Like Father, Like Son...

Look at these two little peas in a pod! This picture taken of Graham's Dad is 30 years old. Today, without provocation, Graham did the exact same thing. The "climb into the oven storage gene must have been passed from father to son.

Graham's First Birthday

Many of you have seen some birthday pics already, but just in case you missed them...

Graham's birthday celebration was just short of that of, let's say, a sultan. He had three parties- one a playgroup with his baby buddies, and two family dinners, had two cakes, and cupcakes, a day at the children's museum, and countless generous gifts from family and friends. It was amazing.

It's a strange thing to survive your first year with your first child, at times wondering if the minutes in the middle of night (when youre holding a screaming baby) could tick away any more slowly, and then to watch them celebrate their 1st birthday. You other parents know what I'm saying. Suddenly you arrive at one and realize that you have seen a year of their life pass away, and though you are celebrating, it is bittersweet. How is that? Where did it go? A year gone by- countless diapers, and baths, and boo boos and you bear witness to it all. What a privilege to remember it- even when they won't. And how many birthday's will they have? A hundred or more? And you were there for the first. How awesome. It's a fantastic gift.

Graham Goes on the Road

Graham recently took his first long car trip in his new big boy car seat to go cheer on his Mom at the San Diego Marathon. He did so well and we are thrilled that he is no longer in the rear facing seat because he absolutely hated it!! We used to have to trick him into holding still by putting treats in his mouth just to get him snapped in. Now, it's a piece of cake! Here's a pic of him traveling like a pro and me finishing the race. Whew!

Graham at The Childrens Museum

Since we moved here we have become members of the local children's museum and I must say it was money well spent. I bring Graham frequently to play in the huge spandex crawly tunnels, run in the "noodle forest" (made of a thousand hanging pool noodles) and do art projects. Here Graham is drawing in the sand on an underlit table with some paint brushes and combs. He is getting more and more artistic recently and has just discovered how to use a crayon. I might as well buy stock in Mr. Clean Magic Erasers now.

Beach Bunny

In the first of our trips to VA this past month, Graham finally got to dip his toes in the Atlantic- well, a bay attached to the Atlantic. At first he was skiddish, but that did not last long. We also caught him trying to eat sand- a couple of times. Ok- a few times. Apparently sand tastes good. These pics are from end of May.

Fathers Day Weekend

Graham had a great time with his Dad this past weekend. A three day weekend to reconnect was just what we all needed after a recent two week separation. Here you can see Graham and his Dad "hitting the bottle" as it were and reading a book- two of Graham's favorite activities!

Big Shoes to Fill

Well- slap my hand for the big blogging hiatus but we're back online! Graham and I have traveled tons in the past 6 weeks- taking two trips to VA (one happy, one sad) and one trip to San Diego. We're home now and tired!! Graham is making huge developmental inroads.

In the past month and a half he has begun to attempt words (usually leaving out most of the consonants), he picks out books for us to read to him, and he has a great auditory vocabulary and seems to understand more and more of what we say to him. He's had a second haircut (he gets shaggy quickly!) and is moving all over the place. He has also learned to flush the toilet and turn lights on and off. With all of these changes, though, one of my favorites has to be that he has gotten more interested in playing dress up with Mommy and Daddy's clothes. We had to help him into these shoes, but he loved it!!