Groovin' Graham

I'm sorry, it's been a few days....I've been a bad blogger! :) It's been busy around here and sitting down with the computer doesn't always happen when there is so much going on!

Thanks to the religious and cultural make-up of our family, December is like one long party for us! Sunday was the first night of Hanukkah and Graham was really excited. So excited in fact, that not more than 5 minutes after arriving at my parents house, he threw up all over the kitchen. When I replayed the day in my head, I realized that Graham had virtually no interest in food all day and I actually had to wake him up from his nap so we could leave the house. But, until he actually got sick, I didn't put it all together. Poor little guy! Thankfully, he did only get sick that one time and he still wanted to join us at the table for a small amount of soup. An upset tummy sure doesn't deter from the excitement of opening up gifts though!

What a lucky guy to have presents piled up on his high chair tray!

I was happy that Graham woke up with an appetite and feeling much better yesterday morning. Other than being a bit whiny, he was pretty close to himself. I'll take a whiny toddler any day over a throwing up toddler! By the end of the day, he seemed to be back in full swing. He had so much energy in fact that he put on an 'interpretive' dance performance for me as Jeff played the piano. Notice the toy skillet 'guitar' at the beginning. After he's done with his 'guitar' is when he breaks into his modern dance routine! What a funny guy!

TGIF!

This has been a busy week for us, and I'm glad the weekend is here to bring some quiet time before all the holiday craziness. Jeff came home early today (WOO HOO!) and as I sit downstairs updating the blog, I'm listening to Jeff play the piano (for those of you that have heard him play, you know this is quite a treat) and I hear the occasional 'Good dancing, Graham!'. As much as I'm tempted to take a peek at the boys, I'm enjoying my few minutes of not being the responsible one, and soaking up the music. Now, if only I could convince Jeff to play more often....hint, hint, Jeff!

This morning Graham was able to burn off an enormous amount of energy when we met Kelly and Maddie and Edinborough Park. Maddie and Graham had a fantastic time climbing, running, throwing balls, kicking balls, jumping, and pushing each other around on scooters. Thank goodness indoor parks exist, because Minnesota winters don't really lend themselves to children being able to play outside too often.

After our picnic lunch, we packed up and headed home. My plan, was to sing, clap, and act goofy enough to keep Graham awake until we got home. As you can see, not even his very own box of raisins could keep him up. Actually, he didn't even make it out of the parking lot!

'I No Know'

The past few days Graham has started to experience a vocabulary explosion! He's starting to put a few words together to create phrases and is repeating everything! In this video, you'll hear Graham tell us 'I no know' (translation-I don't know). Last night Jeff let Graham play with his wallet. Things got busy in our house, and soon enough, the wallet was forgotten about. Bright and early this morning as we're all trying to get out of the house to fill out the last of Amelia's paperwork at our adoption agency, Jeff realized that he didn't know where his wallet was. Unfortunately, the last person to see this wallet isn't even two years old. We were desperate for the wallet to reappear, and sure enough, just as we were ready to leave home without it, we found it!

Excuse the mess in the video clip, we turned the living room upside down in our frantic search...nothing was left unturned!

A Festive Wednesday

Today, Graham and I shared a rather festive day. We started off this morning by visiting the holiday display at the downtown Macy's. 'A Day in the Life of an Elf' is the theme this year, and Graham was extremely entertained with the dancing Christmas trees, falling snow, and Elves scurrying around to help Santa get ready for his big night


After we finished touring the holiday display, we met Sara (Rara according to Graham) for lunch. To say that Graham was excited to see her is an understatement! Graham just loves Sara and he loved her even more (if that's even possible) when she presented him with his very first Rice Krispy treat complete with Christmas sprinkles. What Sara doesn't know, is that Graham very loudly called out for her all the way to the car, and quite a while into our drive home!

Now, to explain the video...Graham and I were running some errands with my Mom this afternoon and Graham was completely mesmerized with the snow globe display at Target. Graham's 'Ahma' (as he calls her), let Graham choose any snow globe he wanted, and after careful consideration, he chose one with a snowman inside. Graham is very possessive of his new winter decoration, and he's still having a hard time understanding why he can only play with it if a grown-up is around. As you can see, Graham isn't too keen on the fact that his Daddy is trying to help him!

New Paints!

The weather was brutally cold today. In fact, the temperature didn't even climb above zero, so I thought it was a good day for Graham and I to stay inside. Sunday at the Holiday Tea, Graham was the lucky recipient of his very first set of paints(Thanks Barb!!!). As badly as he wanted to tear into them yesterday, I had a feeling we'd be housebound today and figured the paints would be a great distraction for him. Sure enough, I was correct. Graham LOVED his paints and he focused on his artwork for over an hour! In fact, he loved his paints so much that he refused to hand them over when it was time for lunch. So, Graham had his lunch with chicken nuggets in one hand, and a paint brush in the other. What more could a boy want?

Very hard at work...

Graham's masterpiece

Holiday Tea

This afternoon was my Mother's annual Holiday Tea. Traditionally a 'Ladies Only' event, an exception has been made for the second year in a row for my little cutie. :) Graham and I see many of the guests only a few times a year, so Graham's sudden 'big boy' appearance and attitude was entertaining for all. Graham spent most of his time running from room to room grabbing treats off of tables. I'm still not sure how many cookies he actually ingested, but I'm sure he thoroughly enjoyed each and every one! It was also great fun for me to be able to show off Amelia's picture as I still haven't come down from my high with the knowledge of my daughter! Even days after our big phone call, I'm still amazed that Jeff and I are the very lucky, blessed parents of two beautiful children. Now, we just need to get them onto the same continent....

Just for fun....

If you want to laugh and see our family of FOUR (!!!) showing off some fancy moves, check out the following link
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/mZGFwwdfpqvIN1FcbDGE

As a disclaimer, Jeff feels that his head was unfairly placed onto a female elf body...I tried to upload pictures in random order several times, but Jeff's face repeatedly ends up on the same elf. Sorry Jeff!