THE BIG 3-0

Yes, this week I turned 30. It was a wonderful birthday week. Justin and Grayson made sure to pamper me and treat me very special all week. My office hosted a birthday party on Wednesday and our small group went out for dinner that night to celebrate. On my actual birthday Grandpa Royal came up to keep Grayson while I went to the spa and then to the football game with Justin. On Friday my dad, Sue, Brooke, Bradley, and Peyton came up to go out for dinner and on Saturday my mom and Aunt Ret came up for a day of shopping. It has been a busy, but VERY special week.

Last week, in honor of the end of summer (Grayson starts preschool soon), Grayson and I took a day trip to Wilmington. I got to see my friend from college, Anne, and meet her sweet daughter, Adra. Anne and I had not seen one another in at least 8 years. The plan was to head to the beach, but the rain forced us to resort to Plan B. Plan B turned out to be Monkey Joes. I have never been there with Grayson. It is a big warehouse-type space full of giant bouncy houses. I went in thinking Grayson would probably spend most of his time in the toddler bouncy house. Boy was I ever wrong! He went for the biggest and best ones with the big slides. Obviously those are not really made for someone with little short legs. SO, I ended up having to go in with him to help him up the climbing walls to the slides he was so determined to go down (all by himself). I am sure that I looked like an absolute fool in these giant bouncy houses, but I was so proud of him. It was adorable and a wonderful way to wrap up the summer visiting friends.

As I said, Grayson is about to start preschool. We went to preschool orientation on Friday and he seemed to love it. He went right into his class and made himself at home with all of the toys and things. Both of his teachers seemed really nice. I hope he will like being there. The actual first week is next week, but we will be on vacation so Grayson will start a week later than the other kids. He will be going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 until 1.

Grayson has started doing one really funny thing these last couple of weeks. Apparently we have really drilled the no-no thing. For those of you who don't believe in spanking or popping, you may want to move on to the next paragraph. Anyway, so we pop Grayson on the hand or leg when he is clearly being disobedient and doing something that we have repeatedly told him he is not allowed to do. This form of punishment works well with Grayson. Only once did he decide that the activity was worth the pop. That activity was throwing food. At that point we resorted to time out on the upstairs landing (yes, it is all gated and safe). He hates being alone so that form of punishment works when the crime is worth the punishment of a pop to Grayson. After one time out, he no longer throws food. The popping has worked for everything else so far. These days Grayson has pretty much learned all of the things around the house he is not allowed to touch or do. Occasionally he just can't seem to help himself and he must do that one thing he knows not to. When this happens he makes sure to do it right in front of us, says no-no to himself, and then pops his own hand. WHAT do you do with that?!?!?!? Is this self injurious behavior??? Should I be worried ;-)

Tonight things are pretty busy around our house. We leave for the beach tomorrow. It is our annual trip to Topsail with the Royal family. I am so excited that I can hardly stand it. I am pretty sure Grayson can sense the excitement and I am certain he knows we are going away. While I was packing tonight he got in his suitcase and said, "Go-Go". I replied, "Yes baby we are going to go-go tomorrow to the beach, but right now you need to get out and go to bed so that I can pack your clothes". He got out and I got his clothes all packed, but there are a million things left to do. I love the excitement of getting ready for vacation!!!