11 Months.

Well. My baby is officially just one month away from being a whole year old. My mind is blown, my heart is bursting, and my silly emotional side wants to cry because it's all going so very fast. This kid is just the most amazing thing in the entire world and I'm pretty sure I fall more in love every day. He's really turning into just the most hilarious, happiest little guy and each day I see more of who he will be. It's so much fun, and I'm trying to soak up every single second of it because, man, it is seriously flying by!

Grayson,

I have so many things I want to say to you, and it's making it hard to get started. For some reason I'm feeling a little emotional tonight, and I think it's because I'm realizing how very big you are getting, and how fast it's happening. You have gone from the cutest, cuddliest, most serious little baby into the funniest, sweetest, silliest, BEST little guy I've ever known. I honestly can't even put into words how obsessed I am with you - I am 100% serious when I say I love you more and more every day.

You are a full-blow big kid these days, and all traces of baby are quickly fading away. Luckily you still love to cuddle your mama, so I'm not too heartbroken about it. You took your first few steps on the 12th of this month, and you are getting better and better! I'm quite sure you could just take off and walk on your own whenever you wanted to, but you prefer to crawl. Daddy and I kind of force you to walk every day, and you're up to, gosh, probably 10-15 steps at a time before you give up and crawl. We are SO proud of you and every single time you walk to one of us we cheer and clap and say "Yay Grayson!!!". I'm not sure if you have any idea why we're so excited, but you really enjoy the praise!

You are a dancing MACHINE these days. If there is music, you will dance. If I hum or whistle, you will dance. If you hear even the slightest hint of a beat, you are dancing. And you have perfect rhythm, no joke. Of course this makes your daddy and I just so incredibly proud since we both love to dance. You have two musical toys that you are obsessed with at the moment. Billy Beats is a little piano thing that dances and plays music when you press the piano keys, and you will get in front of it on your hands and knees and rock back and forth or sway side to side with the music. This can go on fooooorever, and we are so thankful Aunt Rachel gave you that present for Christmas. Mama actually has time to get a few things done when you're busy with that! You're also VERY into your monkey that sings "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe". You figured out how to press his paw and start and stop the music, and you will do it over and over and over and over again. He shakes his head while he's singing, and now you shake your head ALL the time when you're dancing. It's the cutest thing ever. I let you ride standing in the cart at Target the other day (probably against some kind of mom-rule) and you danced and yelled at people and shook your head the whole way through the store.

Speaking of that Target trip, any time you are out in public you want everyone to know you are there. You do not have a shy bone in your body, and you LOVE people. Literally anyone that will give you two seconds of attention receives giggles and smiles and waves - and it absolutely makes your day when someone acknowledges you. You stare people down - or just yell at them - until they pay attention. And if they give it to you, you won't let up. I think it's adorable, but I also feel slightly bad once you've roped someone in. But you're a bit of a charmer, so people rarely seem annoyed. And you really love the ladies. It's a bit frightening. We were eating with Daddy and Papaw a couple of days ago, and you set your sights on our pretty blonde waitress. When she leaned over to hand us our food, you reached up, grabbed her arm and gave her a smile while batting your eyes. Needless to say you got what you wanted and boy, were you happy with her attention. Mama's worried for the future....

You are still a very passionate little guy. You get SO excited about things, and also can get SO upset with us if you don't get your way. We're working on teaching you that sometimes you can't have what you want, and it's a tough lesson to learn. You've also become a bit of a biter, but usually it's only me, and it's mainly when you're sleepy or hungry. But MAN those teeth hurt. Your punishment is to be set down away from me while I turn away, usually in your crib if we're in the room, and you do not enjoy that. But it seems to be working, so I'm happy for both of us for that.

Other than the occasional fit or bite, you are just an all-around joy. You are a great sleeper, usually from about 8 PM to 7:30 AM with two night feedings around 1 AM and 5 AM. You nap twice a day usually, but only for 30-45 minutes. I could do with longer naps, I won't lie. I don't get much done. But you're usually just so happy when you're awake I can handle it.

You're turning into quite the little eater. Since you never would take purees, you get pretty much whatever we're eating. You really love chicken, potatoes of any kind, rice, beans, and pasta. You tolerate broccoli, cauliflower and green beans. You aren't a big fan of any fruit. And you love to drink water. You also just had your first few bites of sugary goodness (birthday cake icing) at your cousin Isabella's first birthday this weekend, and you were a BIG fan. I still plan on keeping you away from sugar as much as possible, but man, did you enjoy it.

You and daddy have a pretty consistent bath time routine happening these days. I rarely help out with that, and you guys love that time you have together. You really love splashing these days, so I'm pretty happy to leave that to daddy. You also love riding things. Your Mickey Mouse car, in a stroller, and the moving dolly...pretty much anything that moves, you want to ride it. You still are in love with Addie, but unfortunately she's a little less into you now that you're moving around all the time - I'm still hoping and praying that she comes around and you guys become great friends. Your favorite things to do when playing by yourself are hitting anything and everything with your little plastic hammer and opening and closing things. Anything at all. Doors, cabinets, toys that have lids, your toybox, moving boxes....you just love to open and close things. You're also a big fan of Sherif Callie's Wild West (especially the theme song) and the Hot Dog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Much dancing goes on during those songs.

Your least favorite things are diaper changes (ugh, the struggle), your carseat about 75% of the time, and having your nose sucked out with the Nose Frida. You thought it was really fun for like a day and a half and now anytime I get it near you we've got a full-on meltdown on our hands. Like, screaming and kicking and tears. Unfortunately for both of us you've had a stuffy nose for a few days, and apparently you have allergies, so this may not be something we get to avoid.

One of my favorite new things is the kisses you give. If daddy or I say "give me a kiss", you will normally lean in for a sweet little kiss on the lips. If he and I kiss, then you will kiss him, then me. Of course we think it's super cute. You even initiate them on your own sometimes now, which might be the sweetest thing ever. You also can tell us where our noses are, thanks to Nana. She's so good at teaching you new things I don't even realize you're old enough to learn!

You are just the best, sweetest, most charming little thing I've ever seen. I could go on and on, but I know I can't write all day. I truly hope I can hold on to all of these wonderful little memories of our every day lives together, because every single day is such a great one with you right now. I love you more than anything in this world, and I'm so happy you're mine.

Love,

Mama