Say Cheese

Sam had school pictures taken today. I have many, many years of school pictures ahead of me and I'm sure they will become just another chore/expense. But this was the first year, and I loved it!

We've been prepping Sam all week. I've previously posted some examples of the horrible things Sam does with his face when a camera comes out. All week I'd ask Sam to show me how he was going to smile in his school picture. No matter what he was doing at the time he'd make his face slack-jawed and blank and fall forward in a fake faint. (He is his father's child.)

He wore nice clothes to school instead of his usual play clothes. I tried to comb his hair but it had dried funny and there were pieces sticking up all over. He has a bruise on his right cheek from God knows what.

His teacher reported that he did a good job. She did not see how he smiled. She has tried to take pictures of him, and has seen the horror, so she understood my concern. She assured me that they use a good photographer and they usually get good pictures.

Pictures should be in in about four weeks. I can hardly wait!

Success

Matilda has a tenacity that I pray will stay with her forever. Eyes on the prize, she can't be dissuaded from anything until she succeeds. After trying to get in the cereal cupboard for ages she finally figured it out last week. I was doing laundry downstairs and came up to find Matilda on the kitchen floor surrounded by an entire box of Cheerios. I thought it was hilarious and took pictures. (She managed to dump out every box yesterday, resulting in most of our cereal being thrown away and all of my lower cupboards having to be emptied. That was not hilarious.)

She was soooo happy with herself.

She was a little appalled by Sam. She did all the work and then he shared in the Cheerios.

She then became appalled when he stopped eating and tried shoving them into his mouth.

She frantically ate as much as she could before I cleaned it up.

Evil is fun!

It Has To Be Done

If there is a baby in the tub, shaping his/her hair into a mohawk is required.

My Sunshine

Are You Ready For Some Football?

During halftime on Sunday we all went outside to play football. Well, Jackie and I watched and took pictures, but everyone else had a great time. It could have been an idyllic fall scene - an extended family enjoying a game together in the leaves - but, as always, my family was able to trash it up a bit.

Aw...Miranda and Sam. He ADORES her.

Aw...Mike and Sam. Sam is nuts about him, too (see any previous post).

Ummm...that pile seems a little excessive. How are Mike's legs going into the air like that? I have to say that I am really proud of Sam for hanging on to the ball. I also think this is hilarious as I know Eric is underneath all of that.

See? I recommend looking at an enlarged version of this one. It's awesome.

Now this I don't understand. Does either of them have the ball? Was this tackle necessary? I don't know which to worry about more - the fact that Eric is SO happy, or that it appears that Mike has completely given up and stopped fighting.

You all drive me nuts. I love you completely and I wouldn't trade you for anything.

Sam Speaks III

I asked Sam what he is going to do when he grows up. "Sit in a chair," he replied.

"What will you do in the chair?" I asked.

"Sit," he answered.

"Well," I said, "When you get big and make money are you going to take care of me?"

Sam considered it. "Are you going to let me drive your car?" he countered.

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Sam approached me, his forehead wrinkled with worry. "Mom," he said seriously, "Are those eyebrows the same ones you had when you were a baby?"

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Matilda was pulling on our curtains and I didn't want to get up. I called to her several times asking her to stop. Sam, sitting on his fire truck, decided to step in. "I'll help you, Mom!" he cried as he zoomed toward Matilda. "I'VE GOT A PLAN!"

6 - 0

Matilda Roar!

Dinosaur Roar! is one of the BEST baby/toddler books out there. It is adorable, funny, and it has dinosaurs. Perfect. Sam was obsessed with it and Matilda is now dragging around his old copy. I thought I'd get some cute pictures of Matilda looking at a book but as usual, my daughter had different plans.

Happy and excited, she gets her book.

She hasn't even opened it yet...she's laughing just anticipating the story.

The book is open but she's realizing that I'm taking pictures with my phone.

She throws the book to the floor...

...and runs at me, screaming for my phone.

Sam Speaks II

As I got off the phone this morning, Sam said, "Who were you talking to?"

"Dad," I replied.

"You mean Eric?" Sam asked.

Umm...yes.

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We were playing with Sam's farm animals. The chicken was sitting in the hay and I said, "I think the chicken is sitting on her eggs."

"Yeah!" Sam agreed. He took the chicken in his hand and made it cluck, "Now I'm just looking for my baby daddy!"

(I know what he meant here, and it wasn't how it sounded. Still, it was wonderful.)

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Sam turned to me and said, "I go to nursery school."

"Right," I replied.

"I go to ostrich school," he clarified.

Ostrich? "What?" I asked.

"Ostrich Nursery School," he repeated, and then he started spelling it for me loudly and slowly because I'm stupid. "A...L...D..."

AH. Yes, he does go to Aldrich Nursery School.

Pillow Baby

Sam, Matilda and I all look forward to the end of the day. They get to play with Dad and I get 25 minutes without someone pulling on my pant leg. Hooray!

They play really rough. It is usually football but they also play pillows. Playing pillows means piling all of our couch cushions on the floor and going nuts. They throw each other into them, stack them and tackle them, and beat each other with them. My daughter, the dainty flower, is the worst.

Matilda is 10 months old. How does she know how to get crazy like that? If she sees the cushions hitting the floor she screams. Holding the scream she zooms to the pile as fast as she can. She throws herself at them without the slightest hesitation or fear. Eric throws her again and again and she never stops laughing. Once she even got too much momentum and hit the pile, went up over it, and tumbled down the other side. She hit the floor and we froze - and heard her still laughing.

This isn't the best picture but it still makes me laugh. My baby girl is in her pink footie pajamas, holding her taggie blanket, and I'm pretty sure I see a nuk in her mouth. There is no one around her, no one encouraging her, and she is still throwing herself around on the pillows.

Matilda, I think you are the most awesome little girl I've ever known. (And you are going to be a BLAST at parties!)

Grateful

Papa is home!

Wally left the hospital tonight. As far as I have heard, he is doing great and is right where his doctors want him to be. I'm trying to put into words just how happy that makes me. Thinking about Wally puts a jumble in my head of him grilling, Eric laughing, Sam playing...I think of hugs and trust and support and laughing, laughing, laughing. Knowing that tonight he is home, where he should be, makes me so happy I can hardly stand it.

Welcome home, Papa!

No Flight Yet, Please

Sam wasn't too thrilled when Matilda started crawling. She was always in his way and in his stuff. She drove him nuts. Thankfully they are having a lot more fun with her walking. They play together a lot. Recently Sam got out his little push fire truck he got for his first birthday. Not for Tilda, of course, but to zoom around on himself. Matilda likes to "push" from behind.

The first time they did this I thought it was so cute. Sam waited for Tilda to make it over to him and grasp the back of the truck. My amusement turned to fear when Sam then turned to face forward, looking determined. "Okay, Tidda," he said. "Hang on tight!"

Thankfully I made it across the room in record time and stopped Sam from shooting down the hallway with Matilda flying behind him. For now this buzz-kill mama is only happy when everyone's feet are on the ground!

Tender Heart

Eric's dad, Sam's papa, had surgery on Tuesday. Everything went well and he's going to be perfectly fine. We went to the hospital yesterday to visit him. On the way we explained to Sam that we were going to see Papa, but he wouldn't be at his house, he would be in a bed, and doctors and nurses are working to make him feel better. Sam completely understood.

When we walked into the room Sam hesitated just a moment, then came in and acted like Sam. Susan was there, too, and we all chatted for several minutes. A nurse came in to the room and we started to say goodbye.

None of us had noticed Sam, sitting with his back to the wall, starting to cry. He normally cries out loud making sure everyone knows he is unhappy. Yesterday it was much more sad. His chin was quivering as he tried not to make any noise. Big tears were rolling down his face. Eric had to lean close to hear him. "Dad," Sam whispered. "Is she going to hurt Papa?"

We all assured him the nurse would not hurt Papa and she was helping him feel better. Sam kept crying quietly. "I want Papa to go to his house," he whispered.

It's breaking my heart remembering it now. Seeing a loved one in the hospital IS scary - especially someone like Papa, who is a superhero in Sam's eyes. I didn't like it and I know that Wally is totally fine. Poor Sam couldn't make sense of all of it.

We continued to reassure Sam that when Papa was better we would ALL see each other at Papa's house. Sam stopped crying and left feeling okay. I spoke with Susan last night and we will be going to their house for a visit as soon as Wally is home. I hate that Sam is worrying and want him to see that Papa is okay.

Sam is such a sweet, caring little guy. I'm praying he isn't still worried or scared.

The Big Red Dud

Sam spent last Saturday with Grandpa Mark and Tina. I had heard that Clifford was going to be at a local storytime and thought Sam would love it. We read (and watch!) a lot of Clifford in our house. So Grandpa and Tina were here early Saturday morning to whisk Sam off for fun.

As it turns out...it wasn't that great. Clifford WAS there, and Sam was impressed when he saw him come out. But after that - nothing. Clifford didn't do anything. He sat in a chair and some other woman read a Clifford story.

Sam is trying to make sense of all of this.

Whether the show is good or the show is bad, my kid is front and center. Way to get involved, Sambo!

After storytime they all went back to Grandpa and Tina's house. That was MUCH more fun for Sam. They had lunch, did puzzles, played a fishing game, played with cars, played UNO, and decorated a Halloween gingerbread house! No wonder Sam preferred that half of the day!

Sam is taking his jelly-bean placement very seriously.

Ooooh...spooky! (This house is now on my kitchen counter. I'm taking bets on how long it will sit there. I will be THRILLED if I can get rid of it by Thanksgiving.)

Thanks, Grandpa and Tina, for another fun day!

Those Feet Are Made For Walkin'

...and that's just what they do!

Matilda just walked! She walked a LOT. She did about five steps to me, then nine. Then she did 18, stopping a few times to balance herself but without sitting down. I'm doing math in my head...Matilda is nine months and 24 days old. Sam took his first steps at nine months and 14 days old. It scared Sam and it took him a few months to be comfortable walking. By the way Matilda was just laughing her head off as she marched across the room, I don't think I'm going to have much time before it's a constant.

Lord, give me strength!

These Are A Few Of Sam's Favorite Things

Eric started quizzing Sam this morning and I rushed to write them all down. Eric asked, "Sam, what is your favorite -"

Animal? giraffe
Toy? Tow-mater
Dinosaur? T-Rex
Show? Dinosaur Train
Book? all of them
Food? peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Song? Eye of the Tiger
Thing to do? play cars at Grandpa and Tina's house (he did this yesterday and is still angry his fun had to end)
Color? blue
Number? 10
Letter? A
Clothes? underwear, with pants and a Lightning McQueen shirt
Candy? sucker
Sesame Street character? Big Bird
Thing to do on the playground? slides
CD? The Beatles
Thing to play with Dad? football
Thing to play with Mom? watch Dinosaur Train (Why, you little...)
Thing to play with Matilda? her toys

Finding Sam-o

Sam had his first swimming lesson last night!

I enrolled him in a beginner's class that requires a parent in the water with the child. I could not do it, for reasons I have explained many times before, so Eric became the swimming parent by default. They headed out together wearing layers and layers over their swim trunks.

They were SO cute when they came home an hour later, hair slightly damp and both grinning like fools. They had a blast! It sounds like they packed a lot into that 30 minutes. Sam practiced floating (with Eric's help), kicking, paddling with his arms, and rolling into the pool. He has four more sessions in this class and can then start taking parent-free lessons.

I have had massive guilt hanging over me, knowing how important it is to get kids into swimming lessons as soon as possible. Now I'm glad I waited. Sam is thrilled and engaged with the classes and it sounds like we lucked into a great teacher.