Reading

 Graham has started reading books on his own a lot more. He really like the picture books without stories. 

His mom likes to try to be creative when taking photos of him. 

Naughty Monkey

We moved Graham into a big boy toddler bed a few weeks ago. I thought it was going to be a transition into the bed, but I wanted him in it before the baby comes in November. He did really well the first few nights, but after the third he started coming out of his bedroom repeatedly. We decided to put him back in his crib. He learned how to get out of his crib. We royally just screwed ourselves by pushing the toddler bed issue too early because Graham's logic kicked in and reasoned if he can get out of the toddler bed, he can get out of the crib just the same. I asked him to show me how he gets out of the crib, and it is really frightening. He climbs onto the railing, and just lets himself drop. So the crib is done. Now we just bought a gate for his bedroom door, and he is stuck in his room at bed time and nap time. 

I just checked Graham -- who is supposedly napping in his big boy bed.  His bedroom light was on, and he was reading. Obviously not doing what he was supposed to be doing, but still being disobedient in the most well-behaved sort of way.

He learned how to turn his bedroom light on Saturday during nap time. I was sure he was climbing either on the futon in his room or bringing something over to the light to stand on. So John and I asked him to show us how he turns the light on. He looked at us like we were sort of stupid, stood next to the switch, reached up to the switch, and flipped it on. He is just tall enough to flip the switch. His parents can be pretty slow. 

Yay for Sisters..

who live in the same town as me. :)

yay for the other ones too.

Birthday Present Fun

Graham loves this gum ball machine like toy that he got for his birthday. You put the balls in and you can get them to come out like in a gum ball machine.

I didn't quite capture the lick, but he went in for a taste too. I'm sure a real gum ball machine would be more satisfying from that point of view (at least from Graham's perspective).

Cute Graham

What a cutie.

Liability Insurance

A friend of my texted me to tell me he was out whale watching, with a photo included of a whale. 

I texted back a picture like this to say I was Graham watching.

He told me that I am one of those "better than you parents because I have a better swing set than you do."

I told him it was the $299 wal-mart version.

He then advised liability insurance. :)

Belly Insanity

When I was pregnant with Graham. I was like 15 or 16 weeks pregnant. 

Just about 13 weeks pregnant with this baby. And my starting weight is lower than what it was for the last pregnancy. So this isn't leftover belly from Graham. That is long gone. 

Helpful Graham.

Graham loves to help build.

John mostly likes it. It is only slightly annoying to him. I am indifferent since I don't partake in the building fun. 

Because We are Classy Like That

I built my own water table this morning.

Graham thoroughly enjoyed playing with it. I think it entertained him for a good hour and a half. 

He got pretty wet. So I took his shirt off. 

Then he indicated that he would also like his wet, wet shorts off. I obliged. And Graham hung out in the front yard in only his diapers and his fancy sandals. Because we are totally classy like that (and John wasn't here. John would never let us get away with that sort of behavior).

Happy

I'm happy today.

After work, I went to starbucks, got an ice coffee (to give the baby some extra energy) and one of their new cake pop things. I sat there and read blogs on my phone. And I was just happy.

I sent happy texts to my sisters and to John. I probably just confused them, but maybe I made them smile. I sent a happy email to the person I work for. I thought to myself smart phones are so cool. I love being able to do all of this from starbucks on my phone.

There are so many things to be happy about right now:

1. New baby on the way.

2. A child-free trip coming up to San Francisco with John.

3. John works less than he used to.

4. When Graham isn't throwing a fit, he is so much fun to be around.

5. Bids are due in two weeks and couple days. Then they are done. Then there aren't bids again for a whole year.

6. Tomorrow Graham and I get to spend the day having fun.

7. Graham's excessive use of the expression thank you. You can never be thanked enough.

Some News

John and I are expecting another baby!!

I am 12 weeks today. Due at the end of November. 

 I told everyone at work last week because my pants don't fit. And I was tired of SQUEEZING into them.

Now I am happy and wearing my bella band and letting my belly be obvious to the world. 

We are trying to teach Graham where the baby is. I'll point to my belly and say "baby". He'll then go around to John and Kinsey and point at their bellies and say baby while laughing. Probably not a great thing to teach your two year old son. "Hey go point at people's bellies and say baby. They'll think that is great. Especially while laughing at them."

Terrible Twos

We've entered the terrible twos full force.

We get tears for things like:
"Graham that room is closed, come out here."
"Graham time for your bath, you need to go to the bathroom and stop watching tv."
"Graham you cannot have your milk until dinner."
"Graham it is nap time."
"Graham you don't get milk at nap time."
"No, we aren't going outside."
"No, we aren't going to open that package of chocolate chips at the store."
"You have a dirty diaper, lets go change it."

Oh joy.

This stage is really hard for me. I have no patience. I especially have no patience for crying about things that a reasonable person would not cry for (I realize that Graham is not an adult, and he doesn't process things the way adults do, but seriously, when will he grow up and realize that crying over me not giving him more ice cream is not an effective way to get more ice cream? I guess maybe I should just stop giving him ice cream in the first place.). It is definitely the hardest stage for me so far.

It is a little bipolar though, because when Graham isn't being a terrible two right now, he is the sweetest most fun two year old to hang out with. You just never know what you are going to get.

No Photos and Nook Progress

I haven't taken a photo of Graham in a week! That is insanity. My camera is just sitting on the kitchen counter looking sad.

I finally took my nook out of the packaging! And I went to the library and got a library card! I failed to get a pin though... I need a pin to download e-books from the library. So I sent in a request in to get the pin. Once I get that I will be a cool nook person. That is what I am most excited about with the nook, I will get to be someone who uses the library without actually going to the library. For some reason the only time I think about going to the library is on Sunday. It is like Chick-fil-a... the one time you really really want it ... you drive there and THEN you realize it is Sunday. And then you are disappointed (that analogy is such a lie for me, I eat Chick-fil-a much more frequently than just on Sundays. I love me some char-grilled chicken sandwich.)

I went to Barnes and Noble to get a case for my nook, and they were $30! That is insanity. So I ordered one off of ebay for $13. Once it comes I'll even be a cooler nook person.

So in a few days (or a few weeks, I'll be honest, I move very slowly), I will be both a cool nook person and a DSLR person. Woo hoo for my awesomeness (at spending money).

Graham and Characters

 Graham and donald duck.

 Graham and Mickey. Graham really wanted Mickey to know that Mickey was also on Graham's shirt.

Graham also thought it was important that Pluto know that Mickey was on his shirt. 

Bubbles!

 Bubbles!

 Wow, bubbles are so cool!

Thank you nice lady for making bubbles for me.

Graham Likes to Eat

Hey Stitch, can't you see, I am stuffing my face? Can you come back later?

Project 365

I'm officially giving up on my project 365. I have definitely failed in the past week, and I can't keep up. When I am really busy at work, I just don't have the energy to do photography when I get home. And May is really busy for me at work. I might pick up the Project 365 in June again... I'll guess I could call it something like Project 365 less May. Maybe that would work. :)

Graham is probably mostly pleased about his mom's dropout status. He probably thinks this will mean he'll get to see his mom's face sometimes and not just the camera in front of her face. 

So Exciting

For Mother's Day I got a NOOK!

Yay.

I'm very excited. I got it a few weeks ago, and it is still sitting on my nightstand unopened, but that doesn't mean I'm not excited. I've just been very busy and haven't had the time to learn about it.

After the first Monday in June (major deadline at work), I'm going to be all over that Nook.

There was a major fail on Mother's Day though... John didn't even get me a card (he gave me the Nook early). On Saturday evening he asked me I wanted him to go out and get one. Hello John!?!? Next time just make up an excuse why you need to go out. Don't ask if you really need to go buy me a card.

Teenage Graham

 Well maybe teenage Graham won't wear Pluto shirts. But that is to be seen. 

Ice Cream

Tonight Kinsey, Graham and I went to Chick-fil-a for dinner.

Yummy.

Kinsey got ice cream after dinner and let Graham get a lick. She took the cone back. And Graham erupted with real tears. He wanted that ice cream cone for himself.

Thankfully Kinsey was able to give him a little bit in a bowl, and he was happy again. Just as long as you didn't try to help him eat ice cream with a fork. He could do it all by himself.

iPhone

I want to be a super cool iPhone user.

I have verizon, so that hasn't been an option until recently. I'm supposed to be up for my new every two in December (which is going away, and it'll be my last time to get the credit), but I looked the other day just for fun, and I am eligible for discounted pricing right now (why? who knows, maybe so they don't have to give me my last new every two credit?).

I want the phone.

I want my new every two credit.

But I want the phone now. I want to be super cool in a way behind the times sort of way.

We Went to the Zoo

We went to the zoo on Sunday. One of our favorite Sunday morning activities. 

 Graham loves to walk. Very slowly. He stops and investigates everything that is not an animal. He stops and says uh-oh for anything out of the ordinary. Uh-oh there is a candy wrapper stuck between the pieces of the wood. Uh-oh.

 Here he is checking out the elephants. I don't take pictures of animals, just Graham.

 We almost always let Graham feed the giraffes. Not that he asks to or anything. He could care less. But John ad I get to live vicariously through Graham when we let him feed the giraffes. It is just so cool.

 Graham likes it too. I'm sure he'll be asking to feed the giraffes soon, and by then John and I will be sick of feeding the giraffes. 

I'm not sure if we'll get sick of seeing Graham that excited though. :)

Graham at 2 Years

Graham is 2!

His age will officially no longer be described in months.

Graham still loves modes of transportation. He gets very excited to see a fire truck or a dump truck on the road. 

He has some new words: bubble, baby, hot, please, sit mom, sit dad, he can say a lot of the letters of the alphabet, hop, outside, pool. 

He is afraid of the vacuum.

He is less afraid of the police car. But still a little afraid.

Graham doesn't know how to share.

He loves ketchup.

Graham eats up scallops.

His diet is still mostly fruit.

He likes to tell his parents where to sit (see his new words: sit mama).

He can follow multi step requests, for example: go in the play room, find your shoes, and bring them to me.

Graham loves the playroom.

He likes to put his shoes where we put ours. He sits down at the door and takes them off there.

He loves to play outside. 

Graham is getting braver in the pool (with a life jacket). He doesn't need to be held every second. He loves to "jump" in.

Spinning is an all-time favorite past-time.

He throws his stuffed animals out of his bed during nap time, but after nap time he likes to put them back in his bed.

He'll repeat "I love you" if you take it one word at a time.

Graham still signs thank you every time he says it.

He loves puzzles and coloring.

Graham thinks it is super funny to call and adult "baby". It cracks him up. It cracks me up that he has a sense of humor.

I can't believe he is already two!

Graham's Second Birthday Party

We had Graham's second birthday party on Saturday.

I only invited 7 of his friends, and 5 came. It was perfect. I was able to talk to everyone at length. It was just so relaxing and calm. I didn't take very many photos, since I was busy talking to everyone. But here are the few that I got.

When we were singing happy birthday to him. He really doesn't know what to think of that song.

He got into trying to blow out the candles.

He got so many fun toys. He really got into opening all of them, although it was hard to get him to move on to the next present because he was so excited about the prior one and wanted to immediately take it out its packaging and play with it.

From John and I he got a major train set. I bought it for 1/2 price after Christmas, and I have been holding on to it for his birthday. I love a bargain. :)

Best. Compliment. Ever.

Saturday was Graham's birthday party.

One of the adult guests asked me what photographer took a collage of photographs of Graham hanging in the dining room.

It was ME!

Someone thought something I did was done by a photographer!

This makes me insanely happy.