Seat Belt Police

The boys and I were on our way home today from the park. We stopped at a convenience store that is within a mile or so of our home. I am somewhat ashamed to say that I made a decision NOT to put my seat belt on because we were so close to home. Wouldn't want to waste any energy on something so temporary. The seat belt alarm thingie only goes off a few times between this gas station and our house. (not that I've done it before) As we're rounding the last curve before entering our subdivision, I hear from the back seat "seat belt pwease mom". I didn't say a word. Caught by a two year old. I quickly put my seat belt on and snuck a look at him in the rear view mirror at which time he said "thanks".

What would I do without my Sam? Be very reckless for one thing...

what's that you say?

I just ran across this and had to post it even though it is a few months old. The video speaks for itself, but just a little setup. At the time Sam was insisting on being potty trained. (we have since given up on this little endeavor for a while) In this video I am interrogating him as he sits on the throne about how a big mess of popcorn got all over the living room floor. This is what I got. I'm not exactly sure what he's saying but I would say based on my best interpretation, he's definitely a suspect in the crime.

"hubs"

Sam and I took a trip to the grocery store yesterday. Our first stop, of course, was to the bakery for his complimentary chocolate chip cookie. He was a pretty content shopping partner until the cookie ran out on aisle two. At that point he started begging for everything we passed. This is how the conversation went.

Sam: "mama, what is that?"

Me: "those are noodles, Sam."

Sam: "i want doodles mom."

And so it went. I identified an item for him and he told me he wanted said item. About half way through the store I was getting frazzled and forgetting what I was doing, going back to aisles where I had forgotten the main things I had come to the store for. My patience may or may not have been running a little thin and if you had been there you may or may not have been able to detect that in my voice when answering Sam's continued questions. At some point he started saying "i want hub mamma." He had to say it a few times. I was trying to piece together what a "hub" might be by thinking about what items I had identified for him in the past 30 seconds. And then I stopped, looked at him and he held his arms out "i want a hub mamma". Oh, a hug. Sweet baby. So we stood in the cereal isle hugging and then he said, no kidding "mmmm...this is nice."

These moments are what makes it possible to withstand the other "terrible two" moments. I love this kid!

So yes, I shamelessly tried to recreate this hug so I could take a picture. I get lots of hugs so it's not a total fake, just staged because a picture of Sam just makes this entry better.

sam the shopper... he is not

As the mom of two boys who will one day marry women who will in no doubt love to shop, I find it my personal duty to teach them the joys of shopping. I think I did a pretty good job with Nathan. At a young age he seemed to enjoy looking at things as I pointed out the fine details and differences in things I was trying to decide about. I would talk to him as an equal, asking his opinion etc. So naturally, being so proud of myself I have continued this goal with Sam. It's true what they say...no two children are alike. Sam HATES shopping. Doesn't like anything about it. I can't find anything interesting enough to capture his interest. He can't be bribed or begged into cooperating with me. He pretty much complains the entire time. But being the ever determined soul that I am, I forge ahead with my goal of making a good shopping companion for his one day bride. It's a tough job, but won't she be so happy?
On one such shopping trip I had been promising that we would look at just "one more thing" for the past five things. He had a toy in his hand that he could not open until we paid for it. This he understands and was very frustrated. He said to everyone we passed "open pwease". He was so put out that no one would help him. When we neared the front of the store he was elated. He was kicking his little feet and smiling that sweet smile from ear to ear. Then, as a test, purely because I feel it is my duty, I stopped to look at "one more thing". He could take it no longer. He balled up his little fists, banged them on the cart and yelled almost at the top of his lungs "OH MY DOSH!" I tried my best not to laugh at him. He was SO over it. I blame the geniuses who put the stuff right up at the front of the store. They know me too well. But alas we did check out. Ironically, after all that shopping all we got was the stupid toy. So I'll say it now...sorry to Sam's future wife. He will most likely not enjoy helping you pick out a lovely outfit or furniture for your first home. I tried.

Baby Turns Two

I can't believe our baby is two. It shouldn't feel so strange as he's always tried to be bigger than he is. Keeping up with a big brother makes for a short life as a baby. This makes me sad. I try to explain to him how he's my last and it must LAST. All of it. The baby babble, the silly cartoons, the unique language all his own, the chubby wrists and elbows. Ohhh, the dimples where elbows and knuckles are supposed to be. I don't know how much longer we have to enjoy these things. It's going by so fast. Oh and the fat, square pudgy feet. What will I do when they have disappeared forever from my life? sigh.... He doesn't listen. He just insists on getting bigger, saying big words, trying to potty train himself. How dare he do this to me??


No matter how sad of an occasion for me, we did celebrate the little guy turning 2. Sam mostly loves what Nathan loves.....legos, "guys", spongebob....yuck, but he also loves puppies. All on his own. Puppies are Sam's love that he came up with independent of his big brother's influence. So we had a puppy party. It was just us, very anti-climatic, but we got lots of pictures and I think he liked his huge cookie cake with the big paw print.

Happy Birthday my little Sam. May you stay little just a little longer.

passing it on

so a few weeks ago, we were in nathan's favorite store toys r us. they had some of the "old" games on sale, one of them being battleship. i picked it up thinking it might be a little challenging, but fun and nostalgic for dave and i. so yesterday nathan and i played it for the first time. he actually picked up on it pretty easily. he then challenged his dad to a game when he got home from work. he did even better this time.

this morning this was the scene at the breakfast table.

battleship game - great deal

time spent teaching nathan to play - honestly...tested my patience

witnessing this moment between these two - priceless

sidenote - i think this is the second time i have ripped off this ad campaign. i don't even remember what company it is for. memorable, but not in the way they intended.

he speaks

And by HE, I mean Sam and by speaks, I mean A LOT. Most words are unintelligible. But there are quite a few that he's been saying for a while now that we all understand very well. His most frequently used vocabulary:

mama (oh how that sweet utterance used repeatedly can start to sound like nails on a chalkboard)

daddee
sunglasses (i know, a weird first word, but the kid likes his shades)
please
thank you
thanks
out
go
shoes

There's more, but my brain is fried at the moment. I'll just post this little gem. Most of what he says here aren't real words. We often tell him to speak English, and sometimes he does. Sometimes, however, he speaks "Sam" and we just smile and nod our heads. It's cute either way and he loves to hear himself talk. And I love to WATCH him talk. Check out that lip action.

safety first

After the grueling experience that was the Irongirl, the kids and I spent a week at my mom and dad's house. It was just what I needed. So relaxing. My kids actually played outside for hours on end. My parents live out in the country with no neighbors for a mile so it is the perfect place for kids to run, ride bikes, play with bugs and do fun kid things in general.

One of the things the boys really enjoyed was riding bikes. Sam found a little plastic toy with wheels that he could ride. He couldn't reach the pedals so he made his way around and around the circle drive Fred Flinstone style. But Sam believes whole heartedly in safety. Safety above all else. He found this helmet and insisted on wearing it every time he took his bike out for a spin. Good thing too, because he took a few nasty spills, but his little noggin....fully protected.

bee bees

Sam has a best friend. He's blue, soft, most of the time dirty and goes everywhere with him. It's his bee bees, be bis, be bez, there's no real correct spelling but this is how he lovingly refers to his blanket. He wants it with him at the table, in the car, in bed of course and gernerally just drags it around the house with him. I have trouble getting it away from him because it always has to be within a few feet of him at all times. It just so happens that as I type this it is being washed and he has asked me atleast a dozen times where his bee bees is. Hopefully we'll get rid of it before he starts preschool in a few years, but for now I like his bee bees too.

Having Two Finally Pays Off

I'm not gonna lie. Most days having these two boys in the same house makes me crazy. They are 5 years apart so you would think that they wouldn't find much to fight about. But you would be wrong. Whatever Nathan has Sam wants it. Whatever Sam has, Nathan doesn't want him to have it. Nathan never puts his stuff away, Sam gets it, scuffle ensues, Nathan is too rough, Sam delivers a blood curdling scream, I resist bolting out the front door and staying gone for a few hours. They wrestle, they are LOUD!

And sometimes it is all worth it. Sam hates the car wash. It's really quite sad. I usually go when Nathan is in school. I try to console him, but he just ends up screaming until we come out the other side away from the scary foam and brushes. The other day Nathan was with us. He was very concerned when Sam started to whine as we approached the entrance to the car wash. Once we got in and Sam started to cry Nathan got out of his seat and went to Sam. He held him like this through the whole thing assuring him and saying "it's okay, shhh, shhh". Of course I cried. This is why we wanted two. This is why everyone needs a sibling. When I dried my tears I took a picture to look at later; when they are wrestling and screaming and I want to run from the house and never look back.

I guess I could load them in the car and take them to the car wash!

Sam Walks The Dog

Sometimes the dog just must be walked.

Sam = Funny

I think my last post about Sam was about his "sweetness". He is still sweet. It's his nature. But now, if someone asked me to give them one word to describe Sam, I would say "funny". Everything about him is funny. The way he walks. The way he talks. And especially his facial expressions. He has two famous faces. The "stink eye" and "big lips". At some point the two became one and we couldn't get enough of it. Anytime I needed to relieve some stress or just have a good laugh I would get Sam to give me the face. This was taken on the way back from Mississippi after Christmas. He had been crying. Hates the car. I was trying to entertain him. I was failing. I got the camera out to capture the moment. This is what I got. Sweet Sam. Sweet, funny Sam.

Sweet Sam

I feel terrible because I don't have more to say about Sam. Sam is just sweet. Every day with him is easy. He thinks he's at least 4. He wants to do everything he sees his big brother doing. He doesn't know he's tiny. He has the best laugh. No matter what kind of mood I am in if that baby laughs I instantly feel better. He has such a sweet disposition. The ladies at the gym would steal him from me if they thought they could get away with it. He is truly a joy. He just doesn't do much that is newsworthy right now. I guess none of this is really newsworthy, but some things are just more interesting than others.

Sam "Boogie" is walking!

I can't believe it's happening already, but our little guy is walking. I think Nathan captured it best when he took some of his first steps and Nathan said "I must be dreaming...is my little brother really walking". Sam is so proud of himself. He thinks he's such a big boy. He doesn't realize that because he is my last baby he must remain as such for as long as possible!