July-August 2005 BIG Changes!

(Click on a photo for a larger version.)

Here we all are celebrating 4th of July evening on Capitol Hill  However, we spent most of July 4th weekend with the Droeges of St. Michaels.  Yay!  The Droeges babysat Griffin TWICE!  First time Griffin was ever awake and in a place with neither Mom nor Dad handy.  Where did parents go?  1) Sunday services at the Catholic church down the steet, 2) a relaxing tour of the Bay in a canoe.  Griffin loves Sandy and Roy and they had no trouble watching him.  Griffin's cousin Alex was also there and he and Griffin are great playmates.

Speaking of people Griffin loves . . .  Cammy and Howard flew out from Portland, OR!  Above, Griffin is celebrating his buddy Grayson's birthday party at Garfield Park.  Why Garfield and not good old reliable Marion?  When we returned from our trip to Okracoke Island, the old playground was totally dismantled and workers were constructing the new playground.  So we all trekked a couple blocks down to Garfield.  Below, Birthday boy Grayson in orange celebrating with Olivia, G and Spencer

Olivia holds Griffin's hand.  They love to communicate with each other by looking into each other's eyes and saying "ooooooo."  It's so sweet.

Cammy and Howard at the Droeges.

Left, Griffin celebrates the reopening of Marion Park playground!  Daddy saw the workmen taking down the fence on the way home from the gym and Mommy informed the whole neighborhood by e-mail!  Griffin was the first kid on the playground!  Later, his very assertive friend Stella arrived.  Griffin loves her, but fears her a bit, too, as her hugs and kisses sometimes overwhelm him.  Then the "girl-next-door" sweetie pie Elise arrived!

Last day of maternity leave -- fun times at the museums, then met friends at Sculpture Garden to listen to jazz and picnic on the grass.  Very relaxing.

Below and left, Griffin's first day of "school" at DOL daycare.  Daddy took off from work for the first week that Mommy went back to work.  On the last few days of the week, Griffin started to attend daycare, but with Mommy or Daddy close at hand if needed.  Left photo is "circle time" on his first morning -- as you can see he loved it!  By the end of the week he was even able to take his afternoon nap at the center.  The next week had some ups and downs.  Once, Mommy went down to check on G and she saw him holding hands with two little girls and dancing in a circle and LAUGHING -- all the children were laughing and singing -- but when a child pointed out to Griffin that his mommy was at the window, G started to cry.  Too much emotion perhaps.

Griffin at the Results gym with Ms. Donna and Ms. Christina!  They took such good care of him while Mommy worked out during maternity leave.

It is obvious that G already loves the teachers (Miss Betty, in right photo) and the other "babies" (he whispers "bye, bye, babies" before he falls asleep at night), yet the days have been long and right now it just upsets G to have visits from Mommy during the day.  Being home with Mommy all day meant always having what he wanted when he wanted it: with daycare he is subject to their strict schedule.  But with daycare, he gets to hang out with all these other kids all day long and play games and paint and EAT (his weight is barely 23 pounds so his asking for seconds at lunch is very good news).  It's as if when he walks into the playroom he relaxes and says, "Ahh, here are my people!"

Back to the index

Back to Griffin's home page