Just Like Mama!

Graham has many features that are all Dada, but there is one thing he has that comes straight from Mama – his laugh!  His laugh, which starts as a giggle then alternates between laughing, shrieking, screaming, and squealing, with a crescendo into almost pure screams (when he really gets going), is almost exactly like mine for the first 20 years of my life.  It warms my heart and I hope he never loses the pure joy I know he feels when all he wants to do is scream he is so happy <3
We got a great video of his laugh with the help of some tickling from Mama.  I stopped tickling him a few times just to make sure he was still having fun, but the frantic “more, more, more” confirmed he was loving it (18 months, 23 days old):

Other cute antics and noteworthy tidbits:

• Although I swore I would never do it again, I went ahead and trimmed Graham’s bangs.  He has the cutest little tufts of hair sticking over his ears on both sides (Nick and I call them his wings) and I was worried if I went to a professional salon, they would cut off his wings, so Graham got another mommy-do.  No picture, but it is a little better this time around (not so short).  I look forward to sharing a picture when my little man has his first real haircut. 
• Graham’s new favorite song is the Alice DeeJay song “Better Off Alone.”  When Graham demands something, Mommy sings “Do you think you’re better off alone,” and Graham responds with the follow up melody “do do, do do do.”  Then Mommy sings “talk to me,” and Graham belts out “oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh.”  Obviously, knowing and/or hearing the song would help with this post, but trust me, our little duet is really cute.  Graham also loves it when Daddy plays his favorite Japanese lullaby (“Ooki na kuri no ki no shita de”, 大きな栗の木の下で).  No matter where Graham is in the house, when he hears the song playing, he sings along with full confidence for the entire first verse. 
• Graham calls Nick, Dada, but he hears me say “Nick” usually, when I am yelling from across the house so Nick will hear me.  So, now, when Graham hears me say “Nick,” he will proceed to yell “Niii, Niii, Niii” over and over :)
• When Graham was an infant, we thought it was cute to teach him to bang on his food tray and say “more, more, more” when he wanted more food.  We still think it is cute, but it is getting a little embarrassing in restaurants when he does it, so now we have taught him to bang and say “more, more, more, PLEASE.”
• I got a couple pictures of Graham getting ready for our trip overseas.  He helped out by pushing the suitcase, that is bigger and weighs more than him, and by practicing wearing his backpack, which I plan on loading full of his books and toys for the trip (18 months, 24 days old):

• Our little guy is getting smarter every day.  He now says “text” when he hears the accompanying sound to a text message; he thinks it is funny when I sneeze, so after several of my sneezes, he said “more” hoping for another sneeze.  After a few real sneezes with satisfied smiles from Graham, I did a fake sneeze (to keep him happy) and Mr. Smarty didn’t buy my act for a second; and at the park, Graham was saying “tra” over and over in a very confident tone.  I told him that Mommy didn’t understand what he was saying, at which point he responded with “woo, woo.”  Ahhh, a train that goes "woo, woo!"  I realized we could hear a train going by in the distance.  I was so proud of Graham for using his words and explaining himself until Mommy could understand!  

Way to go Graham, what will you teach Mommy and Daddy next?