Clap! Clap! Clap!

Graham just figured out to clap or "Pai Pai Sou" in Chinese. I can't remember when I started teaching him to clap but it's been a while now and come to think of it, we haven't practiced in a while. So I was really surprised when he started doing it!


As you can tell, he is really pleased with himself! I did realized that he had been practicing clapping for the past couple of days because I did notice him sort of rubbing his hands together. I thought that perhaps he just had some sort of itch on his hand and didn't think twice about it.
Well, an hour later, we had to show off his new talent to my sister/auntie Corina (we were in Minnesota at this time) and she took this video. And yes, Graham can "Shake! Shake! Shake!" too!


Well, we are back in Tulsa now and it's back to business as usual for Graham! :-)

Visit to Minnesota

Graham and Mommy took a flight to Minnesota last Saturday, without Daddy! Graham couldn't wait to get on the plane so he could take his nap. But first, we had to make sure he could get on :-) By the way, for all the mom's traveling alone with their infants - Be sure to get a Daddy-pass so Dad can go through and help you through the security line and also visit with you and baby until you board the plane at the Boarding Gate!

Anyhow, we are in Minnesota visiting my sister and her family and Graham's new cousin! Baby Caden Taylor Bradford was born on February 10th.

He looks just like his big brother Michael when he was born!

Michael is now 3 years old and loves being the big brother. I believe he enjoys being the big cousin too!

We haven't really done much in MN as it snowed on Monday. I think we got about 6" of snow! Here's a view of their backyard - too much white stuff! And brrrrrrr....! Schools probably would have been closed in Tulsa, but it was business as usual here. Anyhow, we've been too busy getting sick to really do anything else. We ended up taking Graham to the doctor's office here and based on the nurse's evaluation, Graham has croup.After 5 minutes with the nebulizer (screaming and fighting it, of course) and a shot in the thigh after that (screaming as well - video too graphic for Daddy so I won't post it :-), Graham is on his way to recovery. You wouldn't know that he's sick by watching him jump on the jumperoo!

And by the way, I've discovered another possible choking hazard during our stay here. Fortune cookies! It's probably not a good idea to hand fortune cookie packets to an infant. After a meal at a Chinese restaurant, I picked up a fortune cookie to keep Graham quiet for the ride home. And I was wondering why Graham was SO quiet and my sister suggested that I check on him. I turned around from the front seat and saw that Graham had torn/bit through the plastic packaging and managed to get to the cookie! Thankfully he didn't get a chance to choke on it yet!And can you read what his fortune says... "Don't let others try to stop you from doing what is right". Except Mommy believe biting into the packaging is wrong!

What else have we been up to? Oh, Graham is taking on the Harry Potter look this past few days. He fell while climbing over me (I was on the floor) and he bumped his head on either the side of the furniture or the side of the wall.

During our stay here, Graham and I have also been practicing our hugs :-)

We're still working on our kisses. He did open up his mouth this one time and planted his entire mouth on my face! I haven't had a chance to catch that one video yet!

And here's a funny one... I was talking with Bobby on the phone yesterday and I held the cellphone towards Graham's ear. He leaned in to listen!

I had put the phone towards Graham's ear before but this was the first time that he leaned in to listen. It was just too cute. And what's even funnier was when I put the phone back to my ear, he leaned his head on my face!

And finally, one last video. This is of Graham going through his animal flipbook back in Tulsa before leaving for our flight. He's getting good at it!

My camera ran out of batteries at the very end, but yes, Graham did find Sam too! I wonder if he will still remember how to do it when we get back to Tulsa.

It's unfortunate that I haven't been feeling too well lately as it would have been nice to cuddle with my new nephew a little more and help out my sister as well. Graham has been pretty much glued to my hip since he's been sick and he's taken the opportunity to sleep in the big bed as well (versus the new portable/inflatable crib). And of course, he's taken the chance to take up the entire bed!

Ahhh... our little stinker! Back to Tulsa tomorrow! It's been nice being here but I can't wait to be back in the warmer climate. I don't know how they do it here - being in the cold for so many months!!!

Almost 10 months old

Graham is almost 10 months old now and he's doing all sorts of things! He has somehow learned how to ride the rocking horse just after 2 attempts on it. It's amazing how quickly babies can learn

And of course, he is still practicing his waves!

Graham has also learned to stand and look out the window.I know he is just dying to dig his hands into that aloe vera pot!Graham has also learned to take off his pants as well (he does it while he's standing). I have to put them back on him at least 2-3 times a day! And today, when I walked into his room in the morning, he had taken his pants off and he managed to take one sleeve off his shirt too! Too funny!Graham has also discovered the fireplace. Yesterday, while we were in the living room, he was just leaning against the hearth, playing with the little knob.And a few minutes later (pants off, of course) he climbed up the hearth!Graham is still working on the step down. He practically lunged forward - hands and head first - and thankfully Mommy was there to catch him as his legs went airborne behind him! Oh! What are we going to do with our little boy!He is still our cutie little pie :-)
By the way, a little correction (thanks, Grandma!) with the flowers in the yard. It's the Hyacinths that are the ones blooming in the yard... not Irises.And yes, those flowers are definitely determined to come out from under the bird bath!

Graham's new playmate

This past Sunday, Graham made a new friend! Little Sophia (who actually just turned 1 today!) and her parents just moved to Tulsa from Austria a few months ago. So, we invited them over to the house for dinner.
We can't wait for Graham to start socializing with other kids as it seems like he has been more verbal lately. We do need to work on his sharing skills!By the way, dinner was YUMMY! The pork tenderloin turned out looking just like the picture in the recipe book! :-)
I decided to actually measure out the ingredients this time (garlic, rosemary, and parsley) as the last attempt to make the herb rub was too garlicky! Instead of using the grill as directed in the recipe, I browned the sides of the pork loin on the stove with a grill pan and then put it in the oven at 375F for 45 minutes. After that, the pork was set on the chopping board. You then pitch a little foil tent over it and let it rest for 15 minutes. Definitely a must-make again!

Spring is ALMOST in the air

The last time Spring was approaching, we had an ice storm! So hopefully it won't be the case this time. The flowers are starting to bud and the garden is looking pretty again:We moved the bird bath to a new location and only now realized that we have put it on top of some irises! But the plant is still determined to bloom!The neighborhood hawk is back as well, sitting on top of our neighbor's roof:I have yet to spot the deers since our other neighbor has put their dog fence up, but I did see some tracks across the street. So I guess they are still around. I hope they don't get to my roses this year!

I finally finished crocheting a neck-warmer for Bobby. I was hoping to have it done before the end of winter, but oh well,... hopefully he'll remember to use it next winter (unless of course, we get that ice-storm next week or so!).

In the meantime, Graham is "budding" as well. He has learned to stand in his crib:Stand by the coffee table (and wave :-):And stand in his stroller!He continues to love to chew as well. He started chewing on his crib railing so we have since put a teething crib rail cover on. However, he has learned to pull it off by pulling on the velcro and chewing on that!
He also loves chewing on his blocks:
We recently got Graham a new booster chair. It's nice not having to wipe everything down at a restaurant. He is such a little boy now instead of a baby - although he still cries like one!Finally, a couple of videos. Firstly of Graham smacking his lips while eating:

And another video of Graham playing with his bowl:

Who knows what else he will do next!!!

Good bye Switzerland!

Our trip has finally come to an end. Before leaving Switzerland, we made a quick stop in the town of Vaduz in Liechtenstein to mail my sister's birthday postcard/mousepad. Yeah... it was a postcard stuck onto the back of a mousepad! What a great idea!

The weather wasn't all that great that day - rainy, cloudy, and gray. We did catch a glimpse of the Baron's castle way up on the hill. Not too shabby if you ask me!Before leaving Vaduz, Mommy managed to find a nice pair of shoes for only $20! Shoes in Switzerland are so expensive, so needless to say, I was so excited when I saw the price on these!

On Saturday, we decided to make one more stop before making our way to Zurich. We stopped in the city of St. Gallen - about an hour north of Buchs. We read up on some interesting things in our guide book on the cathedral there, so we figured it would be a good one to go check out. Can't leave Europe without seeing one more cathedral!

And we were so glad that we did. The Stiftskirche in St. Gallen was amazing! It actually looked rather plain on the outside:
But once inside, my jaw practically dropped! The paintings on the ceilings were amazing!!! And these photos just don't do it enough justice:
Here's a close-up on one of the ceilings:How truly beautiful! And the orchestra was practicing when we walked in. That was pretty neat!

I wish I did a better job at taking the video. Oh well... and oh! This has got to be the biggest armoire I've ever seen! It was a rather cold day, so we didn't wander around in St. Gallen for too long. Plus, we were running low on time on the parking meter! We stopped by a children store to get Graham a new toy and made our way to a hotel by Zurich's airport.And we actually ended up in stop-and-go traffic on a Sunday!!!Thankfully Graham was asleep all the way to the hotel. And once we parked and Daddy went to check in, Graham was keeping himself entertained at the wheel:
Cheeky little thing!

Our last night in Zurich/Switzerland was quite uneventful. We ended up having pub grub at the hotel bar as the buffet special featuring Thai food was really expensive. $60 per person!!!

On Sunday, we left for the airport at "Bob o'clock"... i.e. 8:08am. Once we returned the rental car ($100 filling up the gas tank!), we took one of MANY lifts/elevators to the check-in counter. Taking the train to our terminal was the easy part - and relaxing with the sound of Swiss horns and birds chirping in the background. Yes,... seriously!
Once we got through security (where is the family-friendly line when you need one!) and got on and off who knows how many more elevators... we finally made it to our gate. We were one of the last few people to get on the plane thanks to all those elevators! I think Bobby said there were a total of 9. I'm not sure... I lost count by about 6!

Graham fell asleep pretty early on during the 9-hour flight:And after our meal service and having one of the flight attendants prepare the bassinet, Graham played for a little bit with his new toy (this one only bought us about 5-10 minutes!):
And eventually, he did take another nap:Once we landed in EWR - Newark, NJ, Grandma and Pop-pop came by to pick us up at the airport. We spent a few hours at their home as our layover and after a few hours headed back to the airport again to catch our flight back to Tulsa.

The flight to Tulsa took 3 hours and 45 minutes due to strong headwinds! It was neat to watch the lightning out of the plane's window but I'm glad we didn't get struck by one! Bobby thought that this was one of his worst flights but I didn't think it was all that bad because Graham was asleep pretty much all of the way!

We landed by about 10:30pm, picked up our luggage, loaded up the car, and headed home. It's so nice to finally sleep in our own bed and have our own (not-so-flat!) pillows. And now if Graham would just quit waking up so many times in the middle of the night!!!