Welcome to Seven Months

So far, seven months is the greatest Baby Graham age yet. He is working on crawling, I overheard Aimee tell one of the other parents that he would be crawling within the month. I consider her an expert on all things baby. Graham, unlike every other baby I know LOVES to be on his belly and play on the floor. Jr. used to FREAK OUT the minute he was on his stomach. I didn't think he would ever crawl. He pretty much didn't, he just rolled and then walked. I am so not ready for Graham to walk.


It hit me pretty hard this weekend that he is our last baby so as he hits every developmental milestone, that also means that he is becoming less and less of my baby.


We are ready to be done with "baby", but it doesn't make it any easier to mourn the loss of my sweet tiny little man. Not so much with Jr. I don't know why, but it seems like we were always in a great big hurry to see that kid grow up.



See how his haircut makes him look so darn cute - try to overlook the blue lips. He just sat there all spaced out sucking on his marker. To this, his dad said - "Okay Buddy - no more markers, just crayons from now on!" Yeah right. If Jr. even sees the marker aisle at Target and you don't go down it and purchase new markers, well lets just put it this way - SOMEONE is getting Child Protective Services called on them. I am sure marker deprivation is some sort of child abuse.






Jr. had the stomach bug this last week and into the weekend. Boy howdy, nothing brings you to your knees like a sick kid. Baby Graham refused to be put down for longer than one minute and of course Ed was completely paralyzed by pain from his - eh hem - man surgery. He is a champ though.


Oh and I got a new camera - I was thinking that if I got something nice and fancy all of a sudden my photos would get really smashing. Well so much for that. They are still mediocre. Luckily I have two super cute models so you won't notice.

Fishin'

Jr. woke up from his nap today yelling "Momma! I want to go fishing! I want to catch a big fish!" The perfect storm aligned, Ed came home from work early, Graham was in a good mood, it was sort of warm and we found the Batman fishing pole. It took us down to Spring Meadow Lake to look for some open water. No fish, but it got us all talking about spring. How amazing and awesome our lives will be once it warms up a little bit. A new boat (90% sure), getting the stroller rolling, exploring the trails, fishing and swimming at the lake 3 blocks away from us. . . . Vitamin D. . . ahhhh sunshine. more sunshine. need sunshine.


This is the shitty time of winter - it is almost over, the snow is gone and all that is left is ice. You can't want the warm weather too much or too publicly because cold wet snow will hit you like a slap in the face. The weather bimbo just announced that it is going to keep getting colder. DAMN YOU WEATHER BIMBO! DAMN YOU AND YOUR MINI JACKETS SMIRKY FACE SIMLE!

Just like a slap in the face, the camera is not doing well. Half of the time it doesn't open and then the battery dies in 5 minutes AND we lost the charger. The photos look like crapola. Ug. Time to go buy a new one. I really want a big fancy one, but I am somewhere less than an amatur. I want to take better photos and even learn someday to be a good photographer. Someday when I have more time. So that is kind of my excuse for the low blog density, bad camera, no photos.

But then who reads this blog to hear me whine. About the boys.



Graham rolls to get everywhere and wants to get into everything. He is so curious, such an investigator and damn is he cute! I mean so cute. He is such a good baby too. Always happy. He quit napping at daycare though, which is super stressful for me and I hate going to pick him up and having a sad red eyed baby - we call him zombie baby. He usually naps after work and then wakes up briefly for dinner and a bath, then back to sleep. It is hard because the only time I get so spend with him all day is those brief hours where he smiles at me behind those tired tired eyes. Aimee assures me that he will come around. I make up for it on my days off, lots of snuggles.




Jr. started his birthday list while we were at Target today. First on the list, a nerf double sided axe for "big boys". He also wanted a sweatshirt with skulls on it, a bunch of games, some toy tools and some dog bones, for Selma. Man I love that kid. I need to figure out a synonym for sassy, but that is the best term to describe him. In fact, I must tell him at least 100 times a day, "STOP SASSING ME!"

Since I started saying at home more, I get a lot more kisses and hugs. I also get a lot of him telling me I am beautiful and telling me he loves me. I have to remember that even though toddlers are a-holes, their sweetness completely makes you forget. . .


It still amazed me how much I love those two boys. It is crazy. You can't even put it into words.

Dear Jr.,

Please, please, please sweet man, go to bed and go to sleep. Bedtime does not need to be stretched into 3 hours and several trips to the bathroom to "poop on the toilet!"

In return I promise that I will yell less overall. You are the sweetest most smoochable "almost 3 year-old" and I want to spend more time loving you and playing with you and spend less time getting after you. How can someone so sweet be so sassy?

I am so proud of you. You are so wicked smart. You are so fun, strong and agile, I can't help but beam with pride with just about everything you do. You are also such a WONDERFUL big brother to Graham, thank you baby.

I love you so much, my heart aches.

Love, Mom

P.S. our camera is circling the drain. Damn.

Dear Graham,

Please don't quit nursing. It is way too early. Thank you.

Love, Mom.

P.S. Sorry about the constipation. I hope you know that I love you so much I actually pulled poop out of your butt. I am sure I will not fail to mention that when you are older, but please understand that it was pretty nasty.

P.P.S. I love you like crazy.

Photos

Photos from the last week.





Daycare was closed for a week so one day I got to watch Seri. She is like way dreamy. Jr. was thrilled for the company. Then auntie Liesel came to visit - the only photo documentation was a slice of beagle in a photograph. We had a nice weekend, many nights I lay in bed and wish she lived here in Helena. There was maybe - a rough estimate - 4 million baby kisses. Jr. told me one night that he didn't want to go to bed because he wanted to hang out with his friend.

Last week also started my new part time job. I was SHOCKED that the salt mines would let me cut back on a pretty permanent basis. I now only work M-W. That means 4 day weekends every week. I am going to work on my family. Work on taking them for walks and having fun.





And one photo I stole from Eric and Sarah's blog.

That is Graham, Grace and Baby Reid.

SIX MONTHS!

I know it has been a while since I rapped at ya all but I have been busy. I had to make time to post to commemorate this big occasion, and I was getting tired of looking on the blog only to see a photo of Selma.

Sigh - six months - I remember when Jr. hit six months, Ed and I breathed a giant sigh of relief. We had made it over some virtual hurdle. Things were going to change boy - howdy. We were a pair of idiots. Well, things did sort of change after six months - Cissie started getting him to sleep in his crib. I mean, babies change constantly, it was just that Ed and I needed mini time monuments to feel like we were getting through it all. Not so much with Graham, suddenly one morning we looked up and were like SHIT - Graham is six months old. Huh. What next? Our attitudes and our goals are vastly different this time around.



For example, Ed and I are working on getting Baby Graham his own crib - next step, get Cissie to come over and get him to sleep in it. . . Ha ha, not. Seriously, we talk about it all of the time and then along comes the night and neither of us puts him in his own bed. Go ahead, shake your heads, we are co-sleeping hippies and I am cool with it. Someday he is going to care more about cars, sports and girls than me and I have these nights to go back to. Besides, he is SO snugly. I mean REALLY snugly.



Anyway, six months. It is awesome and I can't believe how fast a half of a year went by.

So here is what six months is like for Baby Graham - he is so good at rolling over onto his tummy and tries to swim on the floor. This kid is aching to crawl. He is one mean hairpuller, but to his credit it is because he wants to give giant kisses. I am going to need a wig or hair plugs at this rate. He is still ridiculously sweet. He is happy and rarely cries. He does, however, let you know when he is hungry or tired. He YELLS! Oh and he laughs. Mostly at his brother, but laughs a jolly little giggle that makes you smile smile smile. He is all about eating. If he sees that you are eating without him, you will hear about it. Which leads to the chub. That kid has a tank of a behind, a big watermelon belly and cankles. I love it though. I love chubby babies. His bright blue eyes are enormous and go perfectly with his jolly red cheeks. He is a snugly little baby and loves everyone. He lets even the weirdest of my co-workers hold him. He reserves his kisses for me, his daddy, his brother, his Nanny and Aimee. Although, I bet with enough practice this weekend his Auntie Liesel will get some out of him.




Jr. is officially "almost 3". He has been telling people that he is 2.5 for a long time, but I am reprogramming him to say - when he is asked - that he is "almost 3". People still look at me like I am nuts because he looks so old, minus his sweet baby face. He is an awesome big brother. He tickles and plays with Baby Graham and is - for the most part - pretty gentle (check the vids on Picassa). Jr. is even at moments helpful. Jr. tells us all of the time that he loves his new house and that it is beautiful. He is really happy here, it is very cool. I can't wait for it to warm up a little bit more so we can explore our new end of town more. So far we have taken few walks because it is just too cold to take Baby Graham out. We are dying to get outside.



We took a trip to Fairmont over the MLK day weekend with the Moogs. Now I can brag all day long about how sweet/awesome the Coleman boys are, but damn, those Moog girls are something special. Adrienne is wicked smart and C.U.T.E and her precious baby sister Ameila is the most satisfied baby I have ever layed eyes on. She sleeps like a rock and is happy just to look around with her giant blue eyes. She never cries. It was nice to soak. Jr. was a little bit of a turd about swimming, but Baby Graham LOVED it. He just floated in his tube and stared around at all of the people taking it all in. I can't wait to go again.

Resolute

Happy 2011!

I have all kinds of New Years Resolutions - but I am afraid if I put them down in cyber space, my three friends that read this will bust me breaking them. So I am going with my official New Years Resolution of the last 10 years.

***^^^***Eat less processed cheese!***^^^***

It is going to be tough as the processed cheese noodle product that is a lunch time staple in our house has hit the peak of popularity with the toddler. Bear in mind, it is not Don't eat processed cheese, it is eat less. Less from when? Exactly. It is a no fail resolution.

My secret New Years Resolution is to be nicer to Selma. Poor thing. She needs a champion and I am going to be hers. Even if that includes asking Ed nicely to take her out for a walk - and then simultaneously glaring at him and saying "PPPLLLLLLLLEASEEEEE!"



Oh I vow to treat her like I used to, before I had two monkey distractions - tonight I got off to a good start by taking her and Jr. for a sledding trip. We have the sweetest sledding hill less than 1 block away from our new house. After letting Selma run amok at the Assembly of God, we went for an adventure in our new neighborhood. She - of course - pooped on the lawn of the nicest house on the block. Jr. was so excited to get out of the house - he kept screaming "YAY! NEIGHBORHOOD!"

It is nice out here - so quiet and people slow down for you when you pull your kid on a sled in the street.

As for news on the baby front - Graham is rolling from his back to his stomach. He is pushing through a couple of teeth on top - I think. He is chubby chub chub. He eats rice cereal, pears, apples and bananas. Peas were not a hit. We put him into Jr.'s old high chair. So big - gulp.




Jr. is a viking. He is also a space ranger. I am a viking, Graham is a viking and Selma is a viking dog, but Daddy is superman.

I liked 2010. January quit my old job and went to Florida. February started my new job - so did Ed. March getting pretty big. April Jr.'s 2nd birthday. May gardening. June bracing for Graham. July hi there baby boy. August the Coleman's hit. September house shopping. October found the ONE. November listing our old house. December sold it and moved. Lets hope 2011 is a little more mellow - no new jobs, same house, no new babies. Yes - we are done with all that.

First Christmas

First Christmas for Baby Graham. First Christmas for the Colemans at their new address. Awesome/exciting/exhausting. Thank goodness that Nona fed us. A lot. Here are my favorite photos.



















Don't forget to check out the videos in the picassa link below.