It Never Ends

Matilda, Matilda. I've known from the moment I found out I was pregnant that this baby was a force to be reckoned with. I just pray she uses her powers for good.

She has been rolling, scooting, and crawling for quite a while. Several weeks ago she started pulling herself up to her knees. Yesterday we were in the kitchen (we are always in the kitchen) when she started struggling with a case of pop. I did the dishes and listened to her struggle and scream at the pop for several minutes. Then I heard a happy scream.

I turned around and saw her there, standing solidly on her two little feet, with just one hand holding on to the pop for balance. She was as happy as I was horrified. We stood like that for quite a while, Matilda beaming and me sick to my stomach. She eventually managed to sit herself down and crawled away.

If I could add a sound to this post, it would be the ringing of the bell marking the start of a prize fight.

Vindication - And Concern

My friend Kelli emailed me the other day to let me know about this:

There is a line of very cute children's clothing called Matilda Jane. My first thought was, "HA!! I'm NOT the only person who thinks it's a great name! Someone else is earning a living with that name!! HA HA HA!!"

My second thought was, "Oh, crap. Grandma Barb is going to see that as an invitation to buy Matilda a new wardrobe with her name on the labels."

Win some, lose some.

Death By Pureed Peas

Seriously. Come on.

I was afraid of doing everything wrong with Sam so I never made his baby food. I don't know why I thought a for-profit company making a million batches a day would do any better - but still.

Matilda is going into food slowly. The other day I decided to make her some peas. I don't have a steamer so I decided to just boil and puree them. Again, I'm not sure if that is right, but I can't imagine how it would hurt if I was wrong.

I got out my food processor and boiled the peas. When they were done I drained them into the sink. Somehow, as I poured the boiling water, I managed to pour it directly on my left hand. Holy cow did that hurt. It caused immediate swelling and blistering.

Cursing under my breath, I held my burning left hand in the air as I tried to pour the peas into the food processor. As I started I noticed a crumb of something in the bottom. I picked up the container to shake out the crumb, not knowing that the blades weren't attached. The blades fell out and I reflexively tried to catch them with my left hand. I couldn't curl my fingers but I managed to catch the blade between the side of my hand and my body. I managed to cut my hand pretty badly.

I honestly couldn't use my hand for a few days. Store-bought baby food, here I come!

I Knew...

...that there was something different about this kid.

While we were in the doctor's waiting room the other day our attention was drawn to a very active little boy. He was throwing his toys at people, screaming, and running up and down the rows of chairs - ON the chairs. I tried to distract Sam but he just sat there, wide-eyed and watching.

I whispered, "Sam, he's being naughty, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Sam whispered back.

"You don't act like that, do you?" I asked.

"Mom," Sam said, looking at me seriously. "I don't even want to act like that."

I just couldn't be more amazed by this son of mine!

Woo Hoo!

Yesterday afternoon I was yet again at the doctor's office with Sam and Matilda. They are both perfectly healthy. Why does it seem like I am always there??

We were in the waiting room when the nurse called Matilda's name. I didn't hear her the first time. The room quieted and waited for someone to stand up. The nurse said Matilda's name again.

Sam sat straight up in his chair. "Matilda Dailey?" he cried. He leaped off his chair, shouted, "Wooo hoooo!" and ran to the nurse. The entire room burst out laughing.

At least one of us was having fun!

Nothing Clever

My brain productivity is hit or miss - and right now it's a miss.

We are very busy this week as we get to play with Charlie every day! Sam is soooo excited to have her here. I have a lot of things planned for us. Any mom knows to exhaust children as much as possible.

I'm off to make coffee filter butterflies!

Therapy, Anyone?

Sam surprised me the other day by drawing a happy face. I laughed and cheered - I didn't know he was able to draw. Since then all he has been doing is walking around with a pen and piece of paper, drawing what he calls "silly faces."

Is anyone else absolutely terrified by my son's interpretation of silly?

My favorite:

M - I - K - E

Sam is thisclose to being able to read. He has known his letters and their sounds for ages. He is even sounding out words. He just has one mental roadblock.

Mom: Okay, Sam. Look at this word. How is it spelled?

Sam: C. A. T.

Mom: What sounds do those letters make?

Sam: Kuh. Ah. Tuh.

Mom: Can you say the sounds faster?

Sam: Kuh-ah-tuh.

Mom (so excited): What does that say, buddy?

Sam: Mike!

Repeat the above scenario with dog, ball, pig, hat, and car...and you have a normal morning in our house.

I'm Only One Person

I have hardly had a chance to catch my breath the last week.

I have been doing a lot of preschool work with Sam. He's been more receptive than usual and I try to take advantage of his moods. In addition to early reading and writing we've been talking a lot about the United States.

Matilda never, ever stops moving. She's eating food regularly and has established her morning and afternoon naps. She has eaten every important piece of paper in the house.

I've been Susie Homemaker. I'm baking nearly everything from scratch. Nearly all of my time is spent in the kitchen. I always have a batch of something going - bread, brownies, casseroles, pies...

Combining all of that with trying to get in at least three hours of Bejeweled a day - well, I just haven't had time for the blog.

Picture Proof

If I haven't made it perfectly clear - Sam and I LOVE to read. As shown here, we literally read until we just can't read any more.

Emilie, (about) age 4

Sam, age 3

Thanks, Grandma Barb, for sending that picture!

Storyteller

One of my greatest joys of being a parent is really liking my kids. I love them, of course, but so far I've also been amazed by just how fun they are. I didn't imagine that Sam and I would have such similar interests by now. He and I are both obsessed with books.

It really is about the books - not necessarily about the reading. We both read constantly but he seems to love the simple act of holding a new book as much as I do. If I were to guess, reading and playing with his books takes up well over half of his day. There's running and yelling and building, too, but I can almost always find him sitting in front of his bookcase, reading.

I read so much and so often that it isn't unusual for me to read my dreams. Has anyone else done that? My dream is actually the image of a page, and on the page is the typed transcript of my dream. "The pink elephant walked into the room. I tried to run but was moving really slowly. Then Jackie came, but it wasn't really Jackie." I'm fairly certain Sam is not reading his dreams yet, unless his dreams are, "Sam. Sam. Cat. Mom. Mike. Sam. Go. Sam."

He can't read but he can definitely talk. I have been thrilled to hear him start to talk in book text. Word for word, I've heard the following:

"'Wow!' said Sam. 'Look at that tiger!'"

"One day, bear and tiger were on the table. 'Oh no!' said tiger. 'Bear, you fall!' Bear fall off the table. 'Tiger!' said bear. 'Help me! I fall!'"

"Mom and Sam played and did puzzles. Mom was so pleased."

In my opinion, it is the most awesome thing Sam has ever done. Keep those stories coming, little dude!


**I have to add...I just published this post and went upstairs. I found Sam sitting in his room, every book from his bookcase surrounding him, with Eight Days A Week playing on his CD player. Face it - the kid is cool.

Family Fun

We had such a great holiday weekend. Eric had to work Friday and Saturday mornings but otherwise we were all together! We went to the zoo, rented movies, went for walks, made dinners, played board games, went out for ice cream, and took naps.

Starting a normal routine after such a great weekend is always hard. We're just counting the days until Friday...

Love Me Do

Eric and I don't always agree on our music. We both have a wide variety of likes with very few overlap. This meant that all through high school, if we were together we were either listening to Sublime or Everclear. Neither of them are our favorites but at least we could both stand them.

Our struggle over the radio is no less intense now than it was 15 years ago. On top of both of our opinions we now have Sam in the back seat. Some of the things we like aren't appropriate for him to hear, so they are out. Others Eric and Sam like but I despise.

The one CD we can all agree on is 1 by The Beatles. It has been in the CD player for over a month. It's a CD that Eric and I could never get sick of and Sam just loves it. It is hilarious to us to hear his little voice singing along with such great songs. Sam knows every word to "She Loves You", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", and "Can't Buy Me Love".

He loves them all, but Sam's favorite, favorite song of his little life is "Love Me Do". We don't even have our seatbelts on and he is begging us to turn it on. We can see him in the rear-view mirror, little head bopping along as he gazes out the window and sings his heart out. It makes me so, so happy.

Love, love me do

You know I love you

I'll always be true

So please, love me do