My Summer

Hey Graham fans! So much has been going on since my last post. Summer is really busy! It is so busy there is only time for one nap a day now. We do lots of different things. Sometimes Mommy and I go for walks to the park. I swing and go down the slide. I really like the slide. We play outside. I like to carry my soccer ball around. I also like to carry my golf clubs around and put the golf balls in my mouth. Sometimes Mommy or Daddy fills up my pool. I usually just walk around in the water with my big blue ball or shake my boat or splash my shovel. I throw the ball out of the pool a lot. Mommy or Daddy get it for me, but sometimes I flop out of the pool and get it myself. As you can see in the pic - I still like to climb stairs, but I gotta stay in touch with my peeps on my cell. Sometimes I have to multi-task and do both at the same time.

I am eating mostly big people food now. There are lots of things I like: strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, grapes (Mommy peels the skin), apples, pears, peaches, chicken, pork, sweet potatoes, asparagus, green beans, toast, crackers, cheerios, cheese (!), pasta and sauce, yogurt and other things I can't think of right now. I am a big fruit fan as you can tell. Mommy sometimes shares some ice cream with me - I like that too. Grandma always lets me try her baked goods - have to say I am a big fan. They all keep trying to get me to eat mashed potatoes - not a fan - sweet potatoes are way better. It is also fun to throw some food over the side and watch Dakota eat it. She even licks my hands - makes me giggle!

Lots of excitement going on in my life. Grandpa and Uncle Brad came to visit the other weekend. They came to play with me, but were nice and helped Daddy at this barbeque contest in Pleasant Hill. Mommy and I went out to see them. I had a lot of fun touching tires on Daddy's truck and others and generally exploring. I carried around a red plastic cup - I like to drink out of it even though it was empty. I tried some of the chicken. I like chicken and that was some good chicken! I guess the sausage was really good because they got first place and 5th in the whole contest. They even got a trophy! They sure were proud.

Grandma came to visit next. Mommy and Daddy stained the deck so Grandma entertained me. Uncle Greg came over for dinner too. I had to show off at how I climb the steps! Uncle Greg was impressed. He played peek-a-boo with me at dinner. That is such a fun game!

Later in the week on Thursday Mommy and I went to Grandma's. I met more of my relatives. Grandma's sister (according to Mommy this is my Great Aunt) and some of her family came to Iowa from Texas. I met some of my second cousins. Sam and Kayla were there too and they all played with me outside. I took a liking to Jaylyn. I wanted her to know it so I hugged her several times in a row! Everyone seemed to think it was cute. Hopefully Jaylyn didn't mind...

Something really unusual happened while we were at Grandma's. Mommy disappeared. I don't know what happened to her. Grandma didn't seem worried. I was worried that evening. Friday Grandma still wasn't worried so I decided to just have fun with Grandma. I was eating dinner that evening and in walked Daddy AND Mommy. They looked really happy to see me. I kept my eye on them, but Jaylyn was back so I played with her some too. I hugged her again. Eventually Mommy and Daddy and I got in the truck. The next time I woke up I was in my crib. Home again! (Note from Mom: Chris and I each road a day of Ragbrai and camped out in Ottumwa. Given that neither us of really trained, we were impressed with ourselves!)

11 months old!

Hey Graham Fans! Boy time flies! I can't believe I am 11 months! I am such a big boy! So let me think about what has happened since my last update. We went to Grandma's house. I rode the 4 wheeler for the first time. Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma really seemed pleased that I rode on it. Aunt Deb, Uncle Tim, Sam and Kayla were also there to play with me. Sam had a football that I liked to carry around - maybe I will be a running back someday! Grandma has a big yard - I can't wait until I am older and can explore more. We also went to the Peiffer family reunion. There were some other people my size - Sam and Kayla were more interested in playing with me than my relatives my size.

Mommy and I went out to lunch one day with Mr. Mike. Mommy said she used to work with him. It was a busy place, but they have things I like - apples and banana pudding! After I was out of my chair, I tried to go meet the other people there, but Mommy caught me. I don't know why she didn't want me to go meet all those other people.

I have mastered the stairs! I don't get much practice because Daddy put a gate at the bottom. Once in awhile it is open. Just today, Mommy was vacuuming the stairs. I took advantage of the opportunity and climbed all the way to the top. I passed right on by that vacuum. That shows my determination, because that vacuum really fascinates me.

As Mom says, I am into everything. I like to open and shut doors. The only problem is when I shut the door and can't get it back open with Mom and Dad on the other side. It makes me cry. I just can't reach the door handle in the office or laundry room. It is scary!

We are still really busy. We have story time on Mondays, just finished sign language class, and still go to swimming class on Thursdays. I think Mommy and Daddy really learned a lot in sign language class. I enjoyed socializing with the other parents and kids. I really liked it when another kid had a fun toy out! Everyone sat in a big circle so it was obvious the kids were supposed to go in the middle and entertain the parents as they were learning to talk with their hands.

One of the things I really like to do is run between the living room, kitchen and entry way. I REALLY like it. It just makes me laugh and giggle!

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You look just like your daddy!

Update from Mom today. Just about everyone that sees Graham thinks he looks just like Chris. Chris' mom, Kathy, has said she could see some of me in Graham, but she is about the only one. The hair, eyes, and skin are definitely Chris - Graham even has just a bit of a wave in his hair in the back. I have thought also that he favored the Bagby's, but lately I thought he reminded me of myself at his age. I dug out the baby pics and think he looks quite a bit like me at his age. I scanned in some pics - see what you think!