Happy 1 Month...and a half!

Were in the middle of December and this boy has skated right past his 1 month mark! 6 weeks to be exact. We're now in the "month and a half" phase, and I'm long overdue for his development post. This little boy is so fun to have around! I used to have a lot of free time before he was born, and now it seems I can hardly find time to brush my teeth! Kidding (sort of).  I have to admit, I have forgotten a couple times!

Graham is doing fantastic! He is growing up! Our little newborn is not so new anymore! I love it and think it's sad at the same time. I'm already starting to miss the little things that have changed about him. But he is still so small and I have time to soak his newness in for a little while longer :)

Graham at 1 1/2 months:

Graham can finally focus on us now! We make eye contact a lot nowadays! He used to just look around and be fixed on anything but you.  When he was a couple weeks old he would go cross eyed all the time, poor guy! But now that he is much better at focusing, we have learned that he loves faces. Especially ours. I really think that he recognizes us already. We really connect with him when we are looking at each other! If I move around while he is laying down, he will even follow me with his head! I've definitely bonded with my baby as he recognizes that I am his mommy! It's awesome because whenever we FaceTime family, he will fixate on their faces too! Maybe that will help him recognize them as he grows up! He is also much more alert! He is still sleeping for more than half of the day but when he is awake, he is a wide eyed boy! 

Bottom :)

Spiking his hair is absolutely adorable because it goes instantly curly! This kid has some of his Dad's genes for sure because my hair is stick straight. Speaking of his hair, Graham has discovered it. And by that I mean he actually grabs it and pulls on it. Whenever he does that he throws a little newborn fit! Its hilarious because he of course doesn't know that he's the one pulling on it. But he won't let go and I can't release that grip for the life of me! All he knows is that something hurts and he doesn't like it! It's really funny.

He is starting to get really wiggly too. He flails his arms all over the place and he kicks kicks kicks. I'll be sleeping with him close next to me, and I'll wake up to him throwing punches at my face! He is mostly wiggly when he is frustrated. Which is then followed by a scrunched face and a pouty bottom lip (above)! But I love it when he wiggles when he is happy! He SMILES!! Big gummy grins! This is by far my most favorite change. The best time to catch these smiles are right after he eats and is getting all sleepy. I think he must be dreaming of something really happy. I can go as far as saying he has even laughed a handful of times! Steve and I have seen him give quick giggles while he's smiley and dozy! The combination must be the trick :)

Graham is a very strong baby. Along with his grip, his neck muscles have always been pretty incredible. Even when we hold him, he is always moving his head around so much that we have to be carful! He doesn't mind tummy time on the floor, but he will get tired after a little while. He loves tummy time on our tummies though. Im telling ya, this boy loves his Mommy and Daddy. Graham will try and roll from his tummy to his side when he is on the ground, and he has done it a couple times! Way to go buddy! 

He is starting to appreciate his toys now. He loves to look around, so we pulled out his play jungle mat! He just wiggles his little body and looks around. His favorite is the swing though! It has a mobile and a mirror that sits above him while he rocks back and forth. He'll just stare at himself in the mirror and make little happy noises.

I love love love it when this baby talks to me!! He is becoming pretty vocal, which makes sense because his Mommy is pretty loud :) It's nice to hear him when he is happy and not just when he is sad. It shows so much of his personality! He is such a happy boy! 

When Graham is sad he will kind of start to whine! We don't mind it at all (yet) because it's so stinkin' cute. He makes this face (above) and will give the softest little cry. He usually will do this when he wanting to be held. And boy and am I there in a second! Graham is the best cuddler. He is definitely the most happy when he is being held and cuddled. Steve and Graham have the cutest cuddling position on the couch. Graham sits in between Steve's arm and his side, almost in his armpit kind of. He just faces Steve and looks up at him. And that is their "thing" that they do to cuddle according to Steve :)  I guess my cuddle with Graham is him laying on my chest. He loves to lean left on me with his arms tucked under his chin. It's the best :)

Graham is a very good eater! He eats for most of the time that he is awake, and that is making him grow for sure! He is getting a lot heavier to me already. Graham takes his sweet time to get his tummy full, so I usually kick back and make myself comfortable with my phone or at least something to do! I can say with confidence that Graham and I are doing very well with nursing. It's neat that he just knows when it's time to eat, he goes through the motions like it's second nature. Although he does swallow fast sometimes, and he has to stop to take 3 or 4 big coughs. They are just about the cutest little coughs that I've ever heard. But poor Graham doesn't take a breath until he's stopped coughing, and it takes him a second after to swallow a huge breath of air. He does not like that, and he lets out one big sad cry. But then he's okay and continues eating. Haha! His little personality is showing more every day! 

This boy is so sleepy all the time. It may seem from these pictures that he is awake all the time, but really this is what I see for most of my day. He is so tired and I find myself feeling tired right along with him. Honestly though I don't nap, I just cuddle this sweet thing. When he is zonked out and we pick him up or pass him over, he will give this little squeak. I die every time! We do a lot of lounging, watching Hulu and Netflix, and it's not too shabby :)

Quick notes:

Weight: Don't know yet, our next appointment is in January.

Hair: Started going light brown, almost red?! But is now getting darker again. The longer parts of his hair are definitely darker than the shorter parts. He hasn't been losing hair very much, just the corners of his forehead mostly which gives him a mature look haha. But now those are growing and everything is starting to come in thicker! It also parts to the left by default. Instant combover haha.

Eyes: Still that infant blue-ish, but they are giving us hints that they might be turning green!

Height: Have to wait for the doctor visit, but he seems really long to me! He is definitely growing longer faster than he is growing wider.

Diapers: Just transitioning out of newborns into size 1! Blowouts are less frequent since. He isn't peeing on himself during diaper changes anymore!

Clothes: Out of newborn size *tear. He's too long for all of it. So we have been putting him in size 0-3 . 0-3 still seem to drown him a little bit, they are perfect length wise!

Likes: His passie, diaper changes, sleeping, cuddling, looking around, shower time, sucking on his hand/arm, lifting his neck back, sleeping with Mommy and Daddy, being held.

Dislikes: Being naked/cold, coughing, being hungry, put down on our scratchy carpet, getting his nose unclogged, having a hard time pooping, feeling ignored, and the moment right out of the shower before put in his towel haha!

Graham's Blessing Day

Such a special day. I love my family! Graham's blessing was so sweet. Steve is an amazing father already.  I feel like he really understands Graham on a father and son level. Steve talked about Graham's life and how much potential he has. He knows that his little boy is capable of so much good! They have such a special bond, even with Graham being so little. I can totally see it! He is such a good example of a strong priesthood holder. Everyone tells me I'm lucky, and trust me, I know I am.

Seeing Graham all dressed up in white was very special for me. It reminded me of the Temple, and being sealed to Steve which also seals our future children to us! What is most important in this life is family, and I will always have them with me! My husband and my children, we will never be apart! Even in the afterlife! Now that I have this little family, I can't imagine life with out them. They both complete me. And I love them.

We're so happy Jonathan and Brad could travel out here to participate! And were so grateful Joel and Abby live out here with us to be a part of Graham's blessing too! It meant a lot to both of us!

Cousins!! These are absolutely adorable, all the cousins taking a picture together. Why did Mia, Gracie, and Payton leave so soon! That would have been a fun time, getting all the kids to look over at the same time to get the pic! We tried with these three cuties, and we got close! Sort of haha. At least they are having a good time!

I like this one. It describes the situation very well! Wyatt, so impressed to be holding the new baby. Weston, just trying to get through a photo shoot without getting bored. And Lola, just wanting to play! haha! 

Graham, you have crazy cousins! You will have a lot of fun with them! 

Cute Wyatt! Holding Grahams hand. He is so ready to be an older brother again. 

Time to recreate an old photo!!

Now Graham is actually wearing Steve's baby blessing suit that he wore back in 1985! Baby. Tux. Love it! It's so in right now, ya know, with the retro look happenin'. It's got ruffles and everything. Perfection! 

Steve as a little baby! 

Same outfit!! Killer cute! Another neat thing is that white blessing blanket is the same too! It was made by Graham's great great Grandma!! 

Oh, so tuckered out!

Thankful

This Thanksgiving we were expecting a lot of family to come into town, and we were so excited! There's nothing like having family around for the holidays and it's even more fun introduce a new baby into the mix! We were expecting Brad and Cami to come for Graham's baby blessing, we scheduled it over the break so that family could join. We also asked Jonathan and Ashley to come, and of course they couldn't pass that up and both of them got work off! Yay! And to make this holiday even more fun, Maren and Scott decided to drive up from California too!!! We had almost the entire Smith family together, we just missed Scott and Carisa :( Living so far away is tough, they are out there in North Carolina along with my family in South Carolina and Mississippi. We try and make the best of the time we have with each other when we see them. But we do miss them!

We had a very relaxing and fun Thanksgiving weekend with everyone, and we planned some pretty fun things to do!

Graham meeting Uncle Jonathan for the first time! I just love these pictures, he is so cute with Jonathan! He sure did not like that beard though. Scratchy kisses. Graham scrunched his face every time haha! 

So I can't believe this, but I didn't get any pictures of Thanksgiving day! We had such a fun time, maybe I was too distracted that I didn't pull my camera out at all. 

Kami and Brad came in the day before Thanksgiving, and Steve was able to come home early from work to see them meet Graham for the first time! It was just about the sweetest thing. Cami came in, and right away had Graham in her arms! She had been craving this little guy for so long! And he loved his time with Grandma and Grandpa Smith. After a good long cuddle with Kami, she passed him over to Brad and it was so adorable to see Graham with him. Grandparents have this special love for their grandchildren! It's so amazing to watch them with your own child! Really incredible! Now Dad, your the last one left to see your "Grahamdson". Get it? Haha, can't wait for that day!! 

After we hung out at home for a while, we went to run some errands for dinner the next day. We ended up meeting Joel and Abby at Five Guys to have dinner! I had to feed Graham in the car before I went in with him, so I waited while everyone else got started. I thought it would be a quick dinner for Graham, but disaster struck. He had a HUGE blow out that went all the way up his back and ruined his outfit. I changed him in the car on my lap, and it was very...messy. Thankgoodness little baby poop isn't that bad! Anyway once he was clean I reached inside my bag to grab another outfit, but us silly new parents forgot to put in an extra pair! Soooo I was sitting in my car with an unhappy baby who didn't have any clothes to wear haha. What I ended up doing was wrap him up in his snuggly blanket and we had Five Guys with the family like that. Haha! Just across the street was Target and we bought another little outfit for Graham there. He would have a least a shirt on for when he was in the car seat again! Lesson learned! 

Thankgiving morning, Jonathan and Ashley arrived! We got all ready for the day at Joel and Abby's for dinner. Before we headed over, we stopped by the movie theatre to see a Thanksgiving day movie! It is my families tradition, and it was fun having part of my family in town to do this with! We saw Frozen, and it was hilarious and so cute! I've been singing the songs in my head ever since. Graham slept through the whole movie again :) That's two movies we have been to see with him! He did so good in Catching Fire too. The theatre is loud and I've been surprised that it doesn't bother him. He might jump a few times, but that's it. He just eats and sleeps and is an angel. 

After we went to Joel and Abby's for dinner and it was so delicious! Of course everyone stuffed their faces, I know I did! We had been talking about Black Friday and how crazy it has become. There were a few deals that had caught my interest, but nothing I was serious about until I saw the new iPone 5s on sale at Target.  It was a doorbuster deal and I figured it would sell out really fast, but how often can you get the new iPone on sale?? We were planning on getting me a new iPhone next year since mine is getting slow, but this seemed like a good enough of a deal to get it earlier! I told Steve and we decided that this would be my Christmas gift this year. So Brad, Steve, Jonathan, and Ashley braved the crazy doorbuster mob to get those good deals!! Steve was so excited! This was his first Black Friday experience. He tried to trick me into thinking that he was too far back in line to get the deal, but really he was the first person in the iPhone line!! Turns out he bought the only gold iPhone 5s that was an AT&T phone!! They only had one! Thanks babe!! Oh, sadly his trick didn't work because they had to deactivate my current phone to set the new one up. Sneaky trick ruined! Haha. Merry Christmas to me, I got my present early!! 

The next day Scott and Maren were arriving in the late afternoon, and we planned on spending the evening with the family downtown! It has been so long since I have spent Christmas time in Seattle, all of our old family traditions were coming back to me and it got very nostalgic! We were telling Steve's family about our Christmas traditions, and some of them included some activities downtown. They thought it would be a fun idea to go experience our family traditions for that evening! I was so excited! It brought back so many fond memories as a little girl. 

Our tradition was to go downtown when all the Christmas lights are lit and go on the pretty carousel that sits outside by the mall. I've always remembered it being so big and pretty! We also would walk around and look in the store windows that were all decorated for Christmas with trains and presents! There used to be a FAO Swarts Toy Store, and it was glorious. But they moved a long time ago, so that will stay a fond memory. Going to the Sheraton hotel to look at the beautiful gingerbread houses was always really neat! It was definitely one of my favorite parts of the night! But I think my absolute favorite part of the night was to go over to the mall food court next to the carousel and share McDonalds french fries with my family, while sitting next to the window overlooking the downtown Christmas tree. 

Our plan was to try out some of those old activities! We went down, and it just so happened to be the opening day for everything....and it was sooo packed full of people! I don't think we ever went on the opening day before haha! There was a lot less hustle when we went with my family in the past, but despite the crowds we still had fun recreating old memories! And it was fun!

Can't believe I was here as a grown up with my child! I loved sharing these traditions with Graham. I am sentimental about a lot of things, and this was really neat for me to have him there. And Steve too! 

Im so happy Maren got to meet Graham! She is so cute isn't she?? 

Christmas time with my Steve. I love this man! Graham was tucked away deep in his stroller :) 

Haha yes we are riding the carousel with Graham! Woo hoo! The carousel itself was a let down for me, bummer. It was a different one, it was smaller and a little cheap looking. It didn't ruin the experience for me, I just had to explain to Steve that this was not the same beautiful carousel that it used to be. But everyone in Seattle loves the carousel tradition, and there were a lot of people like us ready to ride it :) 

After our night downtown, we went and got yummy pizza back in Issaquah and played games at Joel and Abby's! I love how we all look tired in this picture, we probably were but nothing stops the Smith family from playing games! :) 

The next day we played games with Maren's family! I honestly haven't had that much fun in a while. I laughed, a lot! We played reverse charades (funnest group game in the world) and as crazy as it was with all the kids, it was hilarious! Girls lost :( Maren and Scott had to leave later in the day to drive back to California and it was too soon! Goodbyes stink. I'm so happy that they could make it here for a little while though, her cute kids are so grown up! 

We played more games that night, and we had Brandon join us from Ellensburg! He was going to be in the prayer circle with Steve to bless Graham, so he made the trip over :) We played another hilarious game with the rest of the family at Joel and Abby's. What a fun day! Steve got his game fix for sure! 

Sunday was a big day for our little family. Graham was going to be blessed at church! We had Brad, Jonathan, Joel, Brandon, join Steve to help bless him. It was so sweet!

We had everyone over at our house for dinner after church, and that meant more mashed potatoes! :)  We just relaxed and enjoyed each others company. Everyone would be leaving the next day so we had to get our fill. 

Awwww! He loves this spot. 

Cute, Grandpa! 

Jonathan thought it would be a good idea to make Grandma Juretiche's (my grandma) famous peanut butter balls. Yes, yes it was a good idea :)

Just hangin' out! 

Trevor stopped by our house for that evening! It was so good seeing him!! I wanted a picture of the guys and Trevor thought a "selfie" would suffice. Observe. 

Come on Trev, you know I need a good picture! And this was the best we got :) Haha these guys are funny! Love you all!