We had our pictures taken last week at a beautiful, green park in Brookline. These are some of my favorites of the bunch- Aren't we handsome together?

I will say that having pictures taken of a toddler is about, oh, one hundred million times harder than doing the same with an infant. Graham was really intent on tossing himself in the pond, which would have made for a good shot, I know.

Group Portrait, at Walden Pond

We met up at Walden Pond today to celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. As in the past, we got the kids together for a group shot. This process is getting harder, not easier, as time goes by. 

Step one: Wrangle a big kid and 3 toddlers. 

Step 2: Graham has a fit. 2 toddlers and a big kid check it out. 

Step 3: Graham continues to complain, loudly. Moms retreat, satisfied that at least 2 of the kids were caught looking, if not at the camera, then near the camera. 

"Gee, cut the poor guy some slack. He's just had stitches for cryin' out loud."

--Granddad Martin

Graham has too much work to do to be given slack. He's got the house to clean, errands to run, and many sustained beatings at the hands of his mothers to endure. In fact, given that he has spent the last week hogtied in a closet, it's a surprise he can still use the bippy at all.

Seriously- Graham went down with no more trouble than usual last night. He slept no worse than usual last night. He played no less than usual at the park this morning. Despite our cruel parenting methods, the bippy might go out with more whimper than bang. More updates soon!

The Last Days of the Pacifier, Part 1

Many of you know that Jen and I hate the pacificer (or, that infernal bippy, as I call it). We should have trashed it months ago, but lethargy and inertia being what it is, we now have an 18month old who loves that thing like nothing else.

This morning, I snipped the end of the nipple from the bippy, thinking that I was brilliantly taking the mojo out of it. This technique worked for a couple of hours, after which Graham literally shrugged his shoulders and started carrying it around in his mouth, despite the fact that he could not suck. I snipped it again, leaving Graham with a bippy that falls out of his mouth, because there's not enough plastic to grip with his teeth. He still tries, repeatedly, to keep it where it belongs.

I cannot say where this epic battle of wills will go from here, but I promise to update as needed. We will triumph verus that infernal mouthpiece, gentle readers. Oh yes, we will.

The Whole Story (as promised)

We've been grilling outdoors a lot this summer (thanks to the new yard and new grill). Saturday, we had the Cornells over for dinner. Graham really likes Cade, who is 2 1/2, I think because Cade talks to him, and does cool things he hadn't thought of with his toys. At some point, Cade took a fall and busted his lip. He bled all over Jen (who was near him), but recovered with the help of a popsicle, which Graham shared. Check out the boyish awesomeness.




Not five minutes later, Graham fell while climbing his slide. He knocked his head on a chair and bled everywhere (well, mostly all over me). The best part of the night was the fact that BA and Matt were there to get us on the phone with the doctor, because we might have dithered for an hour about what to do (remember when Jen blended her finger?).

The rest is history; we drove to the hospital, spent 3 hours being moved around and seen by various doctors, all of whom made Graham cry. He perked up after a while and walked around the halls of the ER, bloodstained and swaggering, looking a little proud of himself. I'm guessing, with our luck and his fearlessness, they'll see us there again.

My plan is to post the whole story of how Graham ended up with his first three stitches. But, today, I'll start by posting his dirty faced cuteness. The band aid marks the spot of the wound, the result of too much climbing, and too many Cornells over for dinner.

We all survived the 3 hours in the ER at Children's Hospital, with the mamas rather the worse for the wear than Graham. I'll say two things: one, I'm very thankful that Graham is healthy, since we saw many really sick kids that night. And two, you're not really a mom until you see a Dr. stick a needle in your kid's head.

A Note on Summer:

Graham's new word: berry. Graham's new practice: eating most of a pint of fresh strawberries from the farmer's market. While I regret the fact that I didn't get to eat more of them myself, I take these two events as the official start of summer.

I highly recommend YouTube browsing as a way to find out what really entertains your toddler. Certain clips are a no-go; others result in serious repeated viewing. I swear I did not force the Weezer upon him, but it is, without a doubt, his favorite song. He kind of jams along with it, and I hope to capture that cute business on video in the next couple of days.

I just wanted everyone to be aware that my kid is now cooler than me. It's a surprise that it took 18 whole months.

Note: Katie's response made my realize that since the video is about Youtube, my post is actually totally meta. Cool, ya?

No pictures this week, my friends, because at 95 degrees, it is both too hot to photograph and too hot to be photographed. Suffice it to say that Graham has inherited my tendency to wilt a little in the heat, not in a graceful way either.

Dear Auntie Filipa was here through it all and dealt with our surliness with aplomb. I'll just say she reacted with great grace when I dragged her to the park at 730am today, because it was the only time we could be outside without dying. In fact, she even engaged in some park-parent small talk, a feat I know chilled her to the core. Her visit was a big hit, I know, since Graham keeps visiting her room to look for her.

Just 83 degrees tomorrow! Maybe we'll be human once again.

Elliot comes to visit....

The boys ran us ragged. Here we give chase in the Arboretum. 

Though they didn't actually play with each other, they often copied one another, picking up cues for different activities. 

And while they played, we parents played too, mostly by drinking beer and barbecuing in the yard.