Tag Archives: Griffin

Snow and Hot Cocoa

This weekend was our first snow of the season, and it was quite a storm!  It dumped about eight inches of heavy, wet snow on our neighborhood.  On Saturday morning, we went out with Griffin for some snow time.  It was his first time all bundled up in his snow suit, which was awkward, and it was his first time getting cold snow blown into his face by a fierce wind.  Not surprisingly, he wasn’t very happy.  But we did manage to build a messy snowman.  On Sunday, we tried again.  Without the wind, Griffin was much more excited, though he was still hesitant to walk through the snow (he kept falling down — not used to lifting his feet so high).  But he was very brave, and we spent nearly two hours exploring the snowy landscape at our nearby park.  (He even hurtled down one of the slides head-first, ending up with a face full of snow, and laughed the whole time!)  Another kid offered to share his sled, but we weren’t quite ready for that.  When we got home, I introduced him to one of the very best things about winter: a warm mug of hot chocolate!

First sight of the snow from the back porch.

First snowman (there were precious few props available at this park.)
What's up with this warm brown water?
Yum!

Sculpture Garden

The weather here has been unseasonably warm, so Griffin and I have been trying to spend as much time outside as possible. I don’t anticipate we’ll hunker down and never go outside again once it starts getting colder, but when it’s cold, you don’t always have the luxury of being leisurely. Today, I thought there was no better place to luxuriate in leisure than the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, located next to the Walker Art Center in downtown Minneapolis. It’s only about a ten or fifteen minute drive from our place in St. Paul, and to my knowledge, Griffin had never been exposed to gigantic pieces of art, so I was curious to see what he would think.

Of course, he loved it. I’ll have to wait until he can talk so that he can give me his critiques of the pieces, but judging by his giddiness and excitement, I think it’s going to be a favorite destination. And it’s a good thing we went when we did. As soon as we hopped in the car to go home, a storm swept in and dropped the temperature by about thirty degrees!

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"Shhhhhh!" (Translated to "fish!")
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Griffin stands in front of the Spoonbridge and Cherry. Even though he excitedly said, "poooon!," he was a little wary of approaching without holding my hand!
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Catch me, Mama!
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Reflections.

Playing Catch-Up

Our lives have been full lately, which is why we’re averaging only about one blog post a month! Things certainly have been going on, but we just haven’t been writing or putting up the pictures. Today I did a little catch up on the photo site and put together some photos from various things that have been happening this fall (even though it seems like we forget the camera more often than we remember it!). Some were big, some were little. But all point to the fact that we’re settling into our new lives here in Minnesota.

Click on any photo to take you to the full gallery.

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Showers

This is not about baby showers.

Taking showers with Griffin was one of the earliest ways that he and I bonded, and remains one of my favorite ways to hang out with him while getting something useful done at the same time.  I’ve been meaning to write this post for more than a year, since I figure other new parents might want to try this too.

I remember being afraid of showers when I was a little kid.  Baths were the norm, and showers were scary grown-up things.  I don’t remember when that shifted, but I was definitely still mostly taking baths in elementary school.  When Griffin was born I assumed that this fear was hard-wired, and that was why everyone only talked about giving babies baths.  But Griffin hated baths.  We had the mini tub for him, but it was hard to keep the temperature constant with so little water (and our house was often cold in Oakland).   When I was in charge of a solo bath it usually end with Griffin crying, my knees hurting, and both of us wet and cold.  Bleh.

One day in the blurry early weeks of no-sleep,  I was up early with Griffin and he was having a hard time — teething, indigestion, grumpiness, who knows. He was loudly voicing his discontent with the world.  I was tired of walking around the apartment trying to calm him down, and I felt gross, so I brought him into the shower.   I felt a bit edgy, like, “I wonder if I should check one of the baby books before I do this?”  As usual, I didn’t check the book and decided to experiment.  As soon as Griffin was enveloped in the steam, he stopped crying.  He snuggled up against my shoulder and just lay there quietly.  I let the water splash on him and run down his back.  He seemed happy!  After a while he reached out and tried to grab the spray.  He giggled.  I giggled.  Our morning was transformed.

That first time neither of us got much of a wash.  I didn’t want to drop him or get soap in his eyes or otherwise ruin the moment.  Pretty soon, however, he and I were taking showers all the time.  In the morning, I would scoop him up and take him in with me.  Often he was happy playing at the back of the tub while I washed.  If I was done with the soap, I would let the tub fill up a bit so he could splash around.  I could get out and get dressed while he continued playing.

Nowadays, Griffin enjoys real baths too, and we have a bigger tub here so sometimes I join him.  But he and I still take showers together regularly.  I even have a steam-free shower-mirror so that I can shave while he’s playing (he likes watching the shaving cream slide down the drain).  After I’m done, I always pick him up for some snuggle time and we both laugh together as he tries to catch the water and causes it to spray all over.  These happy moments go a long way toward preserving my sanity in the face of toddler moods.

18 Month Checkup

This was Griffin’s first appointment in Minnesota.  We loved our new doctor.  Below are his current physical measurements with percentiles.  (By the way, we don’t take these very seriously, but figure we might as well record them.)

  • Weight: 23.08 lb (20-25%)
  • Height: 32 7/8 in (70%)
  • Head Circumference: 19 in (70%)

Where did this tall, skinny boy come from?

First Bouncy House!

This weekend we were at Gustavus for Grandma Pam’s birthday (and the homecoming football game) and Griffin got to enjoy his first bouncy house.  He was definitely the youngest kid going into it, and Sarah and I were both worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle it.  (Lots of bigger kids were freaked out.)  But never ones to shy away from experimenting with our child, we tossed him in and watched.

He was in hog heaven!  It was such a joy to see… he could barely stand up, but every time he fell down he just laughed and laughed.  He eventually made it to the side where he could hold on and jump, shrieking with glee, but then he would head back into the central mosh-pit to be pummeled by larger kids, still cracking up hysterically.  We weren’t sure if he would be able to find his way out (the entrance was covered by a flap), but after about 15 minutes he bounced over to the flap and slid right out, still grinning.  We’re definitely going to do this again!

Gleeful Griffin
Notice his Gustavus regalia

Rookie Mistake

This is what happens when you leave your lipstick on the bedside table where certain toddlers can reach it. Thankfully, I got to him before he started coloring on the bed! I’m going to have to tell Andrew to be a little more careful next time…

Doesn't he look lovely?

First Leech!

Griffin had his first encounter with a leech this weekend at the Stocco cabin. He liked wading in the shallows which, as this photo attests, is not without peril. The sucker (ha ha) didn’t actually get a good bite, so Griffin’s little foot was unscathed. (And, once you get beyond the ick factor, leeches are pretty harmless.)

Leech!
Griffn's first leech

More photos will follow in due course (most of which aren’t gross). Tomorrow we’re moving into the new apartment which doesn’t have internet yet, so there will be more of a delay than we’d like. We’re pretty excited to finally settle into the new place!