Welcome, Sunshine

Sam is very happy to become the 'biggest' brother now and has been enthusiastically helping with the care of his new little brother, Thomas, who arrived two weeks ago. Sunshine was his in-utero nickname, but now Sam is proud to announce his brother was named after the famous tank engine.

However, upon learning that it was a new brother, not sister, Sam stuck his lips out and said "I wanted it to be a girl." Andrew heard this and enthusiastically said "I like boys." :)

Drawing!

Sam has just started drawing pictures of things. He takes great delight on drawing pictures of Daddy and hot air balloons, though a recent addition was fireworks. Here is a masterpiece he drew at his aunt and uncles that shows Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore. I love it and am so glad to see the creativity he has.

Imagination

Sam has a wonderful and vivid imagination at age 4.25. He spread his books all over the floor and I said he needed to put them back on the bookshelf by the end of the night or they would go on time out. He said "You know why I was doing it?". I said "No." He said "I thought we could use them if the roof collapsed to make a big tower to hold up the roof." Not a bad idea but I assured him the possibility of the roof collapsing before it was time to put away the books was not so likely...

Delightful 4 year old

Sam turned 4 in January and is just growing into a delightful little boy. He still has moments of tantrumy crying, but they are becoming fewer and far between as he becomes more mature and capable of communication and problem solving. He plays quite happily and well with Andrew, their favorite game right now being "firefighter", involving the couch, chair, cushions and some "help" cries and saving each other. He is getting better at swimming at the pool and learning to ride his new bike. The other night he loved surprising Daddy by going downstairs and getting into pajamas all by himself (even putting dirty clothes in the hamper!). He loves his new velcro shoes he can put on himself and he was even quite a brave little boy at his second dentist appointment (four xrays and a thorough cleaning won him a Toy Story viewing). He and Andrew started sharing a room after coming back from a vacation in Lake Tahoe and Oakland and they are doing wonderfully. He stays up a little past Andrew either flipping through books or listening to music, but it seems to suit each of them just fine. Sam has certainly made a couple of friends at preschool who he enjoys being around and for whom he made special valentines. He even showed real signs of unprompted empathy when he hoped they wouldn't miss him too much during our vacation. My favorite recent memory of him was during our stay at Tahoe. It had snowed 18 inches overnight and we awoke to a wonderful blanket of soft, fluffy snow. We donned our snow gear and opened the sliding door to quite a wall of snow. I told the boys to wait while I tamped down stairs for them to climb up. Instead, Sam leaned forward and did a full-body plant right into the snowbank. I pulled him back and he was rather shocked at the cold snow on his face. When I later asked him why he did that, he said he just wanted to see if the snow was hard or soft. Now that's quite a way to find out!

Nativity scene

Sam arranged the nativity scene so the wise men would be close to baby Jesus as this Christmas season draws to a close.  How precious.

Hello underoos

Okay, well, maybe not underoos (do they make them anymore?), but Sam fully potty trained over Thanksgiving break this year and now gets to wear his choice of colorful undergarments (Thomas the train is his favorite, with Percy and Lightning McQueen tying for second place). He also started tracing letters for the first time at Thanksgiving, so Mom is hoping to develop that a little more as his attention span for it increases.

Sam is starting to come out of his shell at school a little and has learned the songs and corresponding motions for circle time. He is learning other kids' names, definitely loves to follow the older boys around and has picked up on how to chase girls. Ah well, it's a path well-trodden.

We are practicing Christmas carols at the moment and he's learned Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer quite well, complete with hand motions. When he heard Jingle Bells on our preschool music CD he said, "Hey, the Wiggles sing this." (Yes, his music taste is still fully Wiggles-centric)

While he still naps most days, he is certainly all little boy now, no toddler left. Green Blankie still is important to him, but he happily trots off to Sunday School by himself. On the way in to the children's sermon, he picks up Andrew in the nursery and they walk in together, hand-in-hand to the alter for their sermon with Father Mike. He's blossoming into a wonderful older brother - playing patiently with Andrew and enjoying his company.

Preschool

Sam and I started attending a co-op preschool three weeks ago and he is just loving it. He knew Teacher Mary from some outdoor classes we took, but he is having a great time. He loves all the new toys, bicycles, legos and the music. He is attentive in circle time, though he was resistive about standing up or moving during the songs (many have motions to go with the words). Yet he sings the songs at home so I know he enjoys them. Perhaps he's just observing right now and when he's fully memorized the motions he'll break them out. All the mothers rotate among stations (art room, preverbal games, premath games, playdough, legos, water table, wheeled toys, kids snack, etc) and Sam often accompanies me for at least half of free play time. However, Wednesday was my first day "off" (you work two days, get one day without an assigned station) and he proudly announced that he'd gone to preschool alone for the first time. He's genuinely happy to go each day and while he won't recount how his day went, every once in a while he'll announce something he learned or did in Teacher Mary's preschool. We're going to have a fun year!

Big brother kiss

When Sam was little, I learned early to master the art of the Healing Mother's Kiss. It amazed me the power this little being attributed to my touch, but I will whole-heartedly admit that I milked it when I could. After a time, my kiss was often replaced by his Green Blankie and more recently by a short pout about hurting himself before continuing to play. A short while ago Andrew hurt his fingers in the sliding glass doors of the TV cabinet. He crunched his finger pretty well and I could see the shock and concern in his face when my Healing Mother's Kiss didn't immediately take away all the pain. I knew I needed to come up with something else. So I asked him if he wanted a Big Brother Kiss. His eyes grew wide immediately and he vigorously nodded his head. I told Sam that Andrew wanted a kiss from him to feel better and I could have sworn I saw Sam's chest immediately puff with pride. Indeed, the Big Brother Kiss had healing powers as well and has since often been called upon (as has the Little Brother Kiss, it's nascent partner). Just today Andrew stubbed a toe in the bathroom, cried a bit, and went straight out to his brother with his foot uplifted. Sam listened as Andrew asked for a kiss and inquired where said kiss should be placed. Andrew pointed to his foot and Sam bent down and kissed the owie with pride. What a great big brother! I'm very proud. :)

Book limits already?

I know both Dave and I loved to read when we were little and I remember more than a few times my parents had to come down and tell me to turn off my light, stop reading and go to sleep! However, I didn't expect to have to do that with my own kids until they could actually read. Sam adores flipping through his books at bedtime and we've had to start to limit how many he's allowed to go through or he'll stay up for an hour or more. He points at all the pictures, maybe counts various things, talks to himself or tells himself what he remembers of the story. It's very cute, but amazing to me that books have such a draw for him before he can even read the words!

Great lines

Sam has been coming up with great lines these days and I just wish I could remember them all. He hangs his head down and asks me "Mommy, when am I going to be an adult?" He also told me that he's going to be sad until he's 6 years old when he'll be old enough to sleep on the top bunk of the bunk bed but after he's 6 he'll be happy. Phew, only 2.5 years of being sad left!

Sing a song

Sam is just becoming a singing kid. His rendition of "raindrops on roses" is about the cutest thing you could imagine. He loves "Happy Birthday" and makes sure that both Christine and I get a few birthdays each week, just so he can sing it. And last Sunday after Sunday School, he sang "Father Abraham" to us over and over - when he just sat quietly and watched during his class.

Imaginary play

Sam has been having fun with imaginary friends that "work" with him and come visit and whom he can call on his cell phone. Sometimes they are the fruit friends from the "Banana and the Coconut" song that Dave created, sometimes they are real friends/people who just aren't there right now. Either way, it's fascinating to see his brain at work and see what he comes up with. Elements of our daily lives are intertwined in his imaginary and provide illumination into his experience of the world. Our favorite was when he said our friend Ruth called to say she was getting married and she and Papaya were coming over to work on puzzles with Sam later. Ah, how rumors start.

3 year stats

At his three year check-up, the nurse confirmed that Sam is indeed a big boy. He came in at the following:
Weight: 36 lb 8 oz, 90%
Height: 40 in, 95%

Why? why? why?

I can pinpoint the exact day that Sam began to ask more and more questions. It was New Year's Day 2010 at 35 months old when a switch clicked and all my answers were met with why. Let me tell you, it has kept me on my toes to come up with that many answers! He seems to take particular interest in why things have the names they do and what people's motivations are. It certainly keeps life interesting and fills up car rides with all sorts of interesting conversations.

The way to France

Sam was excited about our drive to see Grandma and Grandpa in Oakland for Christmas. We talked about packing the car and how it would be a long drive, arriving after bedtime even. After a brief stop in LA for Dave's work, I was helping to navigate us back to the freeway when Sam offered his help. He said that he knew the way, it said it on his computer, and that he wanted to go to France too. I asked him the way. He said you go up there, straight and then north and east. He also said his office was in France which was near Grandpa and Grandma's. We were in stitches. I love his imagination!

Conversing

Sam's conversational skills are just blossoming. He carries on conversations, sings songs and is constantly working on new words and phrases. Some of his favorite current phrases are:

"That funny to me"
"I figure out it"
"I need do this"
"I no like that"
"Mas green blankie" (my green blankie)
"I no call that..." (as in, I no call that running Mommy, I call that walking)
"Is good idea"
"Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't" (as in, do you like doing this or feel like that?)
"Oh well"
"Maybe next time"

Halloween is for kids!

At first Sam wanted to be Mickey Mouse, but then he decided that Andrew should be Mickey and he would be Donald Duck. Then he said that Christine and I were also to be Donald Duck.  Go figure - so we got three plastic duck beaks.  So now we have a mommy duck, a daddy duck, a toddler duck, and a baby Mickey.  Does that make Andrew the ugly duckling?

By the way - didn't Christine just do a knock-out job on their costumes?

Papa Duck

To do

As I wrote my to do list this morning, Sam wanted to write one of his own. So he dictated to me the following list (with a few additions from Mommy):

• Play with trains
• Play with Backgammon
• Play with Hi IQ game
• Play with chairs game
• Eat lunch
• Play with dominoes
• Get dressed
• Change diapers
• Take nap
• Help mommy clean
• Read books
• Change diapers
• Go to grocery store
• Go to my office
• Go to my house
• Go to friend's house
• Go to Daddy's office
• Drive in work van
• Daddy drives in Nissan
• Be nice to Andrew
• Go to bed
  

In a box?

Recently Sam and I were talking and the subject of staying in hospitals came up. Actually, I believe his question was "Mommy, you in hospital?" and I said that yes, I had been in the hospital when Andrew was born and perhaps he remembers it. I reminded him of how Andrew grew in my belly and when my belly got really big and it was time, I went to the hospital. I explained that I went to the hospital so the doctors could help get Andrew out of my belly. I said that in the hospital the doctor helped to deliver Andrew and then we could bring him home with us. Sam listened and then said "Innabox?" I quizzically asked, "Did you say 'In a box'?" He said yes, that's what he said. I pondered. Then I realized what he was asking. I said, "No, the doctors didn't deliver Andrew in a box like the postman delivers things." I had a good laugh about that one.

Snips and snails and puppy dogs' tails

We were eating dinner with my parents last week and Sam said "Look, Mommy." I glance over and stop in disbelief as I see Sam stick a pea up his nose. While he has been experimenting with sticking his finger up his nose in recent months, it's never occurred to him that other things could fit in there. I had a look of shock on my face and exclaimed "No, Sam, that doesn't belong there" so Sam immediately started to stick his finger up his nose to fish it out. Luckily I was able to stop him before he shoved it up further and was able to get it out myself. Later that week he fished out a booger from his nose and tried to eat it (first time for this too!). Welcome to raising boys...

Dec 09 update: I think I am losing the battle of preventing Sam from picking his nose. I knew I was particularly doomed the other day when we were visiting friends and he picked his nose and tried to hand it to me. I said that was gross, I didn't want it and he said "No, Mommy, it's for you to eat." Sigh.

Mommy, Daddy off please

We were driving in the car the other day and Dave started singing a song (I can't remember which one, but a kids song). Apparently Sam didn't want Dave to sing it, so he asked me to turn Daddy off, like he was the radio. We had a good laugh about that one...

Where is that spoon?

I was eating dinner with Sam the other day and saw him putting his noodles on the table and then eating them with his hands. I gently suggested that perhaps he could use his spoon and eat them from his bowl. He started looking all around for his spoon. Then I pointed out that he was holding it in his other hand! We had a good laugh about that one...

Vanilla?

We had some frozen yogurt as a treat the other day with Uncle Dave and Aunt Angela. I came over to Sam and saw some chocolate yogurt and a bit of something white. I asked him what the white stuff was and he called it "bad chocolate." I guess he's not a fan of vanilla...

Thank you, Please and Are Doing?

Sam has started to say "Thank you Mommy" and "Thank you Daddy" spontaneously for many things and it just warms our hearts. He's also getting much better at saying please, though his new favorite phrase is "Are doing?" as in "What are you doing?" with all the inflection of the full sentence. He's also getting better at saying people's names, though the letter "L" still eludes him...

Singing

Sam is beginning to sing along to songs a lot now. He can get maybe half the letters in the ABC song and his favorites include "I've been working on the railroad" "Wheels on the bus" and "Twinkle twinkle little star." He also likes to sing along to many of the Wiggles songs we just got on CD (or "Iggles" as he calls them).

Talking talking talking

Sam is starting to really talk and repeat a lot of words. It seems that almost everything I say he's repeating, like "potato" "Torrey Pines" "Go Nuggets" "armadillo" "oatmeal." He's also spontaneously saying "Thank you Mommy" and "Thank you Daddy" which is incredibly rewarding for us!

Brushing your toddlers teeth

O-kay

Sam just started saying "Okay" today and has just the cutest way of saying it, very staccato and well enunciated. Almost as cute as how he says "Mooey" for smoothie, one of his favorite drinks.

Who's Birthday is is Anyway?

Yesterday was my birthday, so Christine, Sam, Andrew, our friend Chris and I went out to breakfast at the Huddle - our local breakfast place. During our conversation with our waitress, Sam (I think with a little coaching from Christine) told me that today was "Daddy's Birthday". He immediately followed this up saying "Little Mah" - meaning it was a little bit his birthday too. Seems to make sense to me. :)

I love the way he refers to himself as "Mah"- not certain if "Mah" is his way of saying "Sam" or "Me".

A new kind of square dancing?

Sam has been practicing jumping and enjoys doing it to music...I can't explain why he wanted the box on his head though. See the video for a good laugh.