Meatball Boy

A trip to Ikea to meet up with Amy and Alex was on our agenda today. We really weren't there that long, but man, was I tired when I left! Two active toddlers who wanted to play with the toys rather than be strapped into strollers, two Mommies who actually wanted to shop, and one cafeteria style lunch for four was interesting to say the least! Graham must have really worked up an appetite playing, because his lunch was HUGE! He inhaled an obscene number of Swedish meatballs, an entire bowl of mashed potatoes, apple slices, and milk. And all this was after an unusually large breakfast!

Playing with the trains

Graham really liked this tent....I have a strong suspicion that Santa is bringing one for Christmas, but don't tell him!

Meatball time!

Technology is not my friend today...

Let me just start by saying that technology can be so frustrating!!! Half of my weekend pictures were taken on a second camera using a second memory card and for some reason my computer refuses to read that second memory card! So, although that's probably more than anyone really cares to know, it's too bad, since I'm missing half of my cute pictures!

On Saturday we had dinner with Alex and her parents at Punch, our favorite local pizza place. It's funny how early we started our dinner process in order to ensure the availability of two highchairs and the optimum table for those two high chairs and four parents. As you can see, both kids are getting so big so fast!
And then on Sunday I decided to play with my fancy new camera but my computer refuses to read that memory card, so I won't even go into details about our day since I have no images to back it up! :(

I know that Halloween is over, but I couldn't resist including just one more photo of our monkey boy. The following picture was taken by Jeff's cousin Mark, our resident family photographer. I think this might just be the cutest monkey ever!

Happy Halloween!

Tonight Graham went trick-or-treating! We only visited two houses, Halmoni and Halabeoji then to Grandma and Grandpa's, but he's not even two years old yet, so I figure I have a bit before I'm required to do the neighborhood tour. Tonight also marked the first time that my little guy was wired on sugar...he shows a strong preference for Whoppers and Three Musketeers. When I thought that he had ingested enough sugar (this was very early on in the evening mind you), I told him the candy was gone and showed him my empty hands. Graham is too smart for me because he marched himself straight to the candy bowl and began to put handfuls of candy straight into his little pumpkin. Hopefully by the time my little monkey wakes up in the morning the sugar high has worn off!

Pumpkin Carving!

This evening we spread plastic on our kitchen floor and got down to business with our pumpkins! Graham was initially frustrated with the process since we wouldn't allow him to use the knife-we're so mean! He soon realized that a wooden spoon could provide entertainment too, and luckily, the knife was quickly forgotten. Graham ended up enjoying himself, but I don't think the same can be said for Annie. She was eventually exiled from the kitchen because she tried to eat an entire pile of stringy pumpkin mess. Although I'm certain Graham has no idea why we were carving pumpkins tonight, it was fun for Jeff and I to start our family Halloween tradition. Stay tuned for our toddler style trick-or-treating adventure tomorrow night!

Graham was a bit apprehensive about the stringy pumpkin filling. He repeatedly lifted the top off and would say "No No No!" to himself, then quickly close the pumpkin.

Graham enjoyed scooping the pumpkin clean

Offering a snack to 'Anna'. Notice that he's using the same spoon he was using for the pumpkin-only the best for his dog!

"What's in there?"

" Where did all the strings go?"

Getting up close and personal with the big pumpkin

The boys and their creations

The King is back

The weather has really cooled off around here, which means that if we want to take an evening walk, we all need to bundle up. Graham isn't very good about leaving a hat and mittens on, so last year our solution was dressing him in a one piece fleece suit for our nighttime excursions. I was happy to see that his fleece outfit, complete with crown, still fits (barely!) from last year. I'm not sure it's going to fit for much longer, so until he outgrows it, I'll just enjoy how adorable he looks it in!

When we got home from our walk, and peeled off our many layers, Graham got to participate in one of his favorite activities with his Daddy. I've started to call it 'gymnastics' as Graham cruises around in Jeff's arms near the ceiling! The laughter during this activity is contagious, and I'll work on capturing it on video.

Lunch with Daddy

We decided at the last minute today, to have lunch with Jeff at work. Graham fell asleep two minutes before we arrived at General Mills and remained asleep as I transferred him to the stroller then began our trek through the giant parking ramp and into the building. He woke up immediately when he heard his Daddy's voice though and wanted to get out of his stroller asap!

Why ride in the stroller on the way to lunch when you can walk like the big boys?

All during lunch, Graham was very distracted by the cutest playhouse I've ever seen. There is some sort of contest going on, and this miniature house is the prize. Luckily for Graham, the angle of his highchair allowed him the perfect view of the 'ouse' as he calls it. When we were finished with our meal, and Graham was allowed out of his highchair, he ran to the house and claimed it as his own. It's just his size, and he really did look adorable hanging out on the front porch. If Graham could talk, I'm sure he'd be begging his Dada to do everything in his power to win this contest!

Smelling the (fake) flowers

VERY irritated the the door was locked!

Waving 'Hi' to all the people who stopped to smile at the cute little guy playing in the house

Birthday Weekend #2

This weekend was jam packed with fun for us! Graham had the opportunity to visit with a different group of people every day which made for one tired little boy by the time Sunday night rolled around. We started our weekend Friday night with a reunion of sorts with some of my childhood friends. The group of us go all he the way back to elementary school so it's always fun to catch up-especially now that there are babies in the mix!

Here is Graham rocking baby Benjamin, the newest addition to the group.

4 Friends, 3 kids, and 2 more babies on the way!!!

Yesterday, we helped Jeff celebrate his birthday! We were lucky enough to have a Korean feast prepared by Jeff's mom as a birthday lunch. No matter how hard I try, my Korean food just doesn't taste like it does when ChanSoon prepares it! Our meal (and the leftovers we got to take home) was such a treat! Jeff's birthday fun continued into the day when he was able to pick out his new Apple iTouch...boys and their toys! :)

Getting a ride from the Birthday Boy

Checking things out from a different perspective

We wrapped up our weekend with Graham's friend Maddie and her parents with pizza and football at their house. Maddie is 10 months old and watching these two together gave me a glimpse into my near future. Let's just say that I will never have the opportunity to sit down ever again! We had a great time tonight

Maddie has the most adorable push toy that she's able to walk behind. Although Graham doesn't need to push a toy to walk, he also loved this toy and didn't want to share it with her. He seemed to forget that the toy belongs to Maddie and not to him! Here Graham is sitting on the toy so Maddie couldn't move with it!

Maddie gets a good-night kiss

Just a cute picture of my smiley guy!