Griffin and I recently went to Seattle to visit my uncle Bob, aunt Carol, Mom, and sister Alli. In addition to lots of good conversation, food, and laughs, we attended an event at the Woodland Park Zoo called Pumpkin Prowl. Griffin dressed up in his owl costume and was met with lots of oohs and ahhs for his Halloween debut. I was one proud Mama. As we were browsing the booths, we were approached by a woman named Corey who, along with her mom, manages two websites called Celebrate Green and Green Halloween. [Both sites are no longer live as of 2022.] They’re both devoted to eco-friendly ways of celebrating holidays. Corey just loved Griffin’s costume and wanted to feature him in an upcoming newsletter! I took her card, emailed her the pictures, and the newsletter was sent out today. Click here to see the newsletter. [Newsletter is still there, but it looks like many of the embedded pictures and links are dead as of 2022.]
Griffin has eight teeth already. Since he started teething at three and a half months, we definitely have our fair share of things for him to chew on. I’ve been reluctant to give him teething biscuits because of the concern that he might bite off a piece and choke on it. But lately as he’s been working on tooth number eight, he has been gnawing and biting things he shouldn’t. Namely me. That kid can chomp! My shoulder and arms have been receiving the brunt of it, and it seems like his desire to bite is increasing. More teeth on the way?
With a little reluctance, I picked up some very healthy looking teething biscuits at the store today. I took one out of the package and clunked it on the counter. Definitely hard as a rock. With Griffin sitting in his high chair, I handed it over. He immediately liked it and started gnawing away. He attacked it with gusto, and since he was such a mess and seemed to be enjoying eating, I decided to feed him some some squash and yogurt, too. Definitely the messiest feeding to date!
Griffin’s first taste of a teething biscuit. I think he likes it!Add in some squash and yogurt for a yummy mess!This kid’s a ham.
New for fall 2009, the most fashionable ladies are wearing this season’s hottest accessory: barf.
While our model doesn’t look particularly pleased with this season’s hottest accessory, it is her job as a model to look miserable.Our model’s creative director, however, looks quite pleased with himself.
If you’d like to recreate this look, make sure to get a six month old and have him barf on you without any warning. Extra hotness points if it gets in your hair and on your face.
We have a house guest this weekend named Roger. He’s the dog of our friends Yoni and Laura, and with all due respect to Dusty (may he rest in peace) and any dogs in my life presently, he’s the best dog in the entire universe. He’s patient, gentle, comes when you call him, likes other dogs, loves a good scratch, plays fetch, chases squirrels, and curls up in the cutest little ball when he takes a nap. He also likes to lick Griffin’s face, gets concerned when Griffin cries, and lets Griffin tug his ears.
Yesterday was our first full day together. Griffin met him after waking up in the morning, and much giggling ensued. Griffin was fascinated by Roger! Simply watching him walk around the room made Griffin laugh, and Roger seemed to like getting Griffin’s attention. I could tell they were going to be friends. We went for a walk, took naps, rolled on the floor, played fetch. It was a good day.
The afternoon is when the stare-down happened. While there are many of Griffin’s toys strewn about the house, Roger seemed completely uninterested in them . . . until Griffin started playing with Mr. Mushroom and Mr. Mushroom let out a squeak. Now like I said, Roger is the best dog ever, and being the best dog ever means you have manners. I stumbled upon this scene after starting to cook dinner:
Griffin thinks Roger only has eyes for him…But Roger really just has eyes for the squeaky toy between Griffin’s legs.
Roger resisted Mr. Mushroom all afternoon and into the evening. It was only after Griffin went to sleep that Roger dared to gingerly take it from Griffin’s play mat. He gently gave it up after I said no, but he still wanted to play with it thinking it was a toy for him. While Roger seems to understand much about the human world, he must find it rather confusing that babies get squeaky toys, too. With Mr. Mushroom out of commission, Griffin and Roger are back to finding eachother intriguing.
Grummy is in town for a visit, so the whole Stocco-Palmer-Roy family (minus Andrew, who was working hard getting his classroom ready for students on Monday) went out to the Eat Real Festival at Jack London Square on Oakland’s waterfront.
Grummy and Griffin ready for fun!
Cousin Max is a practicing walker and keeps Uncle Dave moving.
Cousins Raven and Max dipped their toes in a fountain while Aunt Nancy and her mom, Mary-Helen, watched.
Cousin Raven
Cousin Max
It was so much fun, Griffin just had to take a nap!
Our bedtime routine for the past couple of weeks developed from the discovery that Griffin really likes to play on his changing table without anything on. The first night I was ready to put on his diaper after only a couple of minutes but was met with so much protest, it was obvious he didn’t want the fun to stop. We played for longer and after he’d had his fill, he was ready to move on to diaper and pj’s and settle in for the night. He has clearly been delighting in naked time, squealing and laughing as I tickle him, pretend to eat his toes, and kiss him on his neck, tummy, and armpits (his favorite). This has turned into a 30 minute affair that we both really enjoy! It’s so different interacting with him now that he has stronger likes and dislikes.
Today is already turning into a warm one, so I decided to let him have naked time in the middle of the day while I folded diapers. He rolled around his quilt, babbling at me and playing with his toys. It seems inevitable that he will soon be asking me why naked time isn’t all the time!
Over the past few weeks Griffin has been getting better and better at front-to-back rolls. He sometimes goes the other way, but never quite makes it. There’s always an arm or an elbow preventing him from completely rolling onto his front. Tonight, inspired by a visit from his friend Rosie, he managed an effortless roll onto his tummy! (Rosie is two months older and is an Olympic class roller.) Pretty soon Griffin will be rolling clear across the room.
Griffin’s third tooth broke through on Wednesday, and it has been a tough couple of days for him. (Oddly enough, it was his right lower lateral incisor, which doesn’t “typically” arrive for another eight months.) This evening the pain was obviously excruciating, leading to his worst meltdown in a very long time. I took this picture a few minutes before he really lost it.
