Laughter

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. -e.e. cummings

The Boys Lately

Jack's Acrobatics






Graham's Acrobatics




Brotherly Love


You can tell how much Graham likes his food by how much he kicks!

Sooner Saturday

Before the game, the boys were up early to go to the farmer's market with Daddy:







Then we spent some time playing at home:










And Uncle Kenny stopped by on his way to Norman!

Jack Discussing Graham

My 8 Month Old

My little Graham-a-lama is 8 months old today! He is such a mover and a shaker, we are going to have trouble keeping up with him! It's fun for me to see the similarities and differences between my two kiddos. So far, I mainly see differences, such as:

- Jack was extremely colicky from 1-6 or so months of age. Graham is the most laid back, happy baby I've ever seen.
- Jack was a fabulous eater and still is. He would live on broccoli alone if we let him! Graham on the other hand doesn't seem too interested in most foods. He likes yogurt, strawberries, pears, crackers, toast, and Gerber puffs. He tolerates green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and apples. We have to pretty much force feed him anything else!
- Jack was always a careful baby and toddler. We never really baby proofed our house, other than covering outlets and removing extremely breakable objects from reach. If I redirected him from something, he didn't really try to get it again. Graham is into everything! I can't turn around without realizing another would be death trap in my house that I need to baby proof. He is a climber and I fear he'll be climbing out of the crib long before I'm ready to move him to a bed!
- Jack let go of furniture and stood on his own for the first time around 10 months old. Graham did it at barely 7!
- Jack had two teeth when he turned 8 months old. Graham has 7!
- Jack was saying more words at this age than Graham is.

It is so interesting to watch them grow and to see how they are different. Jack seems to be my thinker. He has amazing language skills, an exceptional memory, and is very imaginative. He loves books and music. He has always been a cuddler! Graham is more physical. I can barely hold on to him long enough to get a hug. He just wants to be on the ground working on his next trick. He loves rolling the ball, practicing walking, and exploring every inch of every room. One thing they both are is sweet. I am so in love with them!!

Graham's milestones this month:
- He is saying four words: mama, dada, bubba, and bye-bye. He just said bye-bye for the first time today, to Paul and Judy in the book Pat the Bunny! It was precious.
- He is trying to stand up from the ground up and is getting close. He is letting go of the furniture and standing with no hands. He attempts to take a step but falls down right away.
- He began clapping and will start doing it when we say pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake!
- He is waving bye-bye

We can't get enough of him!

Conversations with Jack

This is a conversation we had after school today:

Me: Jack, what did you do at school today?
Jack: I played and played and played and played!
Me: Who did you play with?
Jack: Milan! And I gave her lots of love!
Me: How did you give her love?
Jack: I'm not going to tell you that...

Hmmmm...

Bedtime With Daddy

*Posted by Randy

A few weeks ago, we welcomed a new sitter into the Biggs house so that we could have a night on the town. I thought I would make her life a little easier by quickly jotting down a few things pertaining to Jack’s bedtime routine… it was somewhere around bullet point number fifteen that I thought I wonder if this is getting a little out of hand? Jack has become a master of extending his routine by making small (and very cute) requests that always seem harmless at the time; naptime, though, has become an at-least-twenty-minute ordeal. My sweet boy’s routine:

- After bath, Jack dons his white tee shirt and boxer briefs (“just like daddy”)
- Jack visits the potty and brushes his teeth
- I turn on the light switch then hoist Jack up to turn off the light using the pull.
- Jack or Sally (his kitty cat) turns on the reading lamp.
- I open the Bible and ask Jack to choose his three verses (Matthew 1:7 is a must...yes, that’s the genealogy verses).
- I choose my three verses (while Jack encourages me to “choose” the other ones he wants).

We take inventory:
- Blankie. Check.
- Other Blankie. Check.
- Sally. Check.
- Owen (kitty cat #2). Check.
- Polly (kitty cat #3). Check
- Big Bible. Check.
- Little Bible. Check.
- Water. Check.

- Jack jumps out of bed and he or Sally turns off the lamp.
- After he climbs back in, I say a prayer for him and for someone we love.
- He says a prayer for his friend, Parker.
- I tell him a story.

Favorites include:
- Spiderman goes to the park
- Spiderman goes to the water park
- Spiderman goes ice skating
- Spiderman buys a new car
- The Mean Little Prince (one that Kristin invented after a particularly *ahem* special day with Jack)
- David and George (a modern play on David and Goliath)

- I sing Jack a song (Silent Night or the OU Alma Mater).
- I put on his covers.
- We do “hugs and kisses”.
- He asks me to get ice for his water.
- Yes… I get ice for his water.
- We do “’nother hug” (and ‘nother kiss too… his hugs never come without a kiss).
- I put on the covers again (which he has already kicked off).
- We say our “goodnights” and “I love you’s”.

The best part for me is our Bible reading. It used to be one verse and a few other books, but Jack just wanted more Bible, so now we have ditched the books altogether. I noticed once that I paused to clear my throat, and I guess Jack thought I wanted him to “read.” The next thing I knew, he was spouting off the genealogy verses one after another. We’ve become intimately familiar with Uzziah, Jehoram, Jotham, and plenty of other Old Testament figures I had never heard of before… in fact, the friend the Mean Little Prince visits in the story is named Jehosaphat. He has been memorizing books since he was two years old, and it seems like he won’t be satisfied until he’s got the whole “Little Bible” down pat. I will continue to relish every prolonged minute in the meantime.