Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Bully Among Us

Not a whole lot to report here in DooDah. It hasn't stopped me from running the camera battery into the ground, taking massive amounts of pictures, though. Let's see.....what's new?

Forrest has become somewhat of a bully lately. I think someone told him he's now the biggest and therefore needs to take full advantage of his God-given talents. He's been working on the toy thievery for awhile now, but it seems just overnight he's begun using his brute strength for less innocent personal enjoyment. He'll take things from the other babies just to prove he can. He could care less about the object after it's in his hands. However, up until that point, there is no distracting or detouring him from getting to what he wants. He is, in every sense of the word, a BULLY! Funny, if you switch the U for an I in bully......you get BILLY! Coincidence? I think not. Love you, dear Bill boy!

Despite this minor flaw, Forrest has the uncanny ability to make whatever he was doing wrong, seem right. How could you look at that face and be mad for long?! Little Miss Emma Tubre found this out the hard way. She caught him in the arms of another woman (Uncle Ryno's girlfriend, Angela), but took him back after some fast talking by Forrest (I didn't catch the whole conversation, but I'm pretty sure it went something like, "Dadada-Bababa-squeal-Wawawa-squeal-Mumumum"). But to show Emma how sorry he REALLY is, he wanted us to take a picture of him for her.



Sure, he sustained 3rd degree burns to his scalp, a terrible headache and vomited 4 times, but he said Emma was totally worth it! Billy could've shot him for selling out Bama for a woman. Then he realized......

Forrest isn't too picky about what goes on his head. Billy could have shot me for this picture, but I'm really just trying to deflate that big ego he's got goin' on right now.

Other pictures of Forrest:

My ornery little man. He's cute and HE KNOWS IT!

The little heathen gets in to everything. Newspapers and coupons are his favorites.

"You know I'm bad. I'm bad. You know it.!"

None of the babies are immune to Forrest's bullying. Laine, it seems, handles it with the most grace. He doesn't let it bother him all that much. In fact, I've been noticing that those two usually enjoy each other's company and have become buddies. Their cribs are next to each other and I always hear them talking through the bars to each other in the morning and after they wake up from naps (many times they'll poke each other through the rails to wake the other up, or pull the other's blankie into their own crib). I tried to catch the jabbering on video, but they caught sight of me. On a funny note, I did manage to catch a glimpse of Forrest's amazing hand dexterity.




Other pictures of Laine:

He's not happy that Forrest used him as a speed bump, but he'll tolerate it.

"Hmmm. I wonder if mom and dad realize I'm not as fat as my brothers and could probably escape through these bars?"

What a stud-muffin!

On to my little Pi-in-the-sky. What a ham! Recently, he's discovered the use of his index fingers and puts them to good use. You'd better watch out when he gets an intent look on his face and pulls out his pointer finger. Chances are, he's gonna try to stick that finger into the closest orifice around. Most commonly.....nostrils, mouths, eyeballs (okay, not an orifice) and occasionally ears. It's so funny to watch. He doesn't use any other fingers and he's very precise about where he wants that ONE to go! I'll try to get video of it sometime. In the meantime, I'm doing my best just trying to dodge "the finger".

Pictures of Pius and his baby blues:

Next up.....Danna Banana. She is still probably the most serious of the group, especially around unfamiliar faces. Of course, you'd never be able to tell that from the pictures. She sees a camera pointed anywhere NEAR her, and she is smiling and talking to the lens. I'm telling you, she's gonna make a career out of it when she gets older. Billy's thinking we've got ESPN's next Michelle Tafoya or Bonnie Bernstein on our hands.


Does the dress look familiar? Thanks, Emma! Those Tubre girls have great taste (except in sports teams)!

So, I had a large roll of pink tulle and tried to think up a use for it. My solution? A pink tutu for Danna! I also fashioned a bow to complete the outfit. Is it too frilly?


"Thumbs up, mom! LOVE the frill!"

Danna with cousin Maddie Jo
The Banana Princess is pretty darn good at getting around. While not quite as professional as the boys in her crawling skills, she's developed a technique of her own....

Group pictures:


The quadlets with Gramma Vicki and Grampa Stubby before heading to their first Bishop Carroll High School football game. Go Eagles!

"Seriously, mom? That's what you call a gate?"


Pius, Forrest and Laine....all trying to play with the same toy. Fortunately, they're all still smiling. Well, we think Laine is. Just call him Maggie Simpson.

The babies with cousins, Maddie and Mia, and Aunt Mollie

On the Billy and Moni front, we're still keeping extremely busy with work and school. Oh yeah....and FOUR BABIES! Thanks to our helpers, we were able to attend our friend's wedding and had a great time. We even got some self-portraits to prove we got out of the house. Congrats, Matt and Carli!

Self-portrait, Take 1

Self-portrait, Take 2. Really, one of these days we'll just ask someone to take our picture.

And we wanted to save the most important for last. A very special "Happy Birthday" wish goes out to one of our most beloved helpers, Janet. We hope you have a great day on Friday! Thank you so much for all you do. We love you!



Have a great Hump Day!

Moni

26 comments:

Andria said...

Wow Moni. You write a good baby book! Such gorgeous kids!

..I'm short on words,...and sleep!

Anonymous said...

Andria didn't say first, so I will. I'll look and read later; but saying first has been and will continue to be one of the most important comments.

I understand the sleep issue.

Peace Out,
UT

Misty said...

Forrest looked amazing in that hat! Is he is the first born, mine that was first was also the bully (still is in her own way).
The pics are gorgeous as always. And if you ever start making more tutu's, I'll order 4!

Misty said...

Oh,
It was good to see ya'll got out too! Hope you had fun!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Moni for posting:) Cute pics and videos of course. Andrea

Anonymous said...

Love the video of Forrest escaping the exersaucer I laughed out loud at that one. All the babies are getting to big and even cutier...if that possible. Love the all the pics

Stacy

Ashley Wasser said...

Danna's crawl IS very popular in the midwest! Lexi crawled like that for the longest time. Thanks for the great post - I love the long ones.

Are you thinking of going to the pumpkin patch too?

Anonymous said...

Oh my dear sweet Forrest, how I love thee, let me count the ways...

- The LSU Tiger on your hat helps bring out your inner strenth. I like my men strong

- As for the bow...I'm wearing the bows in this relationship, you can wear the pants, ok?

- But the #1 reason I love you is your fabulous combover...did you gel and comb your hair yourself or is you mother torturing you again?

Your Little Pony,
Emma

Jac Tubre said...

Oh my, Oh my...Forrest and Cullen could be twins! We were thinking of dressing them up as the big bad wolf (Cullen) and the 3 little pigs for Haloween to truly express life at our house...Cullen is SUCH a bully!

I love all the pics and video. Laine and Abbey were definitely meant for each other with the "Maggie Simpson" noonie thing. Abbey doesn't go anywhere without her noonie.

Don't let Tyger's little Banana be used as a speed bump! He may be little, but he will fly right over to the land of Oz and kick Forrest in the chops! Too cute!

Pius' eyes are so so gorgeous...that boy is a knockout (in a manly way). Love the self portrait...Billy should work on his aim...I hope he is better with aim at the toilet than he is with a digital camera.

Gotta go,
Love you guys,
Jac

Moni Graf said...

Hey Misty, Forrest is actually #2 in birth order. But that doesn't matter to him - he sees himself as #1. Sorry, but I don't think I'll be going into the tutu business anytime soon. I should have been sleeping instead of making that thing! I guess playing dress up with Danna is higher on the list of priorities.

Ashley-I've been meaning to get back to Crystal on the pumpkin patch outing...I don't know if we'll have time on Sunday. It's a busy weekend for us. I'd love to go, though!

Emma, have you seen Forrest's hair when it's not combed? Talk about a mop top! The combover is dorky, yes, but I'm just trying to keep him presentable for his little pony girl. When you two get married, you can do his hair however you want!

Jac-We're still working with Billy on his toilet aim. I'm just happy he's finally potty-trained!

Andria, Uncle Tommy, Andrea, Stacy - Thank you for being such loyal commenters and Graf quad supporters. You are ALL good reasons to take time to post!

Love,
Moni

Hilary said...

Love all the pictures..cute..cute..cute..cute babies!!!

Anonymous said...

Soooooo cute-cute-cute-cute!!!! Thanks a million for your pictures and discription of their personalities. I can't wait to hear who says the first Mumma and Dada. I know you'll never say who is your favorite but we'll be able to figure it out. Aunt GGr

Anonymous said...

Forrest is such a cutie...even though he is by far the orneriest... I think that's what makes him even cuter! Loved the pictures and post!

-Ang

Anonymous said...

Great post! I love all the pictures! It's amazing how fast they are growing. Two weeks is too long to be away from the babies. They are just so cute!
Love you all!
Budda

The Carlsons said...

ha! stinkers!

awe, forrest looks too cute with the bow in his hair. how about the tutu :P gotta keep those pictures around for when he hits his teen years - ha!

yes, i agree with misty and will be ordering 4 tutus too :) fyi, i call anna banana too. "anna banana!" or just "banana!" ah, the nicknames for our babies...that and i call them "stinkers" or "stink pots" ;)

hope you had fun at the wedding!

keep the pics and video coming! and thanks as always for sharing!

-fellow quad mom of GGGG and a 4yo boy

Shelia said...

Moni, I love your description of each baby! Priceless... the pictures too. Pius has the most beautiful eyes. I think Bethanie must be attracted to them, too... because she shreaked so loud when I tried to scroll the screen down that I think I'm now deaf in my right ear and I had to scroll back up again to get her to stop! (Then again, she seems to have always been partial to looking at pictures of Pius. Must be an early "crush"!).

I'm glad to see you were able to make it to a BC game... if you can call their big winning score spreads games! Hope all stays well on the homefront... and I can't wait to see pics of the kiddos in their Halloween costumes.

Shelia

P.S. I love your "Houdini" video.. even as a bully, Forest is adorable!

HansonTriplets said...

LOL...The video of Forrest and the exersaucer. I think Ethan is to that point...I am about to take the seat out of ours. I saw your post back to Ashley about the pumpkin patch. No big deal, call me if you change your mind. You have beautiful kiddos. I love hearing all about them! Crystal

Rick and Jenn Payne said...

Moni, you AMAZE me!! I LOVE reading about the kiddos...wow they are too too cute! Forrest acts just like Preston. There are NO boundries. Preston used to take the toys from the rest of the bunch and drop them off where they couldn't reach them. This was before they were crawling. Now, he just swipes them and starts giggling when they cry. Wow, do WE have are hands full. Life is back to normal on the farm and ALL is GOOD! We've sure missed you guys! I'm back to blogging and you've INSPIRED me to keep it up! Thanks for being such a good momma and a great gal! Love, Jenn

Stacey Faber said...

Hi Grafs-

I haven't posted in a while but keep up on the blog when I get a chance. I can't believe how much the kids grow from post to post. This is such a fun time although it is also an exhausting time. And I know that from just having one at a time so I can't even imagine it X4. Having this blog and all of the videos you've taken is such a great gift for the kids as they grow and for you to remember the "simpler" times! Ha! Love you all! Stacey

Stacey Faber said...

PS--It was great seeing you the other night, Moni & Billy (and the rest of the Graf family, too!). We've been missing all of you! You all look fabulous!

Anonymous said...

Holy crap! The kids are half the height of their Grandpa Stubby! How did that happen?!

xoxo, Courtney and Jason

Andrea said...

It was good getting to see them today!! I hated that I had a cold bc I really wanted to hold them all. Hopefully next time. At least I got some cute smiles from them:) Love ya, Andrea

Anonymous said...

FWGNFL Said.....

I can Defenitly see the Selenke in Pius. Good name choice there.

I see a baby Mark Moore in his pics.

Andrea said...

Monica, Don't you work at 13th and Tyler? I have a sonogram scheduled there tomorrow at 1:00! Andrea

Moni Graf said...

Yes, Andrea, I do work there. But I'm scheduled tomorrow to work from 7p-3a. So unless something goes completely wrong with your sono, I probably won't see you.

Love ya,
Moni

EMO said...

Happy Birthday Billy!!!!!!!!!!