The cutest thing...

Lately, Graham has taken a liking to a certain family photograph of the three of us. He carries it with him and it's never out of his sight, even when he's playing. It was getting pretty beat up, so I decided this morning to tape it to the fridge right at his height. I showed him where it was so he could come look at it when he wanted to see it. It's so cute to watch him look at it! He's fallen into a routine with his little picture...First, he taps my face and says "Ma Ma". Then, he taps Jeff's face and says "Da Da". Finally, he taps his face, smiles, then pounds on his chest! Graham is at such a fun age and I really enjoy watching his recognition and understanding grow each and every day!

Messy Morning

The above picture really doesn't do the mess justice, but this is what it looks like when a very tired Mommy allows a very enthusiastic baby to feed himself an entire container of yogurt first thing in the morning!

Graham and Alex

This afternoon Graham and I were able to visit with Amy and Alex. We had plans to head to the park, but surprise, surprise, the weather was cold today so instead, we opted to spread toys from one end of the room to the other and let the babies go nuts. It was great to have an adult conversation over lunch and it was so much fun to see our little ones start to interact! Alex is very close to crawling and I'm sure that it won't be long before they can chase after each other! Alex was kind enough to share her extensive musical instrument collection with Graham which is great since he loves any toy that makes noise. He absolutely loved her children's hand bell set so that might be one of our next toy purchases. The sound of bells might be a nice change from the wooden xylophone that Graham is obsessed with!

Graham delivers a toy to Alex

I'm not sure what Graham is laughing at here....maybe the dog or a cat...it sure is a fun house with all the animals!


When we got home this afternoon, I caught Graham trying to "charge" up his toy phone with my cell phone charger. He is one observant boy!

A Weekend of "Firsts"

For those of you checking our blog the past few days, I'm sure you noticed the lack of updates. We spent our long weekend up at the lake, and now that we're back in town, I've got a chance to update everyone on our past few days. Unfortunately, other than the first night we arrived, the weather was pretty crummy. It's hard to believe that it's almost June since we're still wearing jeans and sweatshirts. The weather didn't stop us from having a great weekend though and Graham was still able to experience for the first time, many of the fun things we do up in Spooner!

Playing outside in Spooner...the first time Graham's been up there without snow on the ground!

Playing "Catch Phrase", one of our favorite cabin games

"Driving" his truck at the local grocery store

First taste of licorice-one of our favorite snacks to eat on the boat

Driving the boat!!!!

One of my favorite things that Graham was able to experience for the first time this weekend was wearing a life jacket. Not wearing one isn't an option for him, so I was a little concerned he wouldn't like it and it would become a battle. Apparently, I was wrong..... :)

Just one of those days....

There isn't too much too report today from Graham's world. I've realized that as fun as our excursions are, some days (like today) we need to just stay home and just get things done around the house. We did manage to take a break from cleaning and laundry to spend some time at the park this afternoon. Like usual, Graham was all smiles and I again found myself wondering what I've done to deserve such a happy, loving little boy!

Happy at the park

Discovering dandelions...

Zoo Trip

Today, Graham and I packed a picnic lunch and headed to the zoo to check out the animals and soak up some sun. Today's trip to the zoo was a bit different than our previous visits, because now that Graham can walk, he'd much prefer to do so, rather than sit strapped into a stroller. So, we slowly followed the path often stopping at Graham's request to look at "exciting" twigs and wrappers while Graham held my hand and the diaper bag sat securely in the stroller. Initially, I wanted Graham in the stroller so we could move faster and get to where we were going. But, when he repeatedly looked up at me, said "Ma Ma" then grinned at me, I was reminded just how special our afternoon was and that there really was no rush. It just melted my heart to see how proud he was to be walking along holding his Mommy's hand. I waited so long to have someone call me Mommy and I'm so extremely grateful that it's Graham who allowed me that title for the first time!

Intently studying the Caribou

Taking a break from the animals to play

Feeling very pleased with himself for allowing a goat to lick his hand!

We've been keeping a secret....

http://www.princessolson.blogspot.com/

Happy in the stroller...

Today felt more like a crisp Fall day than Spring...I think the weather in Minnesota is confused! After spending the first part of the day running various errands, it was nice to spend the afternoon just playing with Graham. Who would have thought I could have so much fun with an airplane toy?!?! This evening we took a walk and we were unfortunately back to jackets and bundling Graham up in a blanket. As you can tell from this picture, the cool weather doesn't seem to bother him much!

Happy Birthday Grandma Olson!

Today we were able to help Graham's Grandma Olson celebrate her birthday! Jeff's parents came over for lunch and Graham entertained us all with his knowledge of animal sounds and repeatedly asking for more food. He's recently learned the baby sign for "food" so it's become a happy game for him to sign "food" and actually receive some sort of snack. The weather is beautiful today (although unfortunately much cooler than Florida) so after we finished our meal we loaded Graham into his wagon and headed over to the park. Like usual, Graham enjoyed the slide and after some gentle coaxing to leave my arms, he eventually enjoyed the swings too. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the birthday girl to add to today's blog entry, but we still wanted to wish her a very Happy Birthday!

Graham and Grandpa Olson en route to the park.

Trying to decide what's more fun to pile up...sand on the beach or wood chips at the park.

We're Back!

We're back home safe and sound after our wonderful week of vacation in Florida. Graham LOVED the beach and LOVED the pool and I'm certain he wasn't ready to say good-bye to all the attention he received. For an entire week, Graham was lovingly doted on by his two parents, a set of Grandparents, a set of Great Grandparents, and an Aunt and Uncle. All vacations must unfortunately come to an end though and we spent yesterday traveling home. Of course, we couldn't have a completely uneventful flight because that would be no fun. So, just for added measure, out of sheer exhaustion on the plane Graham cried so hard he threw up about 30 minutes into our flight. Lovely. There is nothing like holding a warm, restless baby for three hours who's just thrown up. We did have a fantastic time though and I'm sure that Graham's fans are more interested in pictures rather than my commentary, so I'll just let the photo's do that talking!

"I'm ready for the pool!"

Graham loved to relax in his little floaty in the pool.

Celebrating Mother's Day with lunch on the beach.

Playing with Great Grandpa!

This is the very first time Graham ever saw the ocean! Two minutes after this picture was taken Graham was completely soaked. This child has NO fear and wanted desperately to play in the waves!

Relaxing in the warm sun

Graham thought that eating sand was a good idea...

He doesn't look too thrilled with the way that sand tastes!

Hole in one!

Our resort had a little playground for children. Graham loved going down the covered tube slide. I was worried he'd be afraid, but he again showed no fear and wanted to go down repeatedly!

Graham discovered that one of the cabinets at the resort was the perfect size for him to play in. He even began to hide cell phones and remotes in there!

Perfecting his surfing form on solid ground before he hits the waves!

Building a fort with Grandpa

Our happy guy!

Practicing stairs while we were waiting for our table one evening...

Being silly on South Beach in Miami

It's almost time!

We're just about ready for our week in the sun! Although Graham thinks he's helping me pack by repeatedly taking things out of the suitcase then throwing them back in, unfortunately he's really not. It does keep him occupied while I try to get myself organized though, so I really shouldn't complain. I know that Graham has many fans that religiously read up on his life each day, so I wanted to let everyone know that there won't be any blog updates while we're gone. Jeff and I have vowed a computer free week for ourselves in order to relax and help us get as much out of our vacation as we can. When we return in a week though, I'll have 7 days worth of pictures to share. So, I promise many pictures of Graham's first trip to the beach when we leave sunny Florida and are settled in back at home.

In the meantime though, here is a picture of my monkey child this morning. I'm such a mean mom....he really was stuck in this position and instead of helping him, I grab my camera right away! Don't worry, I didn't let him suffer for too long!

The last day of school...

Today was Graham's last day of school for the year! We've both enjoyed our class very much, so it was kind of sad. Graham will be taking the summer off from Academia, but his classes will resume again in the fall. Jeff was Graham's special visitor at school today and took lots of pictures to mark the special occasion. We started class off today with a hand print activity. Not many of the kids enjoyed having their hands painted, in fact there were tears shed by several of Grahams classmates. Luckily, Graham didn't cry but he did appear to be pretty confused!

I think Jeff was impressed by how social Graham has become during circle time. When Jeff visited school a few months ago, Graham was still pretty hesitant and preferred to stay very close to me. Not any more though! Our little guy now likes to be in the very center of the circle. When the puppets come out, Graham more often than not, joins the teacher in the front and tries to hug his furry friends.

One of Graham's favorite things to do at school is cook in the kitchen. Here are Graham and Abby cooking lunch! Graham will have to put his cooking talents on hold for the summer until we return to the classroom in the fall.

Signs of Summer

I think that summer is finally just around the corner for those of us experiencing the crazy weather of the Midwest. We spent most of today scrambling around the house in attempts to get organized for our trip this weekend, but we did have the chance to go out for lunch with Grandma Greer and some of her friends this afternoon which was a nice treat. Before we headed out, I let Graham get an up close look at the tulips he's been staring at through the window for the past few days. If colorful flowers don't scream summer, I don't know what does!

This next picture is completely random, but cute...Yesterday afternoon I was folding laundry and Graham found his winter hat in the pile. I've washed it several times this year to put away thinking that I wouldn't need it again, only to dig it out of the closet a few days later when unexpected snow arrived. I'm confident this time though, Graham won't be needing his winter hat again for several months. That doesn't mean that he doesn't want to wear it though! Graham put the hat on his head and wore it around the house for the next several hours. In fact, he still had it on his head when his Daddy got home work. Jeff had a very confused look on his face when he saw that Graham was wearing a fleece hat on a nice, warm Spring day.

Playing at the park....

This morning we met up with our friends Wendy and Abby at their favorite park. I'm so glad they showed us where they like to hang out, because this was the best park we've been to yet! Nearly every park we've been to has wood chips on the ground rather than sand. This park has both though, so it was fun for Graham to bury his trucks and fill up buckets with sand. I guess you could say that this was Graham's trial run for sand castle building on the beach...4 days and counting!!!

Most of this park seemed geared towards little ones, which was so nice. Graham and Abby had a ball exploring structures built for toddlers without having to watch out for big kids. Graham was very intrigued by this train, although he repeatedly told me it was a truck. They also had a great pirate ship to climb on but unfortunately, it began to rain before we had a chance to really check it out.

It really doesn't get better than a park right on the lake!

Happy Monday!

Since we knew that Jeff unfortunately wouldn't be home this evening until Graham was fast asleep, we decided to head over to General Mills for lunch. Graham had fun walking around the cafeteria while staring at the patterned carpet and showing off the occasional squat. No trip to General Mills is complete without a stop at the company store to pick up a few goodies. Graham choose a box of Kix for himself. I'm proud of him for not going straight for the brightly colored cartoon character covered boxes that are full of sugar cereal!

Because Graham was in such a good mood after his lunch, I took the opportunity to get him a haircut. Graham didn't seem to mind what was happening since he got to be a helper by holding a comb, but for the entire time that he was strapped into the chair, he repeated "ma ma ma ma ma ma" over and over and over again. He seemed to need my reassurance that everything really was ok, and since I just smiled back at him, thankfully that's all he needed to be comfortable.

Graham and I ended our day with a dinner picnic for two (three if you count Annie) in the backyard. Unfortunately, our picnic ended prematurely when Annie decided to help herself to the top third of Graham's banana. Sooner or later, I'm hoping that Graham takes ownership of his food and doesn't willingly let Annie take what ever she pleases.