I Scream, You Scream

So, Graham didn't scream for his first taste of ice cream. But he sure did keep coming back for more. At his ripe old age of 16 months, Graham hasn't had many sweets yet. (In part due to the first birthday reaction, and in part due to the fact that he actually likes food that is good for him, so why introduce him to the food that's not?)

However, Graham's grandpa couldn't wait to introduce him to ice cream during Thanksgiving. And Graham did not disappoint. He kept leaning into the spoon and smiling after every bite.

And this was just vanilla. Imagine what he'll do for chocolate. Or Rocky Road. Or, god forbid, Heavenly Hash.

Dear Graham, 16 months

Dear Graham,

You have become so much fun. Who knew having a 32 inch walking and talking little guy around could provide all of this entertainment. You've become my little buddy rather than my baby and I love watching your curious mind at work.

During the month of November your grandma flew out to spend a week with us while mommy had a work conference for a few days. You got some wonderful one on one time, even though some of it came during the (gulp!) 3:00 a.m. hour following this torturous event that they call a time change. By the end of her time here she had all kinds of tricks to make you giggle and you went right along with it.

One of your 16 month obsessions involves all things related to animals, but especially the neighbor's cat. While our pre-Graham reaction to the cat was often one of disdain as it used our yard as a litter box, our post-Graham reality includes looking out the front window to see if we can see kitty cat so you can go pet her. You stomp your legs in excitement if she's anywhere near you. She's only slightly afraid of you, which means she normally runs in the opposite direction.

You continue to love to be outside but now you can take either your mommy or daddy by the hand and bring us over to the door that you want to go out. In theory, this is a huge positive that you are communicating your wants and we can actually understand them. Unfortunately, you don't understand why we can't go outside when the sun's not up yet or when it's freezing cold. We'll be excited when you can understand us too.

We often play music and sing songs with you and your favorite last month was "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Except you never move past the head with your hand gestures. Ever. Despite singing the song over and over, we can't get you to gesture to your shoulders, knees or toes. Hence the rest of the song. But you're awfully cute standing there with your hands on your head for the duration of the song. 

You are slowly learning more words, although you are grasping so much more than you speak. You have an alphabet book that lists different objects for each letter of the alphabet. You can pick up the closed book and open it to find the airplane, puppy, cat, apple, owl, wagon, moon, train, bird and more if we ask you to. You flip page to page until you find the said object and you get so excited to point it out to us.

In light of not yet having many words, your universal word is "huh?", which you say for anything and everything. It means you want something. It means you don't want something. It means you noticed something or that you are hungry or that you just want the European debt crisis to end. Seriously, every "huh?" you utter is followed by a good few minutes of mommy or daddy trying to figure out what you mean. Once we do find it, we say the word to you or sign the sign, and you're catching on to more words and signs that way.

Over Thanksgiving, you and I flew to Nashville, rented a car and drove down to Huntsville so you could meet your great-grandma Cahalan, the last of your great-grandmothers to meet. While in Huntsville we put you on your deceased great-grandpa's tractor, which was something that I (along with all of our other cousins) did as a child. It was surreal to see you on your grandpa's lap this go around.

 

On the Friday after Thanksgiving we drove back up to Nashville and attended my dad's wedding to MJ. You were such a good baby throughout all of this travel and despite sleeping and eating at crazy times. And it was so much fun to see you interact with all of this family.

The holiday season is always time to be especially thankful for our many blessings, and we are so incredibly thankful for you.

Love,
Mommy

Sidewalk: 1, Graham: 0

We had family pictures taken on Friday, November 11. Which, of course, meant the sidewalk had to jump up and attack Graham on Thursday, November 10. Thank goodness for Photoshop.

Dear Graham, Months 14 and 15

Dear Graham,
Yes, I combined two months of letters. Yes, I realize that makes me a horrible mommy. (And I could insert some cliche here, like do what I say and not what I do, but really...isn't it always easier to say, than do? Who came up with that expression anyway?)

Let me tell you about all of the progress you've made in the last eight weeks. First of all, you walk. All the time. Everywhere. And it's no longer a walk with both arms out parallel to the ground for balance. You walk normally. Like a real human being. You pick items up off the ground without falling over. And. You. Can. Stand. Up. On. Your. Own. Let's take a moment of silence for small miracles...your mommy is incredibly thankful that you no longer fall down walking and then just sit there moaning until we come and stand you back up.

 

The freedom you demonstrate now that you're an old walking pro is fascinating. Somehow you know to walk straight toward the street when you're anywhere in our front yard. It's like danger is calling your name and you come a' runnin'. I kindly stop you, pick you up, and carry you to a nice, safe, free-from-cars-that-could-run-you-over-zone, and you head right back for the street.

This leads me to your next big development: making your feelings known. Apparently you don't like it when mommy saves your life doesn't let you go into the street and picks you up. You let this be known by screaming and arching your back. Good times.

We made two trips to Florida during your 13th and 14th month. One was pretty miserable, and one was pretty amazing. I'll let you guess which is which. Your mommy and your Uncle Sean had been planning a trip for awhile for you and me to visit Uncle Sean and see his new house. We finally settled on a date and headed out the last weekend in September. We can pass travel due to daddy's job, which essentially means we get any empty seats on an airplane that aren't already taken by passengers. (Oftentimes, there are none. Or negative empty seats. Those are good times too. But back to the trip.) You and I got assigned a middle seat. Which wouldn't have been so bad when you were a baby. But now that you know how to walk, you would have thought I was torturing you by making you sit on my lap the whole way.

I knew this would be a challenge, so I came prepared. I had new toys. New books. And, most importantly, puffs. However, none of this seemed to matter when the man sitting to the right of us decided to attempt to read a Wall Street Journal. On an airplane. With a 14-month old sitting next to him. And what did you proceed to do? Hit the Wall Street Journal. Over and over. That was more fascinating to you that any amount of toys, books, or puffs. Fortunately for all of us, he was a patient man with two kids of his own.

Somehow between Texas and Florida you contracted tuberculosis. (Just kidding. Sort of.) You developed this crazy cough that prohibited you from napping. Or sleeping at night. Or being genuinely pleasant at all. So despite all kinds of family traveling to see us at Uncle Sean's house, you didn't want much to do with anyone else. We ended up flying back to Houston late the next day, because Sunday's flights ended up being oversold anyways. It was a chaotic 36 hour trip to Florida.

The next trip included your daddy and involved you staying with Grandma and Grandpa while mommy and daddy escaped for a few days on a cruise. You did amazingly well, but attached yourself to your Grandma and wanted nothing to do with anyone else. Your Grandma didn't seem to mind this one bit, but it would have been nice for you to share a few smiles and precious moments with other relatives who love you so much.

You actually understand what we are saying now (or at least part of the time) and react to our questions or commands. You actually go find the ball when we ask "Where's the ball?" My favorite new trick of yours is when we ask you where your belly button is and you slowly lift up your shirt to show us.

Only in the past week have you started saying a few new words. "Baaa" is ball to you and "meeeeelk" is milk. Just tonight you said pup-pup for the puppy in your book. I feel you are on the brink of grasping so many new words. Your signing is getting better as well, as you sign "more", "all done" and at school, they say you know "please" too, although we're still working on that at home.

While this isn't directly a "Graham development," it's a family development...your daddy completed his training to become a Captain in September. You would be so proud of him if you knew what all it entailed. Now that he is a Captain; however, it's meant that he's traveling more because he's based on Chicago. So while we don't see him as much,  you and I look at pictures together and I say "Where's Daddy?" and you point to his picture. You love being around Daddy when he's home and he loves being with you.

I know I say this in each letter, but we can't imagine our lives without you. Your sweet giggles are the most precious thing I've ever heard. I love being your mommy.

Love,
Mommy

For the love of nectarines

In a trait that I'm sure is not all that unusual for babies, Graham adores fruit. Which pretty much means he hasn't met a fruit he doesn't like and if you want him to eat anything else, you better not put fruit on his high chair first.

This has led to what we've dubbed the Summer of Nectarines and all of the Akins have gotten in on the action. Every trip to the grocery store for the past eight weeks has included the purchase of a plethora of nectarines and every week Taylor asks why I didn't buy more. (And if I was being totally honest, he'd ask why I didn't buy more tangerines, and I'd have to again explain that I hadn't bought any tangerines lately, but would he like more nectarines.)

The obsession has gotten so bad in our household that you can't eat a nectarine in Graham's presence unless you are thoroughly prepared for his wrath. Well, his wrath and having to split your nectarine with him. We've gotten to where, after sharing little pieces, we'll give him the rest of it to chow down on until he gets too close to the pit. And even then you'd think we were the most evil parents on earth for taking away his nectarine.

The Giggler

Graham will get in his mind that something is funny and laugh and laugh away as you repeat the act over and over again. For that day. And that day only. Try the same trick again the next day and he looks at you with this expression that says, "Mommy, that was sooo yesterday."At least we captured his humorous moment of the day. Which may or may not have been his daddy blowing into an empty beer bottle. Hey, we like to keep it real around here. Who needs expensive toys when you have a beer bottle to make noise. And with laughs like this, can you really blame us?

Dear Graham, 13 Months

Dear Graham,
Since when did you become old enough to measure your life in months instead of weeks? Even now when someone asks how old you are I pause to adapt to this new reality. Your little life is going way too fast, buddy. You might just have to get me some counseling when we get to measuring it in years!

The past month has been filled with new developments. You are becoming such a little boy instead of a baby and you like to make that distinction known to us every day. Your favorite activity is walking and you're getting braver and braver with each passing day. You want to walk all around the house holding mommy or daddy's hand and take us to random corners behind furniture or curtains where no human really should attempt to walk. You'll let go now of our hands and take 5-6 steps independently and your expressions while doing so are priceless. You begin with a very serious, studious face and then as you get going your smile gets bigger and bigger. We have to be there to catch you as you get so excited that all of your momentum is leaning forward and you would face plant if we weren't there to catch you.

We've also been slowly transitioning away from bottles and to sippy cups this month. We've been weaning you slowly, taking away a bottle every two weeks. You're down to only two bottles now, one at wake up and one before bed. You've transitioned to whole milk in those bottles and you love your milk. While this is clearly another sign that you're growing up, I can't wait to be done with the nightly routine of washing 1million bottle parts each evening. 
  

You've also become more adventurous in your eating...or at least you did until you came down with a double ear infection and decided not to eat anything. New foods this month included edamame, hummus, pork, eggs...pretty much anything we eat is now fair game for you. And I was so proud of how well you were doing that I even told your Uncle Troy that you eat better than he does at age 21. Somehow you must have felt me getting a bit too confident and that's when you decided to go on an eating strike. For the week you were sick you pretty much refused everything but yogurt...even watermelon, which is pretty much your favorite food of all time. We've slowly gotten back to eating normally but it's a good reminder to your mommy to never count your chickens before they're hatched.

 You still love to read and you get so excited when we get out your books. You point to different things that catch your attention and like to turn the pages for mommy or daddy. I've been giving you books when you're in your carseat or while we're changing your diaper to keep your attention and you've started to "read" out loud to us, babbling as you turn the pages.

 

One of my favorite parts of this month is the hugs that you now give to mommy and daddy, especially after waking up for the day or after a nap. You lay your sweet head in the crook of our necks and just pause for a moment. It's a daily reminder that captures everything that's really important in our lives.


Love,
Mommy


PS...in case you're wondering, turning 13 months has done nothing for your ability to sleep past 4:45 a.m. Maybe 14 months will? Please?

Daddy's Little Training Partner

Taylor is in training to upgrade to captain, which pretty much means every waking moment he has is devoted to studying. And this occasionally involves me and Graham too, although I get the fun job of testing him on his memory items while Graham just gets to play with everything while we do so. I think Graham definitely got the best end of that deal.

My New Favorite Picture

I go through a new favorite picture pretty much every time I take a new one of Graham, but this one has stayed in first place over the last week. It's after an afternoon at the pool and a walk home in the wagon, both of which Graham loves so much that he couldn't help but to show off his dimples.

Breakfast of Champions (Or at least Breakfast of Graham)

Graham ate fruit and baby oatmeal for nearly every breakfast after he decided one day that rice cereal wasn't for him. (And he so ever sweetly told us that he was over rice cereal by spitting it back at us.) So upon turning one and being given the pediatrician's clearance to abandon baby oatmeal, I was suddenly at a loss for what to give Graham in the mornings. Fruit obviously stayed, but so many breakfast foods are full of sugar or require spoons to eat, and let's just say Graham's favorite way to use a spoon is to bang it on the ground, not to feed himself.

I came across this recipe and it was a huge hit...not only with Graham, but with Taylor too. The original recipe is here, but I adapted it in the below recipe to include all wheat flour and no chocolate chips. Hey, he's going to learn soon enough the greatness of sweets, I don't have to prod him along any. (But the chocolate chips would be a great addition!)

Banana Applesauce Oat Muffins
Makes 12 muffins or 24 Graham-sized servings 

1 egg
3 mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup natural applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup quick cooking oats

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine egg, bananas, brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir the oatmeal into the flour mixture. Gently stir flour mixture into the banana mixture. Pour batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and place on a wire rack to let cool before serving.

A Bubble Birthday Bash

Graham has loved bubbles since he was just a few months old, so it was an easy choice to celebrate his first birthday with a bubble theme. I may or may not have become a bit obsessed with all things bubble-related in the months leading up to Graham's birthday...but it was so much fun to plan his first birthday party. Here's a few photos of the big day.

 

  

DIY cupcake tower (Directions from Annie's Eats.)

I found a great etsy shop to work with to order Graham's invites, sticker templates,birthday banner templates and more.

 

To showcase Graham's weekly pictures, I hung ribbon and clipped each one up with a clothespin. It was fun to see how he grew weekly in one spot.

Graham woke up from his nap right before the party and he was a little overwhelmed by everything going on. He eventually woke up enough to enjoy the bubbles and his company.

Taylor and I had bets on if Graham would like his cake. I guessed he wouldn't, just due to the fact that he's sensitive about different textures. Not only did I win the bet, Graham decided to one-up me and even gag on the frosting. We even later tried just giving him some cake without icing and he didn't want that either. His expressions were priceless.