3-2-1 Blast Off!!

Tonight, Graham was introduced to one of Uncle Peter's very favorite past times-shooting off rockets! At first, Graham was impressed with just being allowed to carry around the rockets. Little did he know that the rockets would become much more impressive flying through the air with a bright yellow parachute trailing behind. Thanks Uncle Peter, for sharing your rockets with Graham!

Helping Uncle Peter with the set-up

Watching the parachute open

Examining the biggest of the rockets

Graham shooting off his very first rocket

Graham's Pet Turtle

My Grandparents are still in town visiting from Florida, so my family stopped over for lunch today. Despite not taking a morning nap, Graham was in a great mood! He enjoyed sharing his toys, demonstrating how he can point out nearly all of his body parts, and show off his signature dance move which around our house, has become known simply as "The Graham". I'll work on getting a video of Graham grooving around the kitchen one of these days!

Uncle Peter was the first to arrive, and he didn't show up empty handed. He came with a very cool toy for Graham-an amazing growing turtle! Despite the surprised exclamations of "Is it real?!?" from both my mom and Jeff, although it does look extremely life like, no, the turtle isn't real. Our new friend does need to be in water to reach it's full growing potential (600% of it's original size!) so although Graham desperately wants to take the turtle out of the glass bowl, it will stay in the water and we'll just enjoy watching it grow.

Learning about the new turtle

Lunch on the deck and Graham's first watermelon wedge

After lunch we let Graham loose in the yard to burn off some of his endless energy. His Great Grandmother was kind enough to bring over some bubbles that Graham just loved! He doesn't quite understand that he needs to blow on the wand and not eat the wand, but he does enjoy chasing the bubbles!

Bubbles!

Working on a puzzle with Great Grandpa before winding down for a nap

A Day of Rest

This past week has just been crazy for us! Last week we didn't have one free day, then we were out of town all weekend, and last night we hosted a "Welcome Home" dinner for Jeff's parents. Needless to say, I was pretty happy when I realized that the box on the calendar representing today remained completely empty. Sometimes, there is nothing like hanging out at home!

Jeff's parents split their summer up this year with time in both Korea and Hawaii. They returned home last week, and last night we had them over for dinner to hear all about their adventures abroad and let Graham show off all of his newly acquired "tricks"! Graham was absolutely delighted with his new Korean police car compliments of his Halmoni and Halabeoji (Grandma and Grandpa in Korean...unfortunately it's going to be a while before Graham's able to call them correctly by their names). This car is has doors that open and close, flashing lights, and very realistic sirens that I could hear in my sleep last night!

In honor of our day of not doing much, I promised myself I wouldn't subject Graham to the horrors of his car seat (lately he's not too happy with any ride longer than 5 minutes). So, we started our morning with a walk. Graham insisted on carrying along two of his plastic golf clubs though so I'm sure we looked pretty funny as Graham pointed with his bright red driver at every dog he saw. Then, I packed a picnic lunch and headed to the park. Today was the first time that Graham was able to climb to the top of the structure all on his own! Normally he'll crawl up the stairs then immediately turn around. Today, he walked up the entire way safely holding onto the railing. What a big boy! Thanks to his new Keens, he's also got super-human traction that allowed him to climb up the slide. He's much prouder of that accomplishment than I am! I wish I understood why children think it's so much more fun to climb up a slide than to ride down...

What a weekend!

We had a family reunion of sorts this weekend up at the lake. Let's just say that Graham wasn't short on attention...he had his parents, one set of grandparents, one set of great grandparents, a great aunt, two great uncles, and two second cousins to dote on him! We had a great time catching up with family and it's times like these that remind me how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family! I could go on an on and on with stories from the past few days, but I know that what Graham's fans really want is pictures. So, here are lots of pictures to do the talking!

Sharing animal crackers with Great Grandpa

Sharing his prized possession (his blanket) with his Great Grandma, Nanny

First time on a trampoline...based on Graham's reaction, it will be a while before we try this again

Hanging out in the empty pool early one morning with Grandpa before breakfast-can you tell Graham was just a tad bit anxious to get his day of swimming going?

Reading with Grandma

Napping in the hammock with Grandma

First "Swiss Cake Roll"-This treat has a long standing place at our family gatherings. As long as I can remember, my Grandpa always had this treat for me and today the tradition was passed down to Graham!

Trying to drink the lake water...I quickly put an end to this

Graham thought it was so funny to be swimming with the dog!

Lunch date #3 for the week...

Due to Graham's jam packed social calendar, and Jeff's busy days at the office, it's been a very long time since we've been able to meet for lunch at General Mills. Today was the day though, and Graham proved yet again, what a big boy he's becoming. Graham had a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch and wouldn't touch the half that we broke up into small pieces for him. He fussed a bit until we handed him the intact half and then proceeded to eat his lunch with a smile on his face!

Before we headed for lunch I noticed Graham was playing with his train and I thought he looked so grown up in his shorts with a little belt...he's getting sooo big sooo fast!

Studying the trucks on his placemat with Daddy

Graham awoke from his afternoon nap to find that the mailman was very kind to him today! He received a postcard from Grandma and Grandpa Greer who recently spent a few days in New Orleans for business. He studied his postcard intently for quite a while-it was almost as if he was really trying to figure out what it said.

The mailman also dropped off a giant box of books from Borders! Last week I had a discount code for $5 off a purchase, but instead of taking $5 of the end total, it took $5 off of every single book! So, I went to town choosing books for Graham and ended up getting him nearly $140 worth of books for just over $20-not bad! I let him dig through the books and take a few that immediately grabbed his attention and the rest I'll put away and pull out for special occasions where a new book might help to keep him entertained-car rides, airplane trips, waiting rooms...

Lunch with "RaRa"

Today Graham and I headed downtown have lunch with Sara, or as Graham likes to call her, RaRa. We ate on the top floor of Macy's so Graham was unusually mellow during the meal thanks to a great view of the city and the hustle and bustle of lunch time in the heart of the city. When I stop and replay the meal in my head, I don't think Graham threw a single piece of food-VICTORY! I can't pretend the area under his highchair was clean, but there is an obvious difference in Graham dropping food and Graham throwing food. I'll cut him some slack for food that falls, it's the throwing part that I won't miss. Someday, flying food will lose it's appeal, won't it???

Sara is receiving a lesson in trucks from Graham

Graham sure does love his friend RaRa

After Graham's bath this evening, he discovered the switch in the bathroom that turns the fan on and off. Light switches aren't too exciting for him anymore, but the switch to a fan is pretty cool!

Froggy Boy and his new discovery

Happy Frog

Liv and Graham

Today was our first lunch date in a week that is full of meeting up with friends for a meal! We joined Tiffiny and Livia for an Italian lunch. Thankfully, the tables were covered with paper because these two little ones certainly can make a mess! But, a baby making a mess, is usually a quiet baby, which means the Mommy's get to talk! Graham was his usual picky eater but he did watch intently as Liv devoured her peas. She kindly shared some and Graham just pushed them around. I don't know what it's going to take to get vegetables into his little body!

It's strange when I stop to think that it was just over a year ago that both Tiffiny and I were learning about our children, both still in Korea. Now, not even a year since they've been home, they've both settled into their lives and are very attached to their MaMa's. We're so lucky!!!

It sure is hard to get two babies to look at the camera at the same time when all they want to do is look at each other!