Grayson is 1! And like every parent says, "I can't believe he is already a year."
He's growing into such a little person, discovering his own likes and dislikes. He doesn't quite cruise yet, but he can pull up on everything. Sometimes he can stand independently for a second, but I still think he is months away from walking. His motor skills are on target through. Our future soccer player's favorite game is pushing and chasing balls all through the house. He can eat with a fork and drink from a sippy cup. Bye bye bottles ... however, he still is not a huge fan of milk (even with flavored syrups). We're still putting formula in his cup a couple times a day, but the doctor said it's fine, given that he is so tiny.
We took him for his 1-year check today with Dr. Alvis. Here are his stats:
Weight: 19 lbs. and 13.5 oz. ( 8th percentile)
Height: 29 and 5/8 in (38th percentile)
Head circumference: 18 in. (27th percentile)
The doctor initially told us that he was concerned with his rapid growth deceleration and wanted us to take him to see an endocrinologist. After he personally checked his height, he said that he was still concerned, but he would allow us to wait another three months before going to the specialist. Apparently, Grayson has not grown in height at all in the last three months, and may have even lost weight. We've always been watching Grayson's weight, since it dropped dramatically after birth and has been on a slow percentage decline since. But this time, his height dropped two brackets in the curve, which is not normal. Ugh, add one more thing to this poor child's medical history ...
He's also been seeing an ENT. The week prior to his birthday, the ENT said he wanted to take his adenoids out immediately. And he wished that he would have done it during the ear tube surgery. He said he rarely misses it, but in our case, he made a mistake. We were very hesitant to schedule another surgery since Grayson reacts so poorly to anesthesia, so we got a second opinion when we went for his pulmonologist appointment two days later.
The pediatric pulmonologist said that he thinks we can wait until May or June to do the adenoids surgery. We love our pulmonologist! He said that Grayson seems to be responding very well to the asthma treatment, and he would just like to continue the same meds for three more months. We will go back at the end of May to see if we need to do any immune system or other testing.
I forgot to ask the pediatrician about his iron deficiency. I'm going to call up there and get an update on that. I'm assuming we need to continue his iron supplements.
Okay ... this is depressing me. Let's talk positive things again! Grayson is a happy, somewhat shy little boy that loves his big brother! He and Tyler play together so well and are ALWAYS together. The other day, Tyler told me that Grayson was his best friend. I love those two more than words can express!
Here are some other Grayson things. He loves trains just like his brother. He loves being outside. He'll crawl around on the grass and help Daddy work in the garden. He plays on the toddler play set we have, and he loves his new sandbox. He loves music class and songs, but he isn't a huge fan of Daddy throwing him high in the air. He is a picky eater. But if he likes something, he'll eat a ton. (I'm talking almost a whole kids meal). He is developing a big mommy attachment. He wants to be held or right by me all the time. He still sleeps with his blankee, while sucking his thumb. His baby teeth are crooked, so I'm pretty sure it's not a good habit. But it's still cute. He waves bye bye, and he can say "mama," "dada," "baba" (bottle/cup) and "buhbuh" (bubba/brother, although we're discouraging this nickname). He goes to bed about 6:30 or 7 at night, and he still takes two naps a day--10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
We love our little one year old so much!
For his actual birthday, we surprised him in his crib with a massive assortment of balloons and a muffin with a candle in it! After that, we opened gifts. He got a huge bag of balls! Then, we took him to eat at Rainforest Cafe. Our friends, the Wrights, watched Tyler so we could get some good one-on-one time with him. It was a lot of fun! For dinner, we made his favorite, spaghetti. It was a fun day celebrating our Grayson Robert!
Grayson Robert turned 1 year old on Wednesday, March 7! We celebrated with a full day of Grayson-centric activities, which I'll tell you about in a post tomorrow. I will spend a little more time rambling about how he's the greatest baby ever [insert mommy grin]. For now, here are the details about his epic, milestone birthday party.
PLANS, PAPERS AND PROJECTS
The BIG party was on Saturday. We chose a navy, yellow and gray color scheme. Stripes and a chevron pattern were mixed in with a mod elephant motif, as the main design elements. I love decorating and party planning, so this was just another outlet for my creativity. Plus, I have an adorable, precious baby boy who deserved an amazing party. I spent four months planning and 10 weeks working on all the projects, which I have decided would have taken significantly less time had I invested in a Cricut. Nonetheless, they all came together nicely.
My project plan was quite extensive. We made 12 yarn balls to create a chandelier effect in the living room. That space was also decorated with two handmade banners and paper garland. Additional decorations filled three other rooms in the house and included nine hanging cutouts, more than 20 signs, two banners, handmade table cloths, cupcake toppers, food tags, water labels, milk carton covers, soda bottle stickers with straws, yard sign, high chair cover and smash cake station decorations. Each of the 32 children who came received a zig zag or stripe goody bag filled with animal crackers, a coloring page, specially-ordered navy and yellow Crayola crayons and candy. From the yarn balls and yarn letters to the banners, printables and goody bags, nearly everything was handmade. I did, however, custom-order a few things, and my vendor credits are listed at the end of this post.
I used Pinterest quite a bit, which proved incredibly handy. Two years ago, for Tyler's first birthday, I printed more than 50 inspiration photos on real paper and put them into a notebook. Why didn't I invent Pinterest then?! Anyway, I used it this time as a great place to store my "research." You can check out my birthday board here.
My husband recently opened a photography businesses, and he graciously agreed to photograph the party decorations. However, we ran into several problems that I am still fairly devastated about, including terrible lighting from a rainy and overcast day. We also had a slight timing issue as well, and we didn't get all the shots before the party started, so some of these photos were taken the next morning. My bestfriend Rachel took photos during the party, so they are included in the album as well. Some of the highlights are at the end of this post.
My go-to graphic designer on Etsy, Kaylee Bug Designs, did Grayson's invites, and we ordered them from Miller's. They sent us about 15 extra invites, so I thought, "let's not waste them." We ended up sending out about 45, which doesn't seem like a lot until you factor in that most of our friends are a family of four. As of 48 hours before the party, we had 87 people RSVP ... yes 87! Panic doesn't really even explain my state of mind. I ordered more cake pops and food. And I reconfigured the design plan, adding more open space. Then ... minute by minute, I started getting calls, emails and text messages from friends whose children got sick. By the day of the party, we were down to 52. While normally, I would be devastated that our guest list was dwindling (and so many friends were sick), it was honestly a blessing. More details on Grayson's fear of crowds later.
THE BIG DAY
The party started at 3 p.m., and that morning was surprisingly relaxing. I had done a mock party on Monday night, and we finished installing the decorations Friday night. Tyler and Grayson took good naps and, despite the decoration-wonderland, were fairly unaware of the excitement to come. Every detail that I could control went perfectly. Every detail that I could not ... well, that's another story.
First of all, I was a little upset about Grayson's hair. (I know, I know ... but little things bother me.) The boys were napping until the first guest arrived. I didn't have a chance to fix their hair or get them dressed. I was especially upset that I didn't have the time to make sure Grayson looked perfect. Of course, he is precious regardless. My all-time favorite Etsy boutique, Initial Here Gifts, custom-made two adorable shirts and a hat. And he looked pretty darn cute, when he wasn't crying or hiding in his room ...
Overall, I think it was a decent party. We spent about 45 minutes mingling and eating. Then, we watched the movie that Chad made that chronicled Grayson's first year. The link is below, if you would like to watch it. After the movie, we sang the "Happy Birthday" song. Grayson tends to be fairly shy. He was doing okay with all the guests until all the attention went on him during the birthday song. It was all downhill from there. Tyler helped him blow out the candle, and he wouldn't eat his smash cake. I had to take him into his quiet, dark room to calm him. After a bit, we tried to do presents, but Grayson was not in the mood at all. We apologized to everyone, and Grayson went in his room again. My mom, Memaw, rocked him to sleep, and he napped with her for the rest of the party. I'm glad we still had lots of cupcakes left, because it diverted the attention a little. The Grayson Movie can be viewed on You Tube
SWEETS AND EATS
Sweet Art Bakery made the smash cake, cake pops and cupcakes. They were amazing! We received compliments from nearly every person, saying they were the absolute best they had tasted. The smash cake was banana and buttercream; the cupcakes were white almond and buttercream; and the cake pops were dark chocolate with white chocolate drizzle.
We also ordered Grayson's absolute favorite food, hushpuppies from Delaney's Irish Pub. I think we might have accidentally cooked them, while keeping them warm in the oven. Oops ... but everyone still said they were wonderful.
Chad made a pecan cheese ball--a recipe from our wonderful neighbor Barbara. And I made homemade sugar cookies that were cutout in the shape of a one. I had tiny, chevron bags filled with assorted baby snacks, such as Mum Mums, yogurt melts and arrowroot cookies. The other foods included a veggie tray, Chex party mix, white (or yellow) chocolate dipped Oreos and crackers.
