on the move.

OH Boy!!  We are in trouble now!  In the last week or so, Tucker has started moving himself backwards while on his tummy!  He is also trying so hard to get himself onto both his hands and knees!  Our little boy is growing up so fast! : )

He started out over on his play mat with all the toys!

 Working so hard to get those knees up!

I guess he wanted to play with his basketball hoop instead of with the toys on his mat!

 On the move again!

 So close!

 All this scooting is tuckering him out!!  BIG YAWN!

 Here we go again!

 Happy boy!

Here is some video of Tucker trying to crawl!

houston we have a toddler!

The Gray family officially has a toddler in the house!  Ellee is walking all over the place and becoming quite the big girl!!  She is learning so many things it's crazy!

Here are some of her new skills:

She WALKS

She talks, Current words: Dada, Mama, Bye-Bye, Night-Night, Hot, and Duhg - which is dog.

She drinks through a straw.

She climbs down from the couch with no problem (SOOO funny to watch!)

She eats with a spoon.

She fetches: She has this toy truck and when you say "Ellee, go get your truck", she goes and gets it! So cute!!

Ellee now has 4 teeth, count 'em 1-2-3-4!  It only took her 12 months to get them and now they are coming all at once!  She is such a trooper!  You can definitely tell when one is making its way through but, for the most part she is still her happy self.

Ellee made it all the way to her 1st birthday before she was to big for her infant seat. 

Here she is riding in her big girl seat!!

Mastering the art of eating with a spoon!

She is growing so fast and I love seeing all the new milestones. I do however, miss my 7lb 6oz little baby!

peek - a - boo

Peek - A - Boo!!!

This morning when I dropped Ellee off at my Mom's she was asleep with her blanket draped over her carseat.  While I was chatting with my Mom she woke up...I saw her little feet start kicking...all of a sudden she pulls the bottom of her blanket up!!  Then she pulled it down...then up again!!  She repeated this several times...She was playing Peek - A - boo!!  It was the cutest thing ever!!

Oh yeah, and I'm pretty sure she said MAMA today!!  First time ever...haven't heard it again...but, I know she said it!! : )

10 months today!!

Yes, we have a 10 month old!  This is so crazy (I think I say this every month)!!  This month has flown by!  Ellee seems like she has done so much growing/developing in the past 30 days!

• She went from crawling backwards to crawling forwards...and at a very fast pace.  Along with pulling herself up on furniture..and whatever else she can find.
• You tell her to clap, clap, clap and... she clap, clap, claps! 
• She stays balanced on her 2 chunky little legs for a few seconds at a time.
• She gives REAL hugs and my favorite...REAL kisses ---ON DEMAND!!!
• She knows when she is in trouble...she will look at you and smile.  It is so darn cute which makes it hard to get mad at her! She loves our entertainment center...I think its something about all those fancy buttons on the DVD player and cable box.  Who wouldn't like to push all those buttons!! : ) Oh and she LOVES to pull ALL the DVDs off of their shelf. Which by the way, she is currently doing!! Yes...she is up past her bedtime but, who cares...It's Friday! : )
  Yes, we have a laundry basket in front of the DVD player!!  Hey, whatever works right!?
• She is almost fully transitioned into a sippy cup --she went the WHOLE day today with no bottle.
• She is using her fingers to pick up food. And is managing to eat small pieces with out choking. Her favorite is green beans and small pieces of cheese. : )
• She hasn't said any words other than Dada and the typical baby babble but, you can tell she is really trying hard. 
  I think they will come soon! 

Oh yeah, and she has learned the art of temper tantrums!  This skill isn't one that we are very fond of... Especially when we are trying to change her diaper or get her dressed...  Ha!

She learns new things every day..it is so amazing!  I can't wait to see what new changes this next month brings!!

And of course...this post would not be complete with out her 10 month photo collage!!

UH, SHAYNE!!

Another new trick our not so little Ellee has learned, is to pull herself into the standing position!

So the reason for the title of this post...
Last night I put Ellee in her crib for bed. She started to cry which is normal. Ten minutes later she was still crying. So I went in to calm her down. What did I find....Miss Ellee was STANDING in her crib holding onto the edge. UH, SHAYNE!! (is what I said when I discovered her!)

Now, she has started to pull herself up on things but never in her crib. So... it is time to lower the mattress in her crib like ASAP!!!!! :)

A good job for her Daddy!! :)

9 month well exam.

Yesterday, Ellee had her 9 month well exam!  Yes, I can't believe it either!!  She will be 9 months tomorrow!  I just keep thinking that these last 9 monthes have flown by! 

Here are her current stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 8 oz - (28th percentile for her age)
Height: 26.75 inches - (25th percentile for her age)
Head Circumference: 44.5 cm - (17.52 inches) - (68th percentile for her age)

The visit went really well!  She is right where she is supposed to be.  She even demostrated her "talking" for the nurse.  The nurse had asked if she was saying any repetitive words like mamama...or dadada... I told her that her favorite was dadada...and 2 seconds later Ellee repeats dadada!  It was so funny...the nurse laughed and said Ellee got an A. : )
The appointment went pretty fast.  We like those!  The best part was NO SHOTS!!!  I was really happy about that.  I was told last time that she would be getting shots from there on out but, when they were looking at her records they said she was current on all and didn't need any more at this time.  Thank goodness!!! : )

Ellee is getting so big and her personality is really starting to come through.  It is so amazing how much they change from month to month!!  I was looking back at what she was doing when she was 6 months.  She went from barely sitting up on her own to putting herself in the sitting position, pulling her self up on things and crawling all over the place.  She is also claps and does high fives! All this and more in just 3 short months!  I wish she would slow down. LOL! : )  No, not really...we are enjoying every minute of her and all the new things she is learning!!

goodbye mr. bink!

We have said goodbye to Ellee's binkies/pacifier/nuk...whatever you would like to call them.  It has been 5 days since she has had one.  The removal of the binkie was all decided one night when we couldn't find any of them ANYWHERE.  I said I was tired of having to keep track of them and buy new ones when they were lost... and it's not like she really needs it right!!?  So we said goodbye!  And we aren't looking back!! LOL! : )

She is doing just fine without it.  I think she actually sleeps better now that she doesn't have it because she isn't worried about it every time she wakes up.  She actually didn't really use it that much..she more just liked to hold it.  Half the time I would check on her and it would be in her hand rather than in her mouth.  I'm actually kind of relieved that we kicked that habit so early...I was kind of afraid we would have 2 year old walking around with a binkie...well not really...but, I am surprised that the habit was is kicked this early.

Sound asleep WITH OUT Mr. Bink! : )