FREEZING cold!

Despite the freezing cold weather (-23 F!!!) Graham and I ventured out this morning to run a few errands and spend some time visiting with our friends Amy and Miss Alex. Graham has been working on being able to pronounce the name 'Alex' for a while now, and today he was able to do it! Alex was a wonderful host and let Graham play with anything he wanted to. Interestingly enough, we have many of the same toys but for some reason in a different house, they seemed to entertain Graham much better than they do at home! Thanks Amy and Alex for a fun morning!

Big Cousin Graham

Over the weekend, we gained an adorable new family member! Graham's cousin Miles was born late Sunday night. Unfortunately, Graham was tucked into bed and soundly sleeping when Miles made his appearance, but I was lucky enough to be at the hospital along with my parents so we got to meet him almost immediately!

Graham's cousin Miles...less than an hour old!

This afternoon Graham and I picked up Jeff from work a bit early and we headed to the hospital to pay the new Mommy and Daddy and Miles a visit. I was very curious as to how Graham would react when he saw his Mama cuddling another little bundle. Luckily, he was so entertained by the baby that he didn't care which arms Miles was resting in. I didn't sense any jealousy from Graham which is a good sign since very soon, there will be a new baby in our house too! Graham was also extremely impressed by Miles' bellybutton. He immediately noticed it looks a bit different than his own and spent some time lifting his shirt up to compare and contrast them. How fun it will be for these two little guys to have each other as buddies as they grow up. I can only imagine the mischief they'll be causing together in the years to come! Congratulations Peter and Lynn-your little guy is amazing!

No, Graham isn't winding up to hit Miles, he was actually mid-wave when this photo was taken

Grandma and her boys

Graham thought it was hilarious to offer his bunny graham crackers to Miles. I should note that Graham wouldn't share with anyone else. It didn't matter how nicely we asked Graham for a cracker, the only person to get a cracker was Miles.

How crazy is it that both Peter and I are parents????

Life with Elmo Slippers: Day 2

Graham is still very attached to his Elmo slippers and I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. He wears them constantly only to have me remove them against his will to leave the house, sleep, and take a bath. Tonight at dinner (with Elmo slippers) I noticed Graham taking bits of food and shoving them under the table. I think he was trying to be discrete, but he isn't as sly as he thinks he is. I reminded him that his food needed to stay on his plate and he very calmly pointed to his feet and said 'Elmo mmmmmmmm'. In Graham's world, that means that Elmo is eating food and enjoying it. Great, Graham finally gets over his eating issues and now he's giving his food to stuffed slippers??? I almost started laughing when I realized what he was thinking but reminded myself that he was taking this very seriously. It was dinner time for the family and since Elmo is part of the family according to Graham, it was only fair that Elmo have a meal too. I let Graham offer his slippers a few more bites then encouraged him to eat the rest of his food. I guess hunger got the best of him because he eagerly went back to his dinner. Graham and I did share some chocolate ice cream for dessert and I caught him just in time before an ice cream covered spoon was forced into Elmo's mouth. I think I finally have him convinced that Elmo doesn't like chocolate. After all, there is no way, I'm going to let chocolate be wasted on a stuffed animal!

Notice the remnants of dessert all over his mouth!

The night with Elmo didn't end at the dinner table though. As soon as Graham left the kitchen I could hear him running towards the bathroom. Things then got very quiet and this is what I found...what can I say, Graham is a fan of good dental hygiene!

More Elmo!

As I was rushing through Target to pick up a few things, Graham suddenly became very animated and began to yell 'Elmo!'. Elmo is plastered everywhere at Target so I had no idea what type of Elmo it was that caught his attention this time. He was pointing and going crazy trying to climb out of the cart so I turned around to see what it was that was so exciting to him. I couldn't miss it...an entire display of toddler Elmo slippers. I pushed the cart towards the display so I could get a better look and before I knew it Graham grabbed a pair and began kissing them. Then, he got very quiet, looked up and me and in a very sweet voice said 'Pease?' How could I say no to that???

So, Graham is now the VERY proud owner of Elmo slippers. He jumps, runs, and dances in them, and Annie chases close behind convinced that Graham has two stuffed dog toys attached to his feet. Here's the problem though-not a single pair of shoes lives up to his new slippers. Leaving the house is a bit of a problem as I have to remove the slippers only to replace them with boring brown shoes. Hopefully the novelty of the slippers begins to fade so changing into shoes isn't such a traumatic experience!

Both of these video's show how excited Graham is to be wearing his new slippers. In the first video, you'll have to excuse the fact that Graham is making Elmo burp. What is it with boys and bodily functions??? He isn't even two yet and he's amusing himself with burping noises! He calls himself 'Am' so when he starts saying that and coming towards the camera he wants to watch the video of himself.

In the second video, you can hear Graham asking to play football. He's suddenly very interested in sports and every time he passes a tv that's on, he asks for football. I wonder if this is any indication of what is constantly on the tv at our house???

Just Being Silly...

As you can tell, Graham is still working on his 'natural' on cue smile. In my opinion, his forced smiles are pretty cute though!

Rara, Boy Rara, a Shark, and a few Otters

Sadly, our Christmas vacation is coming to an end. After nearly two weeks home, Jeff returns to work on Monday. Graham will surely miss him, as he's become accustomed to having his Daddy around all the time! We've had a great break though, and this weekend was no exception.

Last night our friends Sara and her fiance' Chris ('Rara' and 'Boy Rara' according to Graham) joined us for dinner. Graham LOVES to spend time with both of them and had a fantastic time dancing around the living room with Sara. Graham was even kind enough to share his coveted dance pad with her. You know that Graham really likes you, if Graham is willing to share his favorite toys!

For the past few days, nearly every time we're in the car, Graham insists that we're heading to the zoo. When the car stops and he gets out to see the grocery store or the mall, he often says 'zoo?' in a very sad voice. So, at Graham's request, this morning the three of us decided to brave the cold and visited the zoo. A good portion of it is indoors, so we aren't that crazy as we braved the below zero windchill to check out the animals. Not surprisingly, Graham was most intrigued by the large aquarium. He was very impressed by the shark that repeatedly swam in front of him.

Check out the 'fishy face' he's making for the shark!

Today was the first time that Graham paid any attention to the small clawed otter exhibit. I normally walk through very quickly because to be completely honest, I think that specific exhibit smells horrendous. But, since Jeff was with today, he was the good parent and offered Graham a new experience. Graham continually 'meowed' at the otters as if they were cats, but they did provide some good entertainment. I guess next time I take Graham to the zoo, I'll be stopping to see the otters...

Graham and Daddy enjoying a morning at the zoo...happy after the stinky otters :)

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that the new year has already arrived and 2009 promises to be an exciting year for our family! I'm still in shock (a giddy, excited shock!) that in a matter of weeks we'll be lucky enough to have two little ones. Never in a million years did I imagine, that I would have the privilege of parenting two children so soon. I am one lucky lady! I know that in raising Graham and Amelia, my dreams are coming true, and I hope that 2009 brings fulfillment of the dreams of our friends and family too!

We've been very busy this week which is why recent posts have been non-existent. We've been lucky enough to have Jeff home all week so we've been visiting with family, visiting with friends, and just hanging out. With no schedule, I kind of lost my discipline to update the blog. But, Jeff does have to go back to work on Monday, which means I'll be back on a schedule, which means you can count on more regular Graham updates! Until then though, here are a few pictures and video from the past week. Enjoy!

Graham and mini-Graham playing with trains

Graham and mini-Graham looking out the window...notice a pattern? This baby (bee bee as Graham calls him) goes everywhere with him!

One of my very best friends from high school Sue ('Foo' according to Graham), is in town from California. Here they are playing in Graham's new tent.


The following video is Graham playing with his dance pad, one of his new Christmas toys, and as you can see, he LOVES it! Graham's great grandparents sure know what Graham likes!





**A warning about the following video-it might become annoying!** Yesterday morning Graham figured out how to actually play his recorder. He obviously has no clue what he's doing note wise, but ever since he mastered actually blowing air through it and making noise, that's all he wants to do. I'm not sure if I should be happy about this or not...it sure didn't help my headache today!