Funny Boy

Griffin has Tom and I laughing a lot (and proud!) these days with all of the new things he says.  He can count perfectly to 3, and a few times we've heard him go from 5 to 9, or 1 to 4, or 7 to 11.. he's getting there!  He has been putting together phrases (this morning he said "nice song"), and he totally mimicks us like a lil' asian parrot.  Yesterday he said "ready, set, go" (we have no idea where he learned that), and he also said "up pie", instead of "up high". Griff also points to Dad's masterpiece (our new deck) and says "nice deck, Daddy".  Tom loves that. Griff has gotten to the point where we can pretty much teach him to say anything..."bulldozer, helicopter, tampon ("tam-pom"), penguin fall down, nice multi tool daddy, bless you, boobs, daddy farted, excuse me".  It's both hilarious and dangerous at the same time.  Also, Griff decided that he occasionally wants to be on a first name basis with his Daddy and I, as he has called us "Tom" and "Bicki"...

The Light Bulb Went Off!

Today was a great day.  Other than Griffin whining A LOT in his high chair ("all done, all done, alllll donnnnnne!!") and throwing most of his breakfast and lunch on the floor, (P.S. Griffin's personal chef/slave, oh that's right, that's me, made a giant batch of cinnamon raisin french toast for bfast- 1/5 of of a slice made it into his mouth.  I made 2 types of sandwiches for lunch- grilled cheese and canadian bacon on mini croissants, and almond butter and strawberry jam on multigrain english muffins- what's not to like?), we spent almost the entire day outside playing and soaking up the summer sun.  Our day was filled with visits to 2 playgrounds, a long walk into town for coffee, driveway playtime, an afternoon playground playdate with his Stroud kid buddies, dinner outside with Greta/Charlie/Annika, leftover birthday cake for dessert, and a super long 2.5 hour nap (for Griffin, not me) somewhere in between all that fun.

The best part of my day was hearing Griffin use several brand new words.  It's like a light bulb has gone off in his head, and as of today he can and is willing to try repeat words better than ever.  When we were leaving Hobbs Playground, I asked him to, "say bye bye to Audrey" (Suzanne's 4 week old baby, who Griffin has hung out with a total of 3 times), and he promptly said "bye bye Au-drey".  It was amazing.  He's been saying "avocado", his current favorite food, more and more.  Today was also the first time I heard him say 2 (well techincally 3) very important words.  "Thank you", and "Lovie" (I unraveled a new blue lovie today which he was super attached to).  Griff has always been great at signing "thank you" when prompted, and I've always said the words aloud while he signed them in hopes this day would come. Woohoo!  It's here!  It felt so satisfying to hear him stutter through but successfully tell me thank you today, a few times!  He also muttered something that sounded really close to "yellow" when I asked him to pick out which color bandaid he wanted to wear as a sticker on his knee (I lured him into the house by offering him stickers for his barely scratched knees).  Also, tonight as I turned off his light when putting him to bed, I said my usual "good night Griffin, love you." and I swear he said "night night mama" (he says this almost every night now) and "love you" (totally a first, assuming i heard him correctly).. as I closed the door to his room.. oh my sweet boy. 

Griffin talking melts my heart.  It's just the most adorable thing to hear his little boy voice.  I know that I have to savor and appreciate days like this where I witness such amazing aspects of his development.  Today is one of those days where being Griff's Mom is the best thing in the world.  (Dear Future Vicki, Re-read this blog entry on a day you want to put Griffin up for adoption...)

Pics from Hobbs Playground:

Babble Babble

Now that he has mastered walking, Griffin seems to be focusing his mental energy on learning to talk.. and by 'talk', I mean babble.  In the last few weeks Tom and I have noticed a lot of new sounds and syllables coming from our little sack of potatoes.  He's quite the chatterbox.  He tends to talk a lot while riding in his carseat, probably telling me about the trees, birds, and trucks he sees out his window, and I'm sure he thinks he makes complete sense.  It's so cute and entertaining to hear his little voice. The first 2 word phrase he said was "bye bye da da" (this was yesterday).

4 Firsts: My Creepy Crawler, Sit-up, "Da Da", and A Weekend Away

Holy crap.. It's been a big week. Griffin is 8.5 months old and he's officially crawling. He said "Da Da" on Sunday 9/26, and just a few minutes (Friday 10/1) ago I watched him sit up from a crawling position. Also, I had my first weekend away from Griffin!

The details:
History was made when Griff went a few crawls forward last Thursday night 9/23/10, and since then he has been perfecting his skills. During his practice sessions, there were a few face plants and wobbly tumbles, but today a mere week later, he confidently traveled across the living room floor, with the motivation of eating/grabbing my dangling camera case luring him to me. Witnessing this amazing feat brought tears to my eyes as I cheered him on like a proud Mom watching her son cross the finish line of the Kona Ironman. (will post the video soon!)

Although I'm basking in the joy of this proud parent moment, I do however have to pause to mourn the loss of my ability to leave Griff in a room by himself. Gone are the simple days of putting him on the floor while I use the bathroom, and knowing that he'll still be there safe and sound when I return... my baby is officially mobile.

Ok, I'm over it.

On Sunday night after I returned rejuvenated but also exhausted from a crazzzy girls' weekend in NYC for Youngna's Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Extravaganza, Griffin said "Da Da" in the company of his "Da Da" and me! It was both heart warming and a perfect family moment. :)

The icing on the cake (rainbow chip icing on my funfetti cake, of course) was the fact that Griffin has also managed to figure out how to sit up from a crawling position. Earlier this week with Grandma, we thought we saw him do it, but never had that "official first" grand moment. I watched it happen today, in what looked like slow motion. Once he was sitting, he looked at me and gave me one of those, "Hey Mom, did you see what I just did?" looks... I proudly smiled at him and then burst into an "Eeeeeeee", my signature excited noise.