Funny Griffin

I farted audibly.. it was pretty impressive, I must admit.
Griff said, "What? Did your butt just say something?"
We both laughed.

Memorial Day 2013

We joined friends for an early 8am breakfast at Martha's.  When Griffin and Charlie get together, they are pretty hilarious.  Both got "bad pandas" painted on their faces by Charlie's 10 yr old cousin Cara (which were amazing); they ran around Charlie's backyard chanting/screaming "We're bad pandas, we're bad pandas..." 

He gets it

Last night when he got out of the bath I said "you're a good kid, Griff".  (He had been very tired all day and had a meltdown in the tub when we scrubbed the face paint off of his face).

"Thanks Dad.  But sometimes my behavior is just bad, right?"

"Yes.  But that doesn't mean Mom or I love you any less."

"I love you and Mommy too, Daddy."

Cubby for Vera

"One Cubby is for Vera. She can have it so she won't be sad while I'm at school today."  said the most amazing big brother ever...

I Married Griffin Today

The highlight of my day (yesterday):

Yesterday morning Griff enthusiastically said, "Mom, let's get married today!"  How could I say "no" to that... It wasn't the most romantic proposal, but it was certainly the cutest ever. Griff said, "Put your dress on Mommy, I just put my tie on."  We held hands and spun around dancing in the middle of our living room; I followed his lead.  Apparently this is how 3 year olds get hitched.  Around and around we danced, basically until I started getting too dizzy to continue.  Then, we linked arms and I walked him down the aisle, aka, across our living room floor.  To make it official, I asked him, "Griff, do you take Mommy to be your wife?  Say 'I do'."  "I do" he repeated in his little voice.  I took Griff to be my (2nd) husband too.  Now we're married!  

I mean, how do you not marry this little guy!?:

when our daffodils were in bloom a few weeks ago, griff got in a habit of picking me one every day

DogDog

Griffin has a tendency to "borrow" Vera's stuffed animals.  Poor little sister, she just has so few things that are truly her very own.  I try to at least remind G of the fact that V is generously sharing what few new toys she has with him.  "Wow, it's so nice of Vera to let you play with her ." or "Good sharing Vera".. it's my secret ghetto mommy manipulation skills at work; I'm attempting to plant seeds in Griff's head in hopes that when the day comes and Vera swipes one of his beloved items with or without asking, that she doesn't get whacked by her big angry bro; instead, he'll fondly think back to the times that his sweet baby sister was so selfless and giving, and he'll show her mercy.  Right.  We'll see pretty soon as Vera is close to crawling.  It will be a real game changer when she is mobile and can start stealing his matchbox cars, or knocking down his lego towers.

Here's Griffin feeding "DogDog". Clearly he is not the true owner of a new plush pink stuffed dog. 

Big Apple Circus

4/6/13:  Last month we took Griffin (and Vera) to the circus for the first time.  The Big Apple Circus was in town at Government Center and we got tickets with our next door neighbors, the Barrs.  Griffin was less than enthused about going as he said he was scared of the circus, but we promised him cotton candy and snacks... 

Griffin held his hands over his ears for the first 15 minutes, but then got really into seeing the animals and performers.  He said his favorite part was seeing the cows and horses, so basically we could have just taken him to a farm that did not cost $45 for a seat the size of a toddler chair, and another $15 in parking.  :)  

It was actually a super fun family adventure to the city, and the show was awesome.  Tom and I loved it and I think Griffin really did too.  It was a brisk and beautiful day to take a walk through the Boston Common, and to get a sight of the building where Daddy works (the tall shiny blue one that looks like mirrors, aka the Hancock building); both kids did great in the car, and Vera snoozed a bit during the show as it was WAY too much stimulation for a 6 month old.  We did however pay the price for their near perfect behavior that day as Vera had one of her top 3 meltdowns ever that night when settling in for the night.  

Bonus adventure: Griffin (and Vera) also rode the subway for the first time... we rode the blue line all of 2 stops from Government Center to Arlington. 

Davis & "Other Rusty"

This morning I tried luring Griffin into getting dressed by telling him that his bear Davis had picked out the t-shirt for him to wear.  He misunderstood me and thought we were going to dress his bear, which he got really excited about.  To avoid a pre-8am tantrum, I went with it... so sure enough, before I was out of my own pjs, I put outfits on 2 humans and 2 stuffed animals.. good times.  Davis wore an orange t-shirt and we found one of Vera's tank tops for "Other Rusty". Griffin said "Other Rusty" was a girl "because she is wearing Vera's clothes".  

Stone Zoo Pictures!

I survived my first real adventure taking the kids somewhere farther than a local playground or library.  Last Friday, after getting ready and packing literally all morning as if we were leaving for a week, we drove out of "the bubble" to meet Sandy, Connor, and Ryan down at the Stone Zoo.  Highlights were seeing the monkeys, fox, and brown bears as well as watching Griffin and Connor hysterically laugh at each other after our lovely picnic lunch.  Sadly, the sloth exhibit had been moved to make way for Koalas, so I didn't get to see my beloved 3 toed friend.. .  Griff had a minor meltdown when we reached the coin operated rides and I told him that I didn't have any quarters. The four hour round-trip adventure was awesome but totally exhausting, and I found myself detouring on the drive home in a desperate search for a drive thru Dunkin Donuts so that I could suck down some caffeine to make it through the afternoon.... 

Sometimes Griffin says "Sometimes"...

. ..over and over and over repeatedly while he is waiting for his brain to pformulate the rest of the sentence.  Its pretty cute and endereing. 

About three year old Griffin behavior

He's on an uptrend this past month.  That said, Vicki and I sometimes get frustrated and don't actually say but often thibk to ourselves "stop acting like a 3 year old".  We hold the line and assume he's just testing the waters when he kicks Vera, bites Vicki's  hand during dinner (litterally the hand that feeds) or fake cries after hurting another kid.

Last night seemingly out of the blue and somewhat apologetically: "Dad I am growing up fast.  And if I was an adult I think I would be angry when any kids broke the rules.  And I sometimes break the rules now and I'm a kid.  So you and mom get angry."  It was one of those less-credit-than-they-deserve moments.

He also is gettting good at calling other people on their bad behavior.  Most notably mom and dad.  "Try not to scratch daddy" and "Don't take my crackers without asking" and "Try not to waste water Daddy.  You were wasting water just now."

And if you're paying attention you'll see some pretty genuinely nice things like offering Vicki or I a shared snack.  And he brings Vera her toys and blankies and says "here you go Vera."  And he cleans up well enough when asked - just allow him a few seconds to process and decide.  He usually makes the right decision.

The Fort

I had a sleepover on Griffin's top bunk last weekend.  I got hot and threw the blanket over the foot of the bed.  The stage was set for a simple but very effective bottom-bunk fort.  And yesterday that potential became a reality.  One more simple blanket hung from the top bunk(shout out to kate hendrix) later and cute kid moments and hilarity ensued.  Its tight quarters in there for a family of four (see photos), but perfect for an imaginative 3 year old and his adoring little sister.

Griffin & Vera: Blue Pajama Picture

Tom and I tried to reenact this picture when we put Vera in Griff's blue striped pajamas....

Pink Hat, 10/14/2012

Blue Hat, 1/15/12

Recent Artwork

Griff likes drawing 2 things: Turkeys- he traces his hand and adds a face, arms, and legs.  Griffin also likes drawing Roller coasters (basically a huge scribble).  He draws roller coasters that go really fast that are for grown-ups (see right picture), as well as roller coasters for kids that go really slow (see left picture).

Kids Are Funny

This morning Griffin woke up wearing a puffy Lightning MacQueen pull-up that he had freshly peed in.  He kept sticking his hand into his moist pull-up and then wiping his little index dirty finger on his underwear drawer, saying "Look Mommy, I'm painting."  It's super funny now, but at the time, having just rolled out of bed myself, without coffee, I found this situation less than amusing.  I was pissed, but holy crap, that's funny and gross.

Last week Griffin had wheat thins as his snack on the way home from school.  He was in the back of the car crunching away when I heard him say, "These have so many belly buttons." (They do! There's a little dot/indentation right in the middle of each cracker.)

Another time in the car on the way home Griffin complained, "Vera's pulling my finger....she's trying to get a fart out of me."  (I laughed..) A few moments later Griff said, "I farted."

Leg Pits

Griff just pointed to the backs of his knees and said they were called "leg pits".

Legos: The Cement Mixer

Griff got a really cool cement mixer lego set for his birthday. Its his second big kid style lego set.    Last night he started assembling it and got to step 12 with mininal guidance and a few "extra squeezes" from dad to get some of the more pesky pieces firmly in place. Contrast this to the fire truck that "we" built together a few months ago: i did most of the building while he played with the firemen. The now partially complete cement mixer was the longest continuous concentration (solid 40 minutes) i've seen him exert. And then this morning when i woke him up he said "dad can we put some more legos on the cement mixer?"