I've Been Working Harder Than the Devil at a Deacons' Meeting!

I've been wanting to use this line in a blog title, and finally, I got my chance. When my sister was in a church play, this was one of her lines. For some reason this line with that cute, half southern, half British accent, just makes me smile. No, she's not British, but for some reason she has a twinge of the English accent and we're just not sure why.
But anyway, I have been working harder than the devil at a deacons' meeting trying to keep Graham happy. To put it nicely, we've had a rough month. Stomach virus, 5 shots in one day, two seperate reactions to his shots, a few fevers, four teeth fighting their way through the gums, and seperation anxiety just beginning. Did I mention Graham has four teeth trying to appear? Just wanted to make sure. Needless to say, I have quite a fussy baby. When I'm cooking, he holds on to my leg so I can't move freely about the kitchen. When I'm sitting down, he wants me to hold him for 2 seconds, then he wants me to put him down, then he wants me to hold him. He has also started this shrill scream when he gets frustrated or when he is mad, and of course if I am not holding him while I try to remove hot pans from the oven, he is going to scream.

At least I have some days or some hours when he is happy- otherwise I would be knocking on the doors of Allstate asking for my job back! In the midst of not feeling well, Graham's been trying to walk. He took his first steps in the middle of December. Then, he took several more steps in the beginning of January. Then, the week of his birthday he was walking all over the place. Now, he has reverted back to crawling. He is playing games with me for sure! I tell someone he's walking, and then they only see him crawl. Today he was walking all over the place, yesterday his preferred mode of transportation was crawling. I guess, for now, it's a crawl/walk combo. He'll convert to walking when he feels like it!

We had a pretty low key birthday party. Mainly family, a pot of chili, and of course some birthday cake. I had fun making elephant decorations for the party, and I'm sure Graham really appreciated it! Graham wasn't sure what to think about his cake, but he eventually dug in. He accidentally ended up having 3 cakes, so I gave him the 3rd cake for breakfast on his real birthday. I guess I'm making it a family tradition.

Last night I took a break to play with Graham and make him happy! I was lying on the floor and he was climbing all over me as if I were a playground! I said, "Love you Graham," and he bent down and put his face near mine. I had no idea what he was doing. Then I saw him open his mouth. I tried it again, "Love you, " and G did the same thing. I kept doing it and doing it, and even from across the room, Graham would come over and give me a big fat kiss. He had given me kisses before, but yesterday he made the connection that when I say, "love you" I usually give him a kiss. It was the most adorable thing I think I've ever seen him do. I even got my mom on the phone and when she said, "Love you," he would kiss the phone! That boy still wins my heart even though the past few weeks have been utterly frustrating!

So that's what's been going on in the Straka home. We're working hard at loving on and caring for a baby who's not so much a baby anymore. He's got overalls, wears shoes, says a few words, and is even semi walking. Where did the baby go?