Move It

Late night at Costco.
One of his first sing alongs in public. Not too sure why he's watching his left hand but we think he is trying to snap his fingers. He had people cracking up all over Costco not to mention Kim and I.
Special note - his Bob the Builder shirt with screwdrivers, saws and hammers. He spent most of the morning finding all of the tools on his shirt. He told Angelic he was doing yoga today in class.

From the Farm

Griffin and Mom spent a wonderful week with everyone on the farm and Griffin was sooo excited to go! We left Monday, 5/11 and got back home Friday, 5/15. We flew from Denver to Nashville – This was Griffin’s first “big boy” trip which means he sat in his own seat all by himself for take off and landing. Well, Bob the Builder sat next to him all buckled in too – for moral support. I was a little nervous about how that would work out, but he did really well. We watched “movies” with ear phones and ate plane snacks (apple jacks) – it was quite exciting. He had never had Apple Jacks before – they came in a big paper bowl – he called it his bucket of cereal. Aunt Vicki and Aunt Barba picked us up at the airport and we met Kevin and Vicki (Chicken Vicki J ) Then we drove to Patty’s to meet up with everyone for dinner – Uncle Kevin and Aunt Vicki (Chicken Vicki), Miss Joyce, Uncle Tim and Aunt Munye.

Patty’s is a fun family destination spot – with a sort of mini-zoo – but this time all of the fancy chickens were sleeping – but we did get to see a great big turkey in it’s big house for the night. And there were kittens, two bunnies and one very friendly pig – he wagged his tail!!! Now anytime we talk about ‘turkey’ (e.g. turkey sandwich) Griffin says “big house!”

I quickly discovered Griffin had outgrown a pack and play when he proceeded to just about one tip over from the inside – so we shared a bed. It was a bit like sleeping with a monkey and two cats. I did actually wake up to him sleeping on top of my head one night.

We had fun feeding the chickens, throwing rocks in the lake, playing with the puppies, and riding in the “jeep”. We helped Aunt Barba plant lilacs and picked strawberries for the chickens. Uncle Tim and Aunt Munye drove us back down to Nashville and then they stayed to see the Botanical gardens

Some classis Griffinisms:

** Upon waking up with a really stuffy nose and hearing that his breathing was noisy he turned to me and said, “Mommy, I’m a pig!”

** When we stopped in Petco to see the birds, fishes and gerbils – he told another little girl who was two that he was three – holding up his fingers for proof. Lying about his age to impress the ladies. He clearly knows that he is two – oh boy, he’s starting out charming the ladies early.

** Going up a muddy hill in the jeep and saying to Vicki, “Can you do it? Yes, you can!” A nod to Bob the Builder and our Prez.

** “whatcha doin’ Barba?”, “Going to change my clothes.”, “Oh, are you poopy?”

Go Nuggets

A typical Memorial Day weekend. Rain rain and more rain. Luckily we did all of our outdoor activities during very brief glimpses of sunlight. Dad was the only foolish one to try and play volleyball and get caught in a hail storm at Wash Park. The hail felt like someone was snapping you with rubber bands. Scenes from Saturday gymnastics. Griffin loves to announce what day it is and especially likes talking about Saturday gymnastics and the trampoline. He is bouncing higher and higher each week and can almost come back up from a seated position.


Jack and Delcy have now joined the fun so Griffin has some trampoline playmates though he is not all that thrilled about sharing the trampoline with Jack.

Delcy Ms. Karen and Griffin on the balance beam.


We went to the Gaylord Street Fair in Wash Park on Sunday. We got there just in time to miss the pancake breakfast but early enough to get great parking and to be one of the first at the kiddie rides. He played for about 30 minutes in a bouncy balloon with balls. He finally wanted to get out when the “big kids” got in. The best $2 investment we made all day. We tried to watch a magic show but in typical Griffin fashion while all the other children sat in seats or in front of the stage he walked up and stood at the very front touching the stage. When volunteers walked up on the stage at various times he proceeded to then go off to the side and try and figure out how to get on. Luckily he didn't find the stairs near the back or he would have walked right on. I caught him a couple of times trying to hoist himself up onto the stage. He eventually started looking for me before getting close to the stage and when he saw me beelined it back to Mom.



Artwork at top left is Curious George on a rocket ship. Other various artwork is daddy and mommy and Griffin running from scary monsters.

Nuggets May-nia as the Gov has decreed.


Griffin ran downstairs on Monday morning put on the headband and proclaimed he was a basketball player. He became a little fixated on making sure the logo was on the front. We played basketball on his Illini indoor hoop (in background) most of the weekend. He has a scar (not permanent) on his left cheek from hitting the rim.

Back from the Farm

Kim is writing up her farm visit with Griffin. We've (Kim definitely) decided no more solo parent and child vacations. I picked them up at the airport Friday night and we went to Stapleton for a bite. They play music outside all of the stores and he ended up dancing up and down the sidewalks. He entertained a group of women with his dancing for about 5 minutes. I have some video of him dancing with his Mom around a water feature next to the restaurant that we ate at. He is just a very happy boy. This will definitely become a favorite. I especially like the twirl next to the girl and the jumping high five followed by a very cool low five.



One other thing he did on Saturday at gynastics was to climb up on a balance beam that was as tall as he is and from a kneeling rifleman stance stood up on the beam and proceeded to walk from one end to the other pushing away any assistance I offered.

He slept until 8 this morning and we had to come in and wake him. He rolled over on all fours and sprang up with a great big smile on his face happy to see us both. More often than not he gets up with a smile on his face which is a great way to start your day. We think going back to school with all of the activities kicked his butt. He even slept through the fire alarms that went off from a low battery last night. In hind sight that might not be a good thing but we're glad/amazed he did. We met his friend Max at Elitches on Sunday night and then went out for a bite to eat. We promised him a ride on the mall shuttle. He just loves riding the bus. He sat in the back and he kept saying at every stop. We no get off. People get on. People get off. We no get off. We rode it around the entire loop. He seemed a little bored a couple of blocks before we had to get off. He was sitting/standing in a set right next to the door so I sat him in between Kim and I. He stood on the seat with one arm around Kim’s neck and the other around mine. He squeezed and leaned in having our heads touch. He then told us we made him happy. Kim and I were so happy we almost thought about making the loop again.

Trampoline

We are now going to gymnastics on Saturday mornings from 9 to 10. He goes nuts. He jumped on the trampoline for 30 minutes straight and maybe fell less than a handful of times. Trampoline is becoming his favorite word. The previous week he would jump a bit and then spill jump a bit and spill. The other 30 minutes consisted of running an obstacle course with bars, rings, balance beam and of course more jumping. He slept for 4 hours on Saturday a new non sick record. Needless to say this will be a Saturday staple. His physical therapist said she noticed an improvement in his balance this week. No’s are becoming a little more frequent and we had to take a few time outs the past week. He even threw in a mock of what we were saying. Aunt Barb stopped by last weekend and his vocabulary jumped through the roof. Full sentences were being thrown out all weekend long.

We went over shapes at Jack and Grill tonight. The chips were triangles and records on the wall were circles.