Doggies, Drinking, Drawing and Digging

I don't think it is a secret (especially from posts lately) that Griff LOVES his doggies. Right now his favorite book is a "touch and feel" book of puppies; it has a beagle puppy on the cover and the next two pages are of two beagle puppies (and you can pet their fur). The rest of the book is filled with other kinds of puppies...but no hounds. He refuses to read the rest of the book, instead simply laughing at the cover, then opening the book and petting the beagles, then closing the book, laughing at the cover, opening, petting...you get the picture. If we have to put the book down to go to bed...nap...or leave in the morning he gets very upset.

And if G feels the (real) dogs aren't paying enough attention to him at any given time he will "call" them over until they come sit by him. Watching T fetch is another favorite pasttime, as is watching Dobber chase Tucker (this results in a lot of laughs for G). And he's not alone -- the doggies love him right back. Tucker brings his rope to Griffin and drops it so that they can play tug-of-war (Ms. Ashley said that Griffin brought a toy to her today (via his mouth) and dropped it at her feet!). Tucker also climbs up in the glider with us at night when Griffin is having his bedtime bottle and books. He curls up on my lap with Griffin and lays his head on G. And, yes, we got the biggest glider we could find so Ben would be comfortable in the chair, too....but it's not THAT big, so the three of us make a crowded picture...but no one complains as we all like the closeness. And, before Griffin, when we came home, the dogs greeted us with cries and affection, then went outside willingly and immediately. Now, Dobber refuses to go outside until he has found Griffin (generally in with his toys) and made sure he's okay by sniffing him head to toe. If I come home during the day at all while Griffin is at school and thus not with me, Dobber gets very upset and it takes quite a bit of coaxing to calm him down. This summer and outside playtime is going to be fun for all three of them.

We're encouraging Griff to drink from a sippy with each meal. He's getting it...I'm beginning to find he drinks his juice or water best with ice cubes. I guess he isn't European, after all...

And he thinks it is ABSOLUTELY A RIOT when mommy "drinks" from his sippy. I got the pic above when I pretended to drink some of his water tonight at dinner and each and every time I do it he laughs hysterically. It's so funny how he just knows that mommies don't drink from sippies!




We also had some art time recently. It was quite the trip. Griff investigated the little markers mommy bought...



And tasted them. :(

And slobbered on his masterpiece...

And ended up coloring his face just as much as the paper.

He thought the hat we got when we were in the hospital with him (the hospital was under construction at the time) complemented his look quite well.

And his favorite way to play at home is to dig through the baskets to find new things. If the toys are out already, he is much less interested in them than if he can dig through and find something good. And if he can't find something he wants, he dumps the basket, ignores the pile of toys and moves on to the next basket to find his treasure.