he's one!

His shirt says it all.

He's one! 

Look at those arms span that whole crib. Goodness. He has grown an entire foot since he was born.


What's new with Graeme?

He's still eating well and actually prefers to vegetables to fruit most of the time. He finished cutting the top teeth on both sides next to his front teeth, and I have a feeling the bottom two will follow shortly or are even on their way now.

He talks and talks. Of course a lot is still babble, but he says a lot of words too. I made a big list last month of the words he was already saying. He's added:

• Batman
• Superman (Pa-pa-pa)
• Mail
• Shoes
• Book
• Balloon
• School bus/Big truck (they sound the same)
• Mickey
• Dog
• Night-night
• GiGi
• Pop
• MiMi
• Maggie (my parent's dog)
• Daddy for Aaron and now refers to my dad as Dada
• Fish
• Ball
• Cheese
• Juice

I'm sure I've left some out, but you get the idea.

"I'm basically a genius."

Some of his favorite things are helping to feed the fish, helping grind coffee, getting the mail, taking baths, playing with Penny, and he still loves to read.

Can I just add in here that Graeme has become obsessed with dogs. He LOVES dogs and if we mention going to the window to look for one or going on a walk to find dogs he gets so excited. And when he actually sees a dog he is beside himself with glee and reaches and keeps saying "dog" over and over. BUT. He has no idea that Penny is a dog. And whenever we allude to this he stares at her and looks at us like we are crazy. She's just Penny, obviously, and part of the family.

"Penny? A dog? No way. She's just my pal."

This past month Graeme witnessed his first big snowfall. He was not very impressed at being set down in the snow, but it did spark his curiosity.

We had a lot of time to kill being stuck indoors for 48 hours, and we eventually ran out of ideas other than, "Hey! Let's get in your toy box!"

This may have backfired and he now asks to get in there all. the. time.

As we approached his birthday, he got his first presents from his great-grandparents. A Mickey towel and hat (not pictured) and his first pair of learning-to-walk shoes.

We had his party this past Saturday at a local park that Aaron and I stumbled upon years ago when we lived in our apartment. It was brand new at that time, and is right next to a giant landfill. Don't be deceived, it's a very nice park! Their shelter is available to use free-of-cost without making a reservation, so it sounded like a great idea to us!

The setting, so you don't think I made my kid have his birthday party next to a mountain of trash.

I will have more party pictures later, but here are a couple for now.

Graeme was not sure about his little cake at all. (Which was so cute I wanted to keep it forever.) We had to force his hand to touch it, and then he was upset that his hand was so messy. Then we made him try a bite and he spit it out. Ha! Maybe with some more cake practice throughout the year we can turn him into a pro by his second birthday.

Aaron and I didn't give him any presents at his party, so on Sunday night in preparation for his actual birthday, we set everything out to surprise him in the morning. He's not huge on unwrapping, so we left everything open. Also, he loves balloons, so we made sure to have some of those too!

He loves his new tent, puzzle, and all of his new books. The IKEA train track, we knew, would be destroyed first thing. That one is intended to be for a little later in the year. Batman was well received and has joined his big stuffed Superman he got as a baby. Lastly, Daniel Tiger is our favorite show that we all enjoy, so we had to include him in the festivities.

After we played with his new toys for awhile, he took a good nap and we headed out for brunch with all four of his grandparents. We are so thankful that he is growing up around his close family members, and he was so excited to see who we were meeting. Graeme can devour some pancakes, so his birthday meal was just perfect for him. 

Sorry it's sideways. It's a dog, even better.

When the waiter offered to bring a birthday treat, we said sure. Graeme loved looking at the candle, but just like his birthday cake, he did not like the ice cream. This must change.

After brunch, Aaron and I took him to Toys-R-Us because he got a birthday card from them to bring in to the store in exchange for a balloon and a crown. He had received a gift card from his party as well, so we shopped around for another birthday surprise.

It was a very fun birthday, indeed.

Well, this post has gotten pretty long, so I'll end it and start another one with some more meandering thoughts I have after a whole year of motherhood.

Happy 1st Birthday to our little Graeme Grayson. You are a gift.

March 19th snuck up on me this time

Aaron has two calendars on his desk. One is Mickey Mouse standing next to the date saying "My oh my, what a wonderful day!" The other is a tear-off calendar just for this year of different Disney animation. I know that it's shocking that they are both Disney. Ha.

Today we changed the date to March 19th, and I was transported in my mind to a year ago. March 19th was our due date, and I remember waking up feeling so anxious (in a good way) that this day could very well be the day we met our little Graeme Grayson. March 19th had taken forever to actually arrive in the first place. That, of course, was not the plan. He hung around inside for a few more days.

Even though I didn't know what day he was coming last year, I knew it would be within a week or so, and I also knew that week seemed like the longest amount of time ever. It's funny how my perspective is very much changed this year.

Graeme's birthday is four days away, and I am realizing just how fast these few days will go by. And we will officially have a child that has lived an entire year on this earth. A one-year-old. An age that seemed so distant when we first held our tiny baby almost a year ago.

Even though I wish to hold that little, tiny newborn again every once in awhile, I am loving watching Graeme grow into a spunky little toddler. For every time he tests my patience, he makes me laugh and smile ten times over. His upcoming birthday has me so excited.

It's almost my birthday!

I am not much of an event-planner or a craft person at all. The idea of throwing a party for someone makes me all kinds of nervous. That being said, I have thoroughly enjoyed planning Graeme's first birthday party. We decided to save a character theme for when he would be able to participate more and went for a "Colorful" theme.

Rainbow sounded a little girly and even though there are some crayon elements, it's not a crayon party. So I feel like "Colorful" is the best way to describe it.

God is giving us a beautiful, sunny day for his party right in the middle of some rainy days, so we will press on with our plan to celebrate at a nearby park with a shelter you can use at no charge, praise.

I have put on my crafty hat and made some banners with a handy-dandy banner kit that was pretty much sent down just for me from the crafting higher-ups, in my opinion. I finally gave up my strike on Pinterest that I had held for no real reason. It was helpful in getting ideas for the food, cake, and invitations. Our lovely friend Julie owns a little bakery company and she makes the best cakes ever. She made our amazing baby shower cake and I have no doubt she will make Graeme's first birthday cake even more special. 

Baby Shower Cake

I can't wait to share pictures after his party on Saturday.

Well, I should probably wrap this up as nap time will be coming to an end pretty quickly. Happy March 19th to you and yours.