A few things before we leave

We are about to head off for our trip to Mexico (to celebrate Graham’s 2nd birthday in the warm, tropical sun), so I wanted to make sure I was all caught up on the blog before leaving. 
Graham went to his buddy Jonah’s 2nd birthday party.  He had a great time playing with Jonah’s toys and checking out the bubble machine, but the major highlight of the party for Graham was the awesome bounce house!  Graham couldn’t get enough of it and slept for over four hours when we got home (23 months, 18 days old):

Graham had an awesome play date with his friend Zane.  Zane will be moving to Virginia in a little over a month (boo hoo, I’m devastated), so his Mommy Elizabeth made the drive from Thousand Oaks so the boys had another chance to play before the big move (23 months, 23 days old).  Elizabeth sang while the boys played accompaniments on the piano:

Next, Graham tried to teach Zane some dance moves.  In the video, you can see that Graham shows off the steps first and then Zane follows suit.  I think it went pretty well:

Then the boys played with Graham’s push giraffe and expanding Hoberman Sphere:

Finally, Graham strained to see under the door while Zane played with Graham’s potty:

Elizabeth has a blog of her own and she addresses Zane directly in all of her posts.  She wrote the sweetest post (titled “Best Friends”) about the boys' play date, so I just have to share it:
“Graham waited by the window for us to arrive and shouted "Zane Kneizeh!" as we walked in!!! You guys are best friends...shared toys, sprinted down the hall together and played a duet on the piano! “
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we will have a chance to visit again before Elizabeth and Zane’s big move. 
Graham had some babysitting fun this week.  He had babysitters two nights in a row.  The first night, his regular babysitter (Rebecca) came over.  He was so happy to see her, he didn’t even notice when we left.  I love the notes she leaves, so I had to take a picture and share again:

The next night, Mark and Alethea came over to watch Graham while we went to the Sonos holiday party.  Alethea came prepared with a bag of tricks including arts and crafts and games, but apparently her efforts paled in comparison to the excitement of seeing Mark.  As Alethea and Graham would play, Graham would say “show Mark, find Mark” and this morning when Graham woke up, he was calling for Mark.  Alethea left behind some of the arts and crafts and this morning Graham showed us his homemade binoculars.  He ‘looks’ through the binoculars and says “I see you,” but he doesn’t appear to have the positioning quite right to actually see through them (tee hee) (23 months, 25 days old):

Alethea brought some markers, so I got to put up Graham’s latest art project in the super cool framed art collector (can hold up to 50 pages of art) that is now hanging in our kitchen:

Graham was so worn out from the babysitting fun that he slept in past eight which was a nice weekend treat for Daddy’s birthday today.     

Other cute Antics and Noteworthy Tidbits:

• I witnessed (over the video baby monitor) a sweet morning interaction between Graham and his stuffed monkey.  Graham petted his monkey and then identified its nose, ears, and tail.  After a few kisses to the nose, Graham sang “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” while pointing to the correct parts on his monkey. 
• Graham has started to add the word “today” at the end of sentences to express urgency – “watch wheels on bus, TODAY!”
• Graham has started to get a little wily at nap and bed time.  He settles into my arms for his first story and then pops up and shuffles through ALL of his books before picking a second story.  He says, “hum” as he looks through each book and when he selects one he likes, he will say “come on down” (which is what I usually say to invite him down into my arms for the reading of the story).  I’ll let him know when it is time for the final story and he will listen patiently until the last line, at which point he will start frantically reaching for any story (no longer being picky) and saying “one more story, one more story.”  Our little guy loves books and fights going down for his nap or bed, but still consistently takes 3-4 hour naps and sleeps through the night.  I think I’ve mentioned before that when Graham wakes up, he always lets us know that he has had a good sleep by saying “good nap.”  He sometimes will say “good nap” when I’m trying to put him down (to convince me that he has already taken the nap and is now refreshed). 
• My new favorite phrase of his is “I love it.”  When he is given something or picks something up to play with, he will say, “oh my goodness, I love it!”
• Our climbing “Spider-Man” is at it again (23 months, 25 days old):

• Graham has started removing his smock when he is done eating.  Both smocks were in the laundry so he wasn’t wearing one during lunch.  I looked over when he was finished eating and this is what I saw (23 months, 23 days old):

 Awww, what a cutie :)