54 weeks, 4 days.

A little early to start gambling, right? Graham figured out the closures to the poker chip case, adding one more item to the relocate-to-a-high-shelf pile.

54 weeks, 3 days.

Graham does a little mopping up around the house. Thanks, Graham!

54 weeks, 1 day.

Graham's favorite part of birthday party season is the balloon he gets to take home from each party. He and the cats fight over who gets to play with the string.

54 weeks.

Graham tried a fork for the first time today (thanks for the fun silverware set, Molly!). He enjoyed playing with it, but didn't understand the concept at all. We'll try again in a few weeks.

Later, we met up with Graham's friend Sam for some games in the play tent.

Thanks to Nana and Grammy, we have some updates to Graham's adventures over the past weeks:
Meeting Uncle John
First trip to the outdoor pool on Sanibel Island
Birthday Party
Last day with Grammy

53 weeks, 6 days.

Graham took advantage of the beautiful weather and his new-found walking skills and spent hours in the park today. He is suddenly interested in exploring the play structures and can go down the slide in a seated position rather than his usual head-first technique.

53 weeks, 4 days.

Graham was evicted from his nursery this afternoon due to a repair being done on the radiator, forcing him to take his afternoon nap in the kitchen. He made it work.

53 weeks, 3 days.

Grammy gave Graham a ride around the park on her last day in Brooklyn. Thanks for such a great visit, Grammy! We'll miss you!

53 weeks, 2 days.

Graham was very pleased to have a visit from Auntie Spice and Uncle Adam this weekend. Thanks for the birthday outfit, Peter & Tiffany!

53 weeks.

Graham is a very enthusiastic reader right now. He selects his books and very urgently holds them out to be read, making noises that apparently mean "read this to me immediately!". If multiple people are around, he will try out everyone to see who is the best reader. When you ask him where characters in the book are, he can point to lots of them--recently, he has pointed out the gingerbread man, the duck, the frog, the goose, the moon, the cat, the puppy and the pumpkins in various books. Thank you to everyone who gave him such great books for his birthday.

52 weeks, 6 days.

We stopped into Barnes & Noble this afternoon and Graham had a dance party in the toy aisle.

52 weeks, 4 days.

On the move!

52 weeks, 3 days.

Graham had his 1 year appointment at the pediatrician today. Updated stats: Graham is 30.8" tall (79th percentile); weighs 22 lb, 10 oz (48th percentile); and has a head circumference of 48.0 cm (89th percentile). To continue the annual report, Graham typically sleeps from 7:30 pm until 6:30 or 7 am and takes 2 naps for a total of 3 - 4 hours of daytime sleep. He nurses 6 times a day (before and after each sleep), but in a recent major breakthrough, no longer nurses to sleep. He goes into his crib awake, sometimes chats a bit, and puts himself to sleep. He has 3 square meals a day and sometimes a snack or two. He is not particularly fussy about what he eats, but he does have favorites--fresh mozzarella, meatballs, latkes with applesauce and tiny frozen blueberries are all shoveled into his mouth at lightening speed. He loves bananas so much that he starts squealing and pounding on his high chair when he sees one. He probably eats about 70/30 finger foods/purees.

Graham chitchats non-stop but doesn't have any real words yet. He says "Mama" and "Dada" in a way that seems discriminating at times but doesn't use those words consistently. He is increasingly interested in communicating, however, and points and yells to try to get his message across.

Graham can stand unsupported for up to a couple minutes at a time and is walking short distances (longest walk yet was about 10 feet). His favorite activities are trips to the park (where he enjoys swinging, sliding head-first and exploring the park toys), swimming, playing peek-a-boo and reading books (his favorites are books with flaps or other activities and Sandra Boynton books, and he can turn the pages or point to certain objects in the pictures when asked). He likes cause-and-effect toys, walkers and music (especially dance parties with Daddy).

52 weeks, 2 days.

Birthday party! Graham had a great time at his birthday party despite taking a concerningly brief nap beforehand. Turns out that Graham likes frosting. Somewhat dry cake, not so much. Thanks to Grammy, Nana and Aunt Emily for making the journey to be there for the loudest playgroup ever.

52 weeks, 1 day (1 year).

Happy birthday, Graham! In honor of his birthday, Graham learned to flush the toilet.

52 weeks.

Graham uses a spoon for the first time! He was resisting being fed so we handed over the spoon, which was more successful than I expected.

51 weeks, 5 days.

Graham took a break from swimming and eating shells to play peekaboo with Grammy at the park this afternoon.

51 weeks, 3 days.

Graham took a warm-up swim with Grammy, Granny Annie, Daddy and me in the pool before moving on to the ocean.

51 weeks, 2 days.

Graham checks out the view from the plane en route to Sanibel Island, Florida, where we joined Grammy, Grannie Annie and Pop Pop for a few days of beach fun. Graham was a great traveler--he even took a 90 minute nap in the car seat in the plane! His behavior on our flights with him has changed so much since our first flight at 8 weeks, when he nursed/slept the entire time. This flight was the first one during which he was interested in the buttons in the armrests and above the seats and in the contents of the seat pockets. No need for any official toys.







Graham went straight to the beach when we arrived at Sanibel Island and had a great time in the surf with his Uncle John.

50 weeks, 6 days.

Graham and Sam took turns pushing each other in Elliot's riding car this afternoon.

Graham is turning into a toddler. In addition to taking a few toddles now and then, his temperament is changing. He has a new smile which is heartbreakingly cute and seems to be a social smile--shot to people rather than as a reaction to something he likes--and he has started getting angry when things don't go his way (i.e., don't try taking a toy away from him or turning him down when he wants to read a book!).

50 weeks, 5 days.

Caught with his hand in the cracker box. It may be time to baby-proof the kitchen cabinets.