Moving Week

Graham has been busy and learning all kinds of new things. He has learned to walk, sort his toys, feed himself, wave bye-bye, and to be sad when we leave him. I feel like he is learning something new everyday!
Graham took a few steps while my mom was keeping him last Tuesday. He has since taken a few more steps each day. He is still unsteady and prefers to crawl most of the time. He also waved bye-bye on Tuesday as Dustin was dropping him off at mom's house.
Dustin's mom cleaned up his old farmhouse toy and gave it to Graham. He loves it! He spends much of his time taking the animals out of the barn and putting them in other areas (diaper bag, drawers, bath tub, Maggie's food bowl, etc).
We took Graham to the doctor for his second flu shot on Friday. He now weighs 25 pounds 8 ounces and is 30.5 inches long.
We are closing in on our final days of packing before the movers get here on Friday! We are trying to pack, chase a baby, walk around a dog, and get all the details for the closing finalized. Luckily our wonderful family is helping.
Pictures of the house will soon follow!

Graham's First Clemson Game

Graham finally made it to a Clemson game. The weather was perfect and Clemson won! I think Graham may be a good luck charm. Graham did great tailgating and stayed in the stadium for almost the entire game.

Exciting Times in November

November has started off to be a great month! Graham is into everything and so much fun be around. We celebrated Dustin's 30th birthday, Graham's first haircut, and our house is under contract! Whew, and we are only half way through the month!

Graham continues to be the love of our lives. He laughs and smiles all the time. He still has not hit the stranger anxiety stage, willingly going to anyone who reaches for him, and is happy even when Dustin and I are not in the room.

We celebrated Dustin's 30th birthday last Thursday. We had dinner with family on Thursday and went out with friends on Friday night. The festivities ended with a Clemson Tiger win today! As most of you know, Graham has a long patch of hair on top of his head that lovingly refer to as his comb over. Dustin has been wanting to cut it for several months now. So Graham decided that he was going to have Mimi (Dustin's mom) cut his hair as a birthday present. Dustin was so surprised! I must admit that Graham's haircut makes him look awfully handsome.

Last, but not least, our house is under contract! We are scheduled to close on December 18th. The inspection was done yesterday and I was able to meet the buyers. They are a very nice young couple. Dustin and I are also under contract on a house that we love! We are also scheduled to close on it on December 18th. As soon as we have some pictures I will post them.

Halloween

Graham was a monkey for Halloween and he did not like his costume even a small amount. He cried and fussed the entire time we forced him to wear it! If only he had known how precious he looked! We had some friends and family over the night before Halloween and Graham learned how to "walk" while holding onto his toy. That is what happens when we let him hang out with an older woman (Brooke is 14 months old)! We also took a trip to a church that was selling pumpkins and took some pictures. Again, Graham was not happy. I did all the crazy things I could think of and still only got 2 smiles during the photo shoot. Of course, one of the smiles came while Grandpa was holding him and there was not a pumpkin in sight! I think he was too busy watching the cars driving by on the street. We had big plans to make it to a real pumpkin patch but October 31st snuck up on us!

Another Tooth!

Graham now has 5 teeth! He had another top tooth pop through the day after my last post. We have been very lucky with his teething. His mood is not as good and he wants to be held more, but overall he is still his happy self. His other big achievement for this week is that he learned how to give "high five!" No, he has not learned to wave hello or good bye yet. I included the video of him practicing his new trick. We went to Fall for Greenville on Sunday afternoon and Graham wooed the crowd. He was in his element. He was able to people watch and talk to all that walked by his stroller. We also took him out and let him crawl around and pull up on his stroller. The weather was perfect and we got to visit with good friends. Graham is starting to eat much of what we are eating. We still have to be careful and not give him dairy products due to his milk allergy. He has not turned down any table food yet. His favorite is still sweet potatoes. Close seconds include rice, bananas, green beans, carrots, and apples. He sits in his high chair and starts saying "mmmmmmm" before he even gets his first bite! A boy doesn't stay in the 90% for weight by turning down food!

9 Months Old

Graham turned 9 months old last week. He is officially a man on the move, which is the main reason my posts are not as frequent. He is taking shorter naps and requires my full attention when he is awake! He now crawls very fast, pulls up on everything, and pulls on cords. In short, he is a mess!
Not only can he pull up on everything, but he is now tall enough to reach even the items pushed to the center of the coffee table. He loves to open drawers and cabinets. The only problem is that Graham has not learned to move his fingers out of the way before shutting the drawers. He also has several bruises on his head from where he is trying to stand on his own. I am afraid these are the first of many bumps and bruises.
Graham had his 9 month well child visit last week. His weight is 23 lbs 12 oz (90%), his length is 29.5 in (86%) and his head is 18.25 in (79%). He has met all of his developmental milestones at this point. These include: responding to his name, playing peek-a-boo, crawling, sitting well, pulling up to stand, and rolling both ways. In other words, he is still perfect!
Graham now has 4 teeth. The front two on the bottom and the front two on the top. I have not been able to get a good picture of his top teeth yet, but hope to soon.

Our Little Speedster

Graham has some pajamas with cars on them and the top says "our little speedster." That is the best description for him! He has learned to crawl very well. He has found Maggie's water bowl, Maggie's food bowl, the door stoppers, and anything else he sees as he is in pursuit of these things! Maggie has started to spend most of her time upstairs or moving from room to room away from Graham. We were going to take Graham to his first Clemson game this past weekend. But the weather forecast was so bad that we decided not to take him. So, Graham and I tailgated from home and watched the game on the television. Maybe next week he will go to Clemson.

Big Changes

Sorry I have not updated the blog in a couple of weeks, but the Greens have been busy! We have been to a Clemson football game, celebrated my 30th birthday, and spent many hours entertaining and loving on Graham. He has changed so much over the past few weeks.
Our biggest news is that Graham is now crawling! Luckily, he is just learning so he is not getting around too well. He can crawl far enough to get a toy or touch Maggie. He is also noticing small details. He played with the button on the back of Dustin's shorts for about 10 minutes the other day. He also loves to hold toys in each hand and bang them together. I guess it is a good thing that he is loud, at least I know right where he is! Graham is not saying any words yet, but he is making "d" and "b" sounds. Up until this point he has only been squealing and laughing.
Graham brings so much joy to so many people. He is such a pleasure to be around. We all love him more each day, if that is possible. He continues to be a happy and healthy baby.

8 Months Old

Our sweet little boy is now 8 months old. He is officially a wild man! His favorite things are squealing, rolling, playing outside, and petting Maggie. He is still not crawling, but I think we are only days away. We are enjoying these last few days of limited mobility! The video I have included is of Graham laughing at a garbage bag. Sorry the camera is so shaky, but I was trying to hold the video camera and shake the garbage bag. Enjoy!

Hilton Head

We were able to go back to Hilton Head for another week of vacation last week. This trip was with my side of the family. My aunt and cousin from Florida, my aunt and two cousins from Anderson, my parents, and of course Dustin/Graham/myself were there. It was a wonderful and relaxing week. Graham liked having all those people to give him attention!
Graham did well and loved the pool water. He did not like the beach sand, but enjoyed the ocean tide pools. He is not crawling yet but is very close. He is definitely mobile though, he has learned how to roll across the room! We have found him under the coffee table, playing with the blinds on the door, and pulling board games off a shelf. We are continuing to introduce new foods to him. He is still eating mostly jars of baby food. The only "real" food he has had is a sweet potato, banana, and sweet potato puffs.

7 Months Old

Graham turned 7 months old last Wednesday. I love this age! I know I have said that about each stage so far, but this is definitely my favorite. He is able to sit on his own and entertain himself. He has also started reaching up for us to pick him up. It just melts my heart when he reaches for me to get him. He is gotten quite a personality. He smiles and laughs out loud. He also lets you know when he is not happy with something. He has a full temper tantrum when his sweet potatoes are gone!

We went for another physical therapy evaluation for Graham's head today. He did not get as good of a report as the past two visits, but we are not discouraged. His therapist said that a helmet was still a possibility, but not a definite. The left side of his neck seems to be stronger than his right side. The therapist said this is common to regress some when teething or going through a growth spurt. At this point, we are going to do some home neck exercises and think about the helmet. Luckily, his long patch of hair on the top of his head helps hide the asymmetry!