Graham at eighteen months

It is hard to believe that this boy is eighteen months old now. I wanted to write down a few funny things about him at this age.

He has become just the cutest, most handsome little guy. He seriously has the sweetest face with the biggest cheeks. I just can't get over him and his cuteness sometimes. He has stopped being so grumpy all the time, like he was for a while there, and he spends a lot of time walking around just touching and getting into things. He and Dane fight a lot at times (especially when Dane is trying to build a big train track and Graham wants to play on it too), but sometimes they play so well together too. There is nothing so sweet as watching them building a tower with blocks and actually being happy together, and nothing more annoying than constantly having to referee their screaming as they fight over a train track. I am pretty sure that is 100% normal.

He understands absolutely everything we say to him. Dane was sitting on his ride-on Thomas today and he said, "Graham, will you push me on Thomas?" and Graham walked right over and pushed him. He is definitely learning more words, but he is mostly content to shriek at us until we understand him. In the last week or so, he has learned how to say "cheese!" for a picture and how to fold his arms for prayers (both are SO cute). And he is actually starting to use the sign for "milk" when he is thirsty! It's like a dream come true to have him be able to communicate a little bit when he wants something.

Words Graham can say:

Daddy or Dada (ALL DAY LONG)

Mama

Da (Dane)

dog

shoes

socks

cheese (for the camera and when asking for cheese)

baba (he's a little too obsessed with his evening baba)

teeth (when he wants to brush his teeth)

trash 

trash truck (ALL DAY LONG)

Hiiiiii (he's just started doing this and it's the cutest thing)

Folding his arms for the prayer for the VERY FIRST TIME. Major heart eyes right now. I LOVE THIS. He is so proud of himself and looks like he is so angelic every time he does it. He switches between his major tricks of folding his arms, saying cheese, and giving kisses.

He has gotten to be super excited about loving on us. He will give hugs and kisses when we ask him to and his kisses are wide-open mouthed with his little teeth cutting into your lips, haha. He will run back and forth between us giving kisses and hugs on repeat as we keep asking him. I LOVE it. 

He is loving getting some occasional one-on-one time with Mommy when Dane goes to Joy School. It is so cute to get to do stuff with him without Dane being there yelling at him for playing with his trains. I brought him to the library for his own toddler story time for the first time and it was really nice. 

Graham is SUCH A DADDY'S BOY. It is out of control. Dane was the same way at this age, and Graham's daddy-love seems to have peaked recently. If Daddy is home, Graham just walks around the house saying, "Dada, Dada, Daddy, Daddy..." until he finds him. He also loves his uncles and grandpas right now. Whenever we see them he immediately attaches to them and is constantly running up to give them hugs. It's all about the guys right now for Graham.

I got this picture of Graham crying at the door on Sunday after Daddy dropped us off at home and went home teaching after church. He was so sad that Daddy went somewhere without him. He couldn't believe it.

Pointing at his "shirt" (he knows that word).

Enjoying the samples at Costco.

The boys both got a gross stomach bug last week and we spent almost all week hanging out at home while they threw up and felt sick. It was so sad to see poor little Graham looking so yucky and exhausted. He was all pale.

But he did like watching some TV shows. He doesn't really watch TV that much yet. I tried really hard last week to keep him still watching TV (so he wouldn't throw up all over the family room), but it doesn't last longer than a few minutes. But he will watch for a few minutes here or there. 

Graham is so, so, SO obsessed with reading books. He is constantly--and I do mean CONSTANTLY--bringing me books to read. It is exhausting. And still the cutest thing ever (except when he is crying and whining while I'm making dinner). He only wants to read books that have cars or trucks in them, and he knows which library books he loves and seeks them out. He will grab a book, hold it over his head, and throw it in your lap, and then back up into you until he's sitting in your lap. The other day he was wanting one of us to read to him and he got Dane, and backed up and sat in his lap while handing Dane the book. Dane was laughing so hard.

He has learned a lot of body parts that he can point to when we ask him: belly button (he's been doing that one for months now), teeth, tongue, head, hair, ears, nose, feet. He's also learning a few animal sounds, although he really doesn't know that many. He knows what a monkey says ("ah, ah, ah") and a bunny and a dog. It's super cute. I LOVE this stage where they love performing for you no matter how many times you ask. He is ALSO learning how to use a fork and he is so serious and excited about it.

Some days Graham spends a lot of the day screaming. But those days are usually when he is hungry because he won't eat his breakfast and lunch. He's always made happier by snacks and good food--just sometimes it's hard to meet all of his demands. But most days lately he has been so much easier and so much fun. I have a really hard time picturing him being a big sibling though. I don't want to even think about that right now though because he is still just our baby (we call him "baby" half the time) and I love holding his chubby toddler body as we walk around. But we were watching some family videos from last year a few nights ago and I can't believe how much he's NOT a baby now. I guess we do need a little tiny baby to come to our family (in five more months) to make up for the fact that Graham is getting so big.