Friday, February 3

graham turns 3!

3 years ago today, our world changed completely as we entered the world of being parents.
What a full 3 years of learning it has been.
Only to be continued, I am sure.
Our little ragamuffin keeps us hopping. =)
He recently has become very opinionated on what he wants to wear.
Oh bummer, I was not looking forward to this day. :)
Usually it's either a baseball shirt or football pajamas (which he would wear 24/7 if I let him.)
There are a lot of funnies that happen in the 2 yr. old stage!
The things that come out of his mouth continually crack us up.
Just tonight he told me "your hair looks pretty, mom."
Some of my favorite phrases are.....
do it myself (yeah, we hear that a lot.)
I already told you that! (like, duh, mom.)
me said that. (still working on how "I" works)
love you too! (he says the too even when he says it first.) love that.
Mom, I have to ask you a question. (this is a frequent stalling technique at bedtime.)
WHY? (ok, this is not really a favorite. but it gets said a lot. I mean, a lot.)
He is one passionate boy. The things he loves he goes at 110%.
If he's going to play with stuffed animals, 15 is always better.
He has a new-found love for dinosaurs.
But he loves playing with anything that involves animals.
LOVES being outside. and with his daddy.
sports, sports and more sports.
Lots of funnies this year, but also a year with lots of struggles.
Oh the stubborn will of 2 yr. old. wow. Truthfully, it is exhausting.  
But we have lot of moments where the sweetness still comes through and we know there is hope in consistency and perseverance.
The bane of my existence............potty training.
 *&^$##%&**(* that about sums it up.
In the recent months he has simply decided that peeing his pants is a satisfactory alternative when it's too much effort to get to the bathroom.
Really? After being trained for almost a year?
We have done rewards, discipline, taken away favorite toys, and even put him back in diapers occasionally.
Nope. He doesn't care.
Though he VERY much dislikes being back in dipes and that usually motivates him a little.
I am so tired of changing wet clothes. Especially when I know he is fully trained.
Moment of truth: he almost always stays completely dry when we're away from home. Even on 5 hour car rides.
Yeah, we know he knows. Stinker!
2 words sum up my entire year:
potty training & nursing.
Did I do anything else? AGH!
The highlight of his year might have been going to Piratefest.
He's been telling me for weeks that all he wants for his birthday is a real-size bat.
He believes he is WAY past his little one.
Good thing his mommy & daddy are always one step ahead. =)

won a baseball, he was pretty excited.
Before he went, all he could talk about was playing ball with "the green birdie".
I figured there was little chance, but whaddya know?
The nice mascot did take a few minutes to play catch with him.
Graham's year was officially made.
JOY.
One recent awesome development, is his ability to sit and do activities for longer periods of time. He loves to color, cut paper (this makes a mess, but when he'll sit there for an hour, I'm not complaining :), play games (connect four was probably the best 25 cents we ever spent at a garage sale!), or today, 2 clips and a ladle kept him occupied for a good 20 minutes (who knew?!).
A friend had told me that little boy's energy seems to peak about 2.5.
Like they are literally bouncing off the walls. Yep, been there.
We still have those days, but they do seem a lot less frequent!
I enjoy taking him on short errands now.
He loves to "help".
{We don't normally buy 6 bags of chips, but they were Riceworks for a HouseParty.}
Oh the siblings.
 Really what G needs is a twin.
He was so excited when Eden learned to walk because he thought now she could play at his level.
She's not so in to his wrestling moves.
But most of the time he is pretty sweet to her!
He loves playing on the computer. pbskids has lots of fun games.
Oh what a year it's been.
Full of a LOT of great memories.
And since I've just about given up on trying to scrapbook, I hope he will be able to read this someday. :)
You, my first-born son, will always hold a great big piece of my heart.
 
He lives for socializing. Nothing makes him more happy than to get to play with his friends.
When I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday?
Go on a playdate!
He loves reading books.
Loves playing daddy's drum and mommy's piano.
He loves life and loves doing anything that involves going somewhere - even a simple errand.
Just about officially dropping his nap - agh!
We discovered that when he took a nap, when 7pm rolled around, he was not even close to being tired. So for naptime now, I play a CD that's an hour or so long and he sits in his bed reading books. It's not as much of a break as I might like, :) but it's still there at least!
I am thankful that he does stay in his bed quietly so far.
*
You're 3 years old, on February 3rd.
There are times your strong will overwhelms us.
And then, a sweet, sweet moment comes and you melt our hearts.
Again and again.
We love you to the moon and back.
A very happy golden birthday to you, Graham Owen!

2 comments:

Rob H said...

Wow. That is pretty crazy. I still remember stopping by your place with the Branines not long after you delivered. Where did that time go? On a side note, I definitely know what it's like to feel like all you do is nurse and potty train. The pt is a special aspect of sanctification in my life right now.

Julie

Sarah Kate Branine said...

^ I remember that too, Jules! So crazy--time is flying way too fast. Me three on the nursing and potty training--although we've only been at the potty training thing a little over a week, so I have a long ways to go :)

happy birthday, mister Graham--you are such a bright-eyed, happy boy and we love watching you grow via the blog! :)