Getting to Know Grayson

The first three months of life are really pretty amazing, when you think about it. An infant goes from a sleeping/pooping/eating lump into this interactive little person with a distinct personality and (unfortunately for his Mom and Dad) firmly held opinions already formed. We often wondered in the first weeks and months if Grayson was ever going to do anything other than scowl at us with a furrowed brow. It was his favorite expression, followed by eyes wide open in a look of shock and amazement. Happy face? Never. Excited? Not so much.

Then all of a sudden he started to become animated. He suddenly started to smile. He laughed! He began to become aware of his surroundings and of these two strange, very tired looking people who feed him and (despite his protestations) suck boogers out of his nose. For those two very tired people, this Grayson awakening is like a light at the end of a tunnel.

Happy Grayson

Grayson is really a pretty happy kid. It just took a while for his face to catch up with the rest of him. When we took him for his 2 month check-up the doctor asked if he was smiling yet and we had to report that he wasn't. She chatted and played with Grayson for a while and he started kicking and squirming. She said, "that's his smile. His face just doesn't know it yet." Well, sure, we'd seen the kicking. Nobody told us that counts as a smile.

Fortunately, Sharon caught this early one by chance.

Finally, a real smile!

Eventually Grayson figured out the whole smiling thing. Now he smiles all the time!

Grayson has a Lot to Say

Another distinct element of Grayson's personality to emerge is his love of conversation. Grayson will talk to anything and anybody, at length, on a variety of subjects. We ask him about his day, and he's usually willing to tell us.

Here's a quick video of Grayson talking to a book that Sharon put in his napper. As you can tell, he has a lot to discuss with his book.

Here's another one of Grayson telling his Dad all about the day he had. Both Sharon and Matt would like to apologize for the silly voices they make on these videos.

 
Grayson the Clandestine Thumb-Sucker

Parenthood will make a liar and a hypocrite out of you. We're coming to understand that. Many times Sharon and Matt would say how they would never give their children a pacifer. Or, certainly, not let them suck on one all the time. Well, Grayson decided to put that notion to the test by attempting, 24/7, to suck his thumb. Finally we had to decide if we wanted this:

Disobedience at 12 Weeks Old

Or this:

Point - Grayson

As you can probably imagine, the binkie won out. And so now you are very likely to see Grayson happily sucking a binkie whenever he can. Ultimately it was decided that a binkie is much easier to hide one day than a thumb. His parents are now sufficiently humbled on the matter.

48 to 72 hour Grayson

What most parents would consider a blessing is our constant struggle. Grayson doesn't poop. Well, he does, just not often. We can usually count on a good 48 to 72 hours between dirty diapers. That doesn't sound very pleasant to us, either, but the doctor didn't seem too alarmed. When he finally does go, everything appears to be in order. But, we have had to employ some "bottle additives" to get the kid moving.

Medicinal Purposes Only

And so, of all the many faces of Grayson, this is actually one we enjoy seeing the most.

In Process

Lots of Fun "Days"

Grayson hit the 8 week mark last Friday and we don't know where the time has gone. (Actually, a fair amount of it has been spent in the middle of the night feedings.) A family in our ward blessed their 1 week old yesterday and we thought "he looks so small compared to Grayson!" The list of people in this world who are smaller than Grayson isn't very long. So it was weird to see the difference between the 1 week old and the 8 week old. We've been so busy with the comings and goings of taking care of a newborn that it is easy to forget and not appreciate this stage. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to the past few weeks.

Quirky Grayson
We realize that any facial expression Grayson makes right now is purely happenstance. Nevertheless, he does make some cute faces. 

Deep in Thought

Super Relaxed

Most Common Grayson Expression - The "Ooh" Face

Visiting Aunt Sis, Uncle Pete and Great Grandma Gosney
We took a trip down to OKC to visit Matt's Mom and Dad. While there we were able to introduce Grayson to Matt's sister Tami (Grayson's Aunt Sis) and his Uncle Pete. He also got to meet his Great Grandma Gosney, who was very excited to see another Great-Grand.
 

Out Cold Sleeping on Aunt Sis

With Great Grandma Gosney & Dad

 NWA Baby Shower
Several of Sharon's friends wanted to hold a baby shower prior to Grayson's arrival. Well, Grayson had other ideas and showed up early. So we took the opportunity as soon as we could to make our way back out to Centerton to see our friends across the border. We sure do miss NWA! Thanks to Cori Graham for organizing and Jan Saumweber for hosting. We had such a great time catching up with everyone. (We also thought it appropriate that Grayson's first Sacrament Meeting be at the Centerton Ward. That way if he cried he'd be drowned out by the 150 other babies.)

Grayson Got a Lot of Lap Time with a Lot of People

Catching up with Good Friends

Grayson Assuming the Cuddle Position with Cori - Laura is Rightfully Jealous!

Visit from Aunt Cathy, Uncle Will & Aunt Lauri, and Cousins!
A couple of weekends ago Sharon's sister Cathy flew in for Grayson's baby blessing. Matt's brother Will and his wife Lauri and their kids Tag, Lucy and Sam came up the next day. So it was an exciting time at our house! Everybody went to the Jenks Aquarium where Tag enjoyed the sharks and Lucy found them to be scary. Tag did not, however, enjoy the smell around the beaver exhibit. Evidently beavers and otters do not smell very good.

Tag Playing in the Back Yard

Lucy Having Fun in the Yard

Aunt Sharon, Grayson, Cathy, the Beaver, and a Non-Plussed Tag

Grayson with Dad at the Shark Tank

Grayson's Blessing
On June 10th we had Grayson's Baby Blessing. As you can see from the photo we had the support of so many family members, we felt very loved and supported! Grayson is now all blessed up, although we haven't really noticed that much difference.

The Whole Baby Blessing Crew

Mom, Dad & Grayson

We thought for certain that we could get some really great photos of Grayson in his cute baby blessing outfit. Instead he thought it would be a fun time to make silly faces. So, here they are, Grayson's silly face baby blessing pictures.

Excited Grayson

Grayson Knows Something You Don't Know

This is Probably Just Gas

The Smirk

Aunt Shonee & Uncle Aaron Visit
After the baby blessing Sharon's brother Aaron and his wife Shonee spent a couple of days with us in Tulsa. While we were here, we went on a tour of the local Blue Bell Ice Cream factory. It really wasn't quite as awesome as it sounds, but we did get free ice cream.

Note Sharon is Holding her Free Ice Cream

Aaron and Shonee

Grayson is Ready to Blow this Popsicle Stand

Grayson was Glad to Hang with Uncle Aaron, Despite the Frown

Penny Enjoyed the Excitement of It All

Favorite Way to Sleep
Unfortunately, Grayson doesn't get to sleep in his favorite position all of the time. But when he does, as you can see below, he takes full advantage.

With Mom

With Dad

Matt's Birthday
Matt had another birthday on the 16th of June, and as usual his sweet wife did a wonderful job making it an extra-special day. He started with breakfast at one of his favorite places (a local spot called Brookside By Day, awesome buckwheat pancakes.) Then that evening everyone (Matt, Sharon, Grayson and Penny) went to the drive-in to see The Avengers! Seeing the movie was great, but seeing it at the drive-in made it that much cooler. (Not cooler temperature-wise. It was actually boiling.) We pooped out before the 2nd feature, but still had a great time and Matt had a WONDERFUL birthday.

The Admiral Twin!

Dad and Grayson at the Drive-In - Dad Wearing His New B-Day Shirt

Anxiously Awaiting the Movie to Start

Father's Day
Matt was born on Father's Day, which means his birthday usually falls close to that Sunday. This year, the day after Matt's birthday he got to have his very first Father's Day. Grayson got his dad a beautiful personalized frame for his desk at work. (Mom probably helped with that purchase.) But Grayson is the best Father's Day gift a Dad could have! (Mom helped a LOT with that one, too.)

This One is Going in the Frame

After Church on Father's Day

Dad Needs to Work on that Double Chin

Dad and Grayson on Father's Day

Lesli & Roger and Crew
Matt's cousin Lesli and her husband Roger and their crew of three made a quick visit to Tulsa on their way to see Lesli's Mom and Dad in Centerton. The girls wanted to see Grayson. And, given how cute he is, it's totally understandable.

Grayson surrounded by Women!

Firsts

One of the funnest things about having Grayson around is we get to experience lots of firsts. Although, first poopy diaper wasn't really a milestone we were looking forward to. And Grayson has been more than willing to let us re-experience that event several times since. Nevertheless, firsts are fun. Here are a few of Grayson's firsts.

First Visit from Grandma and Grandad Gosney

Grandad Gosney holding one of his three favorite Grandsons

Very proud Grandma Gosney - note that Grayson got Grandma's nose in the genetic lottery

First Real Bath

Grayson had a few "sponge baths" prior to his "little boy surgery" healing up. But this was his first, for real bath. He immediately fell asleep as soon as he was put in the tub. Actually, that's not the absolute first thing he did. Let's just say he found the warm water very relaxing, and Mom and Dad had to change out the bath water. As the saying goes, we did not throw the baby out with it.

Enjoying a quick nap in the tub

Less excited about the hair washing

Loves the warm towel - and to be done with the whole bath thing

Grayson needs some comforting from Dad after the bath trauma

The profound sleep of a well-scrubbed infant

First Time with Dad in Charge!

Sharon took an opportunity to run up to her work on Saturday morning, leaving Grayson alone with Dad! Dad did manage to not do any permanent damage, but he did think that a little photo shoot would be fun. When Grayson was still in the hospital (the first time, right after he was born) he was scheduled to get his picture taken with the standard newborn hospital photo. Unfortunately, Grayson wasn't having a very good morning when they came by to take the pictures (and he looked like an Oompa Loompa from the jaundice) so we decided to forgo the photo shoot. Matt and Sharon's Christmas present to each other this past year was a new camera, so Matt decided to see if he could put together his own photo shoot. It's much easier to take good pictures when they feature the world's cutest baby.

First Mother's Day

Grayson decided that for his Mom's first Mother's Day he'd like to buy her some pajamas. He figured that, since that's all she's pretty much worn since he's been on the earth, she must really like them. Mom got to go to church for the first time in a few weeks while Dad minded the home front. But he sure was glad when she got home! Mom asked for one of her favorite meals for Mother's Day: beans, cornbread and fried potatoes. (Sharon has been married to an Okie for too long, obviously.) Matt surprised her with a chocolate cream pie for dessert. That won him some points.

Sharon and his Mom - Mother's Day 2012

He's keeping an eye on Mom

Chocolate Cream Pie with Cool Whip - Just like Sharon likes it!

Grayson's favorite sleep position - hands over his head