Hunt Family Connection

Graham's Art - December and January

I love having these cork squares on the wall in the kitchen to display kid art. I'm about to clear it out for new artwork, so thought I would take a picture of what's been collected over the past couple of months.

And for a little closer look at some of Graham's work....

These are some of the Christmas projects he worked on at daycare. I know he still needs help with these kinds of things, but I think he did a lot of his own work on the Santa and wreath. When I asked him about the Santa page, he even told me what he did to make it, step by step! The wreath was pretty awesome too, and he very thoughtfully wanted to make one for mommy's house and one for daddy's house.

I love that they do some worksheets at daycare too - here are a couple of pages to show they were working on numbers and shapes. Graham is very good at recognizing numbers, letters, and shapes, but not too keen on doing much else with them :)

And these are the most recent additions to the board, some drawings that Graham says he made just for me :) I didn't really get a description of what they are supposed to be, but I think they're pretty awesome!

The video camera was out this weekend, so I have some video of Graham and his art. He shares his favorite piece and favorite medium with us :)  (just in case the suspense is getting to you...it's markers!)

Enjoy!

Lunch Date

We were off from work last Thursday for Veteren's Day, and on Friday too for a furlough day (furlough day = days we are forced to be off because of budget cuts). On Thursday Wil and I did some work on the old house (for those that are keeping track, it's still not sold - we are lowering the price again and hosting an open house this weekend). On Friday though, I made a lunch date with my son :) It is rare that I get to spend time with Graham alone, so I wanted to make a point of setting up an activity just for us. 

I picked him up for lunch - he picked Red Robin. I brought a toy catalog for him to look through while we waited for our food and he was more than happy to point out all of the things he needed. I also encouraged him to look for some things that Eleanor would like too.

We had a nice lunch together, though he was a little bit distracted by a HUGE table of high school aged girls sitting right next to us....

Of course after lunch we had to go check out the video game - it's a car one so he just likes to sit there and pretend to play. He also got a treat from one of those coin machine thingys...a tiny little LED flashlight that he was pretty excited about. It was nice to spend some alone time with him and I'll definitely be trying to do it more often :)

Graham Goes Swimming

(Guest writer: Daddy)

"I can't wait to go swimming, Daddy!"

"I'm so excited to go swimming!"

I arrived at Sabrina's house this morning to pick up Graham for his swimming lessons, and that's pretty much what I heard for the next half hour or so before the swim lessons started.  (Well, there was one, "Daddy!  I missed you!" when I first arrived.  That was a great emotional lift in these stressful days.)  But Graham was *so* excited about swimming lessons.  It was incredibly fun to talk to him about it on the way to the Sheldon Pool.

Daddy was surprised when we got there, though.  Apparently parents don't get to participate.  In fact, we're not really even supposed to be in the pool area at all.  The pamphlet they gave out said they wanted the kids to participate without the distraction of their parents... which makes sense.  I can totally see the mental image of 15 over-protective parents squealing at the side of the pool.  They do allow us to be there (down by the pool) for the first and last lessons, though; but when I asked Graham if he wanted me to stay down there with him he said, "No, Daddy.  I'm Ok alone."  He's trying so hard to be a big boy.

There are only three kids in his lesson group.  (In fact, he was the only kid in his original time slot, so they moved into this one... what a huge group, right?!)  I'm pretty sure he is the youngest of the three.  From my vantage up top it looked as though he was sometimes having trouble following directions, but he was definitely just as brave as the two girls.  And he didn't break down crying like one girl did.  I felt  bad for both the crying girl and the instructor.  I'm sure they're trained what to do with that situation, but I know I'd be at a total loss.  Graham did bite his lip toward the end, so they had to take him out of the pool a minute before the lesson was supposed to end, but he was really good about it.

As a slightly amusing note... the instructor, a girl named Chelsea, seemed to be pretty good with the kids, but apparently reading names isn't her strong point.  When it was time to collect the kids she came over and asked, "Are you 'Gray-hamm?' "  Graham didn't even realize she was talking to him.  I tried to tactfully use his name (correctly pronounced!) in front of her a few times, but she wasn't taking the hint, so I had to tell her.  It's Graham... like the cracker.

Bleepin' teachers these days... don't they teach our kids anything?  Oh wait... I'm a teacher... Doh!

So that was day one of swimming lessons.  Graham did great, and Daddy had to (got to?) sit up in the balcony area and read the Eugene Weekly while he did his thing.  I tried to watch, but you can only watch the same activity over and over again so many times.  Oh, the first thing they did was pretty cool.  Chelsea poured water over the kids' heads to get them used to being wet.  Graham was a little unsure at first, but he did fine.  Then after that she let the kids pour water on her.  Turn about is fair play, and Graham loved doing that!

Yay for swimming.  Graham and I are both excited about going back for round two tomorrow morning.

Catching up on pictures - some forgotten gems!

I was far behind on editing, printing, and backing up my pictures - this weekend I did all of the pictures from March, April, and May. While going through them all, I found a few that I forgot to post and share stories about on the blog.

Here are a few from April....

G riding his bike through our neighborhood to the park ("don't push me mama!")

Ellie's first ride on the swings!

Graham riding through the park - just like the big kids :)

Very important memories for sure - I don't know how they slipped past me!

Before I forget....

Graham has done some pretty awesome and sweet things lately (along with some pretty not-so-awesome-I'm-almost-3-years-old behaviors) that I just don't want to forget.

pretty awesome thing...
Last night before bed Graham was running back and forth from the bathroom to his room upstairs. He was dragging every kind of ball he could find into the bathroom, and for the life of me I couldn't quite figure out what he was trying to do. He kept saying he was playing basketball, but it just looked like he was throwing all of the balls into the sink. In a tired, end of the day kind of rush, I ran him back into his bedroom to get ready for bed....we can play basketball tomorrow for goodness sakes!

Well this morning he was back at it - this time I noticed that he was also throwing the hand towel hanging next to the sink to the floor. And in a bit of a clearer state (though not much clearer 'cause I'd been up since 4:40am - thanks Ellie!) I noticed that he was using the towel holder, which is in the shape of a ring, as a basketball hoop! It can be moved to stick straight out from the wall, and it actually looks like a basketball hoop....I get it now :)  Pretty smart little man - and definitely a sign that you are without a doubt a Hunt boy. The problem solving, engineering, and creativity - those are definitely traits I've seen in those older Hunt boys.  Part of me thinks we should probably look into some basketball hoop options for his room, but part of me thinks the bathroom game is kind of fun too....but maybe a little dangerous...hrmmm....will have to think on that.

pretty sweet thing...
Also this morning....Graham and I have been eating a little breakfast together lately before work/daycare - just me and him at his little table in the play room. This morning as I was fixing our breakfast (egg sandwich for me and cinnamon waffle thingy with applesauce for him) Graham yells to me in the kitchen that he's going to pull my chair out for me. I looked and sure enough, there he was pulling out a little seat for me at the table....what a sweet, sweet boy.

I also routinely get "peanut butter" or "applesauce" kisses during breakfast - Graham likes to give kisses to "make me happy" and at breakfast his face often has traces of those two food items....he thinks it's pretty funny.

to sum up...
It's hard to imagine what life was like before him - his personality reveals itself more and more every day and I have to say, I'm totally in love :)

Monday morning

It is almost 7am on Monday morning and I've been awake since about 4:30 trying to keep Eleanor and Graham content and asleep. MUST shop for a white noise device or fan for Graham's room to try and keep him from waking up when Eleanor fusses during the night - I don't know if it's the noise she makes or hearing me in the squeaky hall that's waking him up....

And after a week filled with pictures, you'll have to use your imagination on this one 'cause I was too busy enjoying the show to get my camera...
Picture Graham in his blue Old Navy pjs with puppy dogs all over, wearing his red "fire truck" rain boots, running around with a beach ball "playing volleyball" just like daddy does on Sunday nights :) It's moments like that when I realize this is all totally worth it.

Hi, I'm 2!

It's like a bit of a showdown around here at times...

 

I'm a bit amazed at what a roller coaster we are on here at times. One minute the boy can be screaming, crying, kicking, and who knows what else...then two minutes later he's doing something that has us laughing so hard or thinking about how sweet and loving he is.  It seems that as time goes by, both extremes intensify a bit.

We attribute much of the crazy behaviors to being a two-year-old - it's just part of the deal to see him push some limits, explore boundaries, and try to get away with what he can. My friend Leila suggested something else that I had been wondering about - could be possible that he's starting to really sense that things are changing around here and that his reign as the one and only is about to end.

For the past few nights he's had a hard time settling down and staying calm - he's been almost impossible to get into his pjs (tonight I even had to get help from Wil) and then he becomes hysterical when I try to leave the room. Last night he cried and called out my name for an hour. Tonight is was closer to 30 minutes, but it was still pretty tough to take. It breaks my heart when that little voice pleads with me - "don't leave!" The other issue as of late has been meal time - he's going through a phase where he just doesn't seem interested in eating much. So instead of eating, he's been playing with his food - this usually ends in food flying around the dining room until I can get it out of his reach. Even his very favorite mac&cheese hasn't been safe from this fate lately.  We suspected that cutting teeth could be contributing to both behavior difficulties, but it's hard to say for certain.

At the same time, this age has proven to be so fun to watch as Graham acquires more language and skills every day. He completely cracks us up sometimes and has moments when you can't believe how sweet and caring he is. He continues to be quite tuned in to how other people are feeling and is always concerned that we're "ok."  His play is developing and he is doing a bit more "pretend" kinds of activities - very fun to watch. And he continues to be completely and totally in love with his Pa-Paw and gets sooo excited when he's around. In fact, just today when we were getting Graham's haircut, the hairdresser asked him to sit still and G asked, "like Pa-Paw?" - Yep, I imagine Pa-Paw would sit still while his hair is cut (and we actually did talk about that when we had dinner with Pa-Paw the other night...apparently it stuck with him!)

The other thing that was oh-so-helpful in getting us through the haircut was my iPod Touch. Graham LOVES that thing and we've been able to use it as a powerful motivator (that and his fav tv show - Jack's Big Music Show). His favorite thing to do with the iPod is watch episodes of Jack, but he is also enjoying alphabet flashcards and another app that has farm animals and sounds. Tonight when he was using the iPod I looked over and here he was holding the thing with his toes while he used his hands to click on different things. It was too funny and prompted me to put together this scrapbook page...

 

While there are so many highs and lows packed into just one day, I wouldn't trade one minute of our time with Graham. He's an amazing little guy and I really can't imagine a life without him.  These are busy and crazy times - about to get even crazier as we bring this baby sister into the mix. I'm doing my best to enjoy the moment and not wish it all by too quickly :)

Sleepover!

Graham is currently on his first overnight stay with Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery - this was the scene this afternoon...

 

We found the suitcase at Target yesterday - it was the only one like it there and seemed to be just sitting there and waiting for our little plane-lover. He wheeled it all over the store and has been enjoying it ever since. He's so very proud to have his own suitcase and we had a lot of fun packing it up this afternoon.

We anticipate that an overnight stay or two will become necessary when baby sister arrives, so we thought we'd better start practicing now. Graham was very excited about the idea and perhaps was far more ready for this step than I was :)  I know he will be very happy at Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery's house, but there is a little piece of me that will miss my goodnight hugs and kisses. 

Wil and I had a very nice dinner out together with no worries about getting home in time for bedtime. I wish I could enjoy sleeping in tomorrow, but have to get up to go to work by 8am. It will be nice to only worry about getting myself ready - showering whenever I'd like instead of trying to time it so I get done with everything before he wakes up.  No drop-off at daycare - just driving myself right to work. If it goes well, we'll make sure the next sleepover is on a non-work night.

Graham in action....

I have a couple of videos to share today - Graham "juggling" and Graham performing Itsy Bitsy Spider. Usually he does better with Itsy Bitsy Spider when I can do the hand motions with him, but you'll notice he does really nail the sun coming out :)  Enjoy!

A happy ending…

We had a bit of an adventure with Graham today after picking him up from daycare. The daycare provider took the group to the pool to play, and apparently they ran into a couple of bullies.  One of the boys came up to Graham and ripped a toy away from him, twisting his arm into a bad position. He was rather upset so the daycare provider got some ice for him and had a lifeguard check him out. It did appear to be bruised, but seemed ok otherwise (aside from the emotional trauma of course!) While the daycare provider was helping Graham, the bullies disappeared. It turns out that they were causing a lot of trouble and other parents had complained about them as well – they disappeared pretty quickly so the lifeguards don’t have their names or really know who they are. We were told that they have been “banned” from the pool for a length of time though…

So like I said, things seemed to be ok until I showed up to get Graham from daycare. He became really upset again and wouldn’t stop crying. He didn’t want us to touch his arm, and when we did he became a bit hysterical.  He refused to use his arm or hand, even when I offered to let him play with my phone. It was far too similar to the events surrounding the broken leg he had awhile back, so we were worried.  I cuddled on the couch with G while Wil called the doctor to see if he could get us seen at the orthopedic clinic. It was late in the day, but they somehow got us in. We saw the dr. that we saw for Graham’s broken leg (LOVE him) and after checking Graham out he suspected that he had “Nursemaid’s Elbow”. He said he was going to try and pop it back into place and that it would make Graham quite upset for a moment, but if that’s what it was, then it would be fixed rather quickly. While G sat in my lap he rotated his arm/hand around in a way that was rather painful to watch and Graham was indeed quite upset with him. He left us alone for a little bit to allow G to settle down and see if it had helped.  Minutes after the dr. left the room, Graham was reaching for my phone and using his injured hand to dial! It was AMAZING – like he was never in a bit of pain! 

So no further treatment is needed, but we were warned that since this happened, he could be more susceptible to it happening again. We are to be extra careful about grabbing at his arm or swinging him by his arms – stuff that can easily happen during play or while trying to help him out of the truck or jumping off of things (like he loves to do!)  As for the bullies at the pool – the daycare provider has been called by the pool staff a few times already and assured that they are doing their best to follow up on the incident. The protective mother in me would like to hunt them down (and more specifically the parents that should have been monitoring them) and make sure they are appropriately punished. I hate that we can’t protect G from bad things happening, but am glad that we were able to help make it better in this case.