Blanky

I know, I know. Every kid has a blanky they love to pieces. Mine is no exception. The only cool thing is that his favorite one was once mine as a baby, made by Granny Vera approximately 29 years ago. The only slightly disgruntled person is my mom because she had saved it for me all these years. I feel a little bad too, but it seems unlikely I'll be able to get it back from Gray.

My Arch Nemesis

Is Dead!! All hail, the stupid fly is dead. That's right, a fly. It got in one day and lived amongst us for weeks. "Flying" around, perusing various landing pads in my kitchen. So GROSS. I cleaned everything all the time.

Anyhow, it either died (which would be so rewarding to find a dead fly somewhere so I could laugh at it) or flew out the door (more likely).

Moral of the story: buy a fly swatter.

P.S. Smoked salmon and coke DO NOT taste good together.

Caught in the cupboard

Gray is allowed one cupboard of his own in my kitchen. One day he realized it was easier to explore the KitchenAid if he got in with it.

Cruisin' in my 'cedes

Hmm, what to do on a sunny day? Think I'll ride in style in my Grandma's convertible! (Don't worry, the car is vintage so no air bag in the front).

Lawn mowin'

We were at my parents' and I had to get a few things done in the kitchen so I propped Gray up in his high chair and put him in front of the glass door so he could watch Grandpa J mow the lawn. He was very intrigued. Once I had finished making lunch I took Gray out to see the lawn mower and he investigated all the levers, switches, wheels and key. I asked dad if Gray could go for a ride and he absolutely loved it. He even drove it for a little while!

Just a good day

I decided Gray need to "experience" his food in a whole new way one day. Crazy, I know. But hey, you can do it when you've just got the one kid to clean up. It was fun and he ate :)

Tunnels

I think we found Gray's new favorite toy. Who doesn't like a good box to crawl through?

A Milestone for Us All

Gray turned one this month! (September 15 to be exact). It has gone by fast but in some ways slow. Kevin and I are just always in awe of our life as a family now. Watching Gray change is the coolest thing we've either been part of before. Anyhow, Gray got lots of great loot and enjoyed his day despite a little cold.

Pearly Whites

Things are good on the front at the Clement household. Gray finally got his two top incisors so now life is a little smoother for him. They obviously irritate him still but the worst seems to be over for this round.

Life has been busy this month but we're enjoying the weather and our new patio. We'll be heading to Winlock for our annual family festivities on my aunt Cynthia's farm this weekend. I'm excited to see everyone. Let's see, this time last year I was very pregnant and now we have a nearly 1 yr old. Crazy how fast it all went. I guess that's it for now.

Kevin's Graduation

I'm a little (ok, a lot) behind in getting this post up. Kevin graduated this year, finishing his classes in the spring. He walked this summer and here are some photos.

Congratulations to Kevin who now holds his Master of Science degree in Computer Science from UW. Whoot!!

No more bark!!

Well, it's really more like a reduced amount of bark right now. But hey, less is better in this case.

For those who didn't know, I was fed up with the bark in our backyard due to the dog tracking it in constantly. It became especially annoying when Gray learned to crawl. So now we have our lovely new patio and walkway and I'm very happy.

It think it turned out really nice and can't wait to get all the landscaping done around it. Oh, and my new BBQ :)

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Johnson

My brother was married this weekend to his love, Lyndsey. It was a really nice wedding, outdoors at my parent's house.
The weather was perfect and the bbq was delish!!
Dan and Lyndsey are honeymooning in Oregon and then a resort on Whidbey Island.
Gray was the ring bearer and he did pretty well, although there was one small blow up during the ceremony. Daniel was actually glad it happened though, to help break the tension :)

Here are some pics.

We're mobile!

It's been such a long time since I've updated everyone on Gray's progress, sorry! He's now crawling all over the place like a crazy boy. He has two different types of crawls depending on the floor he's on. When on the hardwoods he uses his right leg and pushes up and keeps his left leg tucked under and slides so he doesn't have to bang his knees on the floor. He's also realized it's very efficient so if he really wants to get somewhere or something (like the dog) watch out! For a while we thought something was wrong with him but then noticed he crawled normally on carpet.

Then he started really enjoying pulling himself up and creeping along the couch so we started walking around the house with him. We bought him a walker so he could cruise around. He thinks its pretty good, especially if you ask him to come to you. We've got a video of it, so as soon as I can I'll get it posted.

Now we're working on sitting down from standing. He's getting it down pretty quickly but does occassionally get himself in a pickle. Overall life is much better for Gray now that he can get to his desired location and things.

Poor Maggie has been banished to the front of the house because there was almost an incident when Gray pulled her fur. Definitely not worth the risk. Everyone is happier when they have their own spot to find respite anyway.

A good night's rest

Big news! Gray had his first full night of sleep about a week ago. Granted, he woke up a couple of times but put himself back to sleep in just a minute or less. He had some rocky nights after that but has now had two nights in a row of long stretches of sleeping. I'm so thrilled.

He seems to be ready to drop a nap too because he's having a hard time staying asleep in the morning and is taking a really long nap in the afternoon. I was able to get him down much earlier today so hopefully he'll go to bed at a more normal time, instead of 10pm!

Now comes my turn to adjust to actually getting to sleep again. You wouldn't think it would be hard, but it is. And I am also used to operating on less than 8 hours so when I get to 6 or 7 my brain won't shut off even though I'm tired. Figures!

Big stander

Amidst two new teeth and learning to crawl, Gray is also enjoying the splendor of standing up on his own two feet. He's so strong that we have no doubt he'll walk early. 

My New Garden

A few weekends ago, when we had that blazing heat, Kevin's family came up to help install some new raised beds for me. They turned out so much better than I had envisioned and I love getting my own veggies! I've got some raspberries and strawberries too but they haven't produced anything yet. In total, I have 16 varieties of fruit and veggies. And it's all organic. Yum!

When the cats away...

The boys will play!

I can't remember where I was but Kevin was home alone with Gray. This is him in our closet sitting. Notice how close his head came to the jewelry box stand when he fell over. Hmmm. :)

Of course, I can't criticize because Gray still did his worst trick while in my care (remember the couch flip?!).

A trip to the Zoo!

We took Gray to the Woodland Park Zoo for the first time this last weekend. I don't think he really had any clue but I'm sure he enjoyed the stroller ride in the warmish weather :) Unfortunately he was coming down with a cold but we still had fun.

Maggie turns 7

This year we thought since Maggie is about mid-life now that she ought to celebrate in style. Especially since she doesn't get all the attention she used to before Gray was born. I'm kind of behind on posting this, but her birthday (April 10) is the day before mine. She's definitely my dog! :)

I think she loved the cupcake more than the hat :)

Happy Easter!

We spent our Easter in Olympia with Kevin's family this year. We also got a surprise visit from the Easter bunny :)

Jump, jump, everybody jump!

Gray got his new Rainforest Jumperoo this week. His feet aren't flat on the floor yet but he's starting to figure out just how cool it is to kick around and push off. He also likes to suck on the blue bug attached to it :)

  

Oly. It's the water.

Just a preview of our weekend in Oly.

There were parties,

dancing,

and a little bit of malarkey!

Our Little Pot O' Gold

Gray celebrated his first St. Patrick's Day!

Gettin' down with the green!

Rattlesnake Lake

We took our very first hiking trip Sunday with Gray and the Engens. It was super fun and a good butt kicking for all of us (although I gotta say Kristin pretty much kicked all our butts!). It was about a 4 mile hike round trip. 

And we have 2 photographers with us now. At one point there were so many pictures some passers-by asked if we were celebrities. Hike pretty!

Nikon D40

Kevin (and I) recently purchased the Nikon D40 slr camera so we could have some better photos of Gray and everyone else we know. Here's one of our favorites so far.

Click on the picture to see it full size and clarity.

Gray "The Roller" Clement

Grayson turned a huge milestone this week, literally. He has now officially learned how to roll from his back to stomach. It was awesome to watch. You could see his determined little face figuring out that if he just kept trying he would make it. The first day he did it about 4-5 times, each slowly but surely. Now he's practically a professional. He also has a favorite side to roll over from but can do it both ways.

I can tell he is anxious to move. The intent is there but not the physical strength. He can tuck his legs under into crawl position and is starting to sit up better. His problem is he hasn't quite figured out his arms and how to push up on them.

Prayers for our Friends

I've shared with some of you, but our friends' daughter, Emma, passed away potentially due to the flu but nothing is sure right now. Our hearts ache for their loss. Please take a moment to pray for their family.

Baby's first cold

Well Gray, Kevin and I all had a lovely head cold together. A family that's sick together sticks together! (A classic quote from my dad, of course he added that it's true, literally. Gross.)

Gray and I are pretty much all better but poor Kevin is either on round 2 or just can't shake the first bout of it. 

Gray was quite a little trooper. He was pretty much happy throughout the whole thing except when I would suction his nose or if he got too tired at night. He was back to his normal growls, shrieks, and giggles today which was so nice to see.

My Little Bro's Wife-to-be

I know I mentioned it in an earlier post, but we finally got a picture of my brother and his fiancee, Lyndsey. They're planning to marry at my parent's house sometime in August followed by a bbq and party!

A Great Day on the Trail

We had another awesome walk today on the trail. It rained but the tree canopy is dense so we stayed pretty dry.

I forgot to snap a picture of Gray on his first day on the jogger but as you can see he's warm and snugly in there, pink nose and all.

I had to give up on his hat later on the walk because it kept twisting to the side and moving over his eyes. But he stayed really warm the whole time.

I love how the Chariot is gleaming. Maggie wasn't too happy about sitting on soggy, wet leaves though.

Just another nice bend in the road...

Aww, my husband rocks it!

And not just on Rock Band. My honey came home early to give me flowers, candy and a gift cards for Valentine's Day. We were sad he couldn't stay long as it's a school night but it was such a wonderful surprise. I love you Kevin!

Triathalon Baby!

Gray had his first ride in the Chariot Jogging stroller so we took our walk today through the woods. Maggie was thrilled as she usually gets to be off leash for the hour.

Then later in the day we went to Gold's Gym and had our first experience in the swimming pool. (In a salt-purified pool no less.) It was awesome! I think he really liked it but he should have had a nap before hand so when we tried to get dressed, he lost it. But we did make it out of the gym and home pretty much unscathed. Although, I'm exhausted from Gray's meltdown and from carrying him around in his car seat while the guy took me on a tour. Whew!

We'll definitely be doing more of both. And it was also a good day for mom because her bathing suit actually fits! Bring on the triathalons baby.

Snarky Face

I just had to share Gray's latest look, the "snarky face". He uses it on a regular basis to feign a tantrum. He even makes this little snorty-sucking noise while crinkling his nose. Doesn't work on me for a second.