Dad's Randomness

So this post is ridiculously over due and I am sorry for the delay! Normally I try to be funny during these posts but this one is gonna be borderline serious.
Being a parent is exhilarating but exhausting! I remember people constantly telling me before Graham was born that as soon as I saw him, a switch would click inside of me and I would never be the same. Little did I know how powerful and life changing the little guy would be. I just put him to bed for the night and I already miss him! He slipped in the bath(because for some reason he HAS to stand up in the tub) and he busted his lip and I wanted nothing more than to take that pain from him. I feel truly blessed to have him, Sara, and our families in my life. He is growing up around such wonderful people and I just wanted y'all to know I appreciate you all.

Sara is such a wonderful mother. She has a way with Graham and you can see that he just melts in her arms. She is so patient and loving. She even shares with him(which is a major feat). He is so lucky to her as a mom. I still feel so lucky that she chose me to be her husband and the father of her child. Thank you Sara for being so wonderful to both of your boys. We both love you so
much.

Family...no words can describe how much we appreciate y'all. I am actually overloaded right now with everything I want to say...so its gonna come out all lumped together. Thank y'all for being excellent role models, amazing grandparents, our best friends, and most of all great examples for Graham. I could type a novel about how much Sara,Graham, and I love each one of you. I am so excited for the years to come and how much he will learn from each of you.

So I guess it finally happened. Sara and I finally grew up(well...I kinda did!). No more hangovers that last all day. No more staying out till 4 am, stopping at waffle house on our way home, and hanging w/ some cross dressers. No more Jagermeister and red bull shots or Irish car bombs. No more puking out the car window because of all the bumps on the way home(Sara!!). No more naked Stan phenomenon (don't ask) or late night secret missions with Shannon in the new neighborhood. No more convincing Steven to noodle in the stump below my parents dock... And you know what...I am 154% fine with that. I had a blast and I survived with the help of all of y'all. I love the direction of our lives and just being with my little family.
Love
G

Happy Nine Month Birthday, Little Graham!

Wow... we've gotten really bad about writing ON the day-of his birthday. This month was stalled because we had his wellness check-up the week after and I like including his weight/height change... but I've made a list throughout this month so we don't forget anything (last month's post was horrible because we didn't keep track of his progress). Without further adieu...

1. He weighs 21lbs (50th percentile) and is 29 inches long (75th percentile). He is now long and lean, just like his Grandpa and Uncle Matt!
2. He can clap without us showing him how -- we can just say "clap Graham"!
3. He will also clap if you sing "If you're happy and you know it..." {Thanks Grammy}
4. Dance - he will start shaking it if we sing "Bad To The Bone" {Thanks Nana}
5. Graham can now say, "Mama", "BaBa" (although we don't use this term), and "Do-Do" (Dog)
6. Biting - he loves to bite everything... people and his crib are his favorites (he's made a little bite ring around his beautiful crib with teeth marks)
7. One of his favorite pastimes is reading and he loves to turn the pages! He is so serious while reading and his favorites are the touch-and-feel books {Thanks Aunt Cheri}
8. He can pull himself up without touching anything! This is amazing to watch and such a huge accomplishment.
9. Graham can pick things up with his index finger and thumb... food, small particles... whatever it is it always ends up in his mouth.
10. He can climb over and on to anything... it's amazing how clingy his little hands and feet are. He loves to climb over blankets, into baskets/boxes and on to the fireplace (where he likes to play with the chainmail).
11. We are truly amazed at how many words g knows. We've counted over 20 words... this is a fun game at night to "find" all of the objects we ask him about (some of his favorites are fan, outside, bath, hungry, cup... etc). 
12. One of our favorite games to play together is we'll grab an old blanket my mom gave us and toss it over our heads to make a tent (while holding our hands up to form "walls"). He loves this SO much that when we get hot and take the blanket off, little g get's upset! 
13. He loves crawling in to the other room and sitting there until we say "Where's Graham?" Then he peeks his little head around the corner with a huge smile!
14. Graham loves to look at pictures... in the scrapbook I'm making or in frames. His favorite is the sonogram picture we have on the fireplace that says "Love At First Sight". 
15. We bought his Halloween Costume last month - we're going as the three bears! He loved it so much that it's the first item he wouldn't give to the sales associate to scan. He can also open his closet and pull it down from the hanger. It's become a permanent fixture in his room (it's going to look so tattered by Halloween).
16. He switched his favorite toy from his puppy to his white bear (we call "Dottie" because it's made with the white fabric that's super soft and has dots all over it). 
17. BIG NEWS: He's now no longer in his baby Britax seat... he's graduated to a bigger carseat that he'll grow with!
18. Oh... and little g's bump on his forehead has disappeared! Apparently it was actually a water cyst and we could have been massaging it this whole time to get it to go away. Who knew (the doctors that told us from birth and we didn't believe them)?! 
19. And... our FAVORITE accomplishment this month (although they're all pretty great, huh?!)... he can KISS us now... and we melt every time. 

Little g's schedule is about the same as it was last month:
3:00am - Nurse
7:30am - Wakeup, Nurse, Play, Breakfast, Play
10:00am - Nurse, Nap
12:00pm - Wakeup, Nurse, Play, Lunch, Play (Errands run, if any)
3:00pm - Nurse, Nap
5:00pm - Wakeup, Nurse, Play, Dinner, Play
8:00pm - Rice Cereal, Bath, Dry-off time with Big G, Goodnight to everything
8:30pm - Nurse, Goodnight

Wow... I can't believe we'll have a one year old soon... time does go by pretty quickly, luckily we're enjoying every second of being g's parents!