April 2014

Here's what we were up to in April when Graham was 13 months old.

I gave in to his independence and let him feed himself his Saturday morning yogurt. I think it's clear how that went.

Mommy = stressed; Graham = pure joy. Get used to it, right?

Nothing a bath (and a washing machine and mop) can't fix.

April meant nicer weather so we crawled out from hibernation to check out the playground for our first swinging experience. He was a BIG fan from the start.

We checked out the slide too.

It was so nice out (translation: 40s?) so we ate supper on the deck later on.

Graham (and mom and dad) liked the park so much that we kept going even when it was a little chilly outside.

To the zoo for our friend Norah's birthday party. He was pretty chill about the carousel.

Then over to Grandma and Grandma's for an early Easter dinner.

Big boy!

The next weekend we worked on an Easter drawing. Fun to see him color!

Easter weekend was hopping at the brewery so Graham pitched in to give Dad some help in the taproom.

Easter egg "hunt" after church on Easter. 

Then over to Grandma's for Easter dinner. 

We love Uncle Eric! 

Playing with our toys from the Easter Bunny. 

Best we could do on the family pic side of things...

We also started parent/baby swim lessons this month. He wasn't so sure the first day (mom had to get in the pool with him (in addition to dad)), but he did great after that. Just a whole new environment to get used to.

Snuck a picture of Graham doing "circle time" with his teacher Sara at daycare. The morning ritual. Graham loooves Miss Sara. And mom loooves walking out the door at drop off knowing he's happy and content.

Another morning ritual: cereal with dad. 

And hopefully not a regular occurrence -- Graham with an eye infection. Poor thing! He spent the day at Grandma Ange's to recover. The eye looked a hundred times better after a day of eye drops (not a fun process to get those in). 

It didn't seem to affect his spirits too much though.

He liked carrying around his medicine. 

That face...

Back at the park. 

Eating at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Notice the Bison bib in the same post as the UND sweatshirt. Proof that Graham is an equal opportunity college fan. He also dons Cobber and St. John's gear. So I guess he'll have support and competition from every angle of his family no matter where he chooses. :) But it's WAY too soon to start thinking about that. 

For now we just play with trains.

April milestones:

• WALKING! 
• His first steps were March 31 when he was home for a snow day with dad. 
• April 13: 6 steps walking toward mama. Caught that one on video. 
• April 16: Daycare report says he's walking from table to toy with no coaxing. 
• April 29: Walking is becoming his preffed mode of transportation. Walked about 40 yards at the brewery without falling. He finally had the room to MOVE! 
• And so on and so on... :) So fun! 
• Teeth: Started getting one of his front eye teeth (before his actual front teeth) This is his third tooth overall. Front two bottom teeth are in. 
• Other fun things: 
• Smacks lips
• Started eating/being offered all foods at daycare
• Starting to try to say some animal sounds (giraffe, monkey, cow, sheep, etc.). It's usually not the right word but he's trying. 
• Drinks from a straw
• Down to one bottle at daycare plus one in the morning and one at night. 
• Loves to peek around corners at the park to find you
• Loves to put things into cups, hoops, baskets and buckets AND take them out.
• Started going down (not just up) the stairs.  
• Continues to be loved and adored by mom, dad, grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles. Lucky, lucky boy...lucky, lucky us. 

Wrapping up March, 2014

So.

G-man is a year plus 8 months and I've posted up to his first birthday.

Congratulations to me? Hardly.

I am going to go ahead and admit this blog isn't going to be a huge priority (sorry - wish it could be), but that doesn't mean I don't want (and need) to keep on keepin' on with tracking updates in some capacity. My thought is that if I type less, post less (monthly--ish? and ok, I realize that would be much more than as of recent) but smother the heck out of the page with pictures of what we're up to, I might have a fighting chance at keeping a record of Graham's childhood.

Let's start with the rest of March and then I'll do my best to catch up and keep up.

Bath time (playing with his new boat. A birthday gift from Aunt Cheryl).

Climbing stairs (and going up when we're supposed to be down to leave the house).

Playing with his drum (a birthday gift from grandpa).

 Helping...

 Snuggling...

 Eating...

At his one year Dr. appointment. 

We had this great idea to start going to the gym as a family in the evening. Only problem: it gets way too late and poor Graham turns into a zombie. This is a picture of very tired little boy. At least he wasn't screaming (yet. I'm fairly confident that came shortly after this picture).

Playing with another toy from his birthday. Grandma made biscorno balls to throw in and out of a bucket. He loves it!

See?

He also loves that one of the balloons lingered around for a week or so after his party.

Sleeping. I find the "crib checks" are always where I'm most shocked/come (a little) out of my denial about how big he's getting. Just look at him!

Graham's friend Peyton's birthday party was a football theme so G sported his Bison gear.

Mom tried to get into it too.

At the brewery on a Friday night to say hi to daddy. Checking out the dominos game with regular FBC customer, Vanessa and her friend.

And it had been "pajama day" at daycare which is why this picture is so funny. Or is it because there's a one year old in a bar? No, that can't be it. Must be the PJs.

At another friend's (Declan) birthday party, we spent some time using their table as a fort. 

So smart - he can already spell his name!

Loves his bath time.

And that's it for March - he's still smiling in a bomber hat at the end of March. He'll do just fine growing up in North Dakota.

A few other notes/milestones on March, 2014:

• Likes to put toys into baskets, hoops and cups. 
• First haircut (March 2)
• Says na na na
• Likes to sit on the bathroom counter and play while mom gets ready in the morning. 
• Gives high 5s
• Can stack blocks 
• Turned 1!
• Squeezed in his official first steps on March 31 while at home on a snow day with dad (who may have been even more excited about it than Graham...)