Graham at 1!

Graham turned 1 - a while ago, but let's just be thankful that this post is getting up while he is still actually one!

I decided that I LOVE having a kid with an October birthday. Not only is it my favorite time of year, it is pretty fun and easy to throw a Halloween themed birthday party.  We'll see how long he'll let me decide what his party them is.  In any event, we loved having so many friends and family come over to play and help celebrate our sweet little Graham monster.    Graham mostly just loved his cake smash.   We love this little one year old and had so much fun celebrating him!

Graham tid bits at one!!!:

• He is of average height and weight with a huge head (98%). 
• He is not in a hurry to walk, but rather enjoys speed crawling around the house. At 14 months he is taking 8-10 steps at a time.
• He thinks Bella is his personal walker and latches on to her fur when thrusting himself from the couch to wherever Bella happens to be. 
• He has THE BEST smile.  I know I am his mom and so I have to say that, but this kid really does light up a room and makes friends with every waitress, store clerk or passerby.   
• He is a hungry little man.  He eats two dinners a night, probably twice as much as Grady in any given meal, and still wakes up hungry at night sometimes.
• He's got eight teeth and getting his two top molars (good times!).  We often get comments on his toothy smile.
• He loves nothing more than making a break for Bella's water bowls and attempting a good swim in them. 
• He puts up with a bossy, rough big brother pretty well.  He's even started to strike back at a little (we may or may not cheer him on when he does).
• He's got a few words.  Notably, he has learned to identify and say "cheese" before "mommy", at least I know we love the same things. 
• At one he starting sleeping through the night - bout time boy! 
• He loves dirt.  If left alone anywhere near dirt he ends up with a face covered in dirty and sand between his teeth. 
• He loves clapping and playing music. 
• He is a climber!  Stairs, boxes, bunkbed ladder our fireplace, if there is something to climb onto, this boy is on it.
• He is sneaky and fast!  He can get away from us so fast leaving Chris and I both asking "where's the baby!?!" frequently.
• He loves his baths and will splash in them for as long as we'll let him.
• He loves Grady so much.  Wherever Grady is, Graham wants to be, much to Grady's frustration sometimes.
• He may not say momma, but he is a momma's boy through and through.   If he is awake when I am getting ready he is at my feet the whole time. (see below where I am drying my hair, his face cracks me up).
• He makes diaper changes an Olympic event, rolling everywhere he can.  It astounds me that I cannot better control him!
• He loves brushing his teeth.
• He wants to be a big kid, but I am desperate to keep him a baby.
• He has the sweetest most wonderful disposition.  He makes life better every single day.  

We love our Graham more than words can say and thank God every day for the gift he has given to us!

More cake for the win!

San Fran: Grady and Mommy Adventure Date

I'm going to revisiting some memories that have been on my "blog to do list" for way too long.   The first is my amazing little trip with Grady to San Francisco this summer.  I really wanted to take Grady to a Giants game this year.  Chris was only semi-interested in taking the whole family because he does not really love getting on airplanes with a baby (go figure!) so I decided I'd take Grady on my own on a little mommy Grady adventure.  With the baseball season coming to an end pretty quickly, we booked tickets with very little notice and made a go of it.  I was SO HAPPY that we made this happen.  We made so many great memories together and had the best time.  I love that Grady has reached an age where we can do special things together.  I also love getting time to devote 100% of my attention to him. 

I got Grady out of bed early Saturday morning and he got to eat a special breakfast for our special adventure.  We then packed up the car and headed to the airport.

It is your special day plate!   It sure was!

  Grady is an expert traveler now and especially enjoyed requesting his own drink order from the flight attendant every time she came by (even when she was not taking drink orders). 

When we arrived, I decided I'd take Grady to the best burger joint that California has to offer, In-N- Out Burger of course.  Even though it is right across from the airport, Grady couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to enjoy the burger goodness.  So I had lunch in the car watching my sweet boy slumber away in the car.  We scrapped plans to stop by Santa Clara and I headed up the 101 for the game. 

We made it to the game and got out of the car and realized it was the hottest that I have ever seen San Francisco.  We were prepared for the fog and chilly air of the Bay not stifling heat. By the time we made it to our seats we were "sweaty bo betty" as Grady kept saying.   That was OK because he meant we could get some frozen lemonade.  Our seats were awesome and soon enough the Greenwoods and "Aunto Becko" got to join us.   Landon and Grady were fast friends and we all sweat it out in our seats for several innings. Then we moved on to tour the kids portion of the ballpark - a new one for me.   When Grady got into the kids replica t-ball ballpark, he told the guy he didn't want the little kids bat, but instead wanted the silver bat laying on the ground.  Well, after swinging that silver bat so hard that he literally swung himself around twice, he hit one on the third try - go Grady!   I think we'll need a little more practice with the big boy bat.

The game was awesome and hot and just perfect.  After the game ended we got to tour the inside corporate offices of the Giants and see where Aunto Becko works.   Grady found some sticky notes and passed out about 100 "tickets" to us all and the boys enjoyed some special treats from Aunto Becko.  We picked up a few souvenirs, rode on Becko's vespa, and then headed out.  

Grady napped in the car while Becko and visited some of the cities vistas and then Grady woke up right on cue when we made it to the Golden Gate Bridge.  He loved chasing the pigeons and seeing the sea lions and running like a little wild man!

After a long day, we walked down to a delicious SF pizza joint where Grady continued to be a bit of a wild man, but was so pleased to be able to play with pizza dough brought out by the restaurant manager.  We walked back to Becko's place and topped off a great day with ice cream and jumps on the air mattress. 

The next day brought new adventures.  We enjoyed some Lucky Charms and a visit to Starbucks then made our way to the South Bay.  

I took Grady to Santa Clara where the new students were just finishing their final moments of welcome weekend.  Mass was being held outside, parents and kids were saying goodbye and taking final pictures in every corner of the campus.  It was super sentimental and overcome with joy that I got to share this special place with my Grady.  Grady was hot and a little less enthused and upset that he couldn't stand at the priest's pulpit in the Mission.  We stole a cookie from the student welcome weekend reception (I figured 13 years of combined tuition more than paid for that cookie) and suddenly everything was better.  We walked back to our car and I showed him each place that I lived including our 801 house  remembering all the memories that this special place holds for me. 

After SCU, we were welcomed over to the Greenwoods for a little playtime and lunch.  With the impromptu nature of our trip, they had no warning that we'd be in town but welcomed us with open arms.  Great to see their awesome house and so fun to let the boys play together.  A perfect finale to a wonderful trip. 

I feel so lucky that Grady and I got the chance to do this together.  All in all we were away from Boise for about a day and half but we talk about our trip to San Francisco all the time.  Thanks to Aunto Becko and the Greenwoods for letting us invade your homes and for providing some much fun and adventure for us. 

This was seriously one of the best highlights of my year.  I am so lucky to have Grady as a fun little travel buddy and so lucky that we were able to make this happen.  I will treasure our first little mommy and Grady trip forever.  I hope that there are many more to come.