gym/no crying

Today, Graham did not cry when I dropped him off at the gym and didn't cry when i picked him up!! This is major! Good job Graham, you are doing a great job! I even got a few photos of him before he realized I was there; I will post them later! I feel like a rock star!

Little Dare devil

Yep. He is standing on his mickey.mouse fire truck. He won't ride it, but he will stand on the seat. I got to get this kid some elbow pads.

Pea graveyard

I was so excited, Graham was eating peas!!! Then I realized he was just squishing them between his fingers and into the tray. Totally made a huge mess, but he had a great time. I called it the pea graveyard. RIP peas...sorry.

Mickey couch

We found this couch for Graham. We needed s distraction and this worked. He got his shoes off, see previous post, and was running around like he was nuts. We got this couch down, and he went right to it and sat down, like he knew it was his and in his size. This couch may end up in our home...it was so cute. And it folds out to a sleeping bag, which he totally got. Love the mickey couch!

Velcro

He can undo his shoes that have Velcro closures. All you here in the car is the rip of the Velcro while you are driving. Like his own road trip music. Sweet music. He can't get them off yet. Thank goodness.

Kitchen mess

He got into the cabinet where we keep the plastic bags and made a nice mess on the floor. This was the same day he got the fire place screen down. Nice.

little things

Here are some little things that Graham has been up to lately:

• He is getting better being at the gym. The wonderful ladies there are good about distracting him when I leave, and once I am back and he sees me, I can't put him down unless it is in the car.
• At the gym, he has a friend. And it is a girl! Her name is Allison, she is 2 months older than him, and when she sees him, she says, " Gam, Gam!" I almost cried the other day. Her mom is a red head (:D) and expecting baby #2. When we left the other day, Allison saw Graham and starting shouting his name and he wanted down. They ran toward each other. Such a precious moment. I will try for a photo....but he has a friend! All the little ones we know that are his age are girls....Sage, Carly, Sophia now Allison. Hmmmm....
• He is helping around the house. He helps me by moving piles of clothes from one place to the other, and taking anything in a laundry basket and putting it on the floor, not in the laundry basket. So helpful. He is doing a little bit of the filling up, dumping out thing too.
• He knocked over the fire place screen last week. I was cleaning up the mess he made in the kitchen, when I hear the screen fall over. From one mess right onto the other!
• We put a guard over the cable box so Graham would stop turning it off and on. He some how can still push through it and turn off the cable box! It is nice though; I think he does it when he wants to talk. It gets quiet and he starts talking!
• He uses the coffee table to push his trucks/cars around. He makes little noises too. So cute.
• He loves to play on our bed. You lay on your belly, and he will climb all over you, back and forth until either of you say it is enough. He and Brett play there everyday once I leave for work. This also means he has fallen off our super tall bed. It happened I think on Friday, and on Monday. Yikes.
• Graham is getting very VERY vocal when he wants things. He literally gets in between me and the sink or whatever it is that I am doing and starts shrieking until I pick him up. Nice. I blame it on the hair. I can't wait until there are more words to match the shrieking.
• He is getting better with words. He still makes a lot of noise, but he understands SO MUCH. He is getting better with mimicking us too. He can quack like a duck, and I know he said yellow once. I can't get him to say yellow again, but he does quack. And he is getting better with the piggy noise and scrunching up his nose.

15 months

Graham is now 15 months old; well on the 24th he was. Had a lovely 3 day weekend, so I am just now getting around to making this post. He had a good day. He went to the gym with me and got his best review yet (very little crying, he is doing better and better). He is teething and some terrible diaper rash right now, so I thought his outfit was appropriate.

This is one of my favorite photos taken on his 15 months. He looks like he means business with this spatula. Spatulas are the best toys. They had a good handle to hold on to, and have a soft top so when he smashes it into things, it bounces back and doesn't really hurt anything. I may start giving them to other kids I know; start a spatula revolution. Maybe not; that totally sounded better in my head than written down.

Graham loves cheese sticks and has one everyday after his nap. Here, he is reaching for the cheese piece I am handing him.

Graham is getting really good at turning pages in books. He is also chewing them less; we have lost our fair share of books from being too eaten up to keep! This is his color one, and I think he is getting the colors. When he turns the page, I tell him the colors. He squats while he reads too. So cute. Time is just flying by.

piggy noise

Graham started this noise this morning; it is at the end of the video. It sounds like he is making a snorting/Piggy noise. This is a new development. I thought it was super cute.

Cheerios everywhere

Someone really likes their Cheerios, Cinnamon Burst to be exact. Brett taped this the other night at dinner; I think it is fabulous. I wish I had some of that energy...

inside gardening/attack

I can't believe this hasn't happened already...he has an orange hand rack that you use in the garden. He used it to tend to the floor today...or used to attack the floor, you can see it however you want. We may have to take it away if this keeps happening. I think it was the noise that got him excited. He is so cute and a little scary.

Super dad

Brett with his super dad cookie cake. We had a great day! We are blessed with so many fabulous dads in our lives. We love and celebrate you all. Happy Fathers Day!

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Yoga Graham

Who knew Graham knew yoga! Maybe he was relaxing before bedtime. Is that downward facing dog? this kid is something else...something totally awesome. I should look for a mommy and me yoga class. Just kidding, it would never work.

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Super dad

Brett and his cookie cake. We had a great day. We are blessed with so many fabulous dads in our life. We love and celebrate you all. Happy Fathers Day!

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a few things

OK, real quick, here are a few things from yesterday...

• I joined a gym! So excited to do this for me, but it means putting Graham in their babysitting services while I get my work out on. Freak out! We went for the first time yesterday, and he and I both cried, but then we did great. The two ladies who watched him are so sweet and they didn't have to call me once to come get him. Bonus! I am pretty sure Graham and I are still friends after this. We are going again this morning so I can do some yoga. I hope it gets easier with time. Brett said this was the best way for us to get used to this. I am in the same building and it is only for an hour at a time, so it is a great way for he and I both to learn how to do this.
• He has learned that he can run all the way around the dining room table. I think this is a new revelation for him; he gets all the way back to you and just laughs and puts his hands in the air. So cute. He also chased me around it a couple of times yesterday. Brett and I agree when he chases you, we don't know if he thinks he is chasing you or you are chasing him. But either way, it is cute. I am working on getting a video of it.
• He is running...fast. He can make it to where you in like no time.
• When he wants off the bed, he slides over to the side, and then wiggles his feet over the edge, like, "Please come help me down."
• He is getting expressive when he wants to do something or when he wants something. We are getting a lot of grunts and points when he wants something.

he likes his books

This Easter book has sparkly eggs on one page, which apparently Graham had to lick to really check them out. Thank goodness the glitter stayed on the page; that would have been weird to explain and clean up. He does this with some books; licking their pages and others he doesn't. I just like that he is into books. He is sorta letting us read to him. You can almost get through a book without him using his feet to close it and take it away from you.

Wrapping paper

He acts like the wrapping paper is his own light saber. He treats it like a weapon. You have to pay attention, or risk losing an eye.

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Play ground

We had a playdate at a great playground. All Graham did was run around and find big sticks. I only got shots of his back, and he would not wear his hat. We will try again. But it was great go meet up with friends and there kids.

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Good with locks

We locked this cabinet, or so we thought. He got it off in under 10 seconds. I couldn't resist the picture.

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Like father, like son

Brett used his teeth to hold things when was little too. Graham just started it as well. I had to get this pic for Grammie Mary. Look familiar Mary?

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The last of the zoo

We had to watch his little toes around the ducks and geese. They were the perfect height for beaks. He threw his pretzels over his stroller and a goose came out of nowhere. Our friends used their stroller to fight it off.

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Running around

After we saw the gorilla, we thought he would like to run around. This is where we inadvertenly opened a can of worms. Once he was out, he didn't want to go back in.

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Zoo photos, part 1

At the primate house at the zoo. I think this is one of the animals he actually saw. I was clearly super excited. This is before the wheels fell off the bus.

Graham daddy tackle

Graham and daddy playing tackle on our bed. They both love it. Now, Graham is starting to tackle back...so much fun.

Zoo trip

Yesterday, we went to the Philadelphia Zoo with Kent, Jenny, Carly and her parents. We were so pumped and excited to show Graham the animals and get his first zoo experience on. It was less than expected. You know when you hear a whiny kid and you think, man, can his parents make him stop crying? Well, that was Graham. He was the whiny kid, poor thing; he was hot, tired, and teething. He hates being strapped into anything for that long and he even got a little sun on his cheeks and nose. I think he saw exactly two animals and was way more interested in looking at the other kids and any other noise. It was good to see Kent, Jenny and Carly; Carly just turned 1 this past week! Anyway, once we got him in the car and calmed down, he took a snooze and then was fine the rest of the day. We left the camera at home, so all we have are photos on the cell phone which we are working on getting on the blog. AHH the zoo; I love you but man, what a tough day! We got a membership so we can try again once he gets a little age under his belt.

Play date

On Friday, we went over to a friends house to play with her and her two super fabulous kiddos Andrew and Amber. Andrew had a blast running into a chair to make Graham laugh, and Amber was so cute. They even have a dog and Graham was not even freaked out! My phone didn't take any photos, so I am waiting on a few from Heather. We had a great time hanging out and getting some grown up talk in while the kids played.

Belly

Guess who found his belly today!

Thanks Grammie and Grandpa for the denim diapers!

Little pool

From his first time in the pool. It was hot and he was teething.

Little chair

We got this little chair a weekend ago. How fun is the color? We told him it's orange, it is really coral. He can't tell.

two drummers drumming

Graham has been taking the silver trash can out of our room and bringing it into the family room to make noise with. He turns it over and over and tries to get it to spin like his plates. He was using it to drum the other morning and Brett got down and helped him out. What a special moment for both of them! So cute! Enjoy the drummers!

In the cart

Graham no longer wants to sit in the front of the cart, so now, he goes in the basket. He seems to really enjoy it. And he looks so darn cute too.

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