Another Masterpiece

Today Griff was again sitting at the table doing art...then he started to roar at his paper.  No big deal, he just drew a dinosaur.  Seriously!!!!!

Zoo Fun

Earlier this week we packed up and headed to Brookfield Zoo with Claire...and D, Ashley, G and I as well.  Griff still can't stop talking about his experience.  I love seeing him get so into something.  Amazing!

These two are in their own wolf pack!

Griff's third favorite animals?  BABY DUCKS!  He saw a baby duck on a commercial the other day...was mesmerized...then when it went away he exclaimed "baby duck, come BACK!"  Then when it didn't, he burst into tears.  So he thought for a second and then grabbed my laptop and brought it to me requesting "baby ducks, please."  So I obliged.  G now loves him some baby ducks.

Seeing what else?  The HIPPO!!!!  We also saw a "baby hippo" (pygmy).  Griff is still talking about the BIG hippo and the BABY hippo.

Dolphins (he can differentiate now) :)  He even handled the dolphin show...all with no nap!  He enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the music (which he headbanged to - cracked Ashley and I up immensely).

Pre-zoo lunch - being silly

Crazy hat head and crazier G-spression!

Cheese!  (I can only get him to give me good "cheeses" now with bribes).  This one?  I bribed him with going to see the animals sooner...if he'd cheese.  That, or cookies.  Seems to be working lately....

Little Artist

This weekend I was in the kitchen cooking Griff some breakfast and he was, not surprisingly, at his place at the kitchen table drawing. Not coloring, DRAWING...as he will quickly correct you. He said "mom, I drew whales." I responded that was awesome, let me see (thinking I would just see some lines, etc. as I should see from a two-year old's "drawing"). What I saw was below. He actually drew some pretty darn good whales complete with fins and eyes, in my humble (and yes, biased) opinion. And it is so unbelievable watching him do it. He concentrates so hard on each one, makes the circles, fins, and then at the very end says..."hmmm...eye" and dots the whale with the eye. And the big blue mark-outs...those are where he did not like how his whale was turning out, so he said "no" and marked it out.

I think this may be something that runs in the family...Grandpa Tom is a pretty good artist (and has painted some work that hangs in both our house and Deanna's), and Ben of course has drawn quite a few sketches for both of the boys rooms...and now Griff. I really think he has it. And he can sit for an hour or more and just draw. Pretty impressive for his age. This one is going in a frame. I am one proud momma!

Luckiest

I'm the luckiest Mom in the world...my two-year old baby boy is the sweetest and the most fun I have ever had...and the fun is only going to continue because I have a six-week old who undoubtedly will follow in his footsteps. Can't believe it gets better! Hanging out this morning after being pulled away from blogging with a little hand in mine and a "come ON MOM!" And after my little artist (wait until you see a later post of what he drew - entirely on his own!) drew all over the kitchen rug..and when I said we had to show daddy and talk about it he said "um, no, BYE" and went and hid with his blankie...and after taking him potty and getting a 5-minute cuddle sessions beforehand complete with kisses, hugs and snuggles (he may have just been avoiding the potty but I don't care)...and after he ran around the house in circles singing "dinosaur train! dinosaur train! we gonna RIDE RIDE RIDE RIDE RIDE...the dinosaur train"...and after he said "oh, no - cold!" and made sure his brother's feet were covered up in the swing...and after he hit his leg and exclaimed "oh, bumpers!"...and after he danced to his favorite song "animal sounds" and went to Tucker and explained all of the animal sounds that he knew...and after he pointed out Duncan's "boo eyes", Mommy's "boo eyes" and then his own "boo eyes" while clarifying that they were "all same." So many memorable moments and it is not even lunchtime!
And the other day before Mommy's run we were in the potty trying to do a poopy...this has become quite a challenge as of late...so in order to make it fun we (I) decided to put undies and shorts on our head and sing songs about poopies. Don't judge, we laughed a lot. :) And though he looks unhappy in this pic it was only because he didn't want to stop running around and singing to "cheese."

So many pics for his wedding montage and he's only two. Love it.

Interacting

Although Duncan is still doing a lot of this (during the day, that is):

He is now also interacting a bit more with us, and giving smiles and even coos!

Rainforest Cafe

Thursday we decided we needed to get out of the house for a bit...so we headed into Schaumburg to the Rainforest Cafe for some lunch. Griff hadn't yet been, and needless to say it was a HIT. We sat by the fish and he was in heaven...surprisingly, he actually ate (some) and was very happy to take a few laps around the restaurant checking everything out.

He couldn't take his eyes off of everything to look at the camera, this was as close as we got!

Up in the Tree II

Earlier this week Gma Kris, Gpa Tom and Griff were in the yard playing with Griff's big ball. Gma was serving the ball into the tree and Griff would laugh when it would come out...well, as we feared, the ball got caught in the tree. In order to get it down, Gpa Tom threw Griff's rake at it. Unfortunately, the rake also got caught in the tree. We thought all was lost until Gpa Tom had a great idea and got the hose - putting it on "power wash" - and both items fell from the tree. Griff thought that was pretty awesome and had to spray some more up for good measure. Lots of laughs.

Oh no!Spraying

Just to make sure...