Big changes for Graham these past few months have been the amount of words he is either saying or attempting to say. He has a pretty decent vocabulary and larger than I ever expected for sure at this age and being a boy and a second child. He really wants to talk and probably because he has quickly realized that is one of the only ways he stands a chance with getting anything when his sister is around!
Graham is our sweet natured baby and is always hugging on us, cuddling, giving kisses and just very pleasant. He is pretty shy and will stay by my side in new situations for the first 15 minutes or so before venturing off to see friends but even after he wanders off, he stays close by and doesn't like big or loud groups. He wants to please you, is bothered when he is placed in time out and/or told "no" in a stern voice and so far has been pretty low key. He is starting to hit and throw things which has been a new experience for me to learn to deal with but we have established that we only throw balls and that hitting means automatic time out. He does pretty well even when his sister takes toys or irritates him...which he typically responds by just yelling for mommy.
He LOVES his big sister and is her little parrot. He does everything like her and tries to talk like her and follows her commands. He loves to pick her up from school and is so excited when he sees her. He calls her "Pey, Pey" and walks around often calling for her. They love to play hide and seek or chase with each other which I love because they normally entertain each other for about 30 minutes each session. Graham loves Peyton's room and her new doll house and it is very hard to keep him out of her room, he just wants to be like her and play with her. Their newest game is wrestling. One night they started tackling each other and Graham started sitting on her head. Peyton plays gently with him and Graham holds his own pretty well. They both love it and will start laughing uncontrollably. Overall they are just at an age where they play well together and it is a joy to go to the beach and have them run off together and play. I love watching their relationship grow and pray that they continue to have a great friendship and relationship and that they will always find something to bond over despite being different genders.
He is still our big guy and is wearing 2T clothes and size 8 shoes. He still eats well although I don't think as much mostly because he hates to be sitting still but then he snacks more now. He still isn't picky and loves anything. He even loves Indian food! He doesn't like brownies, cake or cookies as much. He used to never eat them at all but now on occasion he will sit down and eat it although most of the time he passes.
Graham is still doing Mommy and Me swimming and is doing well. He is swimming under the water, kicking, paddling and does really well. He loves bath time which Peyton and him still do together and they have a blast. He also LOVES the beach and you can tell he has been raised living right next to the beach! We have been visiting the splash pad lately and he isn't too sure about that but will run after Peyton once or twice.
The biggest change for him is moving into a big boy bed. He just started lifting his leg to climb out of the crib. I am not sure if he would have really gone for it but our crib was loose on the sides and we couldn't fix it and I was concerned that if he pushed too hard he would hurt himself. Also, with us leaving in a couple of months, I wanted to make sure all big changes like moving beds would have been done in plenty of time. So, we decided to be proactive and put him in a big bed. We rented the bed from Aramco for the time being since we couldn't find a single bed we liked at Ikea and then bought some guard rails from a friend and set him up. He has spent two nights in it and multiple naps and is doing really well.
And since we moved beds and took down the crib, John and I had the final talk about adding to our family and we are both on the same page....we are done. I knew we were, I knew I wanted to be and I knew he agreed but I felt like this was a milestone and we needed to just have the discussion one more time to make sure that there was no miscommunication or misunderstandings. We both agree that our family feels so very complete. We don't feel that anything is missing and this feels like what our family should be like. So, since no more babies for this house... I took the time to organized baby stuff and sell pretty much most of our newborn/baby gear. And also sort through Graham and Peyton's clothes and pass them along to friends with younger kids. After all that work, posting things to Facebook to sell, I am only left with a couple of baby items and a stroller to sell and then we are de-cluttered of baby gear! It was nice to see things that we bought for Peyton going to a new home and knowing that we are moving out of that phase. Now....in order to keep any baby wanting desires at bay....I just need to make sure I love on all my friends and their current and future newborns!
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I have very fond memories of growing up with my "baby" brother. It is just the 2 of us kids in my family, and he is 4 1/4 years younger than I. We got along well and played together like crazy growing up! I can certainly remember him being my little copy cat shadow when he was really young. My mom likes to point out how I was always very mothering to him and he was always very admiring of me. We definitely hit some rough patches around the time I was in 9th grade and he was in 5th grade, where I wanted to be more like a grown up and act cool, and he was in that bratty let's annoy my sister for fun phase. But it passed, and by the time I was a senior in high school (and he an 8th grader), we were back on track to being best friends again. We missed each other when I went to college, and I drove back often to see him and go to his band concerts and marching @ football games. He is definitely my best friend now. It's such a blessing we are siblings and have so many shared experiences and I get to have this guy around in my life forever. And even though my husband knows I love him wholeheartedly, my husband still jokes around that if it came between my brother and my husband falling off a cliff and I could only save one, I would pick my brother! lol.
I wish Peyton and Graham the same joys together!
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