3 years, 1 month/49 weeks, 1 day.

When Connor saw what a blast Graham and Molly were having licking the porch door (?), he had to get in on the action.  Thank you for having us, Nana, and thank you for sharing some of those amazing tiny baby days with us, Emily and Bob!

3 years, 1 month/49 weeks.

Hello baby Claire!  Lovely to make your acquaintance!  We had a wonderful time meeting Claire, playing with Molly, reading with Nana, swimming with Uncle Bob, and shopping with Aunt Emily!

3 years, 1 month/48 weeks, 6 days.

In more realistic grandmother visitation news, we pulled the car seats out of the basement to adjust the straps for our drive to Nana's house tonight.  Graham tried out his car seat along with the special guys he's bringing for the voyage--his blue blanket, Fuzzybear, and his Philly Phanatic pillow.  Connor hadn't ridden in a car since August, but it was probably our easiest drive ever--no crying, no barfing, no traffic.

3 years, 1 month/48 weeks, 5 days.

Graham practiced his downward dog during yoga class at school today.  (His school brings in a yoga teacher every couple weeks).  Later, Graham emptied an entire shelf of board books into Connor's crib, announced that the crib was a plane going to Grammy's house, and the two of them spent the afternoon flying to see Grammy.

3 years, 1 month/48 weeks, 3 days.

This is a somewhat meta watercolor entitled "Crayons."

3 years, 1 month/48 weeks, 1 day.

Graham had the greatest 2 hours of his life at Norah's birthday party at Carmello the Science Fellow's Cosmic Cove today.  He touched a skink, gerbil, snake, and rabbit and did several science experiments, including making glow-in-the-dark "boogers," but the highlight was Carmello's steady patter of stand-up comedy directed at his 3-year-old audience, which Graham and Noah thought was absolutely hilarious.

3 years, 1 month/48 weeks.

Another beautiful afternoon, another trip to the nature park to look for monsters and ghosts.  

3 years, 1 month/47 weeks, 5 days (11 months!).

Happy 11 months, Connor!  Connor just cut his 5th tooth (upper lateral incisor) and seems to be working hard on some lower ones as well.  He has a few possible words--"Dada," "more," and "all done"--but Mama is the only one I think we can confirm so far (aka, it's the one he yells when he wakes up or gets stuck somewhere).  He's also working hard on some approximation of blanket (for his special blue & yellow blankie) and shouts unintelligibly at me whenever it's within sight.

3 years, 1 month/47 weeks, 4 days.

A standing ovation for brand new baby Claire Abigail!  Congratulations, Emily, Bob, and Molly!  We can't wait to meet the new cousin!

(Connor has started standing on his own for a few seconds at a time.  He's very excited about it!)

3 years, 1 month/47 weeks, 3 days.

Daddy went to school with Graham today to be the parent helper.  Afterwards, we all took a trip to Shake Shack for Connor's first taste.  While he liked the burger and fries, he could tell he was really missing out on something when we didn't give him any of the ice cream.  Just a month until your birthday, buddy!

3 years, 1 month/47 weeks, 1 day.

Baby Zelda came over this morning to brunch with Graham and Connor.  Zelda nursed, Graham ate fruit, and Connor ate his weight in smoked salmon.

3 years, 1 month/47 weeks.

Graham looked for monsters and built a huge "campfire" at the nature park today while wearing a jacket made by Grammy for Uncle Peter.  Thanks Grammy!  The jacket will be perfect for spring.

3 years, 1 month/46 weeks, 6 days.

All of the stay-at-home Millers had a very exciting morning this morning.  Graham and Connor got to play with their friends Honor and Gil and I got to play with my brand new mixer!

3 years, 1 month/46 weeks, 3 days.

Spring is coming!  We spent an amazing afternoon of mid-60s weather at the nature park's sand box.  Graham made birthday cakes in the sand and sang "happy birthday" to himself and Connor practiced cruising.

Thanks for the Pigpen t-shirt, Nana!  Graham looks forward to wearing it on many sandy days to come.

3 years/46 weeks, 2 days.

Graham and Connor did a little tandem sliding after school today.  If you put him on the edge of the slide, Connor will tilt himself forward to get some momentum going.

Graham was very excited to assemble and paint the car he got as a favor from Maddie's birthday party.  He made sure to use all the included paint, so you don't have to worry about any missed spots in his paint job.

3 years/46 weeks, 1 day.

Bounce house at Maddie's birthday party!  Later, Graham and Bella caught up while the cake was passed around.

3 years/46 weeks.

Looking like a tough guy in his puffer jacket.  Hopefully the season for this will be short--it's so puffy he can only partially put his arms down.

3 years/45 weeks, 6 days.

This little maniac climbed onto the rocking chair by himself and rocked himself back and forth this morning.

3 years/45 weeks, 4 days.

Graham made a "suitcase" before school today.  I don't entirely follow the logic behind this game, but basically, he takes all the stuff from his "nest" (the pile of blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals on his bed) and stuffs it between the couch and the coffee table, then pulls the couch cushions around him.  This completes the suitcase.  He and his stuffed animal friends then hang out in the suitcase, reading books, taking rests, and chatting, and he loves it.

Happy birthday baby-no-more Hazel!  We can't wait to see you toddle.

3 years/45 weeks, 3 days.

The oatmeal monster needed a sink bath after breakfast.  It seems like Connor may be getting the hang of this eating thing.  After months of picking, he's been wolfing down enormous portions of food.  Oatmeal with banana and peanut butter, brown rice and black beans with cheese, chicken with roasted potatoes and onions, scrambled eggs with zucchini, roasted asparagus, and kiwi have all been big hits in the past few days.

3 years/45 weeks, 1 day.

This afternoon, we took a family trip to the playground followed by beer/wine/gelato/asparagus quiche, as appropriate, at a neighborhood cafe.  Fingers crossed for above-freezing temps the next time we do this!