Proud Parent Moment: Griffin Got a Sticker

To my absolute astonishment, Griffin was awarded a sticker for good behavior in the Pre-1 class today. Tom and I are SO proud of him!  During pick-up, the teacher reported that while the room was total chaos, Griffin was the only one who followed directions and was quietly playing at a table with blocks.  He's the only 1/2 Asian in the class so they couldn't possibly have mistaken him for anyone else, right?

P.S. I told him "not to smile" for the camera.  This was the funny face I got.. (Note: the baseball cap sticker was the one he got for "being a great boy" as Griff would tell you.. The other cool green catepiller one was one I gave him just for fun at the breakfast table, courtesy of Toby and JiJi's bug party)


 

A Door In My Belly

A quick funny thing I wanted to make sure to jot down... 

Last week I asked Griffin how he thought Baby Vera was going to come out of my belly and he said that I would just have to lift up my shirt and then she would come out.  If only it was that easy!  

Yesterday we drove past Dr. Coffey (one of the OBs at my practice) and I started explaining to Griffin how Mommy would have to go to the hospital for a few days and the doctors would help me get Baby Vera out.. I asked him what he thought the doctors would do, and he said that maybe Dr. Coffey would put a door on my belly and we could open the door for Vera to come out... (maybe that's his 2 year old rendition of a C-section?) :)  I love how 2 year olds think and imagine.

Brownies!

Griffin is reaping the benefits of having a pregnant mom who craves brownies and other sweets!  We made brownies today and a lucky little someone got to lick the bowl and both spoons.  I was extremely S-M-R-T to put Griffin in a white shirt for the batter licking adventure.

Griffin the Chef

Griffin put a mesh net bag on his head and pretended he was a chef.  He made me "alphabet soup". 

Funny Things Griffin Has Said....

8/4/12: Griffin: "Mommy, let's play hide-and-seek, I'll hide under the blanket."

8/3/12: Last night at the dinner table, we taught Griffin how to say "Mommy wears the pants", but he kept repeating it back asking "Mommy, where's the pants?"

8/2/12: Griffin just finished reading me a book about dogs.  I said, "How about you get another book to read?"  He replied, "No, not today honey." 

7/23/12: With his mouth full of Asian pears, Griffin pointed to a picture hanging on our kitchen wall of he and Daddy swimming from when he was about 5.5 months old, and he said, "Remember when I was little and didn't have any hair when I was swimming with Daddy?"  I responded, "Yes, you were bald when you were a baby."  Griffin then said, "I was bald just like Caillou and Andy!"  And then we both laughed!  Here's the picture in reference:

As I pasted this picture into the blog, Griffin saw it and said "I had little nipples, and I had a little head too."  (yes on the little nipples, NO WAY on the little head!)

Artist Griff

Griffin did an amazing job coloring this dragon.  He's moving past random scribbling.. this is the first time I've ever seen him color within any lines... 

I Heart Marblehead

I had one of those "I can't believe we get to live here" moments this weekend.  We joined some of our neighbors and friends for a casual pizza dinner at Devereux Beach.  We scarfed down Romanos Pizza, fruit salad, and dessert from Shubies.  Our kids ate together and then played in the sand and on the swings while we hung out chatting under the pavilion overlooking the ocean.  The weather and company was perfect.  I heart Marblehead.

CMV and Griff wearing matching hats and doing their "cheese faces"



Dads and Moms (below) doing their "cheese faces" too.

L-R, Dave, Ben, Tom, Charlie, Griffin, Fiona

Mom's Day 2012

Tom and Griff did a great job helping me celebrate Mother's Day by letting me sleep in until 9am! I was woken up by Griffin at my bedside saying "Happy Mother's Day Mommy, we made breakfast for you."  Tom made delicious iced coffee, yum, and he and Griff ventured out to Bagel World (and made it successfully back with fresh bagels in under an hour).  We spent the late morning walking around Target, where we got some more coral color themed Privet House dishes to add to my self-purchased Mom Day gift.  Post nap, we hung out on the deck in the sun and also went out to dinner at my favorite restaurant Su Changs.  It was a lovely day.  I love my family and being Griff's Mom.

Rocket Pops

My spontaneous Homegoods rocket ice pop molds purchase will revolutionize our summer.  I'm pumped. These pics are of Griffin eating his second popsicle ever (he ate his first one with his buddy CMV months ago).  It's pomegranate lemonade flavored; what a tasty treat!  P.S. Most of this pink pop ended up in Tom's mouth and in sticky liquid form on the table/floor/Griff's hands.

Carnival at Devereux Beach

Wahoooooo!  We intended to stop by the carnival for 30 minutes or so just to see if Griff had overcome his fear of all rides... (my previous attempt last year at forcing fun on my poor child ended in tears/death grip on Mommy/freak out/riding on the lamo stationary bench on the horsey carousel at Old Orchard Beach, ME, and a complete fail prior to that was the fire truck ride in Ocean City, NJ where I had to pull Griffin off prior to the ride even starting since he kept standing up). 

1.5 hours later at the Devereux Beach Carnival, Griffin successfully rode every ride suitable for his height, including the tractor trucks, the train (he sat in the caboose with his friend Ben), the giant slide with Dad, the carousel, which he rode twice on an actual horse (I couldn't even watch the ride without feeling like vomiting, thank you pregnancy), the really loud honking cars that go in a circle, and the flying creepy car ride (reminiscent of Dumbo, but you ride in a wierd looking car thing with big red lips and eyelashes).  We topped off the fun afternoon with Griffin's first cotton candy. 

Penguins, Stingrays, and Seals, Oh My

Griffin and I went on an adventure to the Aquarium today with Connor, his mom Sandy, and his Gma Lorraine.  The boys loved snacking, running up the ramps, snacking, pretending to swim around, playing in the kids play area, and giving each other fist bumps... oh and the fish were cool too. :)

Penny & Simon, My First 2 Babies

Oh my sweet Penny & Simon.  Despite having a human baby, these 2 crazy kitties are still my first 2 babies.  I try to give them as much love and attention as I can, and I try to keep Griffin's crazy antics away.  Admittedly, they are still a little nervous around our unpredictable 2 year old; can't blame them.  Here are a few recent pictures of them:

Griffin gave Simon "a drink".  Simon was watching Griff, Harry Bear, and I having a picnic in the living room.

Here is Simon rocking Griffin's blue striped polo, complete with a popped collar.

Here is Penny 'tolerating' Griffin brushing her fur.  Griffin often brings Penny her stuffed cat and mouse...

Penny is relaxing in Griffin's play tent.

Like Mom, Like Son

This happened last week:

For about 15 minutes post dinner, Griffin walked around the house with a pile of half chewed carrots in his mouth.  The carrots were going no where fast.  When I wasn't watching, Griff walked into the kitchen, pulled open his tupperware drawer, which is where we store his bin of hand wipes, took out some hand wipes, spit out his mouthful of carrots, and left them on the floor. 

When I found the carnage, I laughed as this reminded me of myself as a kid when my parents used to make me sit at the table until I completely cleared my plate (a rule I will never enforce).  Unfortunately, I remember sitting at the table for upwards of 2.5 hours alone with large piles of dried/ABC (Already-Been-Chewed) meats in the side pockets of my cheeks.  I used to "have to go to the bathroom" during dinner, where I'd spit my unwanted food into the toilet... or there were also times when my mom finished washing the dishes and as soon as she left the kitchen, I'd cleverly throw my veggies or meat out in an empty milk carton in the trash... Once I vividly remember getting caught red handed, and my mom made me eat all of the milky cold watercrest or spinach or whatever gross greens they were... it was so nasty.

Anyway, it's funny to see Griffin even begin to use these "tricky" tactics, like when he gets put down for bed at nigh,t and as soon as the lights are off and the door is shut, I hear him shout, "Moommmmy, I have to pee on my potty!", which of course, I fell for once. 

I like that Griffin is a little like me.

Pic of Dad & Griff

Omg this is too cute.  I love my 2 boys.  This was taken a week ago, and it's definitely one of my favorite Griff & Dad pictures to date.

Trip to Babci's House & Redd's Pond

Griff and I had a great morning at Babci's (Sesbastian's Grandma Phyllis' house in MHD).  After having played his little heart out with his best buddy from school, Sebastian, aka "Bashy", Griffin is currently napping (hopefully for a long chunk of the afternoon, fingers crossed, though I probably just jinxed myself from typing that).  The boys played bikes on Babci's porch, then Carrie and I took them on a stroller ride to the Gerry School Playground to play, we stopped at Redd's Pond to visit the ducks, strolled back to Babci's for lunch, and then the boys finished up their playdate dumping all of the toys from 2 big treasure chests onto the floor in Babci's living room.

P.S. This morning I made a total novice-Mom move, as I prematurely leaked the news to Griff that we were headed to Babci's house or "Grandma Phyllis" as Griffin calls her.  I did this a solid 2.5 hours before we were actually going with the intention of getting him excited for our day... except, all morning long my little parrot-child kept saying "I want to go to Babci's house to play." (We're talking like 9 times in 2.5 hours).

P.P.S. Darn it. I did totally jinx myself.. I can hear Griff awake upstairs half talking, half whining. Seriously?  He had a super active morning and all I get is 50 minutes of quiet?  Are you kidding me?  It sounds like he is banging his feet against the side of his crib and he is saying something like, "No Mommy, I don't have to wear shoes.  Where is my doggie?"  What?  Back to reality.

Life Goals of a 2 Year Old

During bath time last night, Griffin said, "When I grow up I want to water flowers, and I want to be a fire fighter, so I can drive a fire truck."  These are his current life goals... :) 

Water Table, Hooray!!!

Griffin loves his new water table... yes, he's naked.. as usual.

Hot Dog Griffin

Griffin ate his first hot dog a few weeks ago on March 27th.. It was one of those foods that he's just never been interested in eating.  He ate it totally plain with no bun or ketchup, or utensils for that matter. 

Speaking of hot dogs.. a favorite Dad/Mom & Griff activity is wrapping Griff in a blanket like a hot dog, or wrapping him up tightly in his towel after bathtime.  Griff usually says, "I'm a hot dog; do you want to eat me with ketchup, mustard and relish?" And when either Tom or I respond, "Oh yes, I want to eat you..." and we pretend to chew on him, he freaks out and says "No, don't eat me!!!"

I love wrapping Griffin up.. It's like a giant toddler swaddle. So cute!

Naked Tricycle Riding

Griffin loves being naked... I mean, who doesn't appreciate a naked tricycle ride? 

Griffin at 27 months!

So.... I have so much catching up to do.  It's been about 3 months since I last sat down to blog.  Right now, I'm limited to the twenty-something minutes I have during "a little episode of Caillou" (as Griffin would call it) to jot down what my little, or not so little, boy is up to these days...
Where do I start?

At 27 months, Griffin now speaks in complete sentences.  His ability to communicate is both amazing and extremely helpful in minimizing toddler tantrums.. Example quotes: "Mommy, I want to go to gymnastics fur-ssstt", "May I please watch a little episode of Caillou?", "Mommy, I need a snack!", "Slow down, Mommy"- (yes, he backseat drives), "I had a lot of fun at playschool, I played with the waffle blocks.", "I need another snack", "No, Mommy, I can do it all by myself!", and a few classics, "Mommy, I have a present in my pants!" and one that Dad taught him, "Mommy, do you have a thing for construction workers?"

He sings lots of songs; his repertoire includes Twinkle Twinkle, The ABCs, Jingle Bells, The Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and many other classic toddler favorites.  Some mornings while I am still snoozing/ignoring the fact that he is awake before 6:30am, I will hear singing to himself, which is so very cute, but not as cute as if he were still sleeping...

Griffin loves his Thomas trains.. his favorite is Victor.  He pees on the potty standing up almost every day, just whenever he happens to be naked and has to go.. no poop yet, though.  He can count to about 20, but often repeats the number 14 a few times, and yesterday Tom taught him how to spell his name "G, R, I, F, another F, I Nnny!"

He is getting really good at riding his little red balance bike up and down "the ramp", which is the slight hill on our street in front of our house.  At swim class, he is now able to swim alone with a bubble about 2 feet to the wall.  When I completely let go of him, he panics/sinks/waves his arms and legs until he can grab a hold of the wall edge.

He loves to do naked running, naked water bucket.. just being naked in general... ut oh, Caillou is over and now Griffin is drawing pink marker on my carpet.. oh crap..

"Gup Gup"

Watching Griffin eat goldfish makes me laugh.  He says "Gup Gup" and pretends as if the fish swims into his mouth.  Watch this-

It's a Miracle!

Last night Griffin stood up on a stool and peed for the first time into the toilet! 

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!