Cuddles...

Every once and awhile, Griffin will cuddle with me.  He is a pretty cuddly guy in general, as long as he's drinking a bottle or having us read books to him, but he rarely cuddles beyond that.  I love to drink in the moments when they come, so this post is for me to remind myself later.  There's nothing like a little one lying on your chest...love it.

16 month monster!!

Technically Griffin is now 17 months old, but I like to wait until the month is over to give updates, so I'll get all the fun things he did during the month.  This month, Griffin has been:

• Giving kisses to everyone!  He even puckers up and says "muah!"  It's so cute that we make him do it all the time.
• Learning tons of words: Pa Pa (Grandpa), Kay Kay (Aunt Kathy and/or Katie), Yake (Jake), Clock, knock knock, ding dong, keys, ball, ba ba (bottle), bubbles, all done, car, truck, and so many more.  He can also repeat pretty much anything we say, including beat boxing, which is really funny.
• Learning that saying please gets him things, so he says it all the time before asking for anything, probably 50 times a day.  He also screams it really loudly - sometimes I will hear him screaming "please!" from the other room, and then I walk in and he wants me to do something.
• Still being a little more picky with food, although he has his days where he'll eat pretty much anything.  This month we learned that he likes the mini foster farms corn dogs, and the taco soup that I make from my friend Tatia's recipe (Thanks Tatia!!!).  He also still loves fruit - all day, all the time.  Also, his favorite snack is goldfish crackers.
• Drinking more out of his sippy cup!  He finally learned how to hold the straw-less sippy up, so he can drink it by himself without us holding it for him.  Before, he would only drink from the straw ones, but he doesn't like them as much.
• Wearing 12-18 month clothes, though some are still too big for him.  I think he will be wearing bigger tops than bottoms soon.
• Still sleeping 12 hours at night, with a 3 hour nap around 1:00.  I love it :)

This little monster is the best thing in our lives, and we adore him :)

New House: drywall, exterior

Our house is coming along!  In fact, it's flying along.  We are supposed to close on August 23rd, but it looks like it might be sooner if everything continues to stay on schedule.  This week the exterior stone is going up, and the finish carpenter is coming.  In a few weeks the mantel and cabinets will be going in, and I'm so excited to see how it all looks together!  Here are some pics of the progress:

Exterior - the hardy board, stucco and trim are done, and so are the soffit and facia, except for the ridge caps.

Ty and Randy made custom shelves in the garage, and they'll be painted along with the rest.  Also, the small bench will be attached to the wall and will have bead board and hooks above it for everyone to hang things on.

Most of the tile in the house is this type - this is the entry.

Ty has almost finished board and batten in Griffin's room.  It will be painted similarly to our last house.

Coffered ceiling in the master bedroom.

Master bath with tile tub surround.

The shower is getting there - the trim is granite, the same that the counter tops will be. 

HUGE decorating shelf - I can't even think of what I'll put up there to fill it all.

So that's the house so far.  I can't believe that in a month and a half it will be done, and we'll be moving again!