A Lunch Date

Since we didn't have school today, it was the perfect occasion to meet up with Liv (Graham's little friend from his days back in Korea) and her mom Tiffiny at the Mall of America for some lunch. Although the babies have seen each other many times, this is the first time that they've really interacted with the other, and we were so excited to see that! It seemed like they had as much catching up to do as Tiffiny and I! In fact, they took turns talking during our entire meal and their conversation went something like this:
Graham- aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Liv- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh (just a bit louder than Graham)
Graham-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh (just a bit louder than Liv)
......now repeat for two hours! These two are lucky they're so adorable or I'm sure we would have had some frustrated table neighbors! When they weren't deep in conversation, Graham and Liv were staring at each other. They both ate what they needed, but at times they were so distracted by the other that they forgot about the food in front of them! I really wonder what is going on in their baby minds.....

Patiently waiting for their food!

Who needs lunch when I can look at my friend?

All full from lunch and ready to head home for a nap! Neither one of them were too amused with the camera at this point...

Storytime!

We've been on the waiting list for "Baby Storytime" at our library for several months now. A few weeks ago, we found out that there was finally an open spot for us, and today was our first day! The age range is birth-2 years so I was curious as to how our little class would be run. It was a bit chaotic at times as the babies who could walk, wandered around the room, the babies who could crawl (Graham!) would crawl around the room, and then there were the few babies who just sat and cried (although I have no idea why). Each baby had their own stack of books to follow along in as all the grown-ups in the room read aloud at the same time led by the teacher. It seemed like a pretty good way to run things since each baby got to hear a familiar voice reading to them. We read three little stories and sang some songs and before we knew it, our 30 minute class was finished. After all the books were put away, the toys came out and the kids had the option to play for a bit before heading home. Graham is always very curious about new toys so I'm pretty sure he had a fun morning!

An afternoon for exploring...

We headed to the Children's Museum today where we met up with Amy and Baby Alex. For some reason it was much more crowded that usual which made navigating with strollers a bit difficult, but we still managed to have a good time exploring! At one point, we stopped at a Sesame Street exhibit to take a look. The exhibit focused on the way Sesame Street was 20 years ago. Amy and I were pretty excited by this since that's what we grew up with! Because of that, I think much of the exhibit was geared more towards adults, and I'll admit that Amy and I probably got more out of it than the babies. They just sat next to each other in their strollers and stared at the screen!

Having fun crawling through the "log" tunnel!

Graham always love to play with water!

We parked our stroller next to Ronald McDonald to get bundled up before heading home and Graham started climbing all over his new plastic friend!

BOYS AND THEIR TOYS

Knowing how much Jeff loves to wander around Best Buy, this might surprise many of you, but tonight was actually Graham's first trip to his Daddy's favorite store. As you can see, both the little boy and the big boy enjoyed playing around with the toys on display!

Sit-n-Spin

Graham has a new toy. Actually, it's not really "new" since he got it for Christmas, but since he received so many toys at Christmas, we're still bringing them out a few at a time! Yesterday, we decided it was time to bring out the sit-n-spin. He seemed too young for it back in December, and he's probably still a bit too young for it, but he's found ways to amuse himself with it. Graham will sit on it for about one rotation until he becomes tired of holding on then begins to slide off as you can see in the first picture. The preferred method of using the sit-n-spin for Graham though, is to turn it into a "Lazy Susan" for his blocks. As you can see in the second picture, Graham piles them on, then spins the toy and laughs to himself when the blocks go sliding off. Whatever keeps him busy and away from climbing the gates is fine with me!!

Time for Dinner!

Look who's able to feed himself blackberries with a fork!!! I can't say that Graham is very graceful with his little fork, but after he stabs the food to the point of killing it, it does eventually make its' way to his mouth!

Big Boy!

Pointing at the bowl of blackberries that was on the counter....apparently he hadn't had enough!

Jeff always wonders how I'm able to get anything done during the day with such a busy, mobile baby. Meal preparation has him especially curious so tonight I showed him how Graham and I are able to prepare dinner.

Water Baby!

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day for Graham as he took part in his very first swimming lesson! Judging by all the fun Graham has in the bathtub, we were fairly certain he would enjoy being in the pool, and we were right! The children in his class showed a wide range of emotion towards the water. The spectrum was huge-some kids spent the thirty minute lesson in tears and then there was Graham.....he spent his thirty minutes kicking, splashing, laughing, and waving at his proud Mommy on the side of the pool. He definitely shows no fear of the water!

Graham liked to hold onto the floating barbell. At one point, much to my dismay, Jeff was actually able to let go of Graham. Graham just continued kicking his legs and appeared happy as can be. I'm not sure how I feel about Graham's general lack of fear.....

Happy and content in the pool.

Splashing Daddy is the best!

After swimming lessons we grabbed a quick lunch then decided to stop at Costco before heading home. Graham is a very routine baby, and always takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap. Because of his lessons though, he didn't get a morning nap and we were just hoping he wouldn't have a meltdown before we could get him home to his bottle and crib. We barely got through the door at Costco before this happened......

This can't possibly be comfortable....

This looks a bit more comfortable!

Graham completely exhausted himself swimming and without a morning nap, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he slept through our quick shopping trip. I guess until his lessons are over, Saturday afternoons are going to look a bit different for us. Hopefully Graham will stay awake long enough to eat lunch, then it's straight to his crib for him! I'm going to take full advantage of having an exhausted baby on Saturday afternoons. The amount of "stuff" I'm going to be able to get done is pretty exciting for me!

Graham's exciting day didn't end with his nap though because he was invited to a little dinner party at our friends Chris and Sara's house. I think Graham's favorite part of the evening was chasing the kittens around the house. They weren't quite sure about Graham and never let Graham get close enough to pet them, but that wasn't to say they didn't share a curiosity for each other! After stalking the cats for quite a while, then pulling a dark colored adult beverage onto their white carpet, we decided that it was time to call it a night for Graham!

Graham and the kitty staring each other down!