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.

I didn't know you knew that

I am surprised daily by how much Sam knows. His language skills are improving, but obviously he knows a lot more than he just comes out and says. If I read a story and pause, he will fill in the next word, or make a sound that is like that word. Today I discovered that he can count to six. I was counting things in the book and asked him what came after two and he said three and when asked what came next, he went on to say four, five and six! Things got a little fuzzy for seven and eight. He's also starting to sing along with parts of the alphabet song - what fun!

Jump, jump, jump!

Sam is learning to jump and just like when he was a baby learning to roll over or crawl, he is practicing this new skill all the time. Only he uses his arms for momentum a lot and doesn't always get his feet off the ground at the same time so it looks like a cross between the monster mash and a Godzilla impression. I'm still trying to get a good video of it...

I've learned from Sam...

...how to live in the moment
...how to spend an hour enjoying a sand dune
...how to say "Oh well" and move on (funny how what you teach them comes back to you)
...how to be silly
...how to have fun while doing chores

March Madness

Sam has become a big fan of basketball games. He's been going with Dave and Uncle Dave and Aunt Angela to the first and second round of NCAA women's tournament and also the NIT tournament that SDSU is in. His favorite newest word is basketball and he wondered why he can't go every day. He's also happily been introduced to kettle corn, hot dogs and peanuts with shells!

Peanut likes peanuts!!

Bubble Friday!

Sam had his first Bubble Friday at playgroup today. He started to enjoy chasing them even more and after some inspiration from Andrew's popping bubbles, he had fun trying to catch them. I couldn't get a good picture, but I will next time.

Sharing is Caring

Sam is a wonderful child, but certainly is two years old! We're working a lot on how to share and how to speak without whining or crying. I've come up with some strategies to give him appropriate outlets for impulses he has ("Don't bite Mommy, bite your blankie" or "Don't push Andrew, push a pillow"). For the most part those outlets work and if I can manage it, making a game of something or being silly almost always works to divert his attention. To address the whining, I'm currently working on only "listening" to him when he uses a normal voice...but he hasn't figured it out too well so far. I guess it just takes time.

More independence

Sam still likes to hang around me as I work or play around the house, but he's slowly developing more independent tendencies. Today was free day at the Science museum and as he became accustomed to it, he ran around and explored on his own without a look back. He had fun with his friend Elias outside as they dropped leaves in a little stream and ran on grass. Sam was content to be even 30 feet away from me - a first for him and for me! I'll have to get used to the intricacies of keeping a careful watch from far away, especially since he's still sometimes unreliable with following directions.

Puzzle me this

Sam has figured out how to put fairly complex puzzles together with only a little direction from us!

Sam's 2 year stats

We just had Sam's 2 year doctor check up and these are his stats:
weight - 30 lb 1 oz, 75%
height - 36 in, 85%
head circumference - 50.5 cm, 90%

How do you explain...

...to your son that the scab on his hand is not "dirty" and can't be cleaned off? He got an owie yesterday that scabbed over and periodically he'll look at it and say "dirty" and cry. Now that's taking cleanliness a little too far...

-Christine

Newest phrases

This week Sam started saying "Andrew woke up" and "Andrew crying." He's also repeating other words left and right - too many to keep track of! I'm also pleased to see that he's starting to understand and use "Please" and "Thank you." There's also a fair bit of whining and crying that we're working on, but overall he's a really sweet little boy.

My shadow

Sam has been extra upset about my leaving recently and I was trying to decide if he was in a mommy clingy stage or not. Then I realized that while he often happily plays independently during the day, he's been doing it within 5 feet of me at almost all times. If I go downstairs to do laundry, he follows me down and plays down there. If I go in the bedroom to change Andrew's diaper, Sam picks up his toys and joins me a minute later. When I start to cook dinner, he sets up camp at the end of the kitchen and plays with spoons, spatulas, pots and napkins. He doesn't fuss about my leaving like he did when he was little, but there's some definite following action going on. So I suppose he is in a mommy clingy phase. 

Andrew teeth

Sam loves talking about our family and including everyone, whether it's pointing out in his toy cars where Daddy, Mommy, Andrew and Sam sit, doling out imaginary water cups or offering snack food. When we were brushing teeth the other day, he said Daddy should brush his teeth, and Mommy, and then he said Andrew should brush his teeth. It occurred to me that we had never informed Sam that Andrew didn't have teeth...why would he know that? So we had a discussion about babies not having teeth yet. :)

Brush those teeth!

Ruth got Sam to brush his teeth!

Chatterbox

The week after Christmas Sam said his first "sentence" with three words - "Apple juice please." Since then he has been more and more willing to put two or three words together at a time and has been echoing more new words each day. Not only does he repeat after me, but he breaks out words I didn't know he could say, like "dishwasher" and "rice cooker." He's such an observant little toddler and I delight in seeing all the knowledge he absorbs.

Stomach Flus are no fun

We spent a wonderful Christmas visiting family and friends in the Bay Area. Then two days after Christmas Sam came down with an awful stomach flu and was miserable for several days. It's taken a week and a half for him to return to his normal eating, drinking and sleeping habits - poor kid! I don't know that there's anything that can prepare you for parenting a sick child. It is sad, scary, tiring and frustrating all in one, but I think it's the feeling of helplessness that is hardest. Luckily only Christine also got the flu, Dave and Andrew were spared. We are quite happy to find Sam is back to his old self now.