Progress with Mazzy

Mom reported to Dad today that Grafton pet Mazzy for 10-15 seconds, before the cat took off for a safer spot under the bed.  Either Mazzy is warming up to Grafton, or she's starting to become senile.  I never expected she'd give in to a close encounter with our son.

Pumpkins and Mazes

Grafton went pumpkin picking today with his friends, Grahm and Ivorie.  We'll let the pictures tell the story.

Oh yeah, last weekend we ventured into a corn maze, and there are some pictures of that as well.  Grafton was out and about doing some other things as well that weekend (scroll right see the pictures).

Morehead Moments

Two weeks ago, Grafton headed out of town for a trip down to Morehead City, NC to see his grandparents.

He really enjoyed flying on the airplanes.  On the first flight (of 4) he was very focused during the takeoff, listening to Daddy explain how the plane was racing down the runway, lifting off, and then flying up into the air.  Of course, we had some turbulence eventually, and Grafton smiled and said it was "bumpy" but "fun".  He only threw one minor fit on the two flights down to NC, which was fortunate considering that he refused to nap.  In the Baltimore airport, he had a great time riding up and down the escalators (in his Dad's arms) while waiting to board the plane.  When we arrived at the car rental agency, he had a great time climbing around the car while Dad was trying to install his car seat.  On the drive to the coast, he slept for three hours--nearly the whole way.  He woke up refreshed and alert, and after a quick stop for a snack on the road, he was ready to play with his grandparents. He wasted no time having fun, and had his Grandpa pick him up and place him in the bed of the Dodge RAM 1500 pickup.  He loved being up in that truck!  Probably because one of his favorite Hot Wheels cars is...wait for it...a Dodge RAM 1500 pickup truck.  (On the trip, Grafton also finally learned to use the term "pickup truck" properly, as he had always used "dump truck" to describe pickups.)  In the truck bed, Grafton found a nickel and found this round, shiny metal disc rather intriguing.   We explained to him that it was money and that he could use it to buy things, or sell things (such as pizza).  Grafton accumulated many more coins over the course of the vacation, thanks to Grandpa's and Dad's generosity.

On the second day there, Mom and Dad headed over to Rose's (a local department store, of sorts) and bought a few toys for Grafton, which included his first Big Wheels (well, a no name brand version of this). After 30 minutes of assembly, the rig was ready for action.  Despite buying the one with the adjustable seat position, Grafton's legs were not quite long enough to reach the pedals, but he had a great time pushing himself around, with his feet on the ground.  It had a perfectly-sized slot in the "dashboard" for his Dodge RAM 1500 Hot Wheels car, and he refused to ride the Big Wheels unless the truck was safely stowed in its special spot.  Grafton also enjoyed riding around the driveway on his fire truck, which he seemed to remember from the last time he visited Morehead.  Grafton made many pizza deliveries using both his Big Wheels and fire engine, collecting many nickels in the process, and making change for his customers.

On the third day, we brought Grafton to the aquarium.  He wasn't all that interested in the aquatic life, unfortunately, and preferred to simply run around, weaving in out and of people.  But he did take a little time to check out the fish, and also seemed interested in the manta rays that were swirling around an open tank.  But he seemed happier once we were back outside, and made friends with a turtle before heading back.

We also brought Grafton to the beach a couple of times, enjoying what must have seemed like a gigantic sandbox to him.  While we didn't have him in a bathing suit, we did venture into the water, ankle deep.  While he had some trepidation at first, he was soon enjoying splashing around in the small waves, as they rolled in, tickling his knees and soon his knees and waist.

As always, Grafton demanded to be read to throughout the trip, and he became very interested in the plot of  "Jack and Rick", though Mom and Dad were somewhat less intrigued by the storyline after the tenth or so reading.

Similar to Mazzy, Seal was generally nowhere to be seen.  But at one point Grafton went exploring and found the cat in Grandpa's office.  He went over to make friends with her, but she hissed (and probably swatted) at him, and he came back crying.  He later removed all of his toys from that room.  The next day he refused to go into the room, clearly scared of what had happened the previous day.

Grafton also found Baba and Grandpa's bedroom.  With Grandpa's help and permission, he went nuts jumping up and down on their bed (yes, this is what grandparent's beds are for!)  Mom and Dad, hearing the ruckus, went to go check on him, and saw him bounding up and down and rolling around on the pillows.  We warned Grandpa that Grafton, having just been at the beach, was full of sand!  But Grandpa and Baba didn't mind, so we let him continue having his fun.

Thanks to the grandparent's help, Mom and Dad even got a few minutes alone to enjoy themselves on vacation, catching a dinner at Amos Mosquito's and a quick bike ride to see the setting sun.

Counting Teens

When Dad got home, Mom told him how Grafton's counting skills are coming along, and that he's able to reliably count from one to ten.  So Dad asked Grafton again, "Can you count to ten for me?"  So Grafton started counting again, but this time went, "fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen."  Dad was shocked, not realizing Grafton could count this high.  Earlier in the day, he had counted from fourteen to twenty for Mom, so she was a little less surprised, but enjoyed his double-digit counting just the same.

Mazzy Reconciliation

Grafton rarely sees Mazzy, since our cat refuses to come out while our son is at home.  She'll usually just hide up in the office and wait for Grafton to go to bed before reclaiming the main house as her own.  And it's rather unfortunate that Mazzy is so averse to Grafton's company, because Grafton really gets excited when he catches a glimpse of the cat.

Today, we witnessed an interaction that gave us a glimmer of hope that someday these two might actually be friends, or that Mazzy might eventually tolerate Grafton. Dad had just returned home from a bike ride, and heard Grafton stomping down the stairs from the office.  When appeared in the den, he acknowledged my return, but continued with a task that he was clearly very focused on.  He went over to his pile of Matchbox cars, picked one up, and trudged all the way back up the stairs to the office on his own.  Worried that he was playing on the stairs unsupervised, Dad followed him up, only to watch him walk over to Mazzy and place the car down a few feet from her resting spot. Next to Mazzy was a small collection of cars that Grafton had apparently already brought up to share with her.  (As it turns out Mom was upstairs watching all this unfold.)  With us both up in the office, Grafton headed back down to the down to pick up yet another car to give to Mazzy.  Which he did.  Realizing that Mazzy had enough cars to play with, he went over to his block pile and brought one block after another over to Mazzy.  All the while, Mazzy looked less than thrilled that Grafton was approaching so closely.  But she refused to run away, as she had always done in the past.  And Mom had been warning Grafton that he shouldn't get too close to the cat, or she would get upset and run away.  He understood this and obeyed the rule, and was therefore able to enjoy perhaps the longest interaction with our cat to date.

When the Mom's away, the boys will play

Mom's away on a work trip, leaving Dad and Grafton to fend for themselves.  (Well, with a little help from Nana and PopPop, who came by to help out on Tue.)  She'll be back on Thu evening.  So far Grafton has been doing well in light of the parental absenteeism--no fits or tantrums yet, though there is still time for that.  He definitely has started repeating his "comfort" line "Mama coming home soon", and I keep telling him she'll be home in a day or two.  Dad's doing okay too, so far!  He's even remembered to brush Grafton's teeth.

Blogging Buddies

My cousin August now has a blog too! My parents have promised to read it to me everyday!