Brittany Gale: Grayson's 18 Month Update!

Grayson's 18 Month Update!

Grayson is 18 months old! In some ways, I can't believe it's only been a year and a half...I feel like Grayson has always been part of our family. But at the same time, I cannot believe how big he is and how fast he is growing. Ironically, on this day 2 years ago, we announced we were going to have a baby! How life has since changed :) Grayson is our pride and joy (anyone who follows my social media knows my obsession with this handsome kid). Happy 18 months, Grayson Otto Gale! I never knew I could love a little boy so much until I saw you. You make life so much better and so much more fun. You are my everything and "Mommy" (as he recently started calling me) loves you more than life! Muah! 😘💙

So I'm going to go ahead and warn you that this update is LONG and super detailed with way too many pictures. I've said from the beginning that this is like my online baby book for Grayson and I don't want to ever forget this age....so I wrote it all down! Hope you enjoy!

Height & Weight: Grayson went to his 18 month check-up last week and was 32 inches long (42nd percentile) and 24 lbs. (24th percentile). He's grown in height and weight since his 15 month check-up and the pediatrician was very happy with his progress. Grayson is hitting all his milestones and exceeding a lot of them, so we actually didn't have many questions for the doctor this time around (that's a first!). He absolutely HATES the doctor's office though and cried the entire time. He was crying so loud that I couldn't even hear the doctor speak! He definitely knows what's up right when we step into the room. Good thing he doesn't go back again until his 2 year check-up! I can't believe that.

Feeding: Grayson has been eating like a champ for the past few months and it's been wonderful. Now that he's almost completely done cutting teeth (yay!), his appetite has returned in full force. He just eats so much better all around and is much less picky. The only time he won't eat as well is if we are out somewhere and there's a lot going on. He's easily distracted and may not eat as much. Overall, Grayson is eating great. His favorite foods are eggs with cheese, strawberries, cereal, raisins, turkey, blueberries, pineapple, any type of cracker (graham crackers, peanut butter crackers, Teddy Grahams), yogurt, yogurt bites, and puffs. He really likes pasta, chicken, and ground beef in different dishes. He usually eats whatever we have for dinner and absolutely loves fruit/veggies smoothies. Grayson has always liked more flavorful food, as opposed to, plain food. He actually likes (mildly) spicy food which is funny to me. Grayson has figured out what chips (pips as he calls them), ice cream, and juice are purely by observation. He naturally knows what the junk food is and will ask for it over and over again until we give him some. Grayson still loves loves loves his drinks. I'm pretty sure he would have a liquid diet if we let him. He is still just as obsessed with milk and I've actually started watering down his milk on the days where he's drinking too much. I know this sounds gross, but if I didn't, he would only drink milk and would never eat food. It doesn't bother him! He loves water, juice, and drinking anything through a straw! He has also started using a fork. He's not great at it, but he's constantly trying and learning. He loves to feed himself and is very independent and stubborn in that way (won't let me help him!). He will actually eat a lot more if I let him do it himself, so that's usually what we do! Grayson eats 3 full meals a day with a snack in between each meal.

Sleeping: Grayson is still sleeping wonderfully! I'm so thankful he finally got to this point (even though it took him longer than most). He sleeps through the night consistently and usually sleeps 10.5-11 hours straight a night. Grayson goes to bed between 8-9pm and usually gets up between 7-8am. He was struggling with sleeping through the night the first week we moved, but he's back to his normal sleeping habits now. We've officially moved to 1 nap a day. Typically the nap is about 2 hours long and is in the early afternoon. He is definitely requiring less sleep, but as long as he sleeps through the night, I'm happy! He is a great sleeper now which makes the first year of no sleep totally worth it! He also sleeps with a big boy pillow now (with trucks on it). He literally gets distracted saying, "trucks, trucks" and won't go to sleep! Hopefully he will be able to sleep through his little sister crying during the night in a few short months....we will see how he adjusts! Also, we are wanting to move him to a big boy bed within the first few months of the baby being born. We will see how that goes!

Clothes: Grayson is still in a size 5 diaper and size 18 month - 2T clothing. It's so strange that he can fit into some 2T stuff....I'm not ready for him to be that big!

Mood: Grayson continues to be our firecracker! He's happy, moody, smiley, giggly and the opposite of a "go with the flow" kid. Now that he's older, he's usually very happy. He knows what he wants and can communicate it well, so that makes life much easier! He continues to be full of life and personality, always the life of the party! (So strange for me because I'm naturally an introvert). We make friends wherever we go because Grayson is far from shy. He is still very silly, always laughing and giggling. He has the best belly laugh of any kid I know. Grayson is extremely chatty and so smart. Yes, every mother says this, but it's true! He is very independent especially for his age. While this makes me sad, it's a good big brother quality. He plays well on his own and isn't very clingy to Josh or I (unless he's in a new setting). He is very curious, adventurous, and has very little fear. Grayson is always into everything and making a big mess! He loves to explore. Grayson is also stubborn, opinionated, and will have the occasional fit. He's definitely learning what's right and wrong and he gets over his temper tantrums much faster than he used to. Grayson usually does well in public and is fairly well-behaved. He loves new places and surroundings, so he is usually observing or playing with whatever he finds that's new and exciting. He has started reaching for different food or toys at the store though and he doesn't get why we can't just take it all home. He's so sweet and gives the best hugs and kisses. Grayson loves to blow kisses and will randomly come over and plop down in your lap, just wanting to sit with you. He is also rough and ALL boy (always dirty, sweaty, and covered in scrapes and bruises). Grayson is a ball of energy....always active and moving! He is clumbsy and falls...a lot. He is currently sporting a face wound from one of his falls....he is determined to forever make me nervous (and get a permanent scar on his face!). He has been more attached to things random lately and will insist on bringing different stuffed animals, pillows, or blankets with him. Grayson loves his life-size Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man pillow and blanket, and Ninja Turtle cup.

Always missing a shoe!

Teeth: Grayson has 16 teeth! Thankfully he just has his second set of molars left. We've enjoyed the break from teething!

Milestones: Grayson continues to learn something new every day! He's like a sponge right now. He continues to surprise me with the things he says and does. He picks up things really quickly these days and is very teachable. Recently one of our youth taught him how to "pound it!" (so cute). He also learns things constantly on his own and surprises me by saying and doing things I didn't know he knew how to do or say. He understands me and can comprehend what I'm saying even if he can't fully talk back. He follows directions well and loves to help out (or what he thinks is "helping"). Grayson speaks really well and is constantly talking....and actually making sense! ;) That's probably the biggest thing that's changed in the past few months. He talks SO well. He says at least 20 plus words and is constantly saying something new. His favorite words are: puppies, outside, lawn mower, Mickey, water, juice, milk, trash, thank you, and shoes. Grayson will voluntarily say thank you (after some training) when we give him things which makes me so proud! He also comprehends what he's saying or asking for which is great. He is willing to try to say any word you ask him to. Because he is constantly talking and attempting new words, his speech just gets clearer and clearer. Each morning I walk into his room and he just starts chatting away...usually starting with lawn mower (his favorite word) and just keeps going down the list. He doesn't speak in sentences yet, but he will say bye-bye to different things. "Bye-bye Dada, bye-bye puppies, bye-bye Mickey" etc., so he is getting better at putting words together! We actually have conversations (very basic ones) nowadays and it's the most amazing and weirdest thing! I'm so proud of how well he talks!

Loves: Grayson's current favorites are Mickey Mouse, puppies, balls, cars, trucks, lawn mowers (he is obsessed!), music, especially the Caspar Babypants CD (loves to dance, clap, and will stomp his feet on command), walking around with things on his head, climbing things, going outside and exploring (usually coming back with sticks and rocks), and going on walks. He also loves other kids (especially our MVUMC youth) and animals! I'm so happy that Grayson has no fear of animals and loves petting random dogs that we meet. He is especially interested in Cedric these days and loves to play with him! Grayson loves to wrestle, jump on, pet, hug, and pretend to walk Cedric around the house on his lease. Sorry Cedric! Grayson seems to make friends with little girls wherever we go. They are always older than him and love to help take care of him and play with him. He, of course, goes right along with that! Grayson loves to sweep, vacuum, and push his toy lawn mower...if only these things actually worked, then our house would always be clean! Grayson has a killer arm on him and throws pretty much everything (future baseball player 😉). He loves to make car sounds and is naturally attracted to everything "guy". He thinks his feet being "stinky" is absolutely hilarious and loves tools, remotes, airplanes, and anything dangerous. When he is riding or pushing something, he turns it into a car and starts going "vrrrrm vrrrrm!" Funny how it can start so young! Grayson also loves to jump on the bed! He is constantly telling me, "Up! Up!", because he wants me to lift him into our bed. Lastly, Grayson is ridiculously Daddy obsessed! He loves doing "guy things" with Daddy and gets very upset any time Daddy leaves the room. Grayson constantly asks me where Dada is and gets so excited when he comes home. I love their sweet relationship! (He also calls his daddy "Josh" sometimes because he has picked up on his first name!) That being said, he is equally a mama and daddy's boy. He is just really into his parents (can't say I hate that)! Grayson has already started calling for me (Mama! Mommy!) all day long...if he needs anything, he automatically calls for me. Can't say I mind it too much though :)

Dislikes: Grayson currently hates being left! He knows when mommy and daddy are going to leave him and freaks out. He always recovers within 5-10 minutes, but he throws down like there's no tomorrow when I walk out. The nursery at church has been especially difficult. He is also scared that we are going to leave him a lot and will sometimes cry if we go somewhere new in fear that he's getting dropped off. Hopefully this is a phase! I think he's just very aware of what's going on right now and knows when he's about to be left.