Graham-isms

**Disclaimer: There are no pictures in this post. If anyone reads the whole thing, I'll be surprised, but it's mostly for me to remember by so it doesn't matter if anyone else reads it.**


Graham is really chatty.

Surprise, surprise.

I'm sure no one thought Adam and I would have a kid who likes to talk.

The more he talks, the more he says weird and funny things. I don't want to forget them, so I better write them down.

Lately, he uses the word "hard" a lot. One night he ran in circles from the kitchen to the living room to the dining room for quite a while. I was feeding the baby on the couch and Adam wasn't home, so he was just running and running all by himself. After several minutes, he paused and said, "Mommy, I chasing HARD!" I don't know if he was doing the chasing or if he was being chased but either way he was doing it hard.

He's really into Thomas the Tank Engine right now. Really into it. We talk about the different trains like they are real people. "Where Edward go?" "Gordon puff hard on tracks." "Percy hiding." In fact, we've been known to walk around the house calling their names when different trains are missing. It's like we think they might answer back. Graham has started singing the theme song at random times. I love it! It's so cute to hear his little voice sing, "They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight..." I overheard G say, "James coming 'round the bend." Gotta love what kids learn from theme songs.

Yesterday I was nursing Adele on the couch and Graham was sitting next to me reading a story. (Actually, I was making up a story while flipping through the pages of a Thomas catalogue that Graham asks me to "read" at least once a day. I've started hiding the "Thomas book" because, let's be honest, there's only so many times you can "read" a catalogue.) Adele chose this as a good time to fill her diaper. Graham got a really concerned look on his face and said, "What happening in BeeDel's pants?" I cracked up. He didn't get it and asked the question again, "What happening in BeeDel's pants?" I told him she was pooping and he said, "She pooping hard."

He's really sweet with his sister. Multiple times a day he says, "I kiss BeeDel."

Graham asks to watch shows a lot. The kid loves TV. Most of the time I tell him no and he's started asking, "Why not watch (insert show)?" Then he smiles because he's just trying to wear me down. Sometimes he succeeds.

There was a time when G cried and cried when we left him in the church nursery. It was so bad that he would start sobbing as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. During this time I began talking about all the fun things about Sunday School. Now Graham loves going to church and looks forward to playing with certain toys and friends when he goes. Our church has a James train (James is the red engine) and now any time church is mentioned I hear, "I go (something that sort of resembles Sunday school) and play James."

More than once I've caught Graham repeating word for word an entire conversation Adam and I are having while we are having it. He's just quietly repeating our conversation to himself. Recently I caught him doing this to the waitress who was serving us at a restaurant. Weird kid.

In addition to Thomas, he also really likes Cars. He discovered a stuffed Lightening McQueen from Christmas two years ago that I had packed away in a trunk and was smitten at first sight. He calls it "Lightening Car." It's a pretty large stuffed car so sometimes Monkey rides on it, or a cup of milk, or even Thomas. It's super cute when he talks about "Tow Maner" who is Lightening Car's best friend. He has a duplo firetruck that has become "Tow Maner." And like the Thomas catalogue, we also "read" the Cars DVD case. Lightening Car races against Blue Car and Green Mustache Car (because I couldn't remember their names). How is that interesting?

Dancing is a favorite pastime at our house, especially in the last week. More than once I've overheard him say, "I want dance Daddy." I LOVE IT! His favorite dance to do--Gangam Style. Yes, he recognizes the song and does the dance surprisingly well. In fact, he's requested it a few times.

The kid loves rainbows. I bought a prism to hang in his window so the evening sun will make rainbows on his walls and ceiling. He calls them "name-o's." At first we thought he was referring to "Dingo was his name-o," which is a popular song at our house (yes, he says Dingo instead of Bingo--the Dingo got the baby!), but then we realized it was rainbow. A couple days ago we lay down on his floor to look at the rainbows on the ceiling and he said, "Name-o pretty, Mama." I died. Then I got sad because he's going to grow up and be a stinky teenager who will be too cool to comment on the beauty of rainbows on his ceiling while lying on the floor with his mom. (Oh gosh, now I'm tearing up. This mom stuff can be emotional.)

My picky eater is doing a little bit better. Now that he can communicate more, I can ask what he wants and this has led to much better eating at mealtime. He still won't eat veggies or casseroles or mac and cheese but he's more willing to let me put things on his plate. Usually if I ask him to try it, he responds with, "Bite it, Mom." I've tried telling him to bite things, but he just laughs and says, "No, no, no!"

A couple days ago we came home from the store and Adele was desperate to eat. It was beautiful day, but since I had to feed the baby, we couldn't play outside. Graham wouldn't be deterred and headed straight to the back yard. When I told him we had to come in right now he said, "I want shuck corn, Mama. I want shuck corn."

I decided Graham needed to experience finger painting. I was feeling guilty that I didn't do regular art  projects with him, so we tackled a canvas for Adele's room. I poured paint on a paper plate and told him to use his hands. Of course, he only used one hand and quickly concluded that finger painting was NOT for him. I kept urging him to try more, but he just stuck out his hand and begged me to "wipe." He's so much like his Dad when it comes to being messy.

Our summer was so hot that sometimes we went for walks at the mall just to get out of the house. As a result, our two year old son regularly asks, "I go mall?" Of course, he just wants to push buttons in the arcade and throw a penny in the fountain.

When he doesn't want to go to sleep he yells, "Wake up, Mama!" Then when you go into his room, he says, "I need medicine." Then he gets medicine in the form of a drink of water. Sometimes he points to the bird mobile hanging above the changing pad and says, "Anky bud." Can you guess what that means? Yep, Angry Birds. In addition to the angry birds, the light from the hallway shines onto the wall above the mobile in one spot. Apparently to a two year old boy it looks like fire. It took us weeks and weeks to figure out why he kept pointing and saying "fire."

My mom and I took the kids on a road trip to Iowa a few weeks ago. We stayed with my Aunt Ann and Uncle Denny. Graham immediately called Uncle Denny "Papa" and then "Papa Denny." It's adorable. If you ask him what Papa Denny does, he says, "Papa Denny watch the news."

G has just started asking "Can I go outside?" I love that his language is progressing so much, but I'm also a little sad that my boy is growing up so fast.

And last but not least, this afternoon he sat beside me on the couch, leaned over and said, "I yuh (love) you, Mama."