Johnson Doodles

At two and half Grady is energetic, observant, talkative, bright, athletic, stubborn, sweet, silly, and enthusiastic about life. He is a dynamic kid who keeps us on our toes, laughing, and rolling our eyes every single day.

The most notable thing about Grady at this age is his ability to carry on a conversation. He picks up words and concepts so quickly and can carry on a conversation about pretty much anything. He is a TALKER for better or for worse. He just cracks us up with the every day things he says. Some examples from this weekend, last night Chris sneezed and Grady looked at him and said, "Daddy next time maybe try to sneeze like this" while demonstrating an elbow sneeze, "its OK Daddy, just try a little harder next time." He is precise with his words and often corrects us (see note above about eye rolling). I was watching the news last night and there was a story about pandas. I showed him and said look at those cute pandas and his response was "Mommy, those are not pandas, those are panda bears." There was also a story on the news about ISIS destroying statues and today when he saw some statues at the zoo, he told us "member when those mean people were destroying statues." He just woke up from his nap and went outside where Chris was mowing the lawn, Chris stopped to say hi and Grady said "thank you for mowing my lawn daddy and for making it look so pretty". I love that he gives us so much insight into what he thinking because he just cannot keep quiet. On the cute side, here are some of the funny words that have come out of his mouth the past few months, fighterfighter (firefighters), up-down-side (up-side-down), pinano (piano), foursday (after telling me he'd go potty on the potty in four days and I told him that was Tuesday he said no, Foursday!). I wish I could just imprint our daily conversations in my mind forever because this kid is just too much fun. He also has some decidedly British words that he's picked up from Peppa Pig. He'll say "ready steady go" instead of ready set go. He tells us "you are most welcome" and "you must not touch my blocks."

He's got two imaginary friends. Mosho originates from Seattle and is a blue haired dog. She has to wear shoes before going outside and comes and goes as she pleases. She is here one minute and at at her home the next. Mr. squid is the latest friend to emerge. Grady woke up from a nap one day bobbing his hand up and down and making a sound like the soundtrack from jaws - bah-dump, bah-dump, bah-dump and then he proceeded to tell me about Mr. Squid. We have no idea where this came from, but it is hilarious. Sometimes Mr. squid gets ink on Grady, which is the perfect excuse for getting dressed in the morning. In addition to his imaginary friends, Grady's imagination has just taken off. He plays with his cars making up stories about where they are going and what they are doing. He pretends to be Dr. Grady Johnson checking on our ears and our heart often telling us "looks good Mommy" or "your heart sounds just perfect". Every day brings new adventures for him and we love playing alongside him trying to get a seat in the theater of his very active mind.

Grady bravely opened a new chapter in his life about a month ago. While I spent my days at home with him on maternity leave, it became apparent that he could benefit from a little more social interaction and stimulation (and Graham could benefit from being able to be the center of attention for at least a few hours a week). Chris and I visited a "school" close to our house and just knew Grady would love it there. Grady now spends two mornings a week making new friends, attempting to listen to a teacher and enjoying recess! School has been great for him and we are so proud of how he has bravely navigated this new and unfamiliar circumstance. He reports that his best friend at school is Mrs. Becky (one of the teachers) and that he loves the sandbox. I think he must be on full throttle the whole time he is there because he cannot last the 5 minute car ride home.

This little blur is the only picture that I could get of this excited boy on his first day of school!

Grady is quick to point out when others don't follow the rules (note, this doesn't mean he follows the rules himself). When Graham was just three weeks old, I was driving with the boys and turned right on a red light. Grady about lost it from the back seat when he saw I'd turned and it wasn't green. Little did I know I'd have a backseat driver at age 2!

He is a little rascal himself, always pushing boundaries and testing the limits. How you doing in the bath Grady?, "Oh good, I am just standing up Mommy". And then I find this!

"Look Mommy, I climbed up here all by myself!"

He even climbs on people!

Where did Grady go?

He emulates so many things that we do and say. While on maternity leave he started calling me and others "honey" in the funniest of contexts. "Just a minute honey, I will do that in one minute when I am doing this hard work." He also calls me Ali sometimes, "Ali, can you please just come here?" The nicknames of Ali and Honey make laugh, but the new name of Mom makes me a little sad. He'll call me mom on occasion and it is one more reminder of how fast my big guy is growing up. I know I cannot be mommy forever, but I am not quite ready to be plain old mom just yet.

He loves books . . . finally!! Grady was not the type of baby that would sit and listen to books but we read anyway while he circled us or climbed all over us. Now he really likes to read and can even pick up a handful of books and "read" them on his own like Brown Bear or Pete the Cat - I Love My White Shoes. We spend a lot of weekend mornings at the library where he likes to tell me in a whisper as we drive up "Mommy, shhhh we must be very very quiet bahcause we are going to the library".

Grady's other loves include painting, playing outside with his trucks, doing anything that daddy does, eating ribs and warm rolls, helping with yard work, "vacuuming" the house, watching shows (Peppa Pig, Little Einsteins, and Paw Patrol top the current favorite list), building with blocks, playing his marble game, playing with play-doh and magic sand, and swimming in the hottub. He'll even enjoy a good cuddle on a rare occasion now, much to our delight. He is an outside kid and he is thrilled that the weather has turned so that he can spend more time enjoying the fresh air and so are we! This kid is on all cylinders all day long so being able to run and play outside is essential!

While I was worried about bringing a new baby into Grady's world, I am pleasantly surprised by how well Grady has adapted to brotherhood. A lot of the time Grady just doesn't even notice his little brother, but sometimes he will pile toys around Graham, give him kisses, and say things like "ohhh he is just so cute" or "oh, he is doing some hard work lifting his head up."

For as much as Grady tests the limits every day, he is also a very very sweet boy. Sometimes, he will stop what he is doing and just look at me and say "I love you Mommy." He'll thank us for things in the sweetest way telling Daddy every Saturday morning " Thank you so much for making me these pancakes and syrup daddy." He gives hugs and kisses freely and with enthusiasm and has real sense for when people are feeling sad or are hurt. He is the perfect little combination of a tough kid on the outside and sweet little boy on the inside.

Grady marches to the beat of his own drum. Peer pressure does not work with this kid and I suppose one day we'll appreciate that. For now, he is content to sleep in his crib and wear diapers. Despite my frustration as a mother on these two things, I hope that Grady continues to march to his own beat for the rest of his life never loosing sight of the unique and fun person that we've come to know.

I feel lucky every day to share my life with you, Grady.

I thought the proper way to end maternity leave was with a little visit to one of our favorite cities to see some of our favorite people. Little did I know that the plague would hit our family the week of anticipated travel. Despite some nasty virus, the Kehrlis welcomed us into their beautiful house with open arms. Due to being sick, Grady was much more subdued than normal which actually made travel quite easy and enjoyable. Our first flight as a family of four was amazing with flight attendants complimenting our well behaved children (an absolute first (and probably last) for this family!).

We had a wonderful weekend filled with great food and drinks, an adult night out, lots of catch up time, a beautiful walk around sunny Greenlake in 60 degree weather, a trip to the museum of flight - AKA Chris's dreamland, and lots of playtime with two adorable two year olds. Grady has now proclaimed that Seattle is his favorite city. Whenever we see a plain or a train, he announces "it is probably going to Seattle!" Grady's imaginary friend "Mosho" even originated from Seattle according to him. The absolute highlight of this trip for me was seeing adorable Addison and Grady blossoming into the next generation of friends. Of course I also enjoyed the time with some of our best friends as well.

Graham was there despite my total failure to document his presence. He was his normal easy, tag along self for the most part, which means it doesn't often occur to me to take his picture. I am so thankful that we were blessed with the sweetheart of a baby that is Graham, I just need to be better about sharing him with the world. I swear I will get better at this mother of two children thing.

These two are pure adorableness

This guy was obsessed with Mr. Bob's motorcycle and would beg to ride it multiple times a day. He'd wake up from his nap and jump up and down yelling, "Can I ride the motorcycle now!!" I'd tell him you have to wait to ask Bob. As soon as he'd see Mr Bob, he'd go running and shouting, "Can I ride your motorcycle now?!?!"