Albany Weekend

We took a road trip to Albany to see Uncle Alex, Aunt Anny and Grandpa Victor.  As a bonus, we also got to see Lisa, Adam and Nora and take a tour of the new YFC rock gym, The Edge.  2 memories from the visit: 1) My dad went to the basement and brought up my old slot machine and Alex's old robot for Griffin to play with.  He dusted them off gave Griffin some quarters to use for the slots (Asians learn to gamble young)... it was a very cute Grandpa moment.  2) On our drive back to Boston, Tom and I were singing along to one of Griff's Kindermusik songs, when Griffin scolded us and said "Mommy, Daddy, don't sing that!".  Though we tried not to, we couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the fact that we had just gotten schooled by our 2 year old!

Red Sled Ride

Here are some pictures of the one and only time Griff got to go sledding this non-snowy winter...  He had a blast, other than when Tom accidentally dumped Griffin face first into the snow when whipping him around a turn... :)  The first 2 are of Griffin's first shoveling lesson.  It's so cute how he is looking up at Tom to make sure he's holding up his shovel to pose for the picture correctly...

oops.

traumatic snow face plant

wah wah

snack time

happy again

Lily & Griff

Lily and Griffin had music class this morning and then Lily & April came over for a playdate.. L & G played really well together today, (ie. neither had tantrums, they shared their snacks, and Griffin only hug/tackled Lily a handful of times).  Holy crap they are so cute together:

Griff says:

"eye tacs" for "contacts"
"yeah" has evolved into "yis" for "yes"
"bahnila" for "granola"

Another classic:
Mom: "What's your address?"
Griff: "Monkey" (Griffin dressed up as Curious George for Halloween, and thinks I'm asking him what he is dressed as...)

2 Cubbies- Birthday Portraits

This morning I was gathering Griffin's things to get him ready for school: spare clothes, winter hat, mittens, pizza money etc.  As I was shoving Cubby #2 into his winter hat to pack him for school, Griffin heard the magical jingle bell of his favorite security blanket/bear head.  Full of hope, a little voice below me said, "Another Cubby?"  Crap. I totally froze, I had been careless and had just been caught (We've secretly had a spare Cubby the last few months, unbeknownst to Griffin).  So there he was standing below me, in his little grey striped footsy pajamas, on his birthday, looking up with his cute almond shaped eyes.. with a Cubby already in his hands. Crap!  I paused, and thought to myself, "well, what the heck, it's his birthday".  I whipped the other Cubby out and gleefully shouted, "Surprise!  Happy birthday Griffin!"  We both cheered, and I felt like that was probably the best birthday present he could have ever imagined..

A few photos from this morning:

"It Came Up"

Poor little Griffin was sick on his last day being of being 1.  A bad cough and very runny nose.  On Monday, he got sent home from school an hour early with a 101.8 temp.  His poor toddler class only had 3 survivors by the time I picked him up, as half his class got sent home sick throughout the day.  Thankfully Griffn's fever was shortlived and he was semi back to his silly self all day yesterday with the exception of the cough and excessive tissue usage.  Anyway, in an attempt to keep my little prince happy we took his evening bath together (I think he's still young enough that it's not wierd to bathe together!).  Some nights when I say "Griffin, it's bathtime", he will ask for "Mommy too?" and last night I happily obliged; I couldn't say no to my almost-birthday-boy. 

The bath water was nice and hot and we had just gotten settled in when Griff started his usual coughing.  Cough, cough, cough, more coughing, then gag, then vomit, or as Griffin would say "it came up".  Fortunately since he's had this cough, he's been a repeat offender on activating his gag reflex; he's thrown up several times (twice in the car- once as we pulled into daycare, twice in his highchair, once on the couch, and once on the kitchen floor..) Needless to say, I've learned to be semi-prepared.  Last night when he started his cough attack in the tub, I was suspicious that it wouldn't end well.  Thankfully, I caught most of the vom in a plastic water bottle bath toy, but definitely missed the chunks from the second follow-up-hurl that landed in the water and quickly dispersed into little food bits around the bath. It was lovely. So, what did I do as a mom of this little naked toddler?  Absolutely nothing. I comforted Griff and tried to pick out some of the chunks, and we continued on and took the rest of our bath in vom water. Yup. I guess this is just what happens when you have a kid.

Happy Birthday Griffin!

My sweet boy is 2 today.  A little of me wants to cry and hug him for as long as I possibly can to freeze time.  In the past few days, I've been hugging him extra and feeling especially sentimental.  I can't believe he is 2, a big boy, a proper kid who runs, sings, talks in sentences, and can tell me he loves me.  It's amazing.  Happy birthday to my sweet Griffin.  You are such a good boy, and your Dad and I love you so very much!  Love, Mom

Last Photos of Griffin at Age 1

Photos of sweet little Griffin (age 1), taken in the days leading up to his 2nd birthday...

Uggs & Saggy Diaper Look is Sexy

Griffin loves wearing my Uggs around the house... He leans up against the front door and almost always puts them on the wrong feet.  The footsy-pajama-Uggs-saggy-diaper look are so classic.

Gross

Yesterday Griffin picked his nose and wiped his finger on my pants.  Gross. When I told Tom about what Griffin did, he said "at least he knows not to wipe it on his own pants"..  :)

Video: Griffin is Crazzzzy

Griffin is our wild child.  He is constantly on the go; he's crazy and very funny to watch, albiet exhausting.  Of his toddler buddies, he's definitely the most bouncy and loud... definitely a mini Tom & Vicki.  Here is a quick video that shows him at his finest...

click here for the You Tube video...

Children's Museum with Charlie!

After our bus adventure, Martha, Charlie, Griffin and I drove down to the Boston Children's Museum to "investigate, explore, discover.. ahh." (a quote from Sid the Science Kid). They loved it. We found foam building blocks that looked like giant tinkertoys, visited a pretend barber shop, went grocery shopping at the market (where Griffin licked several of the grimy plastic bananas and garlic), played some steel drums, and had a blast in "the construction zone". When we were leaving, I asked Griffin what his favorite part of the museum was, and he said "Charlie." Too cute. 

Click here for the full photo album...