The Great Moth Experiment

Last Saturday, Will took Graham outside to play in the yard. He spotted a moth, so he picked it up for Graham to look at. Graham grabbed it by its wings, watched it try to flap wildly about, and dropped it. Will picked it up again and they repeated this a few more times. Finally, the moth flew at Graham and landed delicately right on the end of his thumb. That's when Graham popped it right into his mouth. Will had to fish it out, and that was the end of the moth.

A Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend was full of all kinds of firsts for our family.

We participated in our first Family Fishing Derby. Graham's favorite part was watching the geese (again with the geese...). His second favorite part was watching Will reel the fish in. Anyway, he won the prize for the smallest fish, and he was brave enough to touch it.



We also got our first speeding ticket. We drove through a tiny little town on our way home from dinner with some friends. Suddenly Will saw the policeman in the rearview mirror and pulled over. Turns out he was going 37 mph in a 25 mph zone--a zone that is a mere 200 ft long and is apparently only there to generate revenue for this town. After the policeman chided Will for driving at such an outrageous speed, he said, "Now slow DOWN and remember to watch for SIGNS!" Then he proceeded to ask us about our now-cranky boys in the backseat and tell us about his sons and his dog. Are you kidding me? We weren't in the mood for a chat.

Then Graham had a good first: his first potty on the potty chair. We thought we'd start putting him on it right before his bath and after naps, just to get him in the habit. I brought it upstairs one evening last week and just as I took his diaper off, he went all over the floor. How ironic. Saturday night, however, he decided to give it a whirl. Hopefully it continues!

We tried to show him his first caterpillar while we were on a walk on Sunday. Will spotted it and I busily tried to unbuckle Graham from his carseat, only to discover that I couldn't find the caterpillar. Turns out I was standing on it. It wasn't very interesting after that.

We did, however, see some baby killdeer on the same walk. They look so funny, they make us laugh every time.



By the way, the weird scratchy noise is Baby C starting to fuss.

Ahhh, road trip.

Last weekend was Will's mom's birthday, and we went to attend a non-birthday "random" get-together that happened to coincide with the event. After Graham only slept for one hour in the car, we weren't sure what to expect with the rest of the trip. Halfway through, we decided to swing by a large outdoor hunting and fishing store so he could run around while I fed Baby C in the parking lot (joy). In the middle of the bottle, I got a phone call from Will stating that Graham was swinging $150 fishing poles in each hand, so he thought maybe they'd better leave.

Here's Graham's hillbilly attire. We didn't take any short-sleeved shirts, so we just took his shirt off when he got hot.



For not being a birthday party, this sure was a delicious birthday cake. Happy Birthday, Gwen!



Graham got to play outside with Daddy. Mostly he chased a cat.



Thanks for taking pictures, Kim!

We have used this week to recover from the trip, and the boys are just about back on schedule. Baby C slept for 7 hours last night without eating. Glorious day! I went down to check on him this morning and saw that his eyes were open. When I got closer, however, I found that he was, indeed, asleep. Maybe he gets a lot more sleep than we think.

And finally, for those of you who enjoy incredibly long videos of Graham doing nothing in particular, here's a video of him helping Will wash the car.



Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there!

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.