8 months old.

Painting pictures for Granny and Gramley!

Dear Grayson,

    You are eight months old today. This has got to be one of my favorite ages so far. This is the age where your personality is really beginning to shine! & I mean REALLY! It is bursting at the seams!

    You are currently really into Yo Gabba Gabba. One video in particular, called "I Like To Dance." You will be throwing a fit, and I will put that video on the iPad. The second D.J. Lance pops up and says "Hello, friends!!", you get a giant smile on your face. He then proceeds to tell you that it is time to dance, so get up! You oblige, and stand yourself up(with Mommy's support, of course.) &Then the song that your Daddy is really beginning to hate kicks in "Go, go, go Muno! Go, go, go Muno!" and you go crazy!! You start bouncing up and down and stomping your foot. Little baby arms, and little baby hands begin flailing. All the while, you remain completely concentrated on the screen. You love to dance, and this is certainly your favorite song. Not only is it completely precious, but I really feel as though it's quite the milestone. You know what you like. You're beginning to have actual "interests", aside from just Mommy and Daddy or anything that lights up. Our once little baby is growing up.

Mama's boy.

    You have been a mama's boy since day one, but you are truly your Daddy's little dude too. For some reason, you just think he is HILARIOUS. Sure, your father makes some funny jokes. He makes me laugh quite often, and it is one of the reasons I married him. But with you, anything he does is just so funny! He can walk in the room, look at you, and all of a sudden you burst into one of those full belly baby laughs. If he does something out of the ordinary, you absolutely lose your mind. For instance, sometimes he will step up on the coffee table, make a silly face, and you just lose it! It's like you recognize, "hey wait.. Daddy isn't supposed to be on that table.. That table is not for standing. But he is.. He is standing on it.. OMG THIS IS TOO MUCH, I CAN NOT EVEN HANDLE THIS RIGHT NOW." For the record, said table is from Ikea. It is very cheap. I cannot wait for the day he climbs on it to make you laugh, and it falls to pieces underneath him. Then, I will lose my mind with laughter as well.

Also, Daddy's boy.

    There are so many things I wish I could just engrave into my memory forever. For example, you can now hold yourself up standing. You get SO proud of yourself! I wish I could bottle up the look on your face! That proud little smile, where you push your bottom jaw out a bit and look to us for reassurance. It is precious. Or, how when you are getting sleepy and having your evening bottle, you start to grab and tug at your ear. When you finish, I pat you on the back and as we cuddle, you moan and groan. You fight so hard to stay up, yet just melt into dreamland there in my arms. Sure, I will always have memories, photos, and videos. However, nothing compares to actually seeing, touching, and experiencing these moments with you.

"Oh ya know, just snapping a shirtless selfie."

    Happy 8 months, my sweet boy. Thank you for letting me be your mama and watch you grow. You are my everything.

With Love,

Your Mama