Snow Day

Greysen LOVES the snow. While he's on my back on a walk in the snow, he'll stick his tongue out to lap up the snowflakes. If you give him a piece of snow, it goes straight into his mouth - naturally - but he repeats it over and over even after he feels how cold it is. Today at Cassie-care, he got up close and personal with a snowbank when he inspected it in front of his face and lost balance and faceplanted 2-3 times and never got upset. Greysen loves the snow days ...

Picture Perfect Christmas

Before I open my mouth and ruin it all, here are a thousand words worth seeing....

Christmas and all that crap

In order to aid my recovery from Christmas bah-humbuggery, we hiked with Greysen for a Christmas tree in the forrest outside of Helena. I put Greysen on my back, Andrew pulled the sled to bring our tree back once we cut it down and Cassie carried the camera (naturally). We found a tree not far from the parking lot. And because it wasn't far from the parking lot and we just wanted to hike around in the snow, we took a pic of it and moved on. It was the back-up tree. And a great back-up tree, I must say.

We hiked in for a good 30 mins and then we spotted the One. I spotted it from across the vast expanse and could tell it was the One without even seeing it up close. Greysen agreed with squeals of joy and laughter. Or he was laughing at the dogs running around. But we think he loved the tree. Cassie and Andrew cut down the tree. Luckily we had Cassie there to hold it up or surely we would have perished under the weight of it.

On the way back to the car, I walked gingerly through the slippery downhill snow. Cassie had a better idea.

And then another better idea.

Greysen just went along for the ride and enjoyed every minute he was outside.

We had a great time.

And we got a beautiful tree for $5 which is the cost of the permit. Check it out...

Voila - he sleeps ...

Today Greysen turns 9 months old. He has an appointment today for, well, I don't really know what for. But I'm happy to be able to report his height and weight for the memoirs. In usual G fashion, G kept me from having to ask the tough questions and follow through with unpleasant parenting.... I planned to ask Tess (pediatrician) what I could do to help G transition to sleeping through the night without feeding. I was fully prepared for the awkward and difficult process of "sleep training." And instead, after he got over being sick just a few days ago, G transitioned to sleeping through the night for TWELVE HOURS at a time without intervention. He now goes to bed at 7-7:30 p.m. and wakes 6:30-7 a.m. I've seen glimpses of his interest in sleeping through the night for quite some time now. He's only awakened once per night (12 hour period) for about three months now. And he falls immediately back to sleep while nursing. And then sometimes he'd just sleep right through and fail to wake. And I'd wake up around the usual nursing time confused and wondering if I'd slept through it without remembering that I woke to feed him.

And because this is an important milestone for me (and my sleep) and for Greysen, I am fully expecting it to end any night now. But if it does, I will know for certain that he CAN sleep through the night without eating and I can ignore those nagging thoughts that perhaps I'm denying my baby the much-needed midnight feeding. And I can be certain that if I have to do that difficult parenting thing called sleep training, I will be stronger and more resilient to his little cries and pleas for attention.

Collage of cuteness...

I've been remiss in posting lately. So here is a collage of G enjoying his new house. He continues to be the sweetest baby EV.ER. Enjoy...

Interaction

Greysen is becoming such a little person instead of a baby. He can talk, move, interact. In fact, Papa and Greysen play ball together which consists of passing the ball back and forth to each other. G's gotten quite good at it! It's so much fun. I think Bennett likes it too.

Thanks

We have a bounty of thanks in the Jakes household this year.

We're thankful that Greysen eats solid foods like turkey on Thanksgiving (and I don't have to nurse as much - YAY!).

And for friends and family ...

And his newest friend Amelia Ann Moog ...

And for hikes in the snow ... Greysen loves the backpack and getting snow on his face. He likes to stick out his tongue so the flakes fall in his mouth.

And for moving around ... even though it's backwards.
And for our happy, healthy family.

Happy Thanksgiving. Love, The Jakes'

Smarty Pants!

Greysen update - there are a lot of things to update!!

Greysen can:

1. Say 'hi.' Literally says it when you walk into the room. Could be his first word?


2. Wave buh-bye when you walk out of the room.


3. Say Mamamamamamaaaa when I walk into the room. Could be his first word?


4. Clap and maybe sign for "more" when we aren't feeding him quickly enough. The two actions are quite similar so they could be interchangealble.


5. Scoot backward to get to a toy - but the toy is in front of him. Even got himself stuck under the couch. Cute thing...

5. NOT get any cuter - especially in his all plaid outfit (thanks to Bennett).