thanks Cara) :)

Separation anxiety!

Today was my second attempt at taking Grayson to the daycare at the gym. The first time I was able to leave him there for about 50 minutes before he started having a breakdown. They gave him lots of animal crackers and basically had to hold him the whole time. Today....was a different story. I took him to find a cool truck and excavator to play with. As soon as I told him that I would see him later and gave him a kiss.....he had his little freakout (which involves his big time cry and guilt provoking looks). But, I trucked on to my destination of the pool. I should have went with my gut and just did some weights or cardio.....something that didn't require me to completely change and get wet, etc. But I really wanted to swim, dang it! Well, I got 6 laps in (a total of 3 1/2 minutes) before I called to check on him. "Well, he is fussing pretty good"......."ok, be there in just a bit". I didn't even have time to shower off and had to just put on my clothes, re-pull back my hair and off I go to save my child. Anyway, I've realized that I am going to have to suck it up with the long drive and try to get there more often; almost daily....if I want to be able to swim again! Obviously I won't go through the whole rig-a-ma-roll of going for a swim until he is at peace. This too shall pass! (right, Cailen?)