Fun in the Sun

Graham's ABC's

Here is a video of Graham singing the ABC's. You have to sit through about 30 seconds of Jack pleading his case for why he should get dessert first...

Graham's First Day of School

Graham started Mother's Day Out at Crossings today! He was very excited to go to school and I was excited to have a day off to...work! Funny how on the one day without kiddos, I spend it in a mad dash to get as much accomplished as possible- cleaning the house, grocery shopping, etc. I must say it is very nice to get all of that done while the kids are happily playing and being loved on by great teachers. He was slightly hesitant to go in (as always in a new class), but when I picked him up his teachers said he was happy and energetic and had a great first day! Here is my sweet youngest son ready for the big day:

And big brother joining in for a picture:

Boomer Sooner!!

Conversations with Jack

Jack: Today at school we learned about wrinkled hearts.
Me: Oh yeah? What is a wrinkled heart?
Jack: When someone says something bad or mean it wrinkles our heart.
Me: Oh, I see. So what can we do to heal a wrinkled heart?
Jack: There is a button right on the heart and it says "Make wrinkled heart all better." You just push it!

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Jack: There is a giant in our house!! I have to go kill him with my shoe!
Me: Oh no! How did a giant get in here?
Jack: I don't know but he's from Dallas, Texas!

Graham- 19 Months

Another month has flown by in the life of Graham. Our little wild man is still keeping us on our toes. It seems he never stops moving except to grab a quick hug here and there. One of the biggest changes for Graham this month is that Randy and I have started more actively disciplining him. He is old enough to comprehend when we tell him that behaviors are not acceptable so when he chooses those behaviors anyway he now receives a one minute time out. His most common offences include hitting and throwing, but time out is torture for our active guy so he is learning quickly!

Other milestones:

- He continues to add new words to his vocabulary every day. Some recent additions include: sorry, Elmo, Bert, Ernie, Cookie, duck, Graham (GRMM), park, outside, and show. He loves TV so lately he will hand me the remote control and say, "SHOOOOW!!!)

- He is loving books more and more each day and now he likes to say the words along with me. A new favorite is called Bubbles, Bubble and it features the Sesame Street characters as babies taking a bubble bath. He loves to pretend to pop all the bubbles and to quack like Ernie's rubber duckie.

- He still loves singing and music so I try to incorporate music in our activities. Some new favorite songs include the Hokie Pokie, I'm a Little Teapot, and Skidamarink.

- Even when he's not saying actual words, Graham is ALWAYS talking. He jabbers on and on and on and I know he thinks he's really saying something. It is so fun to see him "tell us a story" and watch how animated he gets, sometimes serious, sometimes smiling. I wish I knew what he was saying!

- He's become kind of a guy's guy. Jack was always a mommy's boy at this age but Graham is definitely a daddy's boy. He also really loves his Grandad and really took to Uncle Daniel this weekend even though he hadn't seen him in months. I think it's sweet that he loves being with the boys, but I do kind of miss having a little baby who always wants his mommy! :(

Overall, G continues to be a strong, brave, active little guy. We've had a great summer and I'm looking forward to the fall because we have tons of activities and new experiences planned for our sweet guy!

First Day of Pre-K!

Jack started school today and I couldn't be more excited! Don't get me wrong. I love and cherish every minute of my time with sweet Jack at home. He is my first born, my buddy, my mommy's boy and I am going to miss him so much this year and am already a little freaked out about all day Kindergarten next year. BUT, I just know that he is going to learn so much, make so many new friends, and be loved on all year by his awesome teachers. It is a great feeling knowing that your child is in good hands and confidently trusting in the teaching and philosophy of the school. We are blessed by Crossings in so many ways and this is just another example.

Jack's teacher is Miss Jill. Thankfully, he already knows her because her class is next door to Miss Darcy's class, who taught Jack last year. Plus, we see her most Sundays as she ushers in the gym service. Still, Jack has been a little nervous about going back to school. I was surprised by this because he loved school so much last year. So, for the past week or so he has been saying repeatedly, "I am never going to Miss Jill's class..." This made me a little nervous too but I knew that once he got into that classroom he would remember how much he loves school. Thankfully, I was right! After orientation, Randy and I really talked up Miss Jill, the classroom, all the fun things he'll get to do, etc. He continued to say that he would "never go to Miss Jill's class" but we noticed that it was with less conviction. His eyes were lighting up as we described upcoming school events. Then today when he woke up he ran to get me (bright eyed and smiling I might add) and tell me it was the first day of school. He then said that he would never go. When we got to the church he put on his backpack and literally ran down the hall to the classroom. Actions speak louder than words, right? He was so excited but I think he didn't want to admit it because of that stubborn streak. He had to stick to his original story so as to not be wrong. Wonder where he gets that?! :)

When I picked him up at carpool, he was so giddy and excited to tell me everything that they did today. He loves Miss Jill and cannot wait for Tuesday and for all the upcoming activities this year. It fills me with so much joy to see how much he loves school! I pray that he will continue to love school and learning as he gets older.

Now what are Graham and I going to do with all our time? We'll miss Jack for sure, but I am looking forward to bonding with Graham one on one like I was able to with Jack. He's my sweet little wild man so I'm sure we'll have lots of adventures!