Happy Memorial Day!

Too cool for school.

Bean Town, Here We Come!

Wooo!! It's time for a long weekend!

We are going to Boston this weekend and I'm so, SO excited! I've never been to Boston before! All week I've been looking up info on the Freedom Trail and points of interest to make sure we hit...meanwhile Dave has a laundry list of restaurants he  was fired from  used to work at during college, plus we've gotta swing by his old digs. It will be fun to let him play tour guide and show us around his stomping grounds. But Louisa May Alcott's house and a spin on the carousel in Boston Common are non-negotiables. (Yes dad, don't worry, we're totally doing the Freedom Trail.)

Cross your fingers for a smooth roadtrip tomorrow!

Report Card

 

We recently requested a "report card" of sorts from Graham's school, as we were curious about what he actually does all day (it's weird to think my child has a life outside of my presence...like with actual friends and stuff!). And they sent us a really cute update!! It made me smile to picture him doing all the activities they mention, so wanted to share some of it with you guys...

Hello there,

Rosa just mentioned you were curious to know what Graham is up to daily.

He's doing very well. He has his routine down pat. (Breakfast snack around 9:30; Free play until about 11; Puzzles, etc (depends on the day and the the month) and more free play/outdoor time until noon; Lunch at noon; Nap at 1:00; Snack at 3:30; 4/4:15 puzzles, blocks, crayons, back yard; Pick Up).

He is curious and good at keeping himself occupied, while also spending time playing with the other children -- both older than him and his own age. We have a few little boys -- and Audrey -- in the same age group now, so they're just getting to the point where we can have more organized activities for them.

As for Graham -- he loves to lift things, move big things and climb. He's by far the strongest little boy we have here. He also really likes to look at the books. We find him with his nose quite literally in a book a couple of times a day. 

Guess our Very Hungry Caterpillar book bag is a good fit for this little bookworm!

R is for Rib Ticklin'

I think we are coming up on a growth spurt, because this kid has been a CHOW HOUND lately.

He demolished these ribs.

Meat slathered in sugar sauce you get to gnaw off the bone?? DONE.

But don't worry, he has a number of other useful skills...

Code writing.

Wood working.

Boat captaining.

Acrobatic balancing.

Keep it up, kiddo. You'll be ready for the circus in no time.

Halp!

I heard a frantic cry for "HALP!" from another room...

 and this is what I discovered:

Oh boy.

Flashback!

Remember when this was all he could say??

Now it's impossible to keep the little chatterbox quiet!

Have a Great Weekend!

Adventures in Banana Bread

Graham is suddenly very interested in anything happening in the kitchen. He loooooves using the egg slicer to help me make egg salad (will share a funny video later on). He often asks to be lifted up to see what is bubbling in the pots on the stove (and always yells "hot!" as soon as he peeks in). I recently read that French kids are entrusted with baking simple yogurt cakes completely on their own from a very young age, the parents expect them to do fine and allow them to make a mess without worry, so thought we would try out an easy baking recipe together - with a few bananas on hand much too bruised and brown to be eaten, we decided on banana muffins!

G was very into it right from the very beginning. He now often runs over to our dining room table and begins dragging one of the large chairs toward the kitchen, a clear signal he is ready to help concoct something. When he sees me bringing the chair in for him, he gets so wiggly with excitement. I tried to let him help with all stages, mashing bananas as well as dumping in the flour and sugar and eggs that we'd pre-measured. Almost everything made it into the bowl and almost everything stayed put despite some very vigorous stirring.

He especially enjoyed arranging and meticulously re-arranging the paper muffin cups. I couldn't believe the project kept him so engrossed for so long! He was into it right up until the very end, when we took the trays out of the oven ("hot!") and moved the muffins to a cooling rack.

Full disclosure: in a last minute effort to be healthy, I tossed in some flax/chia seed mix into the batter as well as some fiber (which I didn't realize was fruity flavored until it turned our batter a brilliant orange hue! oops!), and was a bit nervous it would give the muffins a weird taste or texture.

The moment of truth...

DELICIOUS!!

So now you can add baking to the list of skills G has mastered...

F is for Fashionista

What happens when your fun uncles send adorable clothes and dad is in charge of getting dressed??

Some very colorful mornings!!

Monster butt on the loose!

In other news, Graham has recently become a master chef:

More details on what he likes to cook coming tomorrow...

18 Months Old

A year and a half! Seriously. How has it been a year and a half? 

I love this boy more each day. So completely cheeseball, so completely true.

He is such a sweet-natured child, friendly and silly, curious and strong, cheerful to a fault.

We are so very lucky.

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY NONNA!!!

T is for Transportation

The vehicle obsession has begun! Anything that "goes" has got Graham hooked, especially trains.
Most especially Thomas the Tank Engine, who G refers to as "ChooChoo" with a sweet little train conductor fist pump arm motion that looks like raising the roof. Ahhh-dorbs.

New words include: truck, car, tractor (he's especially adept at this one), plane, boat, helicopter (ok really more like "coppa" but squeals in delight and  points ecstatically at the sky every time we hear the beat of those blades...which in NYC is pretty often). 

We spent 40 minutes staring at this tractor parked at the school under construction across from our building. Sooooooooo very interesting. Many tears when mama had finally had enough. 

And I kind of can't believe we haven't taken a dive into the pond yet. 

Careful G!