Spring Break '09

For Spring Break Graham, my mom and I went to Minneapolis (click on Minneapolis to a link to the photos in my facebook page. Don't worry you don't have to be a facebook user to see them-but why aren't you??)to visit our dear friends, Sarah and Margaret. Sarah is my very best friend from high school, and she is also pregnant with baby #1 (boy!) due July 9th. I was very excited to see her little belly, and feel some baby kicks! We had a nice visit, we visited the famed Mall of America, where Graham was enthralled by the indoor amusement park. We also toted him around while we shopped and ate. He was great throughout the entire trip, sleeping somewhere new, missing naps, on the plane, etc. Speaking of the plane, Graham was very good. He was quite happy reading books, eating "O's" and once he started wiggling a bit too much, watching Baby Signing Times on his new portable DVD player. Which, by the way, was the best purchase ever! The best thing happened while we were deplaning in Columbus. The woman behind us remarked, "oh, I didn't even know there was a baby in front of us." Trip successful!

It was great to see Sarah, she is so cute pregnant! I hope we didn't overwhelm her with crazy toddler play, obsession of buses, squirrels,balls, and blueberries!

If you can't see the photos, leave me a comment so I can alter the format. I hope this works, it eliminates a lot of uploading.

"Curl" hunting.

You may be wondering what a "curl" is. Of course it's a squirrel! Graham is loving hunting for them as he eats. Luckily the squirrels participate in the fun and tend to hang out on the deck for most of his meals. He is also really good at hunting buses (the big yellow school ones are a favorite, but he likes them all!), unfortunately the buses don't hang out in the backyard.

Visit!

Pat's parents came down for a visit a few weekends ago. We had a fun time, and lucky for us the weather was nice so we could enjoy Graham outside at the park. This was also the beginning of the NCAA basketball tournament. Graham loves balls, but since the tv had basketball on all weekend, he now loves "bee ball". He points out hoops in yards as we drive. Please don't tell Mr. 5th percentile for height that his chances of reaching the NBA are pretty slim. Let a boy dream:)

Fun at the playground!

A Favorite Book!

Graham loves reading his dog book. On this particular morning he flipped through the pages and checked out the different doggies while I prepared his breakfast, and didn't make a peep! Another fun thing is happening lately, Graham is starting to notice what is on his clothes, especially his jammies. These are his basketball jammies (March Madness is upon us after all!). He picked them out saying "ball" and pointing to the balls. A lot of his jammies have dogs on them, and he always points to them and does a happy scream, it's cute!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Last Saturday we bundled Graham up and hit the local St. Patrick's Day parade. It was a fun day! Graham loved the trucks and the bands. We met up with our friends, and Graham and Lilli were the envy of the toddler set in their warm Bundle Me's in their respective strollers! Graham was exhausted after missing his morning nap (yes, he is still taking two..more on that later) for the fun. He fell asleep as we were walking back to the car, but rallied in time for our stop for lunch. He enjoyed the biggest blueberry pancake known to man. He ate about half of that thing!

Coloring ( kinda!)

Trying to get Graham to enjoy the quiet activity of coloring! He was more interested in what was under the paper (nothing), and what happens when you throw the crayons on the ground. Fun times.

Mommy news..

This isn't really Graham related, but its Mommy related. I just thought I would share what is up with me. It has officially been 15 months since I have taught/worked outside the home/collected a paycheck/wore real clothes/attended a meeting/etc! I have been pretty shocked at how easily that part of me just sort of ended and I didn't look back. I really didn't miss it much at all, which really surprised me. Though recently I have begun to think I should do something that will help me with my own feelings of self worth (if you stay at home, you get this) so I decided it was time to start tutoring a little bit each week. I am so glad that I did. I am really enjoying keeping up my skills (let's face it, it's not everyday that most of us multiply binomials or change linear equations into slope-intercept form!), and interacting with kids again. What is interesting though, is in just the few weeks I have been tutoring, I may have made a discovery about my future. I have always thought that one day I would go back to teaching, and I do think that I will go back into education in some form. However, what I have enjoyed about tutoring the most is being able to sit with a student one on one and actually see my lesson being processed and understood-teaching at its absolute core. As a classroom teacher, you really don't get to do this very often with each student, but we all wish we could.

Anyway, its been working out well that I can tutor either during Graham's afternoon nap (the second hour of his nap is the first hour kids are home from school!) of after he goes to bed at 7. As much as I love teaching Graham everyday, having to use and challenge my brain in a different way has been fun!

Cutie pie.

How cute is Graham's outfit? I wasn't planning on him wearing the hat, but he insisted! Today we sat at the new table and did some puzzles, reading, and even some coloring! Graham really isn't into coloring yet, but I keep trying. I LOVED to color, and am hoping he will one day enjoy it, so I can color again too!

We had a few days of lovely weather, a tease for spring. Graham and I took his radio flyer bike outside to ride, and he did so well! He rode it by himself all the way down the driveway. I was so thrilled I was annoyed I didn't bring the video camera out with me. So, we ran back inside to get it. I brought Pat out with me to help so I could recreate the fantastic bike riding. Oh my goodness! It was so not good! Graham had had enough by then! I won't post it because its just him sitting on the bike, screaming. I'll try again the next nice day we have.

Let's see, what else is new with us? Graham has been so easily frustrated and upset lately. I think it is a combination of two things. One, his age, and two, his teeth. Last week I noticed that his gums were so incredibly swollen. They were practically taking up the whole sides of his mouth! Today I was able to get a finger in there to feel, and sure enough, he is getting his first set of molars! Oh, my. He is not dealing well with them. I feel bad because he is clearly in a bit of pain, and there really isn't much I can do for him other than offering cold things to chew on and ibuprofen.

On a positive note, Graham is now starting to sign and say "thank you" and "please". The best part? He is using them at the appropriate times. He will actually sign and say "please" when he wants something. My little gentleman:)

Graham's new table!

The boys sitting at the new table!

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Spring Day!

Today was a fantastically beautiful day! We spent most of it outside. Graham and I loaded up in the jogging stroller for a run to the playground and back. This was one of the first times Graham got to enjoy a snack on a run, he loved it! Notice, the hat stayed on most of the day. He absolutely loved being outside, it was breezy, and he loved the wind. The funny part was he was kind of scared to walk around, and stood in one spot on the driveway. It was like there was just way too much for him to look at and take in, he couldn't get enough! At the playground, he was scared to walk on the ground too (the picture where he is standing next to his stroller). Anyway, I couldn't decide what pictures to post, there were so many cute ones, I thought a slide show was the best option for today! More outside fun tomorrow, its supposed to be 70. Yay!

Puzzles

Graham is beginning to really love doing his puzzles. Which is nice, because I was nervous that he would never want to do a seated activity! Phew. Anyway, today he actually got one in the right place, with no help! He has known for a while where the pieces go, but his fine motor skills aren't too refined yet, and it is hard for him to get those pieces in! If you look close though, he is getting the little chick in the right spot. Oh, and what you can't hear is him whining for me to open the glass door to get the puzzles out:)

More Hats!

Graham loves his winter hat, so I need to find a spring hat for him to wear to hopefully block the sun. This is the first candidate..I think he likes it:)

Dining together is much more fun!

Graham's buddy, Andrew M. came over for dinner tonight! The boys ate yummy peas, veggie corn dogs, and whole wheat blueberry pancakes with chopped broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower hidden inside! I think we fooled them:)
Andrew is about two months older than Graham. His mommy is my good friend Jennifer. We both left teaching together to be stay at home mommies..Thanks for visiting, it made the evening fly by!

Relaxing...

Graham wanted to relax and watch his DVD (Baby Signing Times of course!) before afternoon nap today. He was so tired! This is the first time he just sat in the big chair all by himself. I was in the kitchen cleaning up our lunch, and he made no effort to move!

New chair...Table on the way!

Graham is the proud new owner of his very own little table and chairs. The table should arrive any day now, but he is having fun testing out the chairs in the meantime. Graham's GG (Grandma Ginny) got him his little set. More pictures when it is all here! Thanks so much GG!