Briley's 5th Birthday Party

Today, we celebrated Griffin's cousin Briley turning 5 this past week. I didn't get any good pictures of the bounce house but all of the kids loved it. Griffin was so busy with all the other outdoor toys, he didn't even get inside to jump. Maybe tomorrow since it's rented all weekend. We really need to invest in some outside things for Griffin this year. That's where he wants to spend all of his time!

Makahla takes good care of me

I have to get one of these this year....

Briley taking a whirl at the pinata

the candy scramble once it broke

Griffin's daycare buddy Bennet

riding shotgun is more fun than trying to drive

Grammy was out and about finally after a knee replacement

walker aka jungle gym

Briley and Massey

Hangin' around the house

We continue to wait for winter to be over.......dreaming of the day we can play outside until the sun goes down. We have several "toys" in the house from Christmas that I'm more than ready to move outside (basketball goal, cozy truck, picnic table). 

Griffin is definitely showing interest in potty training. He knows where and what the "potty" is, how to sit on it, and recently, he wants to pull his pants down before sitting on it. We'll see where that goes. 

Also, there seems to be an obsession with hats developing--see photos below. Not surprising, since Drew wears one on a daily basis.  

Only a week until daylight saving time begins and hopefully, the cure of Griffin's cabin fever. 

take that daddy

I love ice cream!

Bob Ross and his sidekick

Griffin's "hug"

just doing a little work.....

Belated Valentine's Day pic

I didn't want to let this one slip through the cracks......

We realized that Chase and Griffin had the same outfit, so we coordinated a matching day. I'm glad it was the day before Valentine's Day, since Griffin developed a fever the afternoon of this picture (ear infection) and missed the big party at daycare the following afternoon.

19 Month Update

At Griffin's 18 month check up they found that his right ear tube was out of his ear drum and sitting in his ear. The ENT thought we should just see how he did and hope that we wouldn't have to put it back in. Last week, Griffin got his first ear infection since the tube surgery.....it had been less than a month since the right one came out. We were disappointed but hope that is his only ear infection this winter. 

Other fun facts to note:

• working on 2 upper molars---tooth #11 & #12
• first trip to a dealership to purchase daddy's new truck (will never take him again, hungry toddler and waiting to do paperwork does not work well)
• pretty good at drinking out of a cup with 2 hands
• took an overnight trip to Aunt Shiloh's house
• picks a pair of shoes and puts them on himself when he wants to go outside
• can open the screen door latch by himself and let himself outside (this is a game changer)
• putting words together "night night dada"
• follows most directions really well

are you ready yet?

I love peeling this sticker off

A little of everything....

There hasn't been a lot of excitement around our house lately. No major trips, events,  or news of any kind. We have stayed busy though, running here and there. Since it's been a while since I've posted I thought I would recap. 

love our buddy Zorro

Our local PAT (Parents as Teachers) coordinator has made a few visits to our house to check on Griffin's development as he grows up. She always gives us good ideas/tips for teaching him things, and we have learned a lot from her. We were happy to see him pass his 18 month screening with flying colors. Of course, his lowest scoring category was his speech but it was not low enough to be concerned, especially since he seems to understand everything we say. 

Last Saturday, we enjoyed the annual Groundhog breakfast in town, getting haircuts, and a trip to the pottery studio to make something special for someone special who doesn't know it yet. Sunday, we went to Eric & Jordan's for a fun superbowl party and good food.

getting good with forks/spoons, either hand!

This week we attended our first PAT play date. My elementary gymnasium looked like a shoe box compared to what I remembered. It was full of kids (baby to preschool age) running, laughing, and playing at all the fun stations/games. Griffin really enjoyed it and was amazed at all the commotion. If we continue to attend those periodically, I'm positive it will make him a lot more social and ready to go to school when he is older. 

the eye-gouge, take that!

right before the hair pull.... he's a sour patch kid, sour then sweet

And a video to show our little worker bee......and thankfully, Drew's laptop didn't suffer any major damage. 

18 Months Old

Officially 1 1/2 years old now! Griffin is doing so many cool things. We are always talking about how fun he is and how neat it is to see him become a little man. We are also realizing our sweet little boy is coming into the toddler era and thinks he is quite independent. Therefore, fit throwing has definitely started. How do you reason with a child that isn't old enough to reason with yet? 

Tricks/traits to note:

• carrying items (such as a wrench from his workbench) in his jeans pockets and very adorably checking often to make sure it's still there
• 2 new teeth coming in--#9 & #10
• enjoys brushing said teeth each night after bath time
• adding several words to his vocabulary (Bubba aka Duke, ball, yes with head nod, night night, banana)
• continues to clean up any mess he sees with paper towels or kleenex if that's all he can get to
• can open our doors that require pulling, but hasn't figured out the push yet
• "where is it? hands" when looking for an item, bent arms at the elbow with palms face up
• still LOVES his father....almost inseparable but I'm finally able to put him to sleep at night again
• running full speed
• sitting on the potty and associates the word with the actual chair but no business done in it yet
• eating just about anything in most forms, however, still having an issue with tomatoes=no pizza, spaghetti, sloppy joes, etc.
• recently learned all about laundry and helps me carry clothes from one hamper to the dirty basket in the laundry room
• beginning to refuse the sippy cup at times and prefers the straw top or just a regular cup instead

Weight: 25.5 lbs - 44th percentile

Height: 33 1/2 in - 81st percentile

Head: 49 1/4 cm - 85th percentile

Diaper size: Size 4

Clothing: 12 or 18 month

can't resist pulling the sticker off

here you go Mom.....

but if you come toward me I will smile and slap it back on

And since it's been a while since I've posted any videos, I'll dump a bunch here.....

Working on the jump shot

Daddy makes it easy

let's run laps.....

Year-to-Year Comparison

It's easy to see how Griffin has grown on a daily basis, but it is really crazy to actually see it year-to-year. I probably should have posted this sooner (like at Christmas time), but here are our 2 Christmas card photos since Griffin has been born. 

November 2011

December 2012