bottoms up

Graham at 10 months

Happy 10 months my sweet baby boy

You continually amaze me with your sense of wonder.  Everything seems to spark your interest. I love nothing more than watching you soak up your surroundings...I can truly see the spark in your eyes.

Here is a rundown of you at 10 months.

You have developed a love for books.  You will sit for thirty mintues with one book, turning the pages, flipping it over and over.

You are on the move.  By far, the greatest accomplishment in this tenth month.  You're up on all fours and can get from the living room to the kitchen in the blink of an eye.  Your hands slapping on the hardwoods key me in to your whereabouts. 

You will sit in your high chair for an hour an eat.  You adore food and seem to slowly savor each bite.  You're really enjoying small pieces of chicken and buttered toast right now.  Forget the spoon, you want your meals and snacks in pieces and on your tray. 

You still love to "flap your wings".  Just like a baby bird trying to fly.  You'll do this when you're in your high chair and see food (especially a banana) and when you've spotted a toy that sparks your interest.

I'm in love with the way you play with your siblings.  The three of you can get laughing at absolutely nothing.  I'm so surprised how you all interact and play off one another.

You fuss and whine when your daddy comes home from work.  You insist on being acknowledged just like Koby and your siblings.  You will stop whatever it is you are doing, lock your eyes on him, and fuss until he gets face to face with you.

One of the most intriguing objects for you is your daddy's leather belt.  Odd.

You are loud.  All the time.  You always have something to say.  Because you get up before Grace and William, you eat breakfast while they are sleeping.  Before I even put you in your high chair, I have to put some sort of snack on your tray so it's ready to go when I put you in your seat. Otherwise, you'll yell (not cry, not fuss, just yell) until their is food in front of you.

You're sleeping much better these days.  In fact, we've had a solid week of you sleeping from 6:30 until 5:30-6:00am.  Usually, I'll feed you when you wake and you'll go back to sleep or play in your crib for half an hour.  You are taking two naps a day as well.

You laugh hysterically when you pet Koby.  I know, I think he's great too.

You're babbling non stop.  In fact, I think we've heard a few "da da's". 

You're pulling yourself up onto everything.  I'll find you in your crib, standing up and turning your aquarium on and off.

You are quite the trooper.  I'm packing you everywhere during these beautiful (3) summer days. You've been blueberry picking, to the splash park, many other parks, the beach, the zoo, and many others.

We're more and more in love with you each day, Grammie.  (It's what your brother calls you...take it up with him when you're older. )

splash park

We hit up the splash park last week. What a fun place!  Thank goodness my Mom tagged along for help.  I thought I had her conviced I could manage this myself.....hold a baby, sit on a towel, and watch the kids play.  Not!  This place was packed and the kids run amock so you needed to be on guard.  Nana and Graham enjoyed a shady spot under a tree while I followed the rugrats from the dragon to the orca and back again.

Surveying the situation.  Grace always needs a few minutes to check out the situation before diving in.

Scaling the dragon.

"I'm in" 

The sprinkler rock

This boy loves him some water.

On the orca

The epitome of summer fun.

Time to refuel.

"I'm going to tear this place up next year!"

Graham dipping his toes in.

Tuckered out.

bubble fun

Our new bubble guns arrived.  Oh, what fun.

 Bring it on!

 A bubble mountain.

You need a helmet for these bad boys!

Not really

Who needs a bubble gun when you have bubble buns!

future ballerina

Princess Grace appears quite frequently in these parts.  She loves to dance on her stage...the back patio.   When the beat slows, we see some pretty unique moves.   Maybe it's the new Cinderella earrings (clip on) and necklace. 

 Uh, oh.  Pacific Northwest Ballet, watch out.  Nice form, Willamina.

 Swanky

 Oh geez...the actress in her!

 The forward lunge with arm action.

 A spin for an encore.

 Still goin'.

Thank you. Thank you.

all by myself

This is William's thing right now.  " I can do it all by myself."  "I did it all by myself."  Let me just take a moment to say, "I did it all by myself.".  I really did.  Today, I went to the zoo with my pack of raccoons all by myself.  This has never happened.  We've been to the zoo many times but it's always with a friend and sometimes with family.  I love going with friends.  It's great because the kids enjoy seeing one another and us moms can tag team the parenting thing.  Plus, there is always something more tasty in their lunch bag. 

It's actually quite the accomplishment.  Even before we've arrived, I've fed the kids breakfast, put Graham down for his morning nap and spent his nap time dressing the kids, filling water bottles, making a lunch, packing snacks, sunscreen, sun hats, a band aid, camera, diapers in two sizes, wipes, phone, books for the car ride, and my wallet.   I've cleaned up from breakfast, let the horses out, laid out jammies for their naps when we get home, and started something for dinner. Then, when Graham wakes up, I change him, feed him, and we're off. 

The zoo is the scariest place with my kids.  I don't like the crowds on a summer day and the kids can scatter like flies...in the blink of an eye.  Unlike a park, where they are contained to the play structure, the zoo provides endless pathways to Africa and Asia.  It's crazy.

It was an enjoyable day with no major catastrophies and the kids stuck with me.  We really enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit-it is truly spectacular and a must see. 

I don't have a single picture.  I forgot the card for my camera.  Somthing has to be left behind, right?

These are pictures of our February trip with daddy.

in three's

You've heard the saying, "things happen in three's".  I'm hoping this is as true as it's ever been.  I've had enough child related emergencies and accidents that I can handle in the past month.  Last week our third incident hopefully closed this chapter.

William fell down the stairs.  FROM. THE. VERY. TOP.  14 stairs.  Hardwood all the way.  I'll never be able to erase the sound from my mind.  It sounded as if someone had pushed a chair down the stairs and the tumbling wouldn't stop.  I had stepped away for a minute to change a diaper.  Just a minute.

Graham gave us the choking scare (and a visit from the cute firefighters).

Grace ended up in the ER from a close encounter with Mac.

As I write this, I'm wondering if you are all thinking that maybe, just maybe, my kids aren't supervised.  I assure you they are.  Please don't judge unless you've walked in these shoes.....even if they are mismatched and and the right one is a black Reef flip flop and the left is a J Crew gold leather flip flop.  This actually happened and it wasn't until I was in public that I noticed. At least you can't say the above emergencies happened because I was looking for matching shoes.