Pittsburgh and Thanksgiving

We traveled to Pittsburgh on the weekend of November 14th, to see some good friends. We stayed with the Franey's and got to see Megan's friends from PA school and their new babies. It was really nice finally getting Griffin to meet some babies closer to his age instead of mostly toddlers. On Sunday, we went over to the Prosser's to let Griffin play with Madalyn whom we also saw on our trip to Kill Devil Hill's over July 4th. Madalyn has grown up quite a bit and while we were there Griffin stared at her ability to stand up on her own. She was also more mobile than Griffin but would crawl over to him and hand him toys.

Griffin currently is able to sit up on his own, roll on the floor and spin around on his belly. He can get up on all fours and rock back and forth, but he still has yet to put one arm in front of the other and start crawling despite repeated attempts from his Mommy and Gammy to teach him. I say "be careful what you wish for".

Just yesterday he rolled over to his dresser and managed to unscrew a knob on the lowest drawer.

Also, Griffin is making "Da da da" noises quite frequently much to "dada's" delight.

Lastly, on Thanksgiving, Griffin ate sweet potatoes for the first time. This was the first time he had real food besides breast milk and rice. I think he liked it.

He's 6 months old!!!

Today Griffin is 6 months old. I'm getting his pictures taken tomorrow and I'll weigh and measure him tonight. I think he's slowed down on the growing a bit. I'm so glad. We noticed a little spot of white on his bottom gums this morning so he's officially 'cutting teeth'. He's getting more independent every day. He enjoyed the pumpkin patch last weekend and dressing up like a monkey for Halloween. I hope you all can see him soon! We are going to Pittsburgh in 2 weeks and staying here for the holidays. But, we hope to come up to central PA after New Years.

Busy busy busy...

I've been staying active with Griffin on my Tuesdays off. We go to the library or Stroller strides and soon we'll try Mommy and me yoga. Since I don't know how to add pictures to the regular web page I'll add a few here. I know a few of you (Katie and Kathy) check this site and want to see more updates. Trust me, we take so many pictures, so I'll try to do it more.

Snickers was bigger than him when he was born. Now he's bigger than her (although they weigh the same). He smiles and looks around when you say "Here kitty kitty kitty!"

He was recently able to start riding in his stroller without the car seat. So now he can face front and look around. He's much happier this way. He loves the stroller that Gammy got him and the blanket that Grandma knitted him.

I love this picture. Lookin up to Daddy already. He is just crazy in that jumperoo! I think he's going to break it soon. He follows everything. He watches us walk around the room. He looks for things on the floor when he drops them. It's funny how the simplest things make him seem like the smartest baby in the world!!! :-)

Growing up fast

Our trip to Pennsylvania went well. Thank you to everyone who came to Griffin's 'Meet and Greet' and Baptism. We loved seeing everyone and are glad that you all got to meet Griffin. It was nice to have time off work and take some family time. Thank you so much to Gammy (Kathy) for the wonderful and delicious brunch at the Hilton. An update on Griffin's day to day life: Mary and Frank are still watching him everyday while we're at work. We're so grateful! We're just not ready to put him in day care. He's used to one-on-one interaction but loves being with different people. Eventually, I'm sure he'll do well in day care. He is not a big napper. He takes 15-20 minute naps throughout the day and on the rare day (maybe once a week) he'll take a 2 hour nap. He sleeps best in his crib or a big bed, not his pack n play.

He is now wearing shoes frequently because he LOVES jumping in his bouncer and jumperoo. He smiles and laughs when he's in them and once I witnessed him jumping and whimpering, with his eyes closed, struggling to stay awake. He wears 6-9 month sizes (at less than 5 months old) and he's getting chubby in his thighs and cheeks (so adorable!) But with all of this exercise, it may be gone soon :-( Too bad.

He's almost outgrown his infant car seat and he's not even 5 months old!! I thought it would last for a year! Two days ago we took him for a walk in his stroller without the car seat and he loved it. He didn't make a peep, he just took in everything and relaxed. It has finally cooled off here, so he isn't so sweaty.

He's been to the library for his first proper story time. He smiled at the librarian and enjoyed looking at the other kids.

A lot of people ask how the animals like him. I have a bunch of pictures with them and will post them soon. Mojo likes him but is much more interested in food and going outside. Lily loves him and runs up to him all the time, licking him on the face. Doodle is afraid of him mostly and rarely approaches when I'm with him. Snickers loves him and takes every opportunity to lay next to him, lick him, and, at times, walk on him. I redirect this last behavior since she weighs almost as much as Griffin.

4 Months Old

Griffin is 4 months old today! He is getting so big and he changes almost daily. He weighs 17 pounds and likes to roll over from back to front, although he doesn't really like being on his belly that much. He also likes staring at Daddy making funny faces and he really really loves his Mommy! We have set up a jumpster aka johnny jumper in the doorway and he will play in that for at least 20 minutes straight. Which is a lot for a baby with about a 3 minute attention span. Daddy is back from Switzerland of course and has had the pleasure of watching him for the past week. Now Daddy is tired and needs to go back to work so he doesn't start baby talking all the time. That's about it for now, we will be in New Cumberland, PA on September 13 - 15 on the Griffin Vigliano World tour, so look us up when we get there! Hope to see everyone soon!

A Big Boy!!

Are you ready for this?!? Last night, Griffin slept from 9:30 PM until 6 AM. He didn't wake up or cry once. I was actually worried at 4 AM when I woke up and realized I hadn't heard from him yet. He is so pleasant and funny. I love spending the whole day with him. But we miss you Daddy, only one more week!

Griffin is 3 months old

On his 3 month birthday, he was 15 1/2 pounds and 24 inches.

Vinny is in Switzerland for most of the month of August and I'm back to work full time. For now, my mom is watching Griffin during the day and that's a huge help and he's a happy boy because of it. I'm exhausting because he still gets up around 2 am every night. We were just getting him to sleep till about 5 am and Vinny left and the routine got disrupted.

Going back to work was very difficult and still is. I miss that cute little guy all day. I wish I could bring him with me.

His hair is a reddish color.... He started laughing about a week ago. Now he just belly laughs and giggles and coos, it makes me cry every single time. He's so happy, he really grew out of the fussy thing. He's really becoming aware of everything around him and he's loving his toys! He has a custom made Taggie blanket that is his absolute favorite thing (other than milk) and he loves any toy that talks, moves or plays music. He's not too crazy about pacifiers or his thumb. He tends to jam his thumb in there and gag himself, poor thing. He loves bath time so much that he loudly exhales and pees every time I lay him in the tub.

Griffin got his 3 month pictures taken two days ago. I felt like a crazy stage mom because I was behind the photographer the whole time making monkey noises and annunciating "B" sounds like 'Big Baby Boy!". The photographer commented that 'he smiles with his whole body'. A lot of people say he looks like Vinny. A "mini Vinny". I agree, But he's got a stubborn streak and has a goofy crooked smile, so there's little bit of me in there too.

He's awesome! I can't wait for everyone to meet him. We're coming up to PA to get him baptized on September 14. I'd like to have an open house while we're up so anyone that wants to see us can stop by. I'll let you all know soon!