In some way it seems absolutely crazy that time has flown so fast that we have an 8 month old...yet at the same time we feel like Griffy has always been a part of our lives and can't imagine life without him in it. Life may be a little busier and crazier now than before Griffy, but the amount of joy he brings into our lives every day is insurmountable. We have loved every second of watching him grow these last few months and anxiously look ahead to many more experiences and memories to come. Here's a recap of some monumental moments these last few months:
- Griffy celebrated quite a few first holidays! We celebrated our first:
Valentine's Day: Griffy had his 2 month appointment on Valentine's Day and that night we celebrated at home with sushi and Reese's! For Valentine's Day, Griffy got a toy elephant & some valentine's books and daddy got a mug and "date" jar.
St. Patricks Day
His dada's birthday: We celebrated by having friends and their kiddos over and having pizza and ice cream cake for daddy!
Easter: As mentioned below, we went to Arkansas to visit your Aunt Kara, Uncle Ryan, & cousins Kinsie & Brax. Here's some snapshots & then we'll talk a little more about it below!
First plane ride! Indy to Charlotte, NC
All loaded up and ready for our 2nd flight! NC to Little Rock
So excited to be with our cousins!
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Botanical gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas
Dying eggs - post Griffy swiping the yellow dye
Hanging in his stunner shades
Big Dam Bridge
Chapel in Botanical Gardens in Hot Springs
Decorating Easter Cookies
Little Rock Zoo
Easter Egg Hunt
Kinsie's Ball Game
Easter Sunday
All ready for church
The sweetest bunnies
The sweetest cousin crew
Love this family of mine
Full belly + happy guy ready for our second flight
Griffy's first National Park!
Lunch break in Hot Springs
LR Zoo Day
At the top of Pinnacle Mountain
Atop Pinnacle Mountain
Easter morning
Sweet little Easter bunny
Griffy's first hotel stay: St. Louis
Jewel Box in Forrest Park, St Louis
Arch National Park in St Louis - Griffy's Second National Park
While we were there Kara was also able to capture some snapshot family photos for us, which we were so thankful for!
Still smiling, even as he fell down 😆
Mothers & Fathers Day: We had a special family day for these! We spent time hanging at home, taking walks, & enjoying being together.
Mothers Day 2019
Mothers Day 2019
Fathers Day 2019
Fathers Day 2019
Fathers Day 2019
Griffy's Half Birthday: We celebrated big! We went to the Indy Zoo to see the animals, tried new food (pureed pears), went on a family walk, played on our splash mat, and cuddled with mama for our nap. It was a big day celebrating our favorite little boy and the best 6 months ever!
Trying pureed pears
Zoo time with dada
Indy Zoo
Indy Zoo
Afternoon Walk
Splash mat time
Sweet snuggly cuddles
July 4th: The weekend before July 4th, we went down to the lake for the annual fireworks show! We spent the day relaxing in the sunroom and on the dock and that evening we watched the fireworks from inside the sunroom. Griffy was mesmerized the first 10 minutes and then due to all the action that day fell fast asleep on mama after that. Oh, how I love sleepy Griffy cuddles.
The holidays were extra special having Griffy with us!
-Griffy went on his first camping trip! We went to Brown County State Park and also explored Nashville, IN. We hiked a few of the trails, spent time around the campfire or hanging out sitting outside the camper, and went into downtown for ice cream, to walk in and out of shops, and for pizza one night. Griffy was a champ and slept well and had a blast! I think he's going to like this camping thing.
Hiking around the lake
Hanging at the campsite
The sweetest smiles
Hanging around the campfire
Campground walks
Brown Country State Park Overlook
- Griffy went on a couple trips with us!
He went to Little Rock, Arkansas to visit his cousins 2 times (once in April and once in May). Here's to hoping we have a good car rider with all this driving! We went to Arkansas in April to spend the week before Easter and Easter with Ryan, Kara, Kinsie, and Brax. During this trip, Griffy experienced so many firsts and fun events! Griffy and I were able to go a little in advance of Tim, and we actually flew there so Griffy got to go on his first plane ride with mama! I might have to do a post all about flying with littles after our experience 😏 All in all flying actually really went pretty smoothly! Griffy LOVED all his time with his cousins - he is obsessed with them! His cousins loved reading to him, playing on his play mat with him, and making him smile and laugh lots! While there, we did lots of pre-Easter activities...we dyed eggs, decorated Easter cookies, went to their church egg hunt, etc. Griffy also visited lots of new places - we walked the Big Dam Bridge, hiked Pinnacle Mountain, explored Little Rock Zoo (Griffy's first zoo trip!), went to Bass Pro Shops to see the fish, went to Hot Springs (Griffy's 1st National Park), Arkansas, watched our cousin Kinsie play softball, etc. We also stopped on the way back from Arkansas and stayed overnight in St. Louis. While there, we had hoped to go to the zoo but it was at capacity...so instead we went downtown and walked around the Arch (Griffy's 2nd National Park). When we went back to Arkansas in May, it was with my mom and brother. We stayed for a few days to visit and also got to go to Kinsie's Pre-school graduation! It was so special seeing Kinsie graduate. She has such a sweet, kind, tender heart. I can't wait to see where she goes in the future and am so excited for her to start her next phase with school!
We went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with some of our good friends and their little boy. Tim and I LOVE Gatlingburg - it holds a special place in our hearts and it is some place we enjoy visiting often. We were so excited to take Griffy on his first visit. We rented an condo just a few blocks off of the main street in downtown Gatlinburg, so we were able to walk into town which we loved! We had dinner downtown on our first night and went down in the evening or afternoon a couple other times just to walk around and explore! We also spent a lot of time in the park during our trip. We spent a half day in Cades Cove, and were able to see multiple bears while driving through! We love this loop because the scenery is breathtaking and there are a bunch of old homes and churches as well as a village to explore! We also went to Newfound Gap in the park and hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail while there. Last, we hiked a couple new trails and areas - one being the Little River Trail by the Elmont Campground and another being a trail up to Elkmont Village near the campground - a collection of homes from the "resort-era" of the Smokies. Last, we stopped for the evening in Knoxville, TN on our way home and explored their downtown as well as the old World's Fair Park and the University of Tennessee campus!
Little River Trail
Dada's hiking buddy
Cades Cove
Cades Cove
Some things Griffy has been up to developmentally in the last few months:
Newfound Gap
NC/Tennessee State Line
Rolling belly to back: Griffy did this for the first time around 2.5 months but his mama screamed in excitement and scared him...and he didn't start trying to again until about 3 months. By 4-5 months he was a champ and could do it all the time!
Babbling: Griffy was babbling quite a bit by about 2.5 months...and it has only gotten more intense as he has grown! He can be quite a bit of a "chatty cathy". By 6-7 months he was saying "mama", "dada", and "yaya" syllables and his dada swears he has officially said his first word as mama - he won't repeat it but he calls out "mama" with intention when he wants his mama.
Other: Griffy mastered transferring objects between hands by 5 months. He had found his feet by 4 months. He inconsistently laughed around 3 months and consistently laughed around 4 months. He would reach for people he wanted around 4-5 months. He was getting close to rolling back to belly around 4-5 months, and consistently rolled both ways by 6 months. By 6 months, he was sitting independently (though not without toppling over at times) and by 7 months he could take toys out of a small container.
Crawling: Around 6-7 months, he was consistently rocking on his knees, pivoting on his belly, and attempting to pull to stand, so we knew crawling was not far off! By 7ish months, Griffy was mastering belly crawling and right around 8 months he began crawling on hands and knees! He still at times will belly crawl when he wants to get somewhere very quickly, but he generally crawls on hands and knees now!
Eating: Around 6 months we started a mixture of baby led weaning and purees - so more of a baby led feeding approach. Griffy really seemed to take more to baby led weaning type foods - he was never a huge fan of purees other than applesauce. We kept offering purees or fruits and veggies in large spears steamed or soft style for the first month and around month 7 added in teething crackers, yogurt, peanut butter, and mashed/small "finger" soft foods. Now, Griffy's favorite foods are: applesauce, blueberry or strawberry yogurt, peanut butter, mashed avocado, mashed sweet potato, and blueberries. On a side note but in relation to eating - Griffy got his first two teeth (his bottom middle) around 7 months!
Griffy had really bad stranger danger starting around 2-3 months and has generally gotten better - he now likes to "flirt" with other people (more women than men) but still generally is a mama's boy...and now actually has quite a bit of separation anxiety depending on the time/situation.
Loves: Baths (except when getting hair rinsed), hanging out in the carrier or with mama, trips to the zoo, people talking to him, being outside, taking walks, our pup Ali, other kiddos but especially his cousins Kinsie & Brax, riding on the boat, swinging, playing on his "splash" mat
Dislikes: Being put down, riding in his stroller, being tired, long car rides, waiting for milk, diaper changes, pureed foods
Favorite toys: "cow" taggie stuffed animal; musical books (Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes); Little People Mickey/animals/other characters; "OBall" Disney character cars; Aquarium & Kick Piano
Griffy also got to be a model for a few photo shoots with mama!
3/4 Months:
7/8 Months:
We have absolutely loved watching Griffy grow these last few months and anxiously look ahead to all the future holidays and milestones we will experience with him. The love we have for him and the joy we feel at getting to experience this life with him is indescribable. It is crazy to us that before we know it we will be celebrating our sweet boy's 1st birthday! We are so so thankful for the time we have had with him, though it has flown by! As we quickly approach his 1st birthday day, I pray we continually soak in every moment and day during this fleeting period.
3 Months
3 Months
4 Months
4 Months
5 Months
5 Months
6 Months
6 Months
7 Months
7 Months
8 Months
8 Months
Here's a snapshot of the past 8 months with our little love 💙💙💙💙
