graham's words

graham has been surprising with lots of new words!

"mommy" was the first, which pleases me to no end. then "eat", "daddy", "bye bye", "meme", "hi", "pop" (for bubbles), and "papa". yesterday he added "thank you".

he also makes nearly every animal noise including a very cute "peep, peep, peep" for baby chicks!

it's very fun to enter into this stage with him. i'm looking forward to watching him learn many more exciting new things!

oh, the things they pick up from us!

this morning, while we were putting together puzzles, harrison said, "very good job, mommy. i'm so proud of you."

clearly, i am raising him well.

a few weeks ago, while frustrated with me, harrison said, "STOP freaking out!"

clearly, daddy could be doing better in the parenting department.

: )

i love you, mommy

last week the boys and i were outside as much as the weather allowed. we had some gorgeous sunny days in the high 60's. and then the snow came. and then the snow melted. and then the snow came again.

and so it is with march weather in denver.

truthfully, i actually kind of like it. when it's gone as quickly as it comes, you have to enjoy it while it's here.

all that to say we went for lots of walks last week. one, in particular, will forever be etched in my memory. i was pushing graham in the stroller - something he is quickly beginning to resent as he'd much rather be running around like big brother. harrison was riding his bike (aka big wheel). we were strolling along when harrison, out of the blue, said, "i love you, mommy."

i had purposefully never taught him to say that. nor had i ever told him, or forced him, to reply back when i say "i love you". i knew that one day that phrase would have so much more meaning if i just let him come to it naturally. and i was so right.

what a sweet moment! i let the weight of it soak in, even got a bit teary-eyed. and then harrison steered his big wheel right into the street.

and so it is with precious moments.

you have to capture them while they're here because they so easily melt away.

eating for two

this little piggy went to market...

this little piggy stayed home...

this little piggy ate roast beef (and everything else he could get his hands on)...

this little piggy had none...

and the mommy piggy cried "wee, wee, wee...woe is me, me, me".

"eating for two" has taken on new meaning in the white house.

the interesting thing about having boys so close in age is that their growth patterns are so apparent. wasn't it just yesterday that harrison was frantically signing "more please" and stuffing food into his mouth as if he didn't know when his next meal would come? these days ketchup is his favorite food and he thinks eating a couple teaspoons of it with a fork constitutes a meal. hey, at least he's mannerly enough to use a fork! i should count my blessings.

conversely, graham has turned into a squirrel who packs away the nutrients and stores it for winter. i'm really beginning to notice that he's put on an extra layer of insulation! he eats circles around his brother and frequently asks for more after having been excused from the table. graham is doing exactly what harrison did at that age...eating for two!

it seems that one-year-olds instinctively know that the busy, too-focused-to-stop-and-eat, can't-sit-still-for-a-meal, lean, two-year-old years are ahead. it's "survival of the fittest" at it's very best! or maybe it's just graham who instinctively knows that he must happily eat his food in order to keep his mother from becoming deeply depressed. after all, the thought of two little boys living on the ketchup-only diet is quite disheartening.

who knows, though, i may not be able to avoid the depression...or i may just have to get over it...because i keep having this reoccurring idea that as the growth patterns continue the ketchup-only diet will, sadly, be better know as "eating for four".

just a moment in the life of graham

a week ago graham was playing with my sunglasses. he fell down and, of course, broke them. since then they have become his new favorite toy. i've tried many times to catch him on camera wearing the glasses and each time he refuses to let me get a picture. and, really, i mean he refuses. refuses! the little stinker.

so, finally, yesterday i got a few and, to me, they capture his precious little stinker of a personality.

first off, please notice graham is sitting in a dining room chair, which he can climb in to and out of all by himself. despite a couple falls, he refuses (and i mean refuses!) to keep out of those chairs. secondly, please notice all the grubby finger prints on my dining room chairs. i swear i clean them three times a day and still the finger prints magically return.

here's my sweet graham-er boy with his fun new sunglasses! it's hard to tell but there is a tiny smirk of a smile creeping onto his face. it's as if he was thinking, "i'll hold still long enough to let her have just this one...but she can't make me look at the camera".

and then he slowly, gently closed his eyes. and sat there. yes, he sat there with his eyes closed. really, he sat there! with his eyes closed!

eventually he opened his eyes but still refused to look at me.

oh, he's looking at the camera! quick, get the shot!

but, alas, he was too quick for me...and he knew it!

then he just became goofy, which is his usual state of being.

as soon as i put down the camera he started laughing! see, i told you he's a little stinker!

but he sure does make my days so much fun!!

taco twos-day

dinner at the white house is always an experience - one that usually consists of graham giggling and squealing at the sight of food, graham grabbing handfuls of food and stuffing his mouth so full that he has a hard time chewing, graham standing up in his highchair (no matter how tightly i strap him in), mommy running back and forth to serve up more food, and lots of paper towels and wet wipes to clean up the mess.

last week i made tacos (pretty much a weekly staple). flour tortilla, avocado, taco meat, black beans, and shredded cheddar cheese. graham ate not one, but two. and when i went to the kitchen to grab something (anything!) to clean him up, i turned around to find this:

oh yes he did pick up his plate and lick it!!

i have a feeling that before long we'll be calling it "taco threes-day".

i promise you i didn't rub a balloon on his head.

we've all had bad hair days...

graham's hair days aren't as bad as they are funny. he still has not had his first hair cut. i keep hoping he'll develop some curls like harrison did, but it seems as though his hair is going to be thin and straight. and with those two opposing cowlicks?? well, every day is an adventure!

you can't win 'em all...but you can win some!

last sunday i made a meal plan and shopped so we could have homemade, healthy dinners for two weeks. we/i have been out of sorts lately at the white house as we've been battling colds, migraines, wisdom teeth removal, blah, blah, blah. the boys went to meme & papa's house last weekend so i finally had an opportunity to get caught up and be proactive for a change!

all this to say that i have been cooking dinner each night this week.

monday night harrison refused to eat his chicken fajitas. i let him be excused from the table to go play while we finished dinner.

tuesday night harrison took one look at his homemade pizza, tried to tell me he doesn't like cheese, and then said, "i don't feel like eating...i'm sorry, mommy" in the most apologetic voice he could muster. i told him he didn't have to eat but he needed to stay at the table until we were done.

wednesday night he ate a few bites of meatloaf (with veggies and ground flax inside!) and a few bites of mashed potatoes (with cauliflower mashed right in!). i figured a few bites was better than none. are you seeing, now, why i am so freakishly crazy about hiding healthy goodness in our food??!!

but tonight, oh sweet tonight, i heard the words every mom longs to hear! it brought tears to my eyes when harrison said, "mmmm...this is delicious!" what was he eating? probably the healthiest meal i've served all week! a bowl of vegetarian chili - with three different kinds of beans, tomatoes, green pepper, and onion...cooked in a broth of tomato puree. basically, it was a bowl full of vitamins and nutrients!

i suppose it could be possible that he was referring to the corn bread muffin, not the chili, when he said those precious words.

little did he know, however, that the sweet muffin he was devouring was full of real, live, off the cob, corn kernel-y goodness!!

muahahahah!

today in a nutshell

dislikes:

*graham throwing fits because i don't understand what he wants - so sad! i'm trying, buddy!

*the house turning into a disaster zone AGAIN.

*attempting to bake salmon in parchment paper. i overcooked it. also, the salmon had no flavor...the vegetables underneath the salmon had way too much flavor...it was a big bust. that's what i get for trying to make something other than sloppy joes.

*it's too cold to play outside.

likes:

*going to library story time - toddler time for harrison at 10:15 and baby time for graham at 11:00. i love the children's programming that our local library offers! both the boys love it, too.

*finding new ways to get ground golden flax seed into the boys diet. this morning i put it in our pancake batter and this afternoon i substituted six tbsp. flax for two tbsp. butter in my oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. both turned out great!! next time i'm going to try to substitute even more flax and see how they turn out. (by the way, i've made chocolate chip cookies and substituted flax for the eggs and those, also, turned out great!)

*jer giving the boys a bath so i can start cleaning up the disaster zone.

*my new catch phase - "it's not time to play, it's time to obey."

who knew stickers were a beauty aid?

a real life conversation...

i was lying on the couch while harrison was placing stickers all over the right leg of my sweatpants.

mommy: wow, thanks for the stickers, buddy.

harrison: you're welcome. i turning you into a beautiful princess.

mommy: oh, that's so sweet, harrison. thank you for turning me into a beautiful princess.

harrison (to daddy): daddy, i turn mommy into a beautiful princess!!

i'm sure daddy was thinking it would take a lot more than a few stickers to turn this grey-sweatpant-wearing, no-makeup-wearing, pony-tail-wearing, non-showering mommy into something befitting the title "princess"! or maybe that's what i was thinking!! it's so nice to know that harrison doesn't think about that stuff, though. : )

protesting without words

graham is right on schedule (at least for my boys). he's nearing 14 months of age and just starting to throw fits. with harrison i found this quite frustrating. with graham it simply cracks me up.

graham has somehow figured out how to go limp and go stiff at the same time. baffling. he throws back his head, arches his back and drops his body to the floor...all in one quick, fluid motion. this happens multiple times throughout the day - anytime i'm attempting to get him to do something he doesn't want to do. if i try to pick him up (under his arms, around his ribcage) he's learned to straighten his arms up over his head so that i almost lose my grip. yesterday i actually did lose my grip and he fell backward onto the floor. he didn't like that so much. and i sure did smile down at him and say, "that's what you get for throwing a fit, buddy."

i'm such a good mom.

it gets me laughing because i daydream about throwing my own little tantrums. can't you just picture me throwing myself on the floor because i had to make dinner AGAIN? or clean up toys AGAIN? or wash clothes AGAIN?

what? you wiped your booger on mommy's pants?

thud. kick, kick, kick. AAAHHHH!

as john lennon put it...

"so this is christmas...and what have we done? another year over and a new one just begun."

here are pictures of the white family christmas 2009.

our sweet little munchkins.

harrison was trying to hold graham's face and turn it toward the camera. apparently graham thought harrison wanted a hug.

harrison saying "hi" and graham waving "hi".

brotherly love.

christmas eve night at meme & papa's house. we ate dinner with them (chicken and dumplings), went to christmas eve service at their church and came home to open gifts. it was 7:30 or 8:00 pm by this point and graham was long overdue for sleep. all the action kept him wide awake, though, and both boys had SO MUCH FUN with their new toys! the word "spoiled" does not even begin to cover it.

harrison's new dyson vacuum, which he loves.

graham's new books, which he loves.

although harrison received this fire truck from meme & papa the night prior it was still a huge hit the next morning!

graham got a pull along daschund puppy dog toy. he was just a wee bit happy about it.

we got out of bed pretty leisurely on christmas morning. we enjoyed opening gifts as a family and then jer played with the boys while i started cooking christmas dinner. meme, papa & uncle zach spent all day with us, too.

the boys are in their matching pajamas playing with graham's new maracas and harrison's new race car.

harrison concentrating hard on driving his race car.

graham playing his new triangle. again, just a teeny weeny bit excited.

we all went to the denver zoo's annual zoo lights spectacular. it was really cold but we all had a great time.

i bundled graham up so he could barely move. he was forced to stay in the stroller most of the time but sure loved when he got a brief moment to walk around.

uncle zach and harrison rode the choo-choo train. harrison has been rockin' the scrunched-up-nose look quite a bit these days. cracks me up!