Some Fall Pics...A Preview...

We took some fall pictures today (Ben as photographer!).  We aren't done taking of Duncan yet, so there are more of Griff below than D - more of D will be coming as well as more of the ones we took today that I really like.  There were a TON to sort through!

Baby Songs

Griffin and I have a bit of a new nighttime routine.  Lately, he has been WIRED before bed and is literally bouncing off of the walls.  So, in order to try to get him to calm down a little before bed, I have been laying down with him in his bed and asking him if he wants me to sing him songs.  Specifically, I ask if he'd like me to sing him a "baby song;"  this, to Griff, means a lullaby.  And it's been working like a charm!  He gets calm, lays next to me and says "yes, peez."  And if my head is not on the pillow he will pat the pillow next to his head and pull my head toward it.  And while I sing him his "baby song" he watches me intently with a little smile on his face the entire time.  And when the song is over he smiles wider and asks "one more time" (which sounds so sweet as "one mo tym?").  It melts my heart every time I hear that, and as a result, we generally go through a LOT of "baby songs."  Sometimes we make them up, and he specifically likes any baby song that I insert his name into, often requesting "baby song with GiGi in it."  

Griffin is so full of imagination and joy that it is unbelievable.  Today, when he woke up, he proclaimed that he was a "hippo po mas."  Before I had left for work, he had been a snake, a hippo, a whale, a "roar" (dinosaur, tiger or lion, pick your pleasure), a dog, a giraffe/hippo who likes chocolate milk, and a cat.  And I hear from Ms. Ashley that he has also been crawling around like an animal AND that he pooped on the potty today like an animal!  (I know this sounds odd, as animals specifically DON'T poop on the potty, but we have been having some difficulty for some time now with poopy on the potty...so we insist to Griff that hippos, whales, doggies, cats, giraffes, baby ducks, chicks, snakes, cows, and horses poop on the potty so he must, too!).

I can't wait to spend my weekend with my silly shape-changing animal and his little brother.  I can't help but wonder how Duncan is going to make us laugh when he's a little older.  If Griffin's imagination is any indication, we are in for some fun!

Preacher

Last night as the Atkinsons were leaving we were out on the porch and couldn't help but notice a pretty HUGE praying mantis on the side of the house.  Since Griff was already in bed we decided to house the bug for the night so he could check it out in the morning...thus we named him Preacher (he is a praying mantis after all), and put him in a container with some leaves and water.  And today after Ben got home (I was honestly too creeped out by this bug to handle show-n-tell on my own) Griff got to check him out.  And, the boy that he is, he loved it.  And when G was done checking out Mr. Preacher, we let him go right where we found him...which Griff wasn't very happy about, but we told him Preacher guards our house.  He wasn't satisfied with that, but we distracted him...

Videos at the bottom.  :)  Griff absolutely LOVES to see animals eat, so that was his favorite part.  Eat, bug, eat more, eat!

As you can see, Ben let Preacher crawl ALL over him...

Back home

Bye Bye!  Thanks for the lesson...

Go Bears!

Just a cute couple pics of Dunc and Griff in their jerseys!  By the way, Dunc's jersey is a 6-12 months and I could barely get it over his bottom.  That's right - he pretty much skipped the 3-6 month size...which made me super pleased as I had just revamped his drawers with the 3-6 month clothing supply...he is growing like a WEED.  But, with that is starting to come a little bit more predictability.  Dunc is really loving his crib (hallelujah) and is sleeping for some good chunks in it for daytime naps.  At night, he is still getting up a couple of times to eat, but has been known to give us a 4 hour stretch, and even a 4.5 hour stretch once.  So, we are getting there.  Slowly but surely he is sleeping better for us.  And I am loving it.  Sleep + Zantac = a happy Duncan, which, in turn, equals a happy mama!

Species

Thanks to our recent addition to the family (no, not Duncan -- the iPad), Griffin now differentiates between species of animals.  Today he picked up his killer whale (previously known of course only as "whale") and proclaimed it was an "ORCA whale." 

And the next time a Quetzal lands in our yard, you betcha he will know that by name, too (guess it gets kind of hard for the app-makers to think of animals that begin with "Q")....

If Duncan Can't Use It...

Griff apparently thinks he can!

Congrats Matt & Ashley!

 We had a fun weekend...Gma Cathy and Great Gma Lea came up, Matt and Ashley got married, and Ben and I had a (whole) night out!  We had an awesome time at the wedding...it was nice to be able to have some adult time...and now the boys and I are getting ready for a week without Ben (who is in San Francisco this week).  Sounds like he's going to be gone quite a bit in the next few weeks so let's hope my two little men make it easy on their mama!

Mr & Mrs!

Waiting for the wedding to start..wedding was during naptime so Griff didn't make much of the ceremony and instead (according to Daddy) attempted to knock Mary off of her pedestal as well as [allegedly] thought about throwing rock through a stained glass window.  Let's just say Griff soon went home to the grandmas!  :)

On the way to the reception

Overserved?  Perhaps.  But we were dancing machines!  Had such a great time with a fun group of people.

And just a cute pic of Griff and Ben earlier this week.  Griff saw Ben in his hat and requested his own "like Dad."