Hey Graham Fans! Long time since my last post! I have been busy and just when I was starting to compile my notes our computer died. Fortunately the new one arrived and I am really enjoying the new features. Our old one was SO old - like 5 years old. I just can't imagine being 5 years old - it just seems so old!

Something called Lent started awhile back. It means we go to church and eat fish on Friday. Well Mommy eats fish, Daddy cooks in the kitchen with a bunch of other guys, and I eat a few french fries, a couple bites of mac and cheese, ALWAYS dessert while running around. It seems to work well to eat, then run off, eat some more then run off, hope Mommy is ready for dessert, then run around more. There are so many kids there. I like to chase the bigger kids, but the ones my size will actually chase me back. It is a LOT of fun. Daddy's friends always come and talk to me too. Mr. Greg will carry me some. I like to go back and find Daddy in the kitchen. Mommy tries to keep up with me, but I can dodge in and out of people easier than she can. Who knew going to church could be so much fun!

Since my last update, Nanny came to visit. She brought me Valentine gifts! One thing was a broom that was just my size. I like to sweep! Mommy and Daddy went out to dinner by themselves so Nanny and I played by ourselves. I still don't get why Mommy and Daddy like to do anything without me but for some reason they do. Anyway, Nanny and I colored and played with my cars and trains. We had a good time. We played in the morning too and had more fun! Somehow when I took my nap, she must have sneaked out. I tried on her reading glasses - not sure they were me.

The next weekend Aunt Deb and her family stayed at our house while they were in town for an archery tournament. They were gone quite a bit but they still had time to play with me. If I want to be carried they all really like to carry me too particularly Sam and Kayla. Uncle Greg came over for awhile too. He likes to play with me so we had a good time up in my room.

Since we are on a streak of seeing family who do you think I saw the next weekend? Grandma! Daddy went to Kansas City to some barbeque contest with Grandpa and Uncle Brad. It was too cold for Mommy and I to be able to visit him so we visited Grandma. We went to the outlet mall, which I am not necessarily a fan of shopping but I got to walk between stores - no riding in the stroller. There was one store that had a bunch of samples so Grandma kept sneaking me pretzels. They also had these little rides on the sidewalk. I convinced Grandma to let me ride one and Mommy to let me ride another. I admit I didn't want to get off either one. I saw Grandma's purse so just knew she had more money in there. We also went in the Nike store. Mommy found some cool tennis shoes that I just had to put on. They also had basketballs in the store which I loved. We were in one store and in walks Aunt Deb so she got to walk with me and carry me around too. I walked a LONG way. We left after we ate lunch and I have to admit it wasn't long before I fell asleep! That night we went to a fish fry at Grandma's church. Who knew Grandma's church would have one too! Of course I ran around. Grammy was there too. Grandma's friends Bubsy and Ginny came to talk to us. Before we left, I got to ride with Bubsy in his wheel chair, but more fun was pushing him around. I have to say I was a good pusher. I am sure Bubsy would agree. I wasn't ready to leave but we left anyway.

Grandma switched around some toys. All of her Oliver tractors disappeared from the bookcase - I hope no one stole them! Fortunately there was still one with the toys. She had a pick-up truck and wagon in her night stand the last time I was there. I looked for it but she moved it to the other toys. She got out a toy I had not seen before - a firetruck with lights, siren, and a ladder that works. It was a lot of fun. The other new thing I discovered was this big machine that you walk on but don't go anywhere. Mommy and I just saw one in a store, but she wouldn't make it go. Overall it was a good trip, but after a couple of days away from home, I am ready to get back to my routine.

We have finally started to play outside again. The snow was basically gone so it was time to get out. When it is colder, Daddy and Mommy won't let me stay out as long. I let them know that I don't like it and do my best to get back outside. We have been to the park twice. Mommy and I were there one day and Daddy and Dakota showed up - what a nice surprise! Uncle Greg was over on another day so he, Mommy, Dakota, and I went to the park. Uncle Greg pulled the wagon and I walked behind. I was glad he brought the wagon as I wanted to ride on the way back. Mommy and I played with the kids in the neighborhood one day too. So much to do outside! We need to be out there more! I also need to be allowed to play with everything I want - the snow blower, the lawn mower or the lawn chemicals. Why is it bad to play with these things?!

Here are some pics from my activities back in March. So sorry for the delay in posting, but it is Mommy's fault.

30 weeks

It is hard to believe but in 10 weeks, give or take, we will have a new little one! Exciting and scary at the same time. I now see the doctor every two weeks. Monday was my most recent appointment. I had an ultrasound to check the growth of the baby. All looks good, but right now it looks like it will be a little baby. Not little as in problematic, just not big. Graham was only 7 lbs 1 oz so I just may grow small babies. Things could change in 10 weeks, but right now I don't think Baby #2 will end up in the 9 or 10 pound range.

Everything has been good with the baby and the pregnancy. My main doctor asked if I was following some book about how to have a boring pregnancy. I told him with a toddler I don't have time to read any pregnancy books. He just laughed. The baby is very active. I keep waiting for Graham to feel it sometime when I am holding him, but the little one has yet to try to beat up his/her big brother from the safe confines of Mommy's tummy.

Right now I am guessing the baby will come after the due date. I will have my bag ready before that of course. It will have to be hidden from Graham because I am sure he would find it great fun to throw everything out of it everyday. We will also be prepared for a girl or a boy. I think Chris and I are both leaning boy. I won't be shocked though if it is a girl. We are anxious to meet our little one - in another 10 weeks! :)

Sick of doctors

Hey my peeps! Can I tell you I am so sick of going to the doctor? Holy cow! Last week I had to go twice. I had an early case of croup last week and the cold part is finally almost gone. I coughed a lot when the medicine wore off. That medicine really did a number on me too. I think Mommy and Daddy called me 'cranky pants'. :( We also had to go back to my ear doctor so he could look in my ears - I did NOT like it! He didn't seem to care that I was wailing. This past week, Mommy took me back to see my regular doctor. Apparently it was my 18 month appointment. I didn't like it when they did anything and then that nice Nurse Sue comes in and give me shots. Boy, I tell ya that was so upsetting! And everyone needs to stop looking in my ears!!!

[Editor's Note (i.e Mom's input) - Graham's statistics at his appointment were as follows: height - 33 1/4 inches, 75%; weight 25 lbs 8 oz - 50%; and head continues to be near the top of the chart at 95%! His weight was down from his 15 month appointment. Between his illnesses and tube surgery, his lost some of his appetite. It doesn't help that Dakota is sitting at his feet at every meal begging for food. ]

Besides seeing too many doctors, Mommy took me for a haircut. Oh my gosh, that was torture. Mind you it was my 10th haircut in my short 18 months. I just don't like them anymore. I could tell the lady cutting my hair didn't have much experience with kids. Also those scissors really hurt my hair!

I guess we were supposed to go to Kansas City over Valentine's Day, but with me being sick we didn't go. Nanny was going to visit, but as usual it was going to snow so it wouldn't have been good for her to be driving all that way. Uncle Greg did stop by and he brought cupcakes from some yummy cake place. I ate my whole cupcake! Maybe Mommy will stop there sometime!

This weekend Grandma came to visit. Daddy went away with a bunch of guys without me and Mommy. I don't know how those guys could be more fun than me and Mommy, but apparently Daddy thought somehow they would be. I had lots of fun with Grandma here though and Uncle Greg was over quite a bit. I even finished my nap sitting on his lap. We went to the fish fry at church. I didn't really sit still much, but eventually ate my dinner. It was so fun to walk around those tables. Saturday morning Mommy dropped Grandma and me off at the mall and we walked around until the play area opened. Mommy was there after awhile too. It was so fun! All those kids and stuff to climb on! I hugged one little girl. Then I hit her. Mommy made me apologize which I show as a hug. I played with Grandma some more at home, but she had to go home after church because her house was supposed to get a whole bunch of snow on Sunday. I was sad and I think she was too.

As usual, I am into everything possible. I figured out that I can slide the chairs from the kitchen table around so I can climb on the counters. Nothing is safe from my little hands. Anything that I can climb on is also fair game. Sometimes my hands are quite helpful like when I help put away dishes or my toys. Other times I create quite a mess, like dumping powder all over the carpet. Mommy and Daddy wish I would talk more. I wish they would listen better. They seem to be picking up on more of what I am saying. Like Dad understood when I said 'poo' that I needed a new dipe!

You can tell I love snuggling with Dad and Mom!

Dad and Mom have been watching the Olympics. Dad thought I should try on his ski goggles - they obviously don't fit!Well I hope my next update has no reports of doctors!

Do I look different?

Hey Graham Fans! What do you think? Do I look different? Mommy and Daddy said they put tubes in my ears - can you see them? If you have been following my blog, you know that I have a lot of ear infections. Mommy and Daddy and the doctors decided getting tubes would be the best thing for me. Based on the experience, I am not so sure. (Editor's note - Daddy put Graham on top of the fridge. He hasn't figured that out on his own.)

Here's how it all played out. I had to go to my doctor the day before my 'surgery'. She said I had an ear infection! Good grief. Instead of taking some tasty flavored medicine. They gave me TWO shots. I have never had shots that hurt that bad! Wow! I don't want to do that again. The next day we got up early and I left the house with my jammies still on and no breakfast. We went to this place that looked like other doctor offices. When we went to the back, things started to look different. My ear doctor looked normal, but this other doctor had a weird hat on his head. Pretty soon, some nurse came and got me. She had a really funny looking hat on her head. It didn't even bother me that Mom and Dad weren't with me, because I was checking out this lady. In this other room, they put some big mask on my face. I don't remember much after that until the nurse was carrying me to Daddy and Mommy. I felt so WEIRD. I didn't like it. Daddy held me but that only made me feel slightly better and I love my daddy. Fortunately Mommy and Daddy had milk for me, but I still felt so weird. Mommy and I went home. Eventually I had some breakfast and started to fell a better. I have to get drops in my ears. I HATE that. I really do. Mommy said we are done with those. Yeah!

Mommy and I went to Grandma's house over the weekend. It was fun. Aunt Deb and her family were there too. Kayla really likes to play with me and she doesn't care how many times I wash my hands. I really like to wash my hands (play in the water). Grandma has lots of tractors to play with so I had plenty of fun playing with them. She even opened some that were in a box still. I was so busy while at Grandma's that I slept the whole way home!

Let's see, what else have I been into, I mean up to? I like to wear Mommy and Daddy's shoes around the house. It is kind of hard to walk in Dad's shoes. I can walk easier in Mom's. Generally I just enjoy getting into everything. I seem to be able to reach higher and higher all the time so I can get my hands on more things. The utensil drawers are a favorite as are the drawers with the screwdrivers and hammer. One drawer has tape in it - oh, I like that! Of course getting into the closet with the vacuum is also a favorite past time. If I find anything that resembles the vacuum hose, I pretend that it is one.

Life is pretty ordinary right now. We go to Brighter Beginnings class and music class. Hopefully ordinary will include less doctor appointments for me. Mommy seems to go a lot too and there is so much talk about a baby. I am still not sure what that means. I will keep you posted on that.

Later...

26 weeks, how did that happen?

It is amazing how fast pregnancy goes once you hit the halfway point. Today marks 26 weeks - that means in roughly 14 weeks, we will be welcoming our new family member. That seems unreal to both of us. Graham is so active, how are we going to handle two? We know it will all work out - our lives will adjust and soon it will all seem normal.

Since this is my first pregnancy post, I will provide a brief update. When we had our ultrasound at 20 weeks, we opted not to find out the gender. It was such a special moment when Graham was born and we discovered he was a boy that we wanted to have that experience again. We did get to see all of the vital organs. The baby was active and very cooperative for the technician to get her pictures. Everything has been quite normal thus far and we feel very blessed. Here is a pic at 24 1/2 weeks. The bump has definitely gotten bigger!

Christmas Fun and More Fun!

Hey Graham Fans! We just officially finished our Christmas celebrations. I got to spend time with almost all of my family members. It was so much fun! I must have been a good boy because between Santa and my family I received some really fun toys. More importantly

Mommy, Daddy and I went to Kansas City to celebrate with the Bagby side of my family. Wednesday, we went to Uncle Brad and Aunt Lisa's house. Nanny came with us and Gramps stopped by too. I also got my first Christmas present. Uncle Brad got me a KC Royals jersey. It is really big so it will be awhile before I can wear. Hopefully by the time it fits me, the Royals will actually have a decent season so I won't be embarrassed to wear it! I hadn't seen Cousin Benjamin for awhile. He has really learned a lot in the last few months. I tried to help him learn some more. He was taking pictures off the shelves and I was trying to help him put some back.

On Christmas Eve, we mostly just hung out until the after nap time. Uncle Brad, Aunt Lisa and Benjamin came over. It was snowing which according to Mommy helps make Christmas. We all exchanged presents. The first I opened (or was that Mommy) was my new suitcase! I knew exactly what to do with it - pull it all around Nanny's house!

Another cool gift came from Uncle Brad and Aunt Lisa - a drum with instruments inside. Since we go to music class I knew what to do with everything.

We all had a lot of fun. We opened gifts, ate dinner (I like lasagna) and played. At the end of the evening, I had to get on the 'net and check in with my peeps! Thanks Nanny for letting me borrow your computer.

On Christmas, we went to Grandpa and Susan's. Grandpa couldn't wait for everyone to arrive to show me my gift - a train set!

Susan made some decorated sugar cookies. They were sitting on the coffee table so I just helped myself to one. Eventually everyone was there - Uncle Brad, Lisa and Benjamin along with Andrew, Nicole, and Nicole's mom. That was when Benjamin got his gift, which I played with too! It was almost like getting two gifts!

After all that fun in KC, we came back home. It was time to get back into my routine. The surprise was when we got home Santa (Not sure really who this is) had been there!

The funny thing was Daddy took a screwdriver to it and it wouldn't go anymore. I tried to fix it so it would run again.

At the end of last week, Daddy put my train set together. I really like it!

Later in the day, Daddy and I were playing with my train and Mommy got home. The surprise was Grandma was with her. She came to celebrate Christmas with us (I think really just me). Uncle Greg came over and we once again opened presents. Grandma gave me a tractor and wagon. She must have noticed how much I like to play with the tractors as her house. Aunt Deb and her family weren't there, but they gave me a vacuum. Someone told her how much I like to vacuum and sweep! I pushed my new vacuum all over the house. I even took it upstairs to take a bath - I made sure I could see it the whole time I was in the tub!

Grandma stayed a couple of days to play with me. Boy was it cold while she was here. Wait, it is still cold! Mommy and Daddy said it was going to snow again. Good grief. I just don't think our yard has anymore room for snow.

So I know in my last post I mentioned I had been to the doctor a couple of times. Well I had to go back again and get more medicine. I sure am tired of being sick. The one perk is it gives me an excuse to get in bed with Mommy and Daddy. I am such a good snuggler, I am sure they don't mind.

Pre-Christmas

Hey Graham Fans! Boy time does fly during the holidays! I can't believe it has almost been a month since my last post. I am going to have to break out my activities before Christmas and the whole Christmas experience!

One of the big events before Christmas was the blizzard. I used to be able to see the yard but now the snow looks like it was just stacked onto the yard. Daddy sure spent a lot of time outside snowblowing! I didn't venture out much. After it stopped snowing and was a little warmer, Daddy and Mommy put on my snowpants and boots to take me outside. I wasn't impressed.

Before the snow really started flying, Mommy took me to the doctor and you know what we found out - I had another ear infection! These are really getting old. My nose was runny too. It all just made me feel kind of crappy! The bad thing was a couple of weeks later we went to get my ear rechecked and it was all clear - yeah, but two days later I didn't feel well again and it was infected. That was the day we were headed to KC for Christmas. Thank goodness Mommy took me in before we left so I could get medicine to make me better.

On to fun stuff, Mommy, Daddy and I went to some party. There was a guy in a red suit with a lady in a red dress. They kept talking to me. I tried to burrow into Mommy. It didn't work, but I held on tight. They had food so Mommy shared some with me. Eventually the guy and lady in red came back and gave me a cup. I decided maybe they weren't so bad. Before long I was running all over. It was fun! I even let the lady and man hold me - I didn't smile though.

The next week we went to a party at a body shop (Great Aunt Marian and Mommy's cousin Steve's). When we walked in there was a man and a lady that looked just like the man and lady in red at the party the week before. I looked and looked and looked at them. They didn't have the same clothes on, but boy the man had the same beard and face. I just couldn't get over how I was seeing that man again, I think they called him Santa. I was still kind of nervous at this party. Uncle Greg was there too which was good. Someone brought their dog and that was when I decided it was a fun party. I chased that dog around and discovered there was all kinds of things to get into. Later I found Great Uncle Harold's cane. I played with it a few weeks ago so I knew how much fun it was to swing around!

With this big Christmas holiday everyone was talking about, Mommy and Daddy made candy one night. Mommy gave me a spoon that had some candy on it (almond bark). Boy was that good. I held onto that spoon for awhile. I even let Dakota try some. She really liked it too. I like spoon licking!

With all this bad weather, I started thinking about my future. Mommy received a magazine from UNI's College of Business. Since I can't play outside, it seemed like a good time to begin researching UNI.

Mommy said it was a good school so I should definitely put it on my list for consideration if I go into business. College is a long ways off so for now I will just hang with my best friend Dakotie!