Holiday Adventures with Graham

Of all the new dad duties I've carried out during the past year getting Graham from his crib on Christmas morning ranks among my favorites. As you can see in the photo to the left, our little man was up and ready to experience the magic of the holiday by the time I arrived in his room.

Christmas day was the midpoint of two wonderful weeks away from work that allowed our family of three to relax and enjoy lots of quality time together.

We spent the first week at home finishing up shopping and soaking up the experience of Graham's first Christmas by, for example, listening to holiday music while sitting beside the finely decorated tree (which is to say daddy had little hand in the effort).

We traveled to Catonsville during the second week to visit loved ones and introduce Graham to extended family and friends he had yet to meet. With many eager babysitters on hand, we snuck away for some rare time on our own that covered matters practical (visits to the gym), romantic (a date night at Catonsville Gourmet) and traditional (our annual visit to Nacho Mama's and Vaccaros with Pete and Michele).

Along the way we experienced a post-Christmas miracle in that we actually made it on to our 6:05 a.m. flight to Baltimore despite unexpectedly long ticket and security lines at the airport. It was as about as close to a near-miss as you can come; Erica (and Graham) waited anxiously for me at the gate and urged me to run the final steps once I came into sight. It provided some exciting - and totally unnecessary - early morning drama for passengers at RDU airport. The experience scared us straight as we arrived shortly before 5 a.m. for our 6:15 a.m. flight back to North Carolina.

But who am I kidding? You don't want to read about us, you want to see pictures of Graham. Here they are:

Family photo on Christmas morning

 Graham with Mimi

Graham with his cousins/gift-opening assistants

Graham's Christmas shirt and hat

Graham meets Aunt Gin for the first time

Graham and Emily

A pre-Christmas trip to Krispy Kreme

Mommy and Graham on Christmas morning

Madelyn and Graham at the train museum

Graham and Lindsay

Emily and Aunt Erica acting less than serious

Taking a carousel ride with Pop-Pop

Waiting for Christmas

Cheerio

Whereas Hansel and Gretel left a trail of bread crumbs to remember the path they had taken through the woods, Graham leaves a trail of Cheerios that reminds us where he's been in the house.

Cheerios on the bonus room floor, Cheerios in our bed, Cheerios on the changing table, Cheerios on the kitchen floor.

Graham covers a lot of territory, and his favorite snack is never far behind.

Watermelon Fun

We recently introduced Graham to the world of watermelon. Based on what we've seen so far, it seems he likes living in that world.

Spinning and Grinning

I'm always trying to come up with new and interesting toys for Graham to play with that aren't really toys at all. The problem is that most things either a) aren't that interesting or b) aren't safe. Today, though, I found a winner in both categories. Woo hoo!

Flounging

Today, Graham suddenly decided to start lounging in the floor...something I like to call "flounging."

Our Mobile Man

Graham is FINALLY feeling better (he's been sick for nearly two weeks now), so he's resuming his normal activities. These days, what's normal for him is to roll around our house at lightning speed. Rolling is Graham's preferred method of transportation these days...more suitable than crawling or walking, at least. : ). Below is video evidence of how good he's becoming at getting around.