Graham News 2002

February 20, 2002

Graham is definitely weird. His latest thing is to put stuff in his t-shirt or his pajamas or his pants. This morning when I got him dressed I removed his sippy cup of juice from the leg of his pajamas. Normally I find toy trucks and things like that. Last night it was his toy cell phone.

February 22, 2002

Graham has a fever. That is about right since he was exposed to other kids on Tuesday. He is eating and playing so I don't think that it is anything serious. He has some red rashy looking spots, but I think that is just from being too warm and having dry skin.

February 23, 2002

He still has a slight fever, but seem just fine. The rashy looking spots aren't as red. I think that I am worrying about nothing.

February 24, 2002

Graham got a new pair of shoes today. We went downtown to get Scott a new helmet and get the bike tuned. We went to the mall while we were out to look for shoes. They are size 24 and they look huge. The other ones were definitely getting too small. I am not sure if he likes them or not. They had a pair of rain boots at the kids store that I might have to get back and get later. They were really cute.

February 26, 2002

Another fun day at play group. Once again Graham seemed to ignore the kids. He had a great time play with some cars. They were on a track with a hill on it. He liked pushing them down the hill. Next week we are supposed to go to a farm. That should be interesting.

March 1, 2002

Graham really likes busses. Whenever we walk he points out all of the busses around. :Lately it has been "boo ba". Which obviously is blue bus. They all seem to be blue now, though. At the house warming party he played with a toy bus. He had a good time. He wasn't too sure about the little girl that keep playing with his puppy, though.

March 2, 2002

We went downtown today just to get out of the house since the weather was nice. They were selling rugby paraphernalia at the mall. The local teams is the Otago Highlanders. Guess what? There was a team bus for sale. Just like the one he played with last night. It was a must have. Graham managed to break the wheel off from it almost immediately, but daddy is very good with super glue.

Once again Graham is sick. It is either from the kids at the party last night or from play group on Tuesday. Scott wonders if he will get sick every time he is exposed to other kids. I suppose it is a possibility. Today it is goopy eyes, runny nose and a fever.

March 3, 2002

Graham's fever is gone. He still has a runny nose and goopy eye. I am sure that he will be fine. I hope that it has cleared up for play group on Tuesday.

March 8, 2002

Today we went out for a walk with Diane and Alicia. They are friends from play group. Alicia is just a little bit older then Graham. We walked around one of the reservoirs. I am always amazed how many nice places there are to walk that are right in town or very close to town. We enjoy walking a lot. Diane suggested going swimming one day. We are looking forward to that.

March 12, 2002

We went to a farm today for play group. Graham
petted the ponies, the sheep and a piglet. He feed the goat and the ducks
and chickens. It was a nice day to get out. It was sunny and warm. Last week
he managed to get through play group without getting sick. Maybe he is getting
used to New Zealand bugs.

March 13, 2002

Graham too his first bike ride in New Zealand
today. He seemed to enjoy it. He played with his toys and took a nap. He stayed
warm and dry while mom and dad were getting rained on.

Graham is getting really big. When I saw
him in the Burley for the first time in months I couldn't believe how well
he fit in it. He is still a little small with his helmet on, but he sits really
well in it now. I noticed the other day that his shirt sleeves were an inch
too short. I guess that it is time to buy more clothes.

He is talking more all of the time and repeats
many words that we say to him. He is putting together a few 2 word sentences.
The most often used is "All gone". He usually says that when Scott
or I finish our meal. We look at books everyday and he can point out many
of the items in them now. He still doesn't always like to be read too, but
he will look at the pictures with you.

He is sleeping in a bed now instead of a
crib. He does pretty good with it. He has only fallen a couple of times. We
do have to go pick him up and put him back in bed after he has fallen asleep
on the floor. He rarely gets up in the middle of the night. When he wakes
up in the morning he comes in to our room to tell us good morning. It is working
out okay. He is very excited about the quilt that Grandma Shirley is making
for him. He will need a warm blanket for winter.

Graham is still eating very well. He has
some strange habits. The other day he ate his yogurt by dipping his toast
in it and then licked it off of the toast. Normally he uses a spoon. One day
for lunch he picked the outside husk off from his peas before he would eat
them. Most people are amazed by what he eats. He isn't a picky eater at all
and I hope he stays that way. Everyone was laughing at him at lunch one day.
We had gone down to campus to have lunch with Scott. He picked the meat off
from his sandwich and stuffed the entire thing in his mouth. I remember when
he wouldn't eat much meat.

Graham really seems to like music a lot now.
I wish that we had brought more CDs with us and we had something to play them
on beside the computer. There is a music class for toddlers that I am going
to take him to next week to see if we can get in to it. I think that he will
enjoy that.

March 14, 2002

We went shopping today and bought Graham
some new shirts and pajamas. His old ones were getting too small. He is growing
a lot. Then we had lunch with Scott at the Botanical Gardens. Graham played
on the slide and swings. We did some more shopping on the way home. Unknown
to Graham, Mom bought him a surprise. After a nap and while we were waiting
for Scott to get home for our evening walk, Graham got his surprise. We bought
sidewalk chalk. He drew his first master piece on the driveway. It is on display
as the photo of the day.

March 18, 2002

Today we went to a group called Musical Munchkins.
We are on the waiting list to get in the group. I have not idea how long we
will have to wait. They sing and play with instruments and then have tea.
There is another group in the area that we should check out to see what it
is like.

Graham is now repeating just about any word
that you ask him to repeat. The time has come for mom and dad to watch what
they say. Last night while Scott was giving Graham a bath he was asking him
to say words. It was amazing how many he could say. He even got him to say
his name which I hadn't been able to get him to do. The funniest moment was
when Scott said "Say water" and Graham promptly replied "Fa
fa". He knows that it is called water, but refuses to say that.

March 20, 2002

We went swimming today with Diane and Alicia.
The pool here is very nice. They have a couple of diving pools, a 50 meter
pool, a wading pool and another big square pool that is nice and warm. I am
sure that it has a name. There are two water slides too. All of the pools
are indoors. It cost $2 for Graham and I to go swimming. I only have to pay
the toddler fee since I am not doing anything but watching Graham. The wading
pool is pretty cool. Every 30 minutes or so they turn the waves on. Graham
thought that was fun. One part is like the rapids in a river. There are places
where water comes out of tubs and such. Graham had a really good time. He
borrowed Alicia's water wings since she wouldn't wear them and he also took
a turn in her inner tube ring floaty thing. After we played in the wading
pool for a while, we went back to the warmer pool. I had Graham sit on the
edge of the pool and then jump in. He thought that was fun too. He really
enjoyed being in the water as long as he didn't get his face too wet. I think
that next time we need to take daddy.

March 22, 2002

Graham got his hair cut today. He did a really
good job. I wasn't sure that he would sit in the chair and let his hair be
cut. He looks pretty cute as usual.

March 24, 2002

Graham had a good time today when we went
for a walk. We went to a nature reserve that is about a 30 minute walk from
the house. We took Graham in the Burley since Scott didn't want to get all
sweaty packing him on his back. It was a nice walk along a stream. It was
pretty steep and we got sweaty pushing the Burley up the hill. I would take
Graham in the backpack next time. The only disappointing thing about the walk
is that it doesn't go any place. You get to the top and there is just a road
there. It was a beautiful walk, though. After we got back down the hill we
stopped and had lunch. Graham got to play in the rocks.

March 28, 2002

Graham got a chocolate egg from Sui-Ling
today when we went down to have lunch with Scott. He thought that was pretty
cool. When we got home, I also gave him is harmonica. He has figured out how
to make it make noise. He seems to like it. We'll see if he will play it when
in the Burley.

March 29, 2002

Graham had a great time playing in the Burley
today. We were outside cleaning the bikes and pulling weeds. Scott had the
Burley out to fix the flat and wash the wheels. Graham kept climbing in it.

We had noodles for dinner tonight. Graham
enjoyed playing with those too.

March 31, 2002

When asked to choose between an apple or
a banana with dinner, Graham responded "cookie".

April 4, 2002

Graham got some new toys. Sui-Ling brought
over some old toys that belonged to Alex. She dropped them off last night
after Graham had gone to sleep. He was very excited to see them this morning.
He has played with them most of the day.

April 10, 2002

"Milka milka" says Graham. Milk
has become his favorite all of he sudden. He always wants milk. I guess that
there are worse things for him to ask for.

April 11, 2002

Graham said the 'w' word today. He said water.
He didn't sound to sure about it. We were out walking and he could hear the
river. We were trying to get him to say river and he said water. He did eventually
say river too. We went for a walk to the aviary in the botanical gardens.
He had a good time talking to the parrots. He thought that it was pretty neat
that they would say hello. He kept saying hello on that walk back to Scott's
office.

April 13, 2002

Graham enjoyed the beach were we saw the
boulders today. When we first got down by the water he said fa fa in a really
awed voice. He hadn't been that close to the ocean before. It was a lot of
fa fa.

Scott keeps working with Graham to get him
to say Sui-Ling. It comes out more like LuLee, but it is close. When we were
driving today Scott would ask him to say it. He would get a big grin on his
face and whisper her name. It was pretty cute.

April 14, 2002

I covered one of the tables in the house
with some plastic and let Graham have some crayons. He had a good time drawing.
He did pretty good keeping the crayons on the table too. He drew on his puzzle
a little bit, but we didn't have any pictures on the walls.

April 18, 2002

Graham has been a little under the weather
the last couple of days. He has had a mild fever off and on and has eaten
much. Maybe his second molars are coming in. He won't let me check his mouth.
This morning he threw up scrambled eggs all over the floor. Now he wants crackers.
Don't know that I want to clean those up. Sui-Ling said that Alex wasn't feeling
well either. The probably have the same thing.

April 21, 2002

Today Graham went to his first birthday party.
Alicia just turned two. I am not sure that the kids even knew what was going
on, but they had a good time. I am not sure what we are going to do for Graham's
second birthday. Scott won't be here. He will be in Geneva for a conference.
I don't know if we will celebrate before he leaves or after he gets back.

April 22, 2002

Pizza, pizza, pizza. Graham's new favorite
food. We had pizza for lunch today with Scott. It was one of the better pizzas
we have had here. Graham put the pepperoni in a stack on the table. I guess
he didn't like it too much. Some of it he just picked off and some had been
chewed on a little. He stacked it all up neatly though. That is pretty good.
He usually throws it on the floor if he doesn't want to eat it.

May 6, 2002

I am behind on my updates. Graham is just
as cute as ever, though. He has had a couple of rough days, though. We went
over to the neighbors for morning tea the other day and he fell on the wooden
floor and scraped up his nose. I think that he must have hit his head 3 times
while we were there. He bumped his head a lot over the weekend too. He doesn't
seem any worse for for the wear.

Graham is going to a music class on Monday
mornings now. We have been twice. Last week we walked down and got rained
on. The weather was nice when we walked home. Today is a beautiful day and
we didn't have to worry about getting rained on. Scott might have to worry
about that on his walk home. Graham doesn't seem to interested in singing
and dancing. He just runs around a lot. He likes music at home, so I hope
that he will start to get into this a little more after he gets used to it.

I bought some new clothes for Graham over
the weekend. He need some pants that weren't too short. These should last
him for a while. While we were out shopping Graham bought his dad a guitar
for Father's Day. I know that it isn't Father's Day yet, but Graham just couldn't
wait. Hopefully his dad will actually play it. ;-)

May 16, 2002

Graham was up last night sick. Not much fun
for us. He seems fine this morning. Not sure if he ate something that bothered
him or if it was a 24 hour bug or something.

May 20, 2002

Graham and I are taking it easy today. We
didn't go to music group and we didn't go have lunch with Scott. Tomorrow
we will get back into the normal schedule. We might even sneak out of play
group early so we can go have lunch with Scott. It will depend on the weather.

May 27, 2002

Graham woke up this morning to snow on the
ground. Not lots of snow, but still some. Music class is canceled today because
of the weather. Saved us having to decide if we should go or not. Graham like
looking out at the snow. He didn't get to go out and play in it.

May 29, 2002

Graham is sick again today. He has a runny
nose and sounds quite hoarse. We are planning on a quiet day at home.

June 10, 2002

Graham slept in until 10:30 this morning.
He hasn't done that before. Scott and I both enjoyed being able to sleep in.
We missed music class because Graham was asleep.

June 11, 2002

We went over to Louise's house for lunch
today after play group. Graham had a good time playing in the sand. It was
a lovely day. All of the food was good. Graham had pizza. Of course it had
pineapple on it, but he didn't seem to mind. They had jello and ice cream
too. He liked that. During play group Louise took me to the house to pick
up Graham's car seat. While we were gone, I guess Hayden and Graham got into
it. They were waiting for us by the gate when we got back. Graham was very
upset. Wouldn't you know that the time that I was there he would be looking
for me. He didn't let me out of his sight the rest of playgroup.

June 15, 2002

Tomorrow Scott leaves for Geneva so we decided
to do presents and cake for Graham birthday today. While Graham was napping
we covered the floor in the lounge with balloons. When he woke up he was very
excited about the balloons and had a great time kicking them around. Hopefully
the videos will turn out. Sui-Ling and Alex came over for dinner. We had pizza
since that was Graham favorite. Graham didn't eat much pizza since he filled
up on chips before dinner. Those are a favorite too and he doesn't get them
too often. After dinner we opened presents. Graham got a nice fuzzy pullover
and a Thomas plate, bowl and mug from Sui-Ling and Alex. He got a nice card
and money from Gina, Joe, Cassidy, and Chase. He got clothes and new truck
from Grandma and Grandpa Iverson. Mum and Dad gave him some new books, some
threading beads, some bath toys, magnets to spell his name on the fridge,
and a Thomas the Tank Engine set. Then we proceeded to cake and ice cream.
I knew as soon as the cake came out of the oven that there was something wrong
with it. Sticking the candles in it just confirmed that. It was very dense
and a little hard. I don't know if I mixed something up wrong or over cooked
it. The frosting was really good, though. Graham had a little bit of frosting
and then went to play with his new toys with Alex. It was a good evening even
with the cake being not so good.

June 16, 2002

Graham enjoyed the plane at the airport today.
We watched the plane that Scott was on take off. I don't think that he realizes
that daddy is gone. I am sure that he will eventually.

June 17, 2002

We didn't go to music class today. It was
supposed to rain. We should have gone. It didn't rain.

June 18, 2002

Graham stuck very close to me at play group
today. I think that he was expecting me to vanish again. I was in the kitchen
a lot because it was my turn to help with morning tea. He brought in his toys
and played in the kitchen. Hopefully he will get over this.

June 19, 2002

Today is Graham's second birthday. Alicia
came over to play with him and have morning tea. She brought him some bubbles,
a new truck, and a big floor puzzle. He liked everything. He had a good time
with Alicia. They almost played together. Jenny and Wil stopped over in the
evening. They couldn't come by in the morning since Jenny had to work. They
brought Graham a new book. All in all he had a great birthday and enjoy playing
with his friends.

June 20, 2002

A package came this morning. More birthday
for Graham! It was sweaters and hats and mittens from Lori. Graham
looks pretty good in them. Thanks Lori!

June 21, 2002

Graham had a 2 year old checkup this morning.
He is healthy and doing good.

June 22, 2002

They must have missed something yesterday.
Graham woke up late last night with a fever. It is pretty high. I guess I'll
wait it out a bit and see what happens.

June 23, 2002

Well after yesterday with an up and down
temperature, I finally gave in and took Graham to the after hours doctor.
Sui-Ling had offered to drive us if he didn't get better. The temp went down
and he went to sleep so I let him sleep. Maybe I shouldn't have. He woke up
late again (me checking on him and the phone ringing at 11 (Scott calling
from Geneva) woke him up). He was very hot. I panicked for a while and then
decided that a trip to the doctor was necessary. So we went to the after hours
doctor at midnight. We were home by 1 so it wasn't too bad. He has an ear
infection. The first dose of antibiotics got rid of most of the fever. I feel
much better and I am sure that he does too. Sui-Ling picked up some groceries
for us and dropped them off. They were going to afternoon tea for Madeline's
first birthday. We were supposed to go, but didn't since Graham was sick.
It was very nice of her to bring us groceries and saved us a trip to the store.

June 25, 2002

Graham is doing very well. We skipped music
class last week and play group today, but I didn't want him to get anyone
sick. We will go next week. He woke up this morning and asked where daddy
was. He has asked several times. I keep explaining to him, but he doesn't
understand. I think that he will be really glad when his dad gets home.

June 27, 2002

It is a rainy day here. Graham is driving
me nuts. He needs to get out and run around but I don't think that it is going
to happen. I am not sure what happened to my good-natured little boy. I guess
he turned two. Maybe it is because he is still a little sick, but he has been
extremely whiny. It is probably just that terrible twos thing. I can't wait
until there is someone else here to deal with him. Of course Scott will be
too tired from traveling to be much help.

June 30, 2002

Daddy is home. Graham's welcome was a little
unenthusiastic. Oh well. He really likes the train that Scott got for him.

July 3, 2002

Graham has enjoyed watching
DVDs on Daddy's new computer. He got two from the US, Thomas and Veggie
Tales. He is glued to the computer screen anytime we turn them on. Kind of
a shame turning a computer into a DVD player, but that is how it goes some
times.

July 5, 2002

Graham ran into the dresser this morning.
He
has a cut by his eye. I thought that it would turn black, but it doesn't
look too bad. We went down and had lunch with Scott and took a quick walk
to the Botanical Gardens. Then we ate cake. Graham enjoyed it. He kept saying
yummy.

July 6, 2002

Graham spent the morning chattering "ride
car". It was a relief when we finally got in the car and went. He did
a really good job and seemed to have a good time. He especially enjoyed playing
on the slide at Waihola Lake. Mom didn't do a very good job getting snacks
packed, though. That is something that she needs to work on.

July 7, 2002

Another ride car day. Graham got to do a
lot of walking and he did a good job. He walked
down the roads, he walked
in the grass, he walked
on the beach. When he got tired he would stop and ask to be picked up.
He had a good time riding on his daddy's shoulders. He fell asleep on the
way home and didn't want to wake up when we got home. I finally had to wake
him up for dinner. It was a good day.

July 8, 2002

No music today, but we invited some friends
over for morning tea. Hayden, Hailey, and Stewart and their mom's came by.
Louise (Stewart's mom) brought treats for the grown ups and Kathryn (Hayden's
mom) brought treats for the kids. I made some muffins for the kids too. The
grown ups talked and the kids played and picked on one another. Graham isn't
too keen on sharing his toys, but he is at that age where he doesn't share
very well. I guess we will work on that. Everyone had a good time!

July 9, 2002

Play group today. Graham has been crying
a lot at play group lately. He doesn't like to share and doesn't stick up
for himself very well. I know that it is just a phase, but the crying is getting
annoying. We'll get though it, though.

August 8, 2002

Graham has decided that his dad is a pretty
okay person. I used to hear from Scott "he loves you more then me".
Well we are together all of the time, that is to be expected. With all of
the raveling that Scott has been doing Graham has realized that it is nice
to sit in dad's lap too. It is nice for all of us.

Graham has started pushing a chair into the
kitchen so he can get to stuff on the counter top. He watches me cook too.
Usually he is just in the way. Nothing is safe anymore.

August 9, 2002

We walked to the bakery with Scott this morning.
Well we were going to walk, but Sui-Ling saw us and stopped and gave us a
lift. Graham and I did walk home. It was cold and we were glad to get back
home. Graham had a croissant. He likes those.

Graham has become a butter fiend. He wants
toast and butter all of the time. If you leave the butter out you will eventually
find him in the kitchen eating just the butter. Kids are strange. When he
gets up in the morning he comes into our room and tells us what he wants for
breakfast. Eggs, milk, butter, toast. Sometimes it is yogurt, cereal, butter.
Graham you can't have butter on your cereal. Toast, butter.

He has started using tooth paste when he
brushes his teeth. Spitting, it seems, is lots of fun.

August 22, 2002

So how many diapers does one need for 9 days?
I called and we can get some there. I am sure that they will be very expensive.
Graham is waiting for the boat ride. I think that he will love the beach.

Scott brought back a truck from Graham that
Mary sent. He loves it. It is a car carrier that two cars on it. There is
one like it at playgroup. He has had a good time with it. He puts his hot
wheels on it too.

Graham has been having lots of fun kicking
his ball around. Last week at soccer, I let him kick the ball into the net.
He thought that was great. He kicks the ball around the house and stops and
claps. It is pretty fun to watch.

September 1, 2002

Graham is happy to be home with all of his
toys. He had a good vacation. He loved the sand. I think that we wore him
out most days. He was usually asleep by 7 or 7:30. He is still tired. He took
a long nap today. He
had a good time playing with his dad.

September 5, 2002

We went down and had lunch with Scott today.
When we were walking to the cafe, Graham decided to go puddle hopping. There
was one big puddle on the grass. He jumped right into it, hit the mud and
fell down. I didn't have a change of clothes for him. It was a nice warm sunny
day and he dried out quickly.

October 7, 2002

Well it has started. What's that? What's
that? Even things he knows. What's that? I guess I need to get prepared for
"Why is the sky blue?". Graham got a hair cut the other night. Scott
does the cutting and he does a good job. Actually everyone got their hair
cut last week. We all look much better.

Graham is getting very good at soccer. He
loves to kick the ball. I think that he will be disappointed that our soccer
league is done. We will have to try to take him out to the park every day
or so so he can kick the ball.

October 11, 2002

Hayden
came over this morning to play with Graham while his mom ran some errands.
They had a good time mostly. Hayden goes to day care a couple times a week
and is around older kids. He is more aggressive then Graham. Inevitably Hayden
pushes, hits or takes something away from him. Graham needs to get a little
bit of a back bone. Instead of running to mom when Hayden takes something
from him he should just ask for it back. (I know, they are only two) Hopefully
he will figure this out at some point.

December 23, 2002

Well Christmas is approaching and Graham
is very interested in presents. We don't have a tree or anything, but he knows
that there are presents up in mum's closet. I think that he will have a great
time come Wednesday.