23 months. Dum, dum, dummmmm

So I am reliving the discussion with myself about changing my words from, "Oh, my son is x months old!" to "Oh!  I have a two year old!".  See Anna's 22 month post here.

How did this happen?!?  How is he almost 2???  I am so glad I have Leah and Sonia to commiserate on how fast our little ones our growing.  Barrett turns 2 on Saturday and Elena just 8 days before Graham.  Ladies, seriously, how has it been 2 years?!  Well, 23 months actually....

I don't think I actually have the words to express my love and joy in our little guy.  I can go on and on about how sweet he is when I pick him up from school....a loud, "MOMMA!!!" and then a giant hug with a pat on the back included.  Or how when I sing to him when I tuck him in at night he holds my hand up to his cheek and smiles at me.  Or how he reaches up and puts his little hand in mine when we are walking together.  But, let me save those for that 2 year post.

Running around at Seaside

Someone told me the other day how ridiculously smart this kid is, they even said smarter than Anna.  John and I both looked at one another and thought..."Oh no.., we are in T-R-O-U-B-L-E".  You can actually SEE the wheels turn in this guys head.  He is picking up two and three sentence blurbs, repeating everything, quick with the ipad, lethal with a crayon (just ask my walls), and can pretty much mimic any animal sound in the kingdom.

He moved into a big boy bed this month...and I think we are down to only getting out of bed about 15 times a night (all in the first 30 min, mind you).  No crying, not upset, just thinks it is a fun game to run downstairs...SURPRISE!  Enter in baby gate, stage left.

He can count to 15, anything after kind of sounds like mumbles or a football call.  1, 2....12, 13, 14, 15, blue, sifteen, elevendy....Makes me laugh every time.  Oh and growth?  Well, "spurt" might not actually describe it accurately.  How about him basically skipping over 2T?  Buddy dude is pushing out of a size 8 shoe and in 3T tops already.  SLOW DOWN please!

His soul is still sensitive, one thing he definitely gets from me.  He hates to see sister cry, which will often bring tears to his own eyes.  He is quick to give a reassuring pat or even a monster-big-hug.  These hugs start from WAAAAYY on the other side of the room, with a run and LEAP into my arms. Can you tell this guy has me wrapped around his finger?!

One of his all time favorite things, SWINGING!

Easter Egg hunt 2013, Two Rivers Park. 

This year is bringing great things for us and watching Graham add to that joy has been life changing. Little Man, you rock our world.

Upcoming posts!

Because my blog has been all about Disney, you would think we had nothing else going on.  Well, you would be wrong my friends.

I have a bunch of posts in draft form so here is a little preview.

Little man is inching closer to that 2nd birthday.  He is our little wound up PIRATE!  (self imposed career path)

Our beach trip last weekend.  Although it was wonderful, make no mistake, it was all bid-ness.

Little girl and her antics.  We are surprised and challenged every day!


So, stay tuned!  Posts coming soon!

Disney Part 2!

So I only got through the first day with Part 1 (see here), we will see how far I get to with this post. But first, I forgot this little gem from meeting the princesses!  Graham got a SMOOCH from Princess Aurora!

Friday morning comes bright and early after a complete CRASH from Thursday.  Oh!  Forgot!  My brother, Matt and his new girlfriend, Ruth got to Orlando late on Thursday night!  Matt was beaming and Ruth is wonderful.  I don't think we could have picked a better partner for him.  We had been talking about their arrival all day, so the kids we ecstatic to meet her and instantly treated her like part of the family.

Back to the early morning...it was time for breakfast with Mickey!  We had reservations at the Contemporary Resort at Chef Mickey.  It was again a cold morning but still we all had perma-grins on our faces.  The food was great and the characters (and waiters/waitresses) were AWESOME!

It was Kristen's Birthday!  How cool to spend it with family, Mickey and pals?!?!?

Family!

There were Mickey shaped waffles (which were DELICIOUS), hot coffee, music, kids smiling, happy parents and even a candle/cupcake for Kristen.  It was goooood.  And then came the characters!

Surprise!  Donald snuck up behind Dad and Ryan!

Meeting Minnie and dancing with excitement!

You can see, we really did have an amazing time.  How could I choose from the hundreds of photos from just that breakfast?!?  That afternoon the guys went to catch a quick golf game while the ladies entertained the kids.  Running around Reunion and even catching a "quick" lunch at Downtown Disney.  (i say "quick" because there is no such thing as a fast lunch in Disney but it was still a good little adventure!)

Emily and I after getting our pixie dust in Downtown Disney.  Can you see all the sparkles?

That night the adults all scampered off to Epcot while the kids stayed with a babysitter.  We had reservations at Monsieur Paul in Paris to celebrate Kristen's birthday and this wonderful trip!  Our DBA (Jason) and his wife, Claire (basically my other sister) joined us as well.  Dinner was overly delightful, the food amazing, drinks quenching and after my singing of the French National Anthem to our waiter (who was French, of course) half of us watched fireworks while the other half snagged a couple rides!

Wait, what?  You didn't know I knew the entire French national anthem in FRENCH?  Well, I do.  Ask me next time and I will serenade you.  Thank you Madame Kemp.  :)

Looks like this will be a three part-er....stay tuned!