I Cry When Ugly

Graham had a very exciting weekend with his first trip to the zoo! My friend Jayme kindly volunteered to go with us while Will was in training. We learned a lot of things about taking the boys:

1. Baby C will not fall asleep in the front carrier when it is hot outside. Frankly, he won't ride in the carrier at all. He will ride quietly in the stroller only after he's been fed and changed.

2. Graham will not ride in the stroller for more than 5 minutes. As soon as he is put on his feet, he will take off running toward another stroller of unsuspecting children. Be prepared.

3. It is not worth standing in line for half an hour to see a baby animal. Especially when it's hot. And especially when it's time for Baby C to eat.

4. Graham can't see animals that aren't moving. We tried to point them out and he couldn't figure out what we were talking about. The tiger, however, was a treat for him. It walked by the glass 4 or 5 times, and each time his face was literally 6 inches from Graham's. Another treat was the large number of Canadian geese, which I can only assume were not supposed to be there. We spent lots of time watching those, even though we can see those in our backyard.

5. The aquarium was the absolute best exhibit for Graham. The animals were close, brightly colored, and always moving. He had a blast.



That evening, Graham got to play outside with Daddy for a long time. He was still wearing the shirt that Jayme gave him for his birthday that says, "I cry when ugly people hold me." Somehow it got tucked underneath so that in this video it reads, "I cry when ugly." You can also see how dirty it is from an entire day of snacks and being outside. Oh well, at least he was in a good mood.

A Tex-Mex Easter

Things we did over Easter weekend:

1. Visited our favorite local "Mexican" establishment for sopapillas. Watched as Graham set off the car alarm while playing with Will's keys, frustrating Will and making everyone else laugh.

2. Allowed Graham to play with one of Baby C's half-finished bottles on Saturday morning. Tried not to say anything when he wrote on the carpet in milk:



3. Went to find a new local park to walk in. Never found the park and finally walked around a random subdivision instead. Felt weird.

4. Went to church and decided that the sound level is probably damaging our hearing. Will have to figure out an alternative to sitting in the regular seats.

5. Helped with the 5th and 6th graders during the 3rd service. Tried to make the kids understand that when they popped their balloons, it sounds like gunshots going off in the sanctuary. Decided that efforts were futile.

6. Came home to Tex-Mex Easter lunch with a delicious recipe for wet burritos. Also made a cheesecake, but didn't cook it quite long enough. Still tasted good.

7. Put Graham in the center of his 3 Easter baskets, hoping he would walk over and pick them up. Watched as he pointed and barked at the neighborhood dog instead. Picked baskets up ourselves (hence, no movie).

8. Played with Graham outside while Baby C slept and Will played soccer. Watched secret favorite show of all time: America's Funniest Home Videos.

An Egg Hunt

Graham and Baby C went on their first Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Baby C slept the whole time, so it doesn't really count. Graham, however, had a pretty good time and actually picked up some eggs and put them in the basket.





And yes, that is me snatching it out of his hand. Once he had an egg in his hand, he refused to try for any more.

He also saw a little boy whose nose was painted red like a bunny, so he went up and poked him in the face and made him cry.

Inside, he got the best toy ever: a green balloon. One of our friends got a few pictures of him with it. Actually, all of the pictures after that had the balloon because he wouldn't part with it.





And finally, he also got his first haircut last night. It wasn't great because he didn't want to sit still, but I did what I could. Again, his picture is with the green balloon.

Keep off the grass.

Graham hates grass. He doesn't like to walk on it, even in shoes. Yesterday he fell down and couldn't stand up again because he wouldn't touch the grass with his hands.

One Saturday morning.

Graham was in rare form on Saturday morning, being very busy from the moment he woke up until he went down for his nap. In about 20 minutes, he managed to:

- Dump the water out of Baby C's humidifier and play in it.
- Pull Baby C's nightlight apart.
- Scrub the shower floor with my hairbrush.
- Chew on a flip flop from my closet.
- Throw Will's slippers into the laundry hamper.

He was just really, really excited, as you can see from this video:

Another bad baby food idea.

We had a roast for lunch on Sunday and I thought, "Hey, I'll throw some carrots in with it, cut them up, and freeze them for an easy bite-size lunch for Graham!" Today I pulled them out of the freezer, put a handful of them in the microwave, turned it on, and watched as a huge fireball blew out of the carrots to the top of the microwave. Seriously, it looked like a miniature nuclear bomb went off.

I think it's because there were tiny pieces of meat stuck to the carrots and they got much hotter than the carrots themselves. When I tried it again, it looked like one caught on fire, albeit a much smaller fire than before. Then I warmed them up over the stove.

Under Quarantine

Well, our household has been a hotbed of germ activity for the last few weeks, but hopefully it is winding down now. Graham had a cold during the week leading up to his party, then managed to get another one and share it with me. Today we found out he has an ear infection, which is somewhat relieving considering his general grumpiness over the past few days. I was hoping we weren't already hitting the terrible two's.

He did manage to take a break from his disgruntlement and help me put his stroller back together. I was using the screwdriver and he literally grabbed it out of my hand and started pointing and twisting it at anything he could find.



Today was another first: he accidentally shot a Cheerio out of his mouth while burping (wish I had that one on video). He had his one year doctor's appointment last week--still going for the lollipop physique with 95% for height and 10% for weight. His favorite activities are scaring birds away from the feeder, watching cars go past on the road, and playing on the stairs.

Baby C is doing well and sleeping a solid 4 hours at a time now at night. He's a good baby in general and we're enjoying him. We're pretty sure all the weight he has gained has gone straight to his cheeks, but now he can exercise them as he has recently started smiling, which is pretty fun.

Grammie has requested more videos, so we'll have to work on that. Today I think we'll be going outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. Happy St. Patrick's Day!