Early Christmas

We celebrated Christmas early with the Moore family since they won't be on town for it. Big G and little G both wore their sweater vests for the occasion.

Grandma's Lap

Gavin and his mom and dad left today to head back to California... we miss them so much!

Family Pics

These were taken when we celebrated Thanksgiving.

Santa

This was Griffin's 2nd time meeting Santa and Gavin's first. They both told Santa what they wanted for Christmas and promised to be good little boys. For Gavin, this means sleeping more than 2 hours at a time at night and for Griffin it means not whining to try and get what he wants.

18 month appt

Griffin had his 18 month appt last week so here are the updates from that and from everyday life in general:
*He is in the 3rd percentile for weight (yay! still on the charts) and 25th percentile for height. Neither of these are due to him not eating either. He eats constantly, probably 5 meals a day.What is even better is that he isn't a very picky eater. He eats whatever we eat now, no separate meals for him anymore. I hope this statement doesn't come back to hit me in the face :) He especially loves pasta, pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, casseroles, oatmeal, yogurt and any and all fruit.
*He is consistently saying about 10 words now but has probably said close to 40 words ever. His favorites right now are boo-boo, baby, juice, shoes, choo-choo, yellow, two (when he counts everything is 2) I-want-dat, momma and dadda.
*He is doing everything an 18 month old should be doing according to the development charts. Stacking blocks, feeding himself, running, etc.
*He is truly a momma's boy. Only mom can put him down at night and get him up in the morning. This has its ups and downs for both mom and dad :)
*He loves his cousin Gavin, whom he refers to as his baby. He cannot control himself around him though yet so we can't leave them alone together ever. Gavin would be kissed/hugged nonstop.
*He has discovered his whine and how to use it. This may have something to do with all the changes in his life lately but we are hoping it gets better but scared because he is about to get hit with new changes shortly (another new home-hopefully and a baby sister in March). His sister, by the way, is about 1-1.5 lbs and measuring ahead of schedule. I feel her move all the time, especially at night.

Grandpa's Little Helpers

Grandpa stayed home on Friday work from home, and thanks to his grandsons he got a lot done :)

Holiday Junction

Griffin loved the train table, train display an train ride at the Museum Center. Even more fun was enjoying it with his mom, grandma, aunt and cousin Gavin.

Not a Baby Anymore

Seeing pictures like these makes me realizes how big our little "baby" is getting...

Fun with "baby"

Griffin has a newfound obsession/love for his cousin and doesn't let him out of his sight. He calls him "baby" and loves to help do everything for him. He helps change his diapers, plays with him, gives him pacis when he cries, hugs, kisses, squeezes him, helps give him baths, gives him toys, and so on. He is really going to be a great big brother in a few months.

Dizzzzyyyyy!

My favorite part about this is the progression of faces as he spins...

Sooo Much Love

18 month Photo Shoot

Griffin's wonderful aunt Shell took some pictures for his 18 month photo shoot at the park. She did an amazing job and I think we will use one of these for our Christmas card soon. Coming soon are the pictures of Gavin and Griffin together. Griffin ABSOLUTELY loves his cousin and jumps at every chance to hug, hold and kiss him.

Zoo Trip

Griffin, Scott and I enjoyed a day at the zoo yesterday. His favorite parts still have nothing to do with the animals but rather the ramps he can run up and down, the merry-go-round and the train ride.

Mardi Gras?

The amazing thing about these pictures was the Griffin individually put each one of these on by himself.

Cooking Lesson

Griffin got a lesson in cooking desserts (peanut-free) from grandma today. In one picture you can see the close-up look of concentration, in another you can see him breaking the butter apart by hand, mixing the batter in another and enjoying the fruits of his labor in another.

Still Talking!

Today Griffin said to me "I want that Momma"...no joke. He has been saying "I want that" which actually sounds more like, "IWanDat" and this morning he added my name to it. I think we will mark that down as his first sentence. He also said, "Tickle Momma?" after he had been tickling his father. It takes everything we have in us not to drop our jaws to the floor in shock and excitement. Language development is my new favorite thing. Sorry not to have any pictures, I promise that once we are settled in to my parrents' house to get some put on. Plus, there will surely be tons when Gavin comes to visit with his mom in 6 days!

Another First!

Griffin said his first two words together a couple days ago and I was so excited. He said, "Buh-bye Dada" when Scott left for work in the morning and has said it every day since then. When I left to get something out of my car this afternoon he said,"Buh-bye Momma". His language development is really cool to watch/listen to and it has really taken off lately. Just yesterday he said 3 brand new words, hello ("ello"), pickle ("pi-ill") and yellow ("elyow"). He is blowing us away and I can't wait to have a "conversation" with him one day.

More Halloween/Birthday Pictures

These were taken on Halloween before trick-or-treating happened. Do you think we have enough leaves in the backyard? Griffin loved playing fetch with the neighbor's dog, Basil, who blends into the leaves very well. Did you find her?

Halloween '09

For Griffin's 2nd Halloween he dressed up as a monkey and was able to walk to all the houses on our street to get candy. He carried his pumpkin very proudly and walked right up to strangers to take their candy (half of which had peanuts in it so it was given away later). He did manage to get animal crackers, Starburst, Skittles, Oreos, and suckers. He got to show off his costume to both sets of grandparents that stopped by with treats, too. Thanks to cousin Livi for letting us borrow the costume, it was a hit! Lastly, as we were sitting around the campfire with neighborhood friends we are going to miss sorely, he learned a new word...beer.