By special request
November 23, 2008 | Filed Under Sammy, videos | 4 Comments
It was recently mentioned to me that I haven’t posted any videos in a while. For your viewing pleasure, this is Mr. Sammer being adorable, walking, and playing fetch. I’ve said it before, having dogs is great training for kids.
He goes to 11.
November 21, 2008 | Filed Under Photos, Sammy | 1 Comment
Sammy is now 11 months old, and everyone feels the need to tell me that he isn’t a baby anymore. I am resisting though. I will continue to refer to him as my baby until at LEAST 12 months.
I can’t deny the personality he is exhibiting now though. Often laid back, he is happy to snuggle or people watch. When he gets wild, watch out! His big eyes will gleam as he sneaks over to the dog dishes or tries to touch my computer. He loves to laugh. He throws his head back, squishes his eyes shut, and squeals. He loves playing peek-a-boo and tickling, but acting silly gets a laugh too. He is such a silly boy. He loves the dogs and is pretty gentle with them. He doesn’t pull tails but is content to pet and get sloppy kisses.
He will follow Ben anywhere, which can be a problem. One minute he’s at my feet, the next minute he’s playing with something he shouldn’t be after following Ben to his bedroom or the bathroom. He is walking pretty often now, but still relies on crawling for speed. His toddle can’t keep up with big brother.
Sam plays with all kinds of toys, when brother will share. He likes to push around cars and trucks, roll balls back and forth, and stack and nest tupperware. Of course, hiding things is great fun. I’ve started letting him play with empty cardboard boxes for a few days, and when I pick them up, I find the strangest things inside. A cereal box filled with dog food? Jason also finds interesting things in his shoes in the morning.
Like his father, mother, and brother before him, Sammy likes books. He and Ben fight over my lap now for reading time (a little sibling jealousy going on there), and I can often settle him down by sitting down and quietly reading. His screams will slowly decrease, and he’ll climb into my lap to look at the pictures.
The jealousy is becoming an issue with Sam. He is very attached to his Momma, and a week home alone with Mommy while he was sick did not help. He cries and tries to push Ben off my lap and cried when I recently held a friend’s new baby. He cries when I leave and clings to my leg. I guess this is prime time for separation anxiety though, isn’t it?
Sammy is becoming a much better eater, not showing as much of the earlier tendencies toward pickiness. I’m trying to feed him as much solid food as possible, resorting to baby food only for things that are on the no-no list or too spicy. I can’t wait to share EVERYTHING with him. He is drinking out of a cup with or without a sippy lid now, and I am happy to retire the bottles. I am examining my freezer stash and hoping to quit pumping in early December. I made it almost a year! I’ll be happy to be rid of the whoosh-whoosh albatross, though I plan to continue nursing in the morning and night for a while longer.
The night time routine has been a rollercoaster. While he was sick, he was waking up to 6 times a night, usually needing new pjs and bedding. For the last several nights, we have only had 1 night time feeding. I hope I’m not jinxing it, but it is going really well.
Sammy is blessing us with a few words now. We get “Ma, Da, and uh-oh” very regularly. A few times we think we have heard dog and thank you, but it isn’t consistent enough to go on record.
I feel so blessed that this healthy, beautiful, snuggly little boy is mine. I love you Sammers, more and more every minute.
stop gap
November 20, 2008 | Filed Under Photos, Sammy | 2 Comments
Today, Sammy is 11 months old. I don’t have the energy to write the post that this event deserves, so this is my stop gap until I can string words together.
These are a couple of my favorite Sammer pictures from the past month. Some goofy faces at the park earlier this month before winter came:
Just the sweetest smile from one his his sick days. I love this boy:
This guy, my big guy
November 19, 2008 | Filed Under Benny | 2 Comments
You know how you can go merrily on your way and not even notice the passage of time until WHAM! Your baby is 4? Yeah, that totally happened to me this week.
In Ben’s class, they use “jellybeans” as behavior control. You earn them for good behavior and lose them for bad behavior. The “jellybeans” are just smiley faces on a chart, and the class is working toward a party.
At dinner the other night, Ben was in a chatty mood (he only has 2, completely silent or non-stop chatter). He spent dinner explaining the jellybean system to us. Here is a fairly accurate recreation of our conversation:
Ben: If you get 5 jellybeans, you get a party. 4 jellybeans, you get a party. 3 jellybeans, no party. 2 jellybeans you have to sit out. 1 jellybean, you have to sit out all day. 0 jellybeans, you have to sit out all night.
Mom and Dad: You mean you can’t go home?
B: Right. 0 jellybeans you can’t ever leave.
MD: Do you ever get 0 jellybeans?
B: NO!
MD: Does anyone ever get 0 jellybeans?
B: Just XXXXX. He gets no jellybeans and no party and has to stay all the time.
MD: When is the party?
B: Tuesday. (everything is on Tuesdays lately according to Ben)
MD: How do you get jellybeans?
B: If you are not good, you lose jellybeans. If you are good, you can get them back. If you hit your friend, you lose a jellybean and only have 4. Then you bite you friend, you lose a jellybean and only have 3. Then, you push your friend and only have 2. Then, if you poke your friend in the eye, you lose another jellybean and only have 1. Then, you trip your friend and have ZERO jellybeans!
MD: Ummmm…if you have 5 jellybeans and you lose 2, how many do you have?
B: 3
MD: If you have 2 jellybeans and do something really good and get 2 back, how many do you have?
B: 4.
HOLY COW! MY KID CAN ADD AND SUBTRACT. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?
But wait, there is more! Ben is learning a letter a week in school. Each week, they talk about the letter, practice writing it, learn the sound, and color pictures of things that start with the letter. We try to reinforce this by pointing things out during the week that start with the letter, emphasizing the first sound.
During the same dinner, we had this exchange:
MD: Ben, how do you think you spell Sam?
B: I dunno.
MD: Ssssss-am. What do you think it starts with?
B: Sssssssssss – S!
MD: Right! Now, S-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-m. What makes that sound?
B: Aaaaaaaaaaaaa…
Apple! A.MD: Good job! Sammmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
B: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm – M!
MD: You did it! Sssssssssssaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmm. S-A-M. That spells Sam. (Fast forward through the same process for Mom, Dad, and dog)
B: How about … flashlight!
MD: Uhhhhhh. That one is pretty tricky, we might need to work up to it.
He’s getting it! He’s really getting it. When did he get so big?
This last one had me entertained on the drive from home to Target (about 25 minutes). He talked non-stop, so this is the abridged version.
B: Mommy, on Tuesday, I’m going to take a picture of something real real pretty. I’m going to take a picture of a UNICORN. Unicorns are super pretty and actually very pretty. I’m going to take a picture, and I will show you. Then, I’m going to put it on my wall, and I will look at it when I am in bed and get a special treat. Maybe a cookie. Mommy, ok? On Tuesday, can we do that? Today, Nickolas and I were playing with a castle and we saw a unicorn. Nickolas will real real like my unicorn picture. On Tuesday, I will bring my unicorn picture to school and my friends can see it fly in the sky like a helicopter. Nickolas and I were playing with a castle and a dragon came and then a unicorn was flying and it was real real AWESOME. Mommy, did you bring your camera? I want to take a picture if we see a unicorn, and can I have a cookie at the store with the red circle and the red dot.
Yeah, that is pretty much how a Ben story goes. I “real real” like them.