smarty pants

Griffin has been very interested in our shoes lately. He will bring them over to us and then stick his foot out so that we can (attempt to) put them on him. It is hilarious.

This morning he found his comb and he started to comb his own hair! Cutest thing ever! Then while I was brushing my teeth, he insisted he brush his own teeth too. So he may not be talking, but he is definitely learning and communicating!

Today is Griff's first full time day in the toddler room! Cant believe how fast my boy is growing up. He was very shy at drop off- I hope he has an awesome day!

Spring Has Sprung

All of my prayers, whines, and complaints have been answered and it's been consistently gorgeous for a week or so now. That's not to say it wont snow again sometime soon (it IS Colorado, after all) but my spirit has been lifted for sure. We've also been able to get out a lot more! Friday afternoon Drew and I both got out of work early so we took Griffin to the park and let him swing and then we all dipped our toes in the river. (Griffin wasn't exactly pleased about the toe dipping- not sure if it was too cold or if he thought we were going to try to send him down stream).

Yesterday started with the most hilarious thing. I was trying to get breakfast made so I gave Griffin a pot and a wooden spoon thinking he could occupy himself with drumming. Well, he flipped the pot over and pretended he was stirring and eating instead! Smart kid!!

After breakfast, we went for a nice long walk downtown and then we played with bubbles (an early Easter present from Grammy B!) on the front porch. Griffin had a BALL. He also really loves standing at the front door (with the screen FIRMLY LATCHED) and yelling in Griffin-ese to the neighborhood.

Today we decided to explore the bike paths around our house a bit more and we discovered a little playground just 4 blocks or so from home. Griffin had the time of his life on the slides!

And the monkeybars!

And just hanging out!

We walked farther down the bike trail and it eventually took us to the river- so it's awesome to know we have a safe, quiet way to get down there! It was a beautiful path too!

By then we had waked all the way back down to the big park with the swings Griffin likes so we let him do a bit more swinging.

he was making his high pitched, excited, happy squeals here

blowing raspberries at the kid swinging next to him

After that, we relaxed by the river a bit more before walking home.

This has seriously been one of the best weekends we've had in months. I'm in love with spring and my family and our town. Swoon.

worst mother of the year award

Griffin is a bipedal machine. He is super proud of his new skill and walks around everywhere his little legs will take him. This has also increased his curiosity by leaps and bounds, something I have not quite gotten used to. On Sunday morning, the weather was beautiful so I opened the front door, leaving the screen door closed so that we could enjoy the breeze. Unfortunately I forgot to also lock the screen door (there is no latch). A few minutes later, a very happy Griffin saw his daddy walking up the front stairs, he got excited, pushed open the door and attempted to walk out onto the porch. Since Griffin has not yet mastered stairs, my boy took a face plant onto the welcome mat. He was fine after consoling, except for his Rudolf red scraped nose and his mom's broken heart.

a sweet picture of the boys at bedtime. You can still see G's red nose days later...

Griffin's walking and cup using skills have also earned him a full time spot in the toddler room! He will start there permanently next week. Not only is it a better fit for him, but it's cheaper for us! WOO! Just $100/month, but its something!

chatting about the yum in life

Cory & I decided to start our own food blog! Should be a lot of fun... and hopefully as it gets rolling, it will be either entertaining, a good recipe resource, or both for you! Come check it out:

Kitchen Bitches

top 10 reasons Griffin is totally my son (and some other stuff)

Top 10 reasons Griffin is totally my son (aka the apple does not fall far from the tree...)

1. he LOVES vegetables! beans! tomatoes! peppers! broccoli! FINALLY someone I can cook for!

2. he is very sensitive and intuitive, and picks up on emotions easily

3. he loves books! while he is still a big fan of being read to, he has already started flipping through books on his own while chatting to himself (I wonder if he thinks he is reading!)

4. he is an early riser

5. he likes to make people laugh

6. breakfast is his favorite meal of the day

7. he is adventurous and thrill seeking (much to our chagrin)

8. he's very shy when he first meets someone, but afterwards is super social. And then he eventually needs his own space for quiet play!

9. he adores the water

and finally...

10. that giant Clark head!!

We took advantage of the nice weather this weekend, opened all the windows and doors, and did some spring cleaning. Afterwards the house looked so nice, I decided to take a few pictures of our bedroom since we havent shared it yet. This is the final product after patching all the paint, hanging the art, staining the cabinets, etc.

I had been in love with this rug FOR. EVER. But it was EXPENSIVE. Then one day, we walked into the store & it was 50% off! SCORE!

Drew hung this fan. One of his many ongoing handyman projects

this is the cabinet that hides our tv 

So Griffin is a climbing machine. He will try to scale any obstacle in his way. It was during one of these endeavors that he discovered a little side table we had in the family room makes for a perfect Griffin seat.

cutest. ever.

My Son, the Toddler

As promised, Griffin started spending parts of his days in the toddler room! It has been going amazingly well and I am actually really surprised he adjusted so quickly. He now takes just one nap a day (on a cot, no less!), he sits sweetly during circle time (which is a group story or song), and he eats a communal lunch with all the other kids. I am so proud! I think this has actually encouraged him to walk more often too. All of the kids in the toddler room are fairly strong walkers, so he has to keep up! He seems to adore it and they love him over there. In fact, one of his new teachers made us this cute poster of his first day in the room:

I cant tell you how happy it makes me that he is SMILING in most of these pictures!

One of my favorite parts of him moving over is that he gets to be reunited with his buddies, Brandon & Everett that left a month or so ago. In fact, they are with him in two of the pictures on the poster. I love that he is already developing bonds. He's definitely our sweet boy.

It was gorgeous today- 70s & sunny- so we took Griffin on a bike ride & to the park. He is a HUGE fan of the toddler swings so he spent about 15 minutes flying back and forth while continuously laughing and grinning. It made Drew and I SO excited for the coming spring and summer, and we promised Griffin that he'd get to do that a lot in the future!

So like I mentioned before, Drew painted the office a few weeks ago. I was lazy about posting pictures, but here they are:

the yellow is actually WAY more muted than it seems, but the flash makes it look intense. It looks gorgeous in person!

we finally framed our Dylan poster collection! The one on the left is from the first time we saw him together in April 2003!

it feels so fun & comfortable!

Drew also put in countless hours of backbreaking work to put slate down in our back entryway! He was SO worried about it, but he did an incredible job.

dont mind the dirty door... the white is being repainted!

I think it is absolutely gorgeous. And I'm even more proud that he taught himself how to do it! Now to sic him on the downstairs bathroom...