Goofy Graham

What to say about my little guy Graham. This guy is as crazy and intense as ever. Ever since he was a baby, it's been all or nothin' with this kid. He's either all happy or all mad and occasionally all sad. No middle ground. The beauty of this sensitive little man is that he can go from one emotion to another at the drop of a hat. It's actually quite impressive.

I love it when he wakes up ten or fifteen minutes early and comes and lays in bed with me for a little while. We sometimes talk about what he dreamed about or he tells me stories he makes up. He asks for breakfast and I tell him that we'll get up when the clock says seven, zero, six (or something close to that). Graham gives me the play by play as the digital clock changes with each minute. Then we get up and tell Lucy it's time for breakfast. We grab Ben (if he hasn't already joined us in bed) and head downstairs for some eatin'. Graham always has one or two waffles with peanut butter and syrup. He's always ticked when they are gone and begs me to make them. I, as previously mentioned, always say no. Then he has to settle for toast with PB and dry cereal (he hates milk on his cereal, but likes to eat it with a spoon).

After breakfast, we head back upstairs and I begin the constant nagging for Lucy and Graham to get ready. Lucy and Graham always seem to play together best in the mornings when they are supposed to be getting dressed, not playing. Graham always wants "help" getting dressed. I pick out an outfit and assure him that he can do it himself.

Eventually, we get Lucy off to school and I load up Graham and Ben to go to the gym for a bit. Graham always wants to choose a little toy to bring with him in the car and to the gym's Kids Club. I love our conversations on our drive to and from the gym. Most of the time it's about whether or not he can go to Grant's house to play or if he can play the computer when he gets home. He prefaces a lot of his thoughts with, "Oh! I have a good idea, Mom!" or he follows his thought with, "Did I have a good idea, Mom?"

Graham is always ticked off when it's time to leave anywhere. If it's time for me to check him out at the Kid's Club or I'm picking him up from a friend's house.....there's always drama. I'll give him a pep talk before I drop him off in hopes that when I come get him he won't make a scene. Sometimes it helps, but not usually.

On Mondays, Wednesday, and Thursdays, I drop little buddy off at preschool on the way home from the gym. It's just a few blocks away at Oxnard High. The high school students run the program with a great teacher supervising them. He loves it! He gets lots of attention and gets to play with kids that think he's hilarious. We're going to do one more year of preschool next year before kindergarten. I think we'll try a school with a little more structure and curriculum, but this one has been great for now.

Graham loves to play on the computer. He usually plays on playhouse Disney, but occasionally he'll do pbskids.org. It's a fabulous bribery tool and it works well for punishment purposes, too ("If you don't do _____, you won't get to play on the computer today. Ya' know, that kinda thing.) He always wants to play on Jason's IPhone, too. Quite the gamer. For this reason, we will not own a Wii for a looooong time. I don't want to deal with that fight every day.

I wish I could get a dose of the confidence juice that Graham is drinking. He has no doubt in his mind that he's "better at this" than everybody. Today, I did my workout at home with the help of a Jillian Michael's video. Graham popped down on the floor and started trying to do the exercise I was doing. I told him he was doing great and he rebutted with a, "I'm better than you at this, huh." If you tell him he's doing a good job, he assumes that means he's better at it than everybody (namely Lucy, Dad, or myself).

His latest thing is that he thinks all girls love him. I'll ask him, "Graham, what did you do at Tylei's house today?" He'll say, "I played with Isabel and Carson. Isabel loves me." He went with me to pick up the babysitter this weekend and as she and I walked out of the house, Jason heard him say from the backseat, "Oh! I know her! She loves me!" Graham offered the family prayer before bed on Saturday night. He said something like this, "Thank you that we got to play at Katelyn's house and thank you that she loves me."

We signed Grahammer up for soccer this month. I'm actually going to coach his team. Hopefully, he'll survive the season. Our first practice is Friday. Eleven 4-6 year olds. Wish me luck!!

Here's some of my favorite Graham-isms as of late:

• He says "actually" instead of "accidentally". For example, I might ask, "Why is Ben crying?" He would say, "I actually stepped on his head." Ya. I'm believin' that.



• He calls the remote, the "greemote".



• Instead of "without", he says, "about".



• He calls earrings, "aliens".


• He asked the other night, "Why are there so many Jerusalems in the scriptures?" What?




• Last, but not least: About a month ago I heard Lucy yelling for help. I went upstairs to check it out and I heard Graham say, "I'll get off of you, if you would just give me a hug!" When I reached the bedroom, Graham was laying on top of Lucy and wouldn't let her up.

Life with Graham is never boring. We love our Graham Cracker!