A new season....

It's occurred to me that  I have neglected to update my family blog in months.  Now it is autumn, and life has slowed down for us.  We have had an extremely busy summer.  The highlight of the summer was my brother's wedding.  He couldn't have picked a more beautiful bride.  We are so happy to call Jackie a sister and an aunt. Jonah was the best man, and Graham was supposed to be the ring bearer but at the last minute he decided it was too much, and he got a little grumpy and went home early.  

Here is a picture of the bride and groom on their big day:

Graham has had a wonderful summer and fall so far.  He has four new teeth since my last post.  He has taken to a "special blanky" as we call it, and it comes everywhere with us!  He has started to talk and he can say about 15 words, including dadda, kitty, car, vroom vroom, night night, and flower.  He typically talks himself to sleep at night, sometimes chatting with his Winnie the Pooh bear for an hour before he goes to sleep.  He loves to read, and has started to pick out the books he wants to read before bedtime (this sometimes gets out of control). Graham also started pre-school two days/ week.  I was worried that this would be a difficult adjustment, but it has actually been really great for all of us.  Jonah is able to work at home with less distractions, and Graham has made some little friends.  The pre-school that he attends is a ten minute walk from our house. 

Graham is very obvious about things he likes and things he doesn't like! 

These are a few of Graham’s favorite things:

1. Brushing his teeth

2. Playing at the park

3. Making noises when he sees squirrels

4. Reading

5. Using his fork himself to eat

6. Taking off his shoes

7. Point to his eyes, ears and nose

8. Watching Sesame Street and Martha Speaks

9. Riding his toy dinosaur

10. Splashing in the bath tub

Enjoy the pictures! 

 

 

Summertime and the livin's easy

It seems as if May and June went by in the blink of an eye.  We've been extremely busy traveling, and we are looking forward to a "boring" July, with the exception of my brother's wedding.

A few highlights of our recent travels (and pictures of course!)

We traveled to TN over Memorial Day weekend to spend some time with Jonah's family.  Graham especially loved meeting his cousin Ashlee.  This trip included birthday party with a Dr. Suess "Thing 1 and 2" theme.








On our way back from TN we stopped in southern Illinois to visit with Graham's great grandparents. Graham got a bath in the old laundry tub (where all the grand kids and great grand kids have bathed at some point!) Graham also enjoyed playing with Great Grandma's cane.










Last weekend Jonah and I were fortunate enough to take a few days to ourselves (thanks Mom and Dad for watching Graham) and we visited Toronto, Canada.




To end a whirlwind June, we spent some quality time with my brother, Jackie and the rest of the wedding party and friends at a private beach in Fennville, MI.  What a great way to celebrate their last month of bachelorette/ bachelor freedom before the big day!  Graham had fun on the beach but he refused to put his toes in the sand or the water so our options were a little limited! Here is a great picture of Evan and Jonah hanging out at the beach house.

Mother's Day

I consider this Mother’s Day my first true Mother’s Day.  Last year on Mother’s Day morning, as I was holding Graham in the NICU, a peds gastro surgeon told me that his condition may be incompatible with life (especially untreated).  This was obviously a completely off the wall thing to say- seeing as how he didn’t have an official diagnosis at that point.  I was alone with Graham at that moment.  I could not sleep (I felt so guilty for sleeping in my own bed while my baby was hooked up to an IV, etc) so I got up early and went to the hospital.  I didn’t understand his rare unofficial diagnosis, and I was two days postpartum.  I was a mess.  I didn’t know a person was capable of producing that many tears. 

I’ve had so many people tell me “he had a bad start, but he is OK now”.  This is true!  I am grateful for his successful surgery everyday of his life.  I think remembering his traumatic entrance in this world from time to time (in a healthy “don’t feel sorry for us kind of way”) is a constant reminder to me that I am the luckiest mom in the world.

We were so lucky that terrible day to be supported by our parents who both extended their stays in East Lansing, and the following week in Ann Arbor.  Both my mom and Jonah’s mom spent their Mother’s Day by my side in my fragile condition.  I know now that is what a mom does- shares the burden of their child's sadness and pain at any given moment.  I learned how to do this from the best- my mom!

This picture is very dear to me.  It was taken last year on Mother’s Day.  I’d like to think that the love that Jonah and I shared with Graham that day played an integral part of his healing (and our healing as well!)  

The big ONE!

This time last year I was 60 lbs heavier and so excited to meet my "teddy Graham!"   Time stood still this time last year- the week of his birth.  It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since his entrance into this world.

I have absolutely loved every stage, but 12 months is a GREAT age.  He is sleeping through the night, eating foods that we eat, sharing his toys with us, holding hands, helping turn pages to his favorite books, and hugging!  He has also started throwing fits (which we laugh at because what else can you do?)

With each passing day Graham looks more and more like Jonah.  It seems like he goes through stages where he develops some of my characteristics, but I think it’s becoming more and more clear that he will look like his father.  Hey, I am not complaining!  The kid will be quite handsome if I do say so myself!

I’m not one of those parents who feels like “my life wasn’t complete until I had a baby!”  My life was great before I had a baby, and it took a lot of adjusting (in a happy way) to this new little life we created.  I would say my life is just more enriched than it already was, and he has been such a welcome addition. 

I try not to dwell on his unfair entrance into the world (NICU, surgery, etc), but I do reflect on it quite often.  I feel so blessed that Graham was correctly diagnosed with a minor case of Hirschsbrungs Disease, and that he recovered so well from surgery.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think about how lucky we are to have a happy and healthy Graham. 

I included pictures below from his first year (one picture each month). I love looking at how much he has grown.  Each picture brings back so many memories.

Here’s to another year of learning, giggles, grins, hugs, kisses, new foods, and new words!  

May 2011 (first day of life!)

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

Graham is almost 11 months old now.  I was sorting through some of his newborn clothing to give to a friend who is expecting.  I couldn’t believe that my tall, healthy child once fit into to those teeny tiny clothes. 


I’ve learned that being a parent to an ACTIVE 11 month old is rewarding and exhausting.  I feel like we are always on the verge of a trip to the emergency room.  I think his bumps and bruises hurt my heart more than they actually hurt him.  


We find it so funny that Graham has started to throw fits.  If we take a toy away from him- that’s not really a toy like a TV remote- he throws his hands in the air and acts as if his world is crumbling.  The only way we deal with this is by laughing, because he snaps out of it as soon as he finds a new “toy”.  


I am almost afraid to write this next statement for obvious reasons.  Graham is sleeping like an ANGEL.  He gives up the battle around 8 pm each night, and sleeps in his crib until almost 7 am.  I am so proud of him.  If he wakes up in the middle of the night, he usually is able to talk to himself or soothe himself back to sleep.  The days of the midnight bottles are behind us.  I am now done thinking of my nights as a series of naps as opposed to a good nights sleep.  


We are making more of an effort to have Graham spend time with kids his age.  Since he doesn’t go to daycare, we want to make sure he gets some social time.  He loves to observe older kids.  We recently took him to feed the ducks on the MSU campus.  We met up with some friends who also have kids.  Graham had a lot of fun, especially playing with sticks. 


Graham has 8 teeth now and we’ve been experimenting with different foods.  So far, he is a little weirded out by textures of real food.  He still eats baby food as his main dish, but he will eat strawberries and bananas if we cut them in small chunks.  He also decided to skip right over the sippy cup and go straight for the straw.  He still mainly drinks from bottles though.


As he continues to grow we learn more about his personality.   He loves to play “hide and seek” which consists of mommy hiding behind the couch and saying “boo” when he least expects it.  We always get a lot of belly laughs out of that game.  Graham has been really interested in handing Jonah and me random toys lately and we are very diligent about saying “thank you” when he shares his toys.  Now he is handing us more toys that we know what to do with.  We are so lucky to have a happy, active, smart, playful baby. 


Enjoy the pictures!

Graham's super awesome dad!

Kudos to Jonah for being such a great dad! Jonah is attempting to balance taking care of Graham 3 days/ week (when I am at work) and keep up with his course work for his PhD (which he will finish in about one year!)  I never have to worry about the care Graham receives when he is at home with Jonah.  Jonah and Graham have their Doctor Seuss reading time everyday.  For those of you who know our son, he can be a handful (not that he is "bad", he is just VERY active).  Jonah does a great job of keeping him entertained and keeping him injury free (well, most days).  Jonah also took more than his fair share of the "night shifts" when Graham was younger and refused to sleep past 4:30 am. I've know all along that I couldn't ask for a better husband.  I hope that, someday, Graham realizes he couldn't have picked a better dad!