The best day of Graham's life

Okay, so he couldn't really tell me that it was the greatest day of his short life. But by process of elimination (and due to the fact that we've been around each other for all the days of his short life, minus a handful--thanks mom!), it has to be tops.

Presidents' Day is one of those amazing bank holidays. It always sneaks up on you, unexpected, and it always seems to come just when you need a 3-day weekend most. It's like finding a $10 bill in a pocket from last winter's coat. Only better.

We decided to take Graham to the zoo to celebrate Washington, Lincoln and the other 42 presidents.

Seriously, it was the best day ever.

Graham has been learning his animal sounds over the last two months. He knows cows, horses, cats, puppies, frogs, fish, elephants, owls and more. His fascination with animals stretches into any book we're reading or any animal that he happens to spot on TV.

So, we knew the zoo would be a hit. We just didn't know it would be a homerun.

I think he liked the elephants most, as he lifted his hand to show the trunk of the elephant and made his "phrooo" noise, which is the noise he thinks they make. He might have liked giraffes second best, judging by the number of times he said giraffe (5,000).

Here's a few pictures of the best day of Graham's life. Don't let his serious look in these photos fool you. He is studying everything that he's seeing. While loving every minute.

Dear Graham, 18 Months

Dear Graham,
You are now closer to two than one.

(Pause for dramatic effect.)

And the fact that you're getting older comes across more and more every day. It's probably most noticeable in your face, where you've lost some of your "baby cheeks" as your face has elongated. That hasn't stopped your adorable dimples from shining through every time you smile.

We also finally had to give in and cut off some of those straggly curls. Somehow in the span of those 10 minutes, you aged even more. With your new handsome haircut you could easily be mistaken for someone twice your age. (Or maybe more like a month or two older. But older nonetheless.) It only took some serious bribing with goldfish and Baby Einstein to make you sit still. But I think your mommy and daddy did a pretty good job considering it was our first time cutting hair. (And no, we didn't tell you that in advance of the haircut.) 

During this past month you've learned to count to 3. It's probably more accurate to say that you can say the words "one, two, three" in sequence, as you really have no point of reference as to what the words mean. But it's adorable to see your excitement.

Speaking of excitement, the two things you love most right now are Elmo and trains. Your fascination with trains has only continued to grow and you like to play with trains, read about trains and watch trains on You Tube. You'll lead us to the computer by hand to play them for you and you can't wait for them to appear on screen.

Your obsession with Elmo is just as cute. You dance to his Elmo's World intro and pretty much don't blink the entire time he's on screen. Apparently those Sesame Street writers know what they're doing: we had some friends over one afternoon and all of the kids joined you on the bed to watch Elmo.

While there's not a cute picture to go with this experience, during the last month you had your first outpatient surgery as you got tubes in your ears. The five ear infections you suffered through over the last six months finally took its toll and we decided to help give you some relief. I think the entire experience was much harder on your mommy than it was on you, but we're three weeks in with no ear infections yet (knock on wood).

While all of these developments have been significant and critical to cross off your "he's growing/developing/learning just fine" lists, to me the biggest development isn't on any list. And yet it's the one that gets me every time.

You hug back.

For a long time when we've asked you to give hugs you would lay your head down on our shoulder and pause. But now you squeeze us in return. It's like taking every life happy life experience and putting it into your little arms as they wrap around my neck.

Love,
Mommy

P.S. And, just because I have to have a few embarrassing pictures to put in the video that will be shown at your rehearsal dinner, here's a good one for you.