Parker's preschool is a wonderful program and part of that includes weekly swim lessons every Monday. The three teachers take 15 kids to the indoor JCC pool every week, get them all dressed in the locker room, and out to the pool. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. They have a swim teacher, Miss Karen, who taught their lessons the entire year. Parker always loves Monday for this reason and although it was hard to get any real information out of her, we were told by her teachers that she was always very active and a good swim student. Then came Parent Observation Day. Greg and I were so excited to go see what her class was like. We told her we were coming to watch beforehand and she asked if she would get to come home with us afterwards, to which we answered no, we had to go to work. The teachers also discussed this with the class beforehand. They all came out of the locker room and Parker started crying. We think she didn't see us right away and was upset when we weren't there. Then she saw us and it took her the next 20 minutes to get back to normal again. She wouldn't do anything that the rest of the class was doing.
I took some video of the other kids doing their thing
Here is Parker with her favorite teacher, Miss A. Michelle, trying not to smile
Parker had just started to get happy and enjoy the class when it was over. Then she lost it because she remembered that we were leaving and she was staying. Not a whole lot of fun for anyone. I guess we learned our lesson about coming to visit in the middle of the day, she used to handle it much better.
We also got a report card from her swim teacher listing all of the things she learned this year. We look forward to a summer of visits to the outdoor JCC pool when we can develop even more skills!
We started our Mother's Day off with breakfast at home and some very sweet cards from my family. They also got me a gift card to lululemon! A location opened up in Pittsford near our house but I have never been, so I am excited for a little shopping spree. Next we went for a hike on a nearby trail. Graham was in the backpack with Parker (& Otis of course) walking. We were literally 2 minutes in when Parker said "Can you carry me? I am tired". We both said no way and she acquiesced. We ended up doing a 1.25 mile loop and both kids loved every minute. Graham just looked around, taking it all in. Parker loved pointing out cool trees and plants and noting how high up we had gone.
We went home to freshen up and drove out to Papa G and Sandy's. Sandy's Mom and daughter, Jen, were in town from Herkimer, so they had a nice little gathering. We had a late lunch and Graham took a nice long nap in the crib upstairs.
Because of the late lunch, there was no need for a real dinner, so we stopped and got ice cream on the way home. I wish I had gotten pictures because Parker had it all over her face.
I also want to share the gifts that the kids made for me at school.
A Graham Goforth finger painting original
The jar is a decoupage and had Hershey's Kisses in it (which always make me think of my Grandma Gibler, very fitting for Mother's Day) and the awesome little fill-in-the-blank card.
Our lucky guy,Graham, got to celebrate his 1st birthday three times! We had the big family party in Florida (see previous post), then a little cupcake dessert when at the Yohe's house in Florida, and finally a cupcake at school when we returned. His teachers said they have rarely seen a kid so happy while eating a cupcake.
Graham's walking gets better every day and he never crawls at this point. He loves to climb up on things and has started trying to run. The other day we were leaving school and Parker's teacher was watching us walk up the stairs from the playground and commented on how Graham is already switching feet to go up the stairs. Most kids struggle with that until they are 3, they just use the same foot over and over again for each step. Graham just may be a lefty. We notice him using his left hand much more frequently. Greg is already thinking about pitching practice.
This kid loves to play peek-a-boo and it's a method I use often to make him laugh. He will pull a blanket up over his face to play it or hide behind the curtains in the dining room. Parker and Graham are having more and more fun playing together, especially chasing each other around the house or playing hide and seek (which just means Parker hides from Graham and then jumps out to startle him).
Graham is going through that toddler picky eater stage where one day he loves something and then next day he refuses it. He loves to eat fruit though and he rarely turns that down. He has been drinking whole milk from a sippy cup for a few weeks now and loves to drink water from sippy cup too. We are still giving him a formula bottle before bedtime, just to use up the rest of the supply we had. We need to break that habit here pretty soon.
Graham already likes to try to eat with a spoon or fork. We have been putting the food onto the utensil for him and then handing it over. Of course it gets pretty messy but it sure does make him happy.
Graham loves to be outside and just walk around. Even his teachers say they will grab his hand and walk over to the door that leads to the outside balcony to tell him he would like to go outside.
Here he is with some of his birthday presents:
We had Graham's check-up a little late because we were gone for his actual birthday and then he had a nasty cold virus the week we got back. Since he needed some vaccinations and he had a fever, we pushed it out a week. Graham weighs 23 lb 15.5 oz (70%) and is 32" tall (90%). His head is 19" around (90%). His appetite was pretty poor those few days while he was sick, so he actually lost some weight. When we had him at the Dr the week before, he weighed 24 lb 7 oz.
Graham has 10 teeth right now. Four front top and bottom and then the two top molars are through the gums and working their way in. The bottom two molars are close, there is a bulge where they will be.
He checks in great with all developmental milestones. He is not saying real words with any regularity, except maybe Dada. Sometimes he says Mama and he will try to repeat things occasionally. When we mentioned that Parker was already saying 4-5 words at this age, the Dr said that is very typical that girls develop speech faster than boys.
Graham is still a little lover and we get open-mouthed sloppy kisses all the time. He still loves to be cuddled and held, despite his love for moving around, so that really indicates what a sweetie he is. He definitely knows what "no" means and even obeys some of the time. We seeing less of him going for Otis' water bowl or the wine in the wine rack.
This kid is a bundle of energy and curiosity and there is never a dull moment in our house right now. It's bittersweet that our baby is now a toddler. We look forward to the coming year when we get to teach him so many new things!!
