Catching up on some Cute Antics and Noteworthy Tidbits

Phew, lots of catching up to do.  It is amazing how many cute antics and noteworthy tidbits this little boy has!  I also caught up on some back posts.  For those who are interested, check out:

• Memorial Day Hike – Posted 5/30/11
• Another visit with Zaney K. – Posted 6/7/11
• Dog and Pony Show – Posted 6/8/11
• Big Boy Play! – Posted 6/12/11

Now, onto the good stuff…

• Graham has a new favorite toy.  Daddy’s old cell phone.  Graham loves flipping it open, turning on the speaker phone, typing in numbers until he gets the phone to ring (although it is always answered with an error message), and listening to the noise when the phone takes a picture.  Here are some pictures of his new toy (always in hand) and a video demonstrating his fascination (17 months, 15 days old):

• Graham has adopted the most adorable catch phrases.  When he sifts through his toys or books, he says “hum, hum” and when he knows he is about to get a treat he says “ho, ho, ho.”  Here is a video of Graham "hum, humming" away (17 months, 5 days old):

• Now that Graham has graduated from the playpen, we have been reconfiguring the living room to accommodate some independent play.  We got Graham a new toy box and it has been a huge success!  We love how it fits in the room and Graham has as much fun opening and closing the retractable lid as he does playing with the toys inside:

• Mommy got some community recognition.  I was chosen for the Volunteer Spotlight of the Month for the PEP board.  I took a screen shot of the write up (just to keep the memory) but I’m not sure it is readable, even when blown up.  Those who are interested, just ask me for a copy.  Under this bullet point, I’m also throwing in a photo that Nick sent me while he was babysitting Graham and I was conducting training for new PEP volunteers.  He let me know that Graham was wishing me goodnight, along with the photo and my heart melted (17 months, 16 days old):

• Graham has developed a serious sweet tooth.  He stopped eating regular pancakes (his breakfast staple) so I introduced him to the chocolate chip pancake.  Oops, no going back now ;)  He has some healthy multi-grain crackers, but for some reason, he thinks they are cookies and he whispers "cookies, cookies" with reverence, awe, hopefulness, and delight every time we bring out the box.  Since he is not much of a vegetable eater, I even considered spreading Nutella on his veggies before we had a breakthrough earlier this week with veggies mixed into pasta sauce.  Here he is enjoying the first morning of his new chocolaty breakfast routine (17 months, 8 days old):

• With all the sweets, we have become extremely diligent about brushing Graham’s teeth after every meal.  Graham is hit or miss with his tolerance, but I’ve found success with the Spider-man electric toothbrush.  Here is a video of Graham attempting to brush his own teeth (17 months, 15 days old):

• Graham is getting to be just as sweet as can be.  He has learned how to blow kisses and makes a loud “muah” noise with all kisses (both blown and not).  He loves to watch at the window when Nick comes home and then runs to the door to greet him as he walks in.  He also pats the back of our legs when he encircles us in a big hug <3
• He went on a fun shopping date with his gal pal Penelope.  First time sharing the cart and although they don’t look like they are having much fun in the pictures, once we started giving them the Costco food samples, they couldn’t have been happier (17 months, 14 days old):

• Graham graduated from Toddler Times (his beloved music and play class).  We are hoping to enroll him in a summer session with the same teacher before he needs to move into the older group.  On the last day of class, he made a cute little sign to hand from his doorknob (well, maybe Mommy helped a little):

• Graham now regularly says “bites” to request his DinoBite chicken nuggets, and “blue” to ask for blueberries, identify the color blue, and give a name to the blue truck in his favorite book.
• He says “B” when asked "what comes after A?" and is now tall enough to easily turn off AND on the lights.
• He continues to explore the idea of riding toys instead of just pushing toys and he has started to go into the neighbor’s garage looking for their big plastic car and prefers to ride instead of push his dinosaur toy (17 months, 15 days old):

• We were enjoying some outdoor time as a family.  Nick and I had just settled into chairs and we were watching Graham play, when his face lit up and he started yelling “dog, dog.”  I turned around to see the ‘dog’ he was pointing to.  Akkk, a skunk!  That was the end of outdoor time!
• Graham’s new favorite thing to do, to assert his big boy status, is to climb up on the couch.  Once he climbs up, he leans back and says “ahhhhh” in satisfaction before settling in to enjoy a book.  Just love his smile in these pictures (17 months, 19 days old):

• It is always fun to end with a video of some giggles.  Graham thought it was hysterical when I tried to tug his socks off while he was on the changing table (17 months, 11 days old):

18 months is right around the corner.  Graham, what will you surprise us with next?