A first

Graesen went to his first non-family birthday party tonight.  One of his classmates/my student was turning 4.  He had a party at Chuck E Cheese's, which was another first for Graesen.  Oh my goodness, he loved it so much :)  Graesen ran around with this little hop in his step the whole time.  The only thing he didn't like was Chuck E Cheese himself.  He tried to back away from him while his face crumbled, and he started to cry.  All in all it was an awesome night for Graesen and he totally crashed on the way home.  I have actually started carrying a toothbrush with us for such occasions when I know he is likely to fall asleep before we get home (don't want any cavities!)  And on another side note, Graesen did so great being in his big boy underpants all day (including during the party)!  He is getting so grown up, minus the slight free of large, furry costumes :)

HIs "very special shoes"

When my parents took me to REI to buy some Keens for an early birthday present, they also bought Graesen a pair for his birthday.  There was a big Keens sale going on, so there was only one color left in his size.  I liked the color, but it wouldn't match a lot of his stuff.  We were able to order the shoes in blue with the sale price :)  Graesen loved the pair he tried on in the store and couldn't wait for his new ones to come in.  Today he got his new shoes.  He told me they were "very special shoes" and "very fast shoes."  I guess the boy knows a good pair of shoes when he sees them! (He actually had this same pair in a smaller size last year).

Here's the little guy playing at school today:

Busy,, busy

Graesen had a busy day today.  I did too, but I think he is more worn out :)  After spending part of the day with Evan, Graesen joined me at school.  After school/work we headed to a wedding shower for my boss.  (Originally my mom was going to watch Graesen, but my grandma (on my dad's side) was having open heart surgery today and the surgery was delayed by several hours.  Everything seems to have gone well :) ) My boss told me I could just bring Graesen to the shower.  He did great, although we couldn't stay the whole time because we had to go to my last Divorce Care class.  I think Graesen is really going to miss going, because he made friends in the nursery and really liked his teachers.  We didn't get home until about 9.  Graesen had a quick snack, got ready for bed, then crashed.

Graesen has finally figured out going #2 on the toilet.  In fact, he is so impressed with his own abilities that he thinks he needs to go #2 every time even if he doesn't need to.  The big exciting thing was when he did it at school today!  Big step for him to slow down enough to go!

Graesen's last stool test came back normal.  His body must have been fighting off some sort of infection or something else that caused his sed rate to be high.  The doctor says he still wants Graesen to do yearly stool samples and check ups at the GI clinic due to my pre-cancerous polyps.  I'm sad that this will be something Graesen has to grow up worrying about, but I am so grateful it is something we can monitor to keep him healthy.  God was watching out for me when he gave me enough stomach pain to send me to a GI doctor, and now we can keep an eye on both of us.

Memorial Day

Graesen and I went to my grandparents' house for a bbq tonight.  Phoebe and Graesen were ridiculously cute and getting along great, so they were fun to watch.  Both of them managed to get their clothes wet, so they had to be thrown in the dryer.  Of course, they didn't have the patience to wait for dry clothes, so they made do :) 
*Don't worry, these too usually wear helmets.  Graesen actually had one on before dinner, but then rushed out to play again without getting his helmet back on.  They were racing and I just wanted to snap a few pictures of the cuteness.  Plus, they were only on grass the whole time, so I think their little heads would probably be okay :)

Another kayaking adventure

I went kayaking again today with my parents and grandpa.  My aunt and grandma drove the 2+ hour drive up with us then spent the day with Graesen (he got to have a picnic and go to a park).  It was a very nice day and a gorgeous river for kayaking.  The currents were very strong today, so going upstream was definitely a workout!

He's back!

Graesen was back to his sweet, happy self today...thank goodness!  He watched a Caillou episode the other day that talked about birds.  This morning as I was cleaning, I heard Graesen shout for me to come.  He was looking out the window and saying, "It's a robin's belly.  A robin!"  He was totally right.  There was a robin out on the lawn!

Graesen saw a video of his cousin, Addison, doing the long jump the other day.  He thought it looked really fun, so I thought I would take him to a track to run and jump.  We went to a high school track near our house that was recently renovated.  We were so bummed when we saw that they put up a 6 foot tall locked fence around it :(  Graesen did get to run around it and then go play on the playground, but we may have to go to another track soon.

Graesen also got some good playtime in the back yard today. 

All the playing must have worn him out, because Graesen fell asleep while I was making dinner.

The follow through

One of the hardest parts of being a parent is following through on discipline that is just not fun.  Graesen was super naughty today at school.  He was just not listening and was copying everyone around him whether their behavior was good or not.  He had a couple of timeouts at school, but was just not turning his behavior around.  I had been planning on taking him swimming, but I told him that if he did not start being a listener that we would not go.  Well, guess what...we didn't get to go.  I was bummed!  I really wanted to take him swimming tonight, but I knew that I had to follow through with what I said.  Then at the grocery store on the way home he asked to ride the free car ride.  I told him he could only do it if he stayed in his truck (one of those shopping carts with a car on the front for kids to ride) the whole time.  He kept climbing out every time I stopped to look at something and would then refuse to get back in.  So no ride :(  He was so mad!  He was such a mess today!

I know in the long run that following through with this discipline will help Graesen to grow in to a responsible, respectful person.  It sure isn't fun now, but some day I will be glad for what I did.  And we will have good days where I can treat him :)

My parents called me around dinner time tonight to ask if I wanted to meet them at REI.  They wanted to buy me a pair of Keens for a (very early) birthday present.  We have to wear closed toed shoes at work and Keens are a great choice for closed toed summer shoes.  They also ordered a pair of Keens for Graesen for and early birthday present.
Graesen tested a bike while we were there:

A total rock star

Graesen was dancing around the living room tonight.  Out of nowhere he said, "I'm a rock star!"  I don't think I've ever used the term "rock star" with him so it totally made me laugh :)
Graesen got an invitation to a classmate's birthday party today.  This will be his first non-family kid birthday party he will attend.  He was so funny opening the invitation.  The card alone would have been exciting to him since it is a Cars one.

I love seeing this little rascal have fun at school:)

We went for a run tonight and towards the end of the run I decided we "had" to stop to take pictures.