Hi sissy

This morning when Sam was coming downstairs he saw Megan at the bottom and said "hi sissy" to her.

Just couldn't resist the sheep

We went to a friend's house tonight to Will could help them with their computer.  They have 4 kiddos with their youngest just younger than Megan.  They have a village setup on a coffee table area and the floor.  I told Sam not to touch it and he did so good for the first couple of hours.  I was sitting in the floor in the other room and Sam walked up to me with a little sheep in his hands from the village.  Super cute - but he had to put it back.  He did really well and put it right where he found it.

Learning not to throw fits

Sam has been really struggling the last couple of days with throwing a fit every time he doesn't get what he wants.  Today was particularly rough on him so he spent a lot of time in time-out.

Christmas recap

Christmas Eve we went out for our traditional special dinner.  This year we chose a Chinese Buffet to be different and a little funny like in all of the Christmas movies.  The kids loved the food, once Megan got to start eating off of daddy's plate.  When we got home it was time to open their Christmas jammies.  Neither kid is into wrapping paper so we had to work with them but once Sam got the paper free he stood up and took off with it.  He didn't care about the gift, he just wanted the paper.

Christmas day was wonderful.  Will made our cinnamon rolls and then we got the kids up.  We had their gifts separated by the tree and when I put Sam down he made a beeline for his tool bench.  He grabbed his circular saw with one hand and his drill with the other.  He didn't know what to do with them but he was so happy to carry them around.  Megan went right for her blocks wagon and figured out immediately how to make it talk and sing.  As soon as she had the wagon going Sam put his toys down and went and sat down with her.  The two of them played with that wagon for several minutes, just as happy as could be and probably would have stayed there for a lot longer if we hadn't moved them to show them more of their stuff.

Sam loved his train depot and his tractor.  He got on exactly as Will thought he would, which was backwards.  Megan showed his the buttons and he was loving it.  Once we went through making sure they knew about everything we just let them play - Megan was happy with her wagon and Sam with his tools.  I called for breakfast and Sam cleaned up his tools and ran to the table.

After breakfast it was time for them to give us our gifts and then to give their gifts to each other.  We were letting them play again until Megan saw me with her stocking and then they both wanted to check out what was inside.  After seeing everything and eating an animal cracker they were off again.

After nap we facetimed with Granny so she could watch them open her gifts to them.  Sam loved the slinkies and Megan went right after the books.  They played for a couple of hours and then we had Christmas dinner and I gave them their dessert.  Lemon creme pie with cool whip - no crust.  Man they both loved it.

Megan and Sam both had such a fun and wonderful day.

What's for Christmas

Sam's Christmas Goodies:
Giant tool bench with tons and tons of tools
Circular saw and drill
Personalized truck chalkboard and write/erase board
John Deere ride and walk tractor
Spiderman house shoes
Train track

Stocking Goodies:
Light-up bouncing balls
Crayon cup
Bubbles
Stamp
Light-up pinwheel
Giant glow stick
Christmas animal crackers
Cookie monster notepad

Letter to Sam

Sam this post is for you so can look back and see what you were like at 20 months old.  You are such a sweet little boy. You freely give kisses and hugs to mommy, daddy and sissy.  Sometimes you won't give kisses to daddy, instead you give mommy all of his kisses; but you always give daddy kisses if mommy tells you to share.  You love on your big sister when we tell you to give her night-night kisses; but you will also just give her a hug or kiss spontaneously during the day.  She will snuggle you back and it is so sweet to watch.

You are my little helper.  You bring mommy anything you find on the floor that shouldn't be there - like a piece of grass, or lint or cheerio.  You will get someone their shoes if you see them - you know which shoes are daddy's and which ones are mommy's.  Speaking of shoes, you love your shoes.  You want shoes on all of the time and you get so excited when you see us getting your socks for you.  You try to put your own socks and shoes on, which is super cute because you just lay the sock across your foot and then touch your shoe to your foot and then you look a little bewildered as to why that didn't work.

You love, love, love to eat and drink.  You can feed yourself with your hands and are getting good with a spoon until there is not enough left in the bowl for you to scoop.  You can use a fork if we put the food on it for you and you are learning to drink from a regular cup.  You haven't quite figured out that you need to leave the cup touching you so anytime we work on this skill we have to change your wet clothes afterward.

When you are really excited you get flustered and aren't sure which sign to use to ask for what you want and you do every one that you know.

You are great at climbing up and down the stairs and can go really fast when you want to.  I usually chase you up the stairs and that makes you squeal and hurry; though you will stop along the way so I can get you.  On your way down the stairs you like to practice your words and you will just say random words all the way down.  You used to say every word that you know but your vocabulary has increased so much that you don't do that anymore, but you will still say quite a few.

Your favorite word right now is still rabbit and you love to say it with different inflections.  You are picking up more and more words and sounds now and are getting better at trying new words.  If I ask you to say something that is too hard you won't try though - you just look at me like I'm crazy.

You are my sweet little mommy's boy and still do and say things for me that you won't for daddy; though most of the time now you will eventually give in and say the new word for him.  When I get you out of bed you will say "morning" to me and it took you a very long time to finally say it for daddy.  You should give him a break on this kid and stop making him work so hard to hear your sweet little words.

You are attached to the phone from Megan's kitchen.  You carry that thing around and talk into it non-stop.  You will push buttons and say hey and then start babbling and then you say bye and push another button and start again.  Daddy will take his phone out and pretend to talk to you and you love that.  You just tell him everything (can't wait until we can understand what you are saying).

You do an amazing job with cleaning up the toys.  You are learning to put things back before you get something else out and to not just drop something to run and get something new.  Unless you are tired you do a great job of cleaning up anytime we ask you to.  Most of the time you have to put everything back exactly where it goes; but sometimes if you are in a hurry I will find everything in one container.

Sam, you are so smart.  You are learning new things all the time and you seem to pick up on them so effortlessly.  You will watch your sister do something and then copy it immediately.  You love to play with her but you also enjoy your free time when she is at school.  You get so excited when I put you in the car to go get her - you just keep saying "sissy" over and over again.

We love you buddy.

Super excited to be at the park and enjoying the library

We took the kids to the park this afternoon.  Sam was unhappy when I put him in the car because he wanted to walk down the stairs into the garage by himself and I told him he could climb down by himself or hold my hand to walk.  He has a very hard time walking down when holding onto me so no way I am letting him do it by himself.  Well, he thinks he is a big boy and he was so unhappy.  Anyway, he was crying in his car seat and we told him we were going somewhere fun, but it still took him a few minutes to calm down.  When I parked the car at the park he started clapping like crazy and he said "yay" and "wheeeee bubba".  Message received Sam.

At the library he was loving that he could walk up to the shelf, pick a book and then sit at the table with it.  He kept wanting to just sit at the table and then get right back up to get another book.  I am going to start taking him to the library while Megan is in school.

Fun days

Sam is such a sweet little guy.  When Megan is getting a diaper change or something he will take toys to her.  He will also turn on the dancing snowman for her anytime she points at it.  

A couple of days ago while Megan was sleeping late Sam and I went outside to play.  He was having so much fun playing chase and running around with me.  At one point he tripped over the cord between the Christmas trees that line our driveway.  He slapped his hands on the concrete when he fell and he did not like that so from then on he would stop at the tree line and turn around.  I showed him how to step over the cord so he wouldn't trip and he was so cute about it.  He would be running and when he got to the trees he would stop abruptly and very slowly and deliberately step over and then take off running again.

This afternoon he was playing chase with Megan.  She has gotten fast enough and smart enough to figure out his moves so he can't get away from her as much.  He decided to climb up to the 4th stair so he was out of her reach.  When I caught him he was grinning at her and kicking his feet.  He got in trouble for being on the stairs without mommy, but I did think it was a clever way to escape.  Megan can climb the stairs but she won't do it without me so he was safe.

Various words and new activities

A few days ago I let Sam's breakfast cool off enough that he could feed himself (instead of it having to be blown on).  I put the bowl on his tray and gave him the spoon.  He was so happy until he turned the spoon over and some of his oatmeal fell on the floor in front of his seat.  He leaned over as far as he could pointed at the food and fussed.  He was very unhappy that he had lost some of his precious breakfast.

He loves to eat off of plates and out of bowls, even if he is just using his hands.  He will pick up his pizza or quesadilla or whatever.

Sam has started saying words that we haven't taught him, meaning he is picking them up from our conversations.  He was playing with the phone, he pushed some buttons, put it up to his face and said "Hey".   He is also saying "what" which is something I say to him a lot now because he will say "more" and I will say "more what".  A couple of days ago he was clapping and he said "yay".  So three words he definitely hears us use during the day.

Megan has a cute little felt square bag.  Yesterday afternoon Sam found it and was carrying it around.  At one point he put the phone into it, waved to us and headed for the front door.  Will was cringing - Sam was using it as a purse and copying me.  I thought it was adorable.

Mouthing the word rabbit

I talked before about how great Sam is at whispering when you tell him to use his inside voice.  Sometimes he also just whispers because he wants to.  Well last week he did something new.  He said "apple" and someone said "wow that was very clear" and I told them he could also say "rabbit".  I told Sam to say rabbit and he just smiled at me and the lady.  A few seconds later instead of saying it he mouthed it.  The lady said she could clearly see that he was saying it, but there was no sound.

Cute little guy.

Drawing and new words

Sam has been doing a great job this past week drawing on the magna-doodle.  He scribbles away and is so proud of himself.  He scribbles a little and then shows me and then scribbles some more.

Today during Megan's therapy session I was playing with Sam in the hallway.  I gave him one of the clips we use for the sippy cups.  He would go a little ways down the hall and put it on a chair and then come back to me; then he would go get it and bring it back to me.  When he would give it to me I would ask him if he wanted it back and he would say "yeah".  I was telling him to say please but thought that I needed to figure out something else for him to say so he could ask for what he wanted.  I realized that when I wanted him to give it to me I was saying 'can mommy have it', so I taught him to say "Mama, I have please".  He says "have" perfectly and then uses sign language for please.

Other new words: home, tree, wan (want), shoe

Pointing

Sam started pointing at things two days ago and boy is it cute.  Most of the time it is apparent what he is pointing at but sometimes it is hard to tell.

Sick little guy

Sam was sneezing a lot yesterday and then last night he started doing his barking cough.  It is awful sounding when he coughs.  This morning he woke up with a low grade fever and he just feels awful.  He is in bed right now trying to sleep but coughing a lot.

Fear of things that operate by themselves

A couple of months ago we were taking family pictures and I was using my camera remote.  Once Sam realized that the camera was taking photos by itself he freaked out.

Well, today it happened again.  During Megan's speech session Sam sits on the floor and plays while I observe.  Around the corner from where we are is the copier.  Staff members have made copies before while he was sitting there and he would watch them, but he never had a problem with it.  Their copier is also their printer and today, for the first time, someone printed something and Sam freaked out.  It took me a minute or two to get him to calm down but it took 15 minutes or so for him to leave my lap again.

Phonics CD strikes again

Sam is now singing along with the phonics CD and all but 4 of the letters.  He hasn't said "L", "S", "T", or "Z" yet.  We know he can say "S" and "T" but he just hasn't done it with the CD yet.  Today he did all of the vowels and "Q" for the first time.   It may be a while before he does the "S" or "T" sound with the CD because he gets so excited when the "R" sound part is up and he starts saying rabbit over and over again like crazy and by the time he stops the CD is onto the "U" part.

I catch him singing the song all the time.  This morning while he was on the changing table he was singing "amer, amer "H", "H", "H".  He was trying to say hammer but couldn't quite get it but then he was correctly making the "H" sound.

Christmas Ornaments

One of our family traditions (carried over from when I grew up) is to get our kids a new ornament each year.    For Sam's first Christmas we got him 2 ornaments just like we had for Megan; one for us to keep and one to go with the rest of his when he moves out.  The one for us to keep is a baby sheep rocking horse and the one for Sam to keep is one that says "better not pout" because he was such a pouter as a baby.

This year for his second Christmas we got Sam a sheep because he says "baaaa" constantly.  It is ironic that his first year ornament was a sheep too.

Christmas is awesome!!!!

Sam is loving our Christmas decorations.  Friday night we put the tree up after the kids were in bed.  We didn't put any ornaments on it, just assembled it.  When Sam saw the tree on Saturday morning he was so excited.  He walked right up to it and touched the branches and walked all the way around it (as much as he could get to) back and forth.  He would look at us and grin and then squat down and touch it again.

During his nap on Saturday I put one container of ornaments on it so when he got up he was crazy excited.  He was giggling and squealing and ran around.  We let him touch the "safe" ornaments at the bottom and told him to leave the rest alone.  He did pretty well with it.  Last night I put the rest of the ornaments on the tree and got out a few more decorations and did the same thing again during nap today.

Eventually I will be done decorating but for now I am sure he thinks that things just appear while he is sleeping.

Christmas shopping and blossoming language

I took Sam Christmas shopping this morning while Megan rested again.  Our first stop was Lowe's to find something for daddy.  Will had seen a camouflage ball cap that had led lights in the brim that he thought would be fun to have so I figured Sam could get that for him.  When we got to the store we walked through some displays and Sam pointed at something (can't say what because daddy reads this blog) so I asked him if that is what he wanted to get for daddy and he said "yeah".  I gave it to him and continued to browse.  I showed Sam a couple of other items but he just pushed them aside for what he already had.  When I found the ball cap I told Sam that it was what daddy wanted.  I turned the lights on so he could see them, and I expected that to win him over.  The boy was not moved - he pushed the cap aside and went back to what he already had.  After we checked out I gave him the bag - on the way to the car he took it out of the bag so he could hold it again.

Next we went to the dollar store so Sam could shop for Megan.  I intended to take him to Big Lots but what I thought was a Big Lots was actually a Dollar Tree so we went in.  He wanted every stuffed animal/ball/toy what we passed.  I kept telling him that Megan didn't like stuffed animals and that we were shopping for her not him.  Big lesson, I know.  His first decision was to choose between two pairs of gloves for her, he just grabbed both so I wasn't sure how this choosing was going to go, but he got better at it.  Once I found a couple of suitable items I held them up and asked Sam to pick one for Megan.  He looked at the item on the right and then the one on the left and then back and forth a couple of times and then he made his decision.  He did this one more time with another item for her.

Sam's language is really picking up - he will just say something new out of the blue.  We were working with him to say his uncle's names and when we said say "Rich" he said rabbit.  Now if we ask him he says rabbit. He can say apple and baby pretty well now too.  Today when Will told Sam to ask for water (he meant in sign language) Sam said "wawa".

Thanksgiving lunch at Megan's school

Sam had so much fun having Thanksgiving lunch with Megan's class today.  He loved getting to run around and checkout all of the toys.  One of the little girls in Megan's class, Jasmine, absolutely loves Sam.  She is the "mother" of the kids and for some reason adores Sam.  She would call him over to sit by her on the couch and then get so happy and giddy when he did it that she couldn't contain herself.  Of course, Sam was loving the attention to, but he just wanted to roam around the room.

After his lunch was finished he roamed around to everyone who was still eating to try and get a bite of their food.  He is such a little moocher.

He was so upset when it was time to leave.  He has such a hard time when he is having fun, he just wants to stay.

Sissy

Sam now tries to say "sissy", which is what we call Megan.  He is bubba and she is sissy.  He says "ssisssssy" - there are a lot of "s" sounds in it and it is so very cute.  He still tries to say Megan but isn't there yet.  I tried to get him to say Sam but he won't even try it.

A,B,C Song

Megan's speech therapist gave us a phonetic A,B,C song that we are supposed to play as often as possible. The song is repetitive and a little mellow so it usually puts Sam to sleep.  This morning we were on our way to the Life and Science museum with the kids and the CD was playing.  

It got to Window, Window, W, W, W (the W sound) and Sam did the W sound with the song.  Will and I looked at each other and Will said "so you heard it too".   Right about this time the song was at X-Ray, X-Ray, X, X, X and Sam did the X sound with the song.   Eventually the song got back around to G, H and N and Sam did all of the sounds with the song.  

He has never even tried to make the sounds with the song so it was exciting for him to do it with 5 letters today.  

Dogs

Sam loves animals and he loves seeing the dogs in the neighborhood.  He starts squealing every single time.  Yesterday afternoon I decided to test something.  Neither of the kids are into cartoons - they may watch for a minute or so once in a while but for the most part they both ignore the television; so I turned on Underdog the movie.  As soon as the dogs were on the screen Sam went absolutely nuts.  He was jumping and squealing and running around and beside himself.

When the scene changed and there were no dogs he would go back to playing and then the next time he looked up and the dogs were back he would flip out again.

Sam See, Sam Do

Sam is very much in a copy stage.  He is copying anything and everything he sees me doing.   The other night I was cooking, stirring something in a pan and he went to the play kitchen, got out a pan and started stirring.

He will see me do something with my hand or arm and he will stop what he is doing and repeat my behavior.

How fun to have a little mirror.

Such a little gentleman

This afternoon after nap I took the kids on a walk.  It was a beautiful day out and Sam wanted to stay outside and play after the walk.  I told him we had to go inside first and have snack and then we could come back outside and play.

Sam may love to be running around outside but his first love is food.  He climbed up the stairs and waited for me at the front door.  I was helping Megan walk up the stairs and to the door.  I opened the door and he stepped in and took off for the kitchen table.  He went straight to Megan's chair, instead of saying anything I just watched to see what he was up to.  He pulled her chair away from the table and turned it toward us; then he walked over and stood by his chair.

My little guy pulled his sister's chair out for her.  I don't think he could get any cuter or sweeter if he tried.

Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen

We pray over each meal before we eat and say Amen at the end of the prayer.  We realized a few weeks ago that Sam was trying to say Amen with us each time (it doesn't sound like Amen unless you know that is what he is saying).

Anyway, yesterday Sam started saying "Amen Amen Amen" when he is hungry.  He just stands by his chair and keeps saying it over and over again.

Talking on the phone and microwaving

Sam has been talking on the phone from Megan's kitchen non-stop.  He puts it up to his face and just babbles away while walking all over the house.

Sam loves playing with the kitchen and lately he has been "working" the microwave.  The buttons on the microwave are just a sticker but that doesn't keep him from pushing on them as hard as he can trying to make them beep.  When I play with them at the kitchen I make beeping noises when we push on the buttons and I think he is trying to get it to beep for him.

Books

This morning when it was just me and Sam he was having a blast running around the house.  He would go in one direction until he got to a wall and then he would turn around and go in the other direction.  At one point he went into the dining room and started to play with the cookbooks.  I told him to leave the cookbooks alone and go get one of his books; and he did just that.  A few moments later he walked up to me with one of his books in his hand.

Fairness police

Sam is definitely the fairness police in our house, especially when it comes to food.  He is always concerned about what Megan is getting to eat and how much.  He eats faster than her so we are constantly telling him that he had his share.

This morning we were at the horse farm for Megan's therapy session.  At the end of her sessions they let Megan brush the pony and sometimes she gets to give the pony a treat.  Today they had a cutup apple in a bowl for the pony.  It was sitting on the ground near where Sam and I were sitting.  The volunteer came over to get the apple and she showed it to Sam.  Oh dear, that was a mistake.  As soon as she walked away with the apple Sam started fussing.

He immediately started signing "food" and "please" over and over again.  I told him that the apple wasn't for him but he just kept asking.  And then when they fed the apple to the horse Sam lost it.  He burst into tears.  He was so very unhappy that they were feeding "his" apple to the horse.  It wasn't fair that the horse was getting to eat the apple and he wasn't.

Are you tired?

Sam does things for me that he won't do for Will.  He always has, and I guess probably always will.  Last night he was acting tired about an hour before bedtime.  I asked him if he was tired and he rubbed his eye.  It occurred to me that he wasn't rubbing his eyes before I asked him so as a check I asked him again and he rubbed his eye.  He was rubbing his eye in response to the question.  I repeated it 2 or 3 times and each time he would rub his right eye.  Will tried it and Sam just looked at him.

A few minutes later I changed the question to see what would happen and I asked him if he was ready for bed and he rubbed his left eye.  Will tried it and nothing.

So, funny two ways - it is funny to me that he rubs his eye when asked the question and that he switches eyes based on the way it is phrased; and it is funny that he won't do it for Will.

Such a well behaved little guy

Sam did absolutely amazing today during Megan's speech session.  I had him in the umbrella stroller so that he wouldn't get in trouble for constantly trying to run away or explore.  I gave him 1 link to play with.  He was content for the first 15 minutes or so just sitting and playing with that link.  Eventually I started pushing him back and forth while I sat and watched Megan's session.

He would give me the link or just give me high-fives.  Occasionally he would start babbling very loudly and I would have to tell him to use his inside voice but he just did so good.  I am so proud of my big boy.

Elevators & 18 month checkup

Sam is now freaked out and scared by elevators.  Yesterday was the third time he has freaked out when we get into an elevator.  The previous two times he was in a stroller so I was hoping that because I was holding him it would be better, it wasn't.  I was able to calm him down by holding him, but I didn't stop it from happening. I have no idea what has caused him to decided he doesn't like them.

Sam had a great 18 month checkup yesterday.  He weighs 23 lbs and is 32 1/2" tall.  He did great for the checkup, but cried when he saw the nurses; they are the ones who poke him with shots.

Outdoor boy

Sam loves to be outside.  He loves to run around, pick up rocks or grass or dirt and explore.  He has so much fun with wide-open spaces and he hates it when it is time to go.  This morning we went to a playground on a lake and he had so much fun, but boy did he let us know he wasn't happy that we were leaving.  We were there for an hour, but just not long enough.

Pulling, pushing and whoa!

When we were at the horse farm earlier this week Sam had a blast running around.  Megan was riding in the outdoor arena so he got to walk around and explore everywhere - when she is inside there is not a lot to do. At one point he was playing with the wagon and he knocked the handle down - he got so excited because he didn't know it did that.  He worked his way to the end of it with the part you hold onto and he grabbed it.  He tried so hard to push it but it wasn't going anywhere and then he pulled with all of his might and took a step and it moved.  He was so happy and extremely proud of himself.  I cheered for him and he did it again.  He ended up pulling the wagon a good 4-5 feet before I stopped him (he was about to go down a hill).

When we play in the driveway with the smart coupe Sam loves to push it around with Megan in it.  He digs his little legs in and gets her going all the way to the end of the driveway, which is uphill.  Yesterday he was pushing her everywhere and she went into the grass which is when I would normally help move her back onto the pavement but I waited and he was pushing with everything he had to try to get her to go across the yard.  It wasn't working, but he kept trying.  He looked like a cartoon character that runs in place before they take off.  Both of the kids got a kick out of it and were laughing and laughing that the car wasn't moving.

When we play in the driveway Sam gets going really fast because of the slant when he is walking back down toward the house.  I tell him to slow down and he does a great job of slowing down so that he doesn't fall and then he keeps walking.  For some reason, two nights ago when Will was out there with us, every time Will or I told Sam to slow down he would have such an abrupt halt to his step that he would stick his rear end out and end up sitting down.

Dumping water on his head

We have a kids watering can that we keep in the bath tub.  It is a bath toy but we use it to wet the kids hair and leave it sitting on the edge of the tub.  Tonight during bath I put it down in the tub and Sam picked it up and proceeded to pour the water over his own head, except his aim was a little off and he just poured it straight in his face.  He handled it really well and proceeded to do it again and again and he would laugh.

Baaaa and his little pumpkin

Sam has a new sound...baaaa.  He says this for everything, sometimes extremely loud.  He says it when he is trying to scare you like boooo.  He says it when you show him an animal, any animal.  He says it when he is just playing.

We went to the pumpkin patch this weekend and Sam got to pick out a pumpkin from a crate.  He picked the only one that was different - they were all round except the one he grabbed, it was oblong.  He loves that pumpkin.  He carries it around with him everywhere.

Standup hugs for Megan

Sam has gotten better about responding to Megan's affections.  He is now giving her hugs and kisses back when she does it and sometimes even initiates it himself.

Two days ago Sam was standing in front of me and Will walked Megan over.  They gave each other kisses and then Megan put her head on his shoulder and he did the same.  They were so adorable standing there hugging.

Miscellaneous

Last week when Sam and I were at Walmart I was talking to him and I called him buddy.  A little old man was standing there and asked me if I had just called him buddy.  I told him that his name was Sam but that his nickname was buddy.  He was so excited about that because his nickname is buddy.  It was a very sweet moment.

Our coffee table has a glass top on part of it with an opening beneath it.  A couple of days ago Sam was playing with the coins from the piggy bank on top of the glass.  At one point he dropped one on the floor and  noticed he could see the other coins from below.  He reached up and tried to touch them and then got a perplexed look on his face.  He did this a few times and then finally gave up, stood up and went back to playing.

For a while now Sam has been bringing me anything that he finds on the floor or ground that isn't a toy.  So, a piece of paper, a piece of hair or string or cheerio (if he knows I am looking otherwise he will eat these instead).  Thankfully he hasn't brought me any bugs.

We have an alphabet toy magnet on the fridge.  Sam took one of the letters off the fridge and brought it into the living room.  A little while later he picked it up and I told him to take it back to the kitchen and put it on the fridge.  I have had this conversation with him before and it went right over his head but this time he walked straight to the fridge and actually put the letter into the toy and pushed it so it came on.  I was very impressed.  

Learning day

Yesterday ended up being a serious learning day for Sam.  He has them every once in a while where he seems to just soak up everything we are teaching him immediately.  There are signs that I have been trying to teach him for a few weeks without success and last night at dinner he learned them all and then some.  We taught him every sign we could think of that was age appropriate.  In addition to "please, more, love and all-done" he now knows how to sign "daddy, mommy, thank you, food, help and milk".  His version of the sign for help is adorable and he doesn't quite have milk correct but he has his own sign for it.  Learning 6 new signs in the span of about 3 minutes is insane and a couple of them I hadn't even tried before.

Last night Sam was being extremely aggressive and he kept biting me.  I would correct him and tell him that we don't bite and he would pout.  I was laying in the floor playing with him at the time and I had him sit right beside me for a minute to get him to calm down.  After about a minute I said to him "Sam, mommy doesn't want you to bite me, that hurts mommy.  You need to be sweet with mommy." and when I said that he gave me a kiss and then a hug.  He is such a sweet boy.  Will and I talked about it later and I realized that when he gives me hugs or kisses I tell him he is a sweet boy so he figured that he what he should do.

Eyes/Ears/Nose/Mouth/Hair & Nodding Yes

Sam can and will identify his eyes, ears, nose, mouth and hair when you ask him where they are.  His favorite part is by far his ears.  In fact most of the time when you ask him where his ear is he will grab one and then the other.  

Today during Megan's therapy session I tried again to get Sam to nod yes to a question and this time he did it.  What is funny is that when I modeled it for him I raised my eyebrows at him to be a little more animated, well now when he nods yes he raises his eyebrows too which makes it that much cuter.  

I'm obedient but seriously mom?

Tonight Sam and Megan took a bath together - we do it this way about half of the time.  Megan was already rinsed and Will had her in her room getting her pjs on her and I was rinsing Sam.  As I started to pick him up and wrap him in his towel he started grunting and tooting.  I said "Don't you dare poop Sam. Stop, Stop, Stop" and Will burst out laughing which made me laugh and then made Sam laugh.  Once I got the towel under him I raced to his room and got a diaper on him.  Thankfully he didn't poop on me, but seriously, seriously funny that I was trying to tell him not to.

I figured it was worth a shot.

I NEED MY SHOES!

Oh my goodness the boy wants his shoes on.  A couple of days ago this happened to Will and today it happened to me.  If Sam gets up from his nap he is okay not getting his shoes on immediately unless you touch them.  Will put Sam's socks with his shoes and didn't put them on him and I just touched a shoe.  In both instances Sam had a complete meltdown.  This afternoon he was inconsolable.

He was playing with his shoes today, carrying them around, trying to put them on, etc for 20+ minutes and was as happy as could be.  One of his shoes was on the floor beside me I simply moved it over about 6 inches so that he would know it was there and that is when he lost it.

My teenage daughter errr 1 year old son

Sam loves to take the phone from Megan's kitchen.  He lays on his tummy on the floor, bends his knees, crosses his ankles, lays on his elbows and talks on the phone.

I am calling it....

So I can't get a definitive answer regarding when you officially say someone is walking so I am just going to say it.  Sam is walking!  He is walking more than crawling and will stand up and walk anytime I tell him to.

Yesterday when it was just the two of us running errands I held his hand and he walked everywhere we went.  This morning at the doctor's office he walked into the exam room and was so proud of himself.

Getting closer to walking

Sam is walking around the house so much more the past couple of days.  When he goes from one play area to another he is walking to get there most of the time.  When it was time for lunch today I pulled out his chair for him and said "Stand up Sam and walk to your chair" and he did it.  That was the first time he has done that "on command".  Usually when I tell him to stand up he just looks at me and then crawls to me.

When it was time for nap I told him to walk to the stairs.  He fell down a couple of times on the way but each time he got back up and walked all the way to them.

Love

Megan has started doing the sign for love again, a lot, so Sam has started copying her.  She will say she loves something and then Sam will do the sign for love, only he does it about halfway.  The sign for love is basically to hug yourself, Sam does this with one arm and the other arm (his right) he puts up in the air.  The end result of how Sam says "love" is more like how some people might flip someone off.

Feeling a little better and "words"

Sam was feeling better tonight than he was this afternoon.  He ate a little bit of dinner which is way more than he ate for lunch.  He was happy to go to bed and even climbed the stairs himself which is not something he could have done earlier.

I haven't blogged much about his talking and realized that I should update what he is "saying".  Sam mimics sounds and he is so very close to saying "I stink".  When he has a dirty diaper I say "Sam, say I stink" and does it almost perfectly now.  Tonight I was trying to get him to say dada which he can do, but doesn't very often and every time I would say "say dada" Sam would say "I stink".  Hilarious!

Tonight when I said, do you want to go night night, Sam said "night night" pretty clearly.

Double ear infection :-(

Sam had started to show signs of getting a cold two days ago.  This morning he ate breakfast like normal and then it was obvious he needed to go down for a nap - he just seemed a little "off".  When he woke up from his nap he was very "off" - he was crying and I couldn't get him to stop for more than a few seconds at a time.  When he refused lunch and his milk I knew something was really going on.

The doctor's office worked him in and both of his ears are infected.  He said that it is going around like that right now - just a little cold and then seemingly the next minute ear infections.

They gave him some good meds and he was feeling better by the time we made it back home and is currently resting again.

Walking status and catching up

Sam is still holding out on the walking.  He will walk across the living room (10-14 steps) to get to me, immediately turn around and go back to Will.  He will do this 10+ times in a row, but he is not taking off anywhere else.  I did finally get him to stand up in the middle of the room by himself a couple of times but he has to have fallen in the exact right position in order to do it.   He loves it when he is walking back and forth between us, we just can't seem to get him to get beyond that.

Sam has learned how to climb down the stairs and he is really good at it.

He is loving having the living room all to himself while Megan is in preschool.  He plays so nicely and explores all of the toys.  I know he misses her because he gets so excited when we pick her up but he is liking the lack of competition for attention and toys.

Sam has started playing with cars a little bit and he even tries to make the vroom noise.  It is adorable.

Dancing and whispering

The kids have a favorite song right now - the jazz version of If you're happy and you know it.  Sam has started dancing to the song in a very funny way.  He stands up and kicks his right leg out to the side and kind of wiggles it around.  I have no idea where he learned that but it is very cute.

On our last road trip whenever Sam would get really loud with his babbling I would say in a whisper "Sam not so loud" and he would immediately whisper the exact same thing he had just yelled.

Eating his sandwich by himself, nap and shoes

Sam has eaten his lunch all by himself for the past 3 days.  I am making it with 1 of the slices using the heel so that it is more firm for him and he is figuring out how to hold it without destroying it.  He loves getting to do it himself.

We are trying to drop his morning nap because if he gets it he is no longer taking his afternoon nap; but he is so very cranky without it.  He is only getting 30 minutes.  We were in the car 2 days ago during when he would normally nap and I was about 10 minutes from home.  I didn't want him to fall asleep so when he would start to drift off I would call his name.  It was so sad because after about 3 minutes of this he would cry when I would stop him from going to sleep.  This is a rough transition for him but he needs more than just a 30 minute nap, he needs the 3 hour nap he gets in the afternoon.  Ugh!  Hoping this gets easier for him soon.

Sam is now in size 4 shoes.

Clapping with song, Megan's shoes and Wha?????

A couple of weeks ago Sam starting clapping with If you're happy and you know it at the correct times instead of just randomly through the song.  He will also clap with every verse instead of doing the other actions (i.e. stomp feet, etc).

Megan has a pair of white keds that she wears when she goes horseback riding and Sam is obsessed with them.  She doesn't wear them around the house because she wears her custom shoes so on Wednesdays (the day of her therapy) the shoes are in the living room before and after her session.  When (not if) Sam sees them he will try to get them.  He grabs them and takes off with them.  I think he probably has a secret hiding place somewhere for his favorite items so I am always telling him to put her shoes down because I don't want them to be lost.  I typically end up having to put them out of his reach because he just can't seem to help himself and he will just keep going after them every few minutes.

Sam is constantly babbling "words" that sound so much like real words.  On Thursday I had him in my lap and I told him to look at me so I could talk to him about something.  We make an effort to get Sam to look into our eyes and talk to us when he is not in trouble because eye contact is definitely a love language for him and we don't want the only time he gets it to be when he is in trouble.  So a couple of times a day I get him to look at me so I can praise him about something or to tell him I love him or that he is a smart boy, etc.  So on Thursday I was trying to do this, get him to look me in the eye and he wouldn't do it - he thought he was in trouble.  I had to put my hands on his face and get him to look up at me, and I said Sam in a sing-songy voice so he would know that he wasn't getting corrected.  When I did this Sam said "wha" - like he was trying to say "what" and I busted up laughing.  I couldn't help it.  He was giving me attitude and saying what to me, at least it certainly sounded like it.  He didn't want to stop what he was doing and look at me, and he let me know it.

Try again...

Sam has been practicing his walking by sitting on Megan's therapy bench, standing up and walking across the room to me.  When he falls down before making it to me, which is about 80% of the time, I say "try again" and he will crawl over to the bench and do it again.

Walking on his knees

Sam has been walking on his knees for some time now.  It is very cute and funny to watch because he uses his knees like feet to "walk" across the floor.

Tonight Will was holding Megan's hands helping her walk across the house and he was saying "walking, walking, walking" to her (we do this to get her to walk).  Sam got so excited and wanted to join in so he started following them by walking on his knees.  He was so happy.  After enjoying the cuteness I went over to him and helped him stand up so he could walk behind them.

Please and All Done

Sam has gotten very good at saying please in sign language and he does it on command.  He will sign please when you ask him if he wants something to eat and he will sign it if you say to him "say please".

He is also starting to sign "all done" but this is more of a copy thing than a "I mean it" thing.  If it were up to him he would never be "all done".

Tough being the little brother some days

Sam loves playing with Megan and her toys and of course he wanted to play with her new kitchen too.  He was so excited about all of the things she was doing.  He stood up at the end of the kitchen and would try to push her so he could walk between her and the kitchen to get to all of the fun stuff.  He would not be allowed to do this even if it wasn't her first time at her new gift.

But the newness of it was getting the best of Sam and he had to be banned from the kitchen for 10 minutes or so until he could calm down enough to share.  Once he was calm they played side by side for 20-25 minutes, passing food back and forth, opening/shutting doors together, discovering a new drawer and the basket full of food.

He also loves her new cleaning items but he uses them like a giant stick to wave around.

Not walking yet but boy can he climb

Sam is taking his time with this walking thing.  He is doing great with taking 5-6 steps but he isn't up for more than that yet, which is fine - he can do it when he is ready.

Now climbing on the other hand is a different matter.  Sam can climb anything.  We went to a park today and Sam loved climbing the playground equipment and going down the slide.  I kept having to stop him from going down head first and he would get so upset so I eventually let him do it the way he wanted to and I held onto his shoulder.  He decided he didn't like it and got pretty good at getting on his rear-end before sliding.

When we got home I showed him he could climb the ladder for our slide and he got so excited.

Using a spoon by himself

Every time I have had Sam try to feed himself with a spoon he has always stuck it so far in his mouth that he gags.  Today I decided to give him a shorter spoon and try again.  Success!

Sam fed himself his blueberry (I know I am nuts to try with something that stains) applesauce with only 2 mishaps.  The first mishap came when I stopped helping him "load" the spoon.  He didn't realize how easy it was to pull it out of the bowl and he pulled so hard applesauce went everywhere - but it only took that one time for him to learn he didn't have to yank on it.

The second mishap came when I went to the pantry to get something for Megan - during those 10 seconds he decided it was faster if he used his hand so when I turned around he had the spoon in one hand and the other hand was covered in applesauce.  I cleaned him up before I let him continue eating and he did the rest by himself until the bowl got empty enough he couldn't get any on the spoon.

I am so proud of him - he did such a good job.  I guess all he needed was a shorter spoon or maybe just a little more time to figure it out.

15 month checkup

Sam had a great checkup today.  The doctor said it was the easiest 15-month old checkup he had ever done.  He gave Sam a tongue depressor to play with and he was content to let the doctor do whatever he wanted for the rest of the visit.

Sam gained 2 pounds, he now weighs 21 lbs 9.8 oz; and he grew 1 inch, he is now 32" tall.

He is a very healthy little guy.

What?!? Blueberries grow on bushes

Sam loved picking blueberries.  He was so very happy that he was responsible for getting his own food.  As soon as Will showed him that you pick a berry and then eat it, it was on.  Will kept having to take berries out of his hand that weren't ripe yet.  He was okay with that as long as he could grab another one.

He was so very disappointed and upset when it was no longer his turn to eat berries.

He really does get plenty to eat

This morning the kids were playing in the living room and at one point Megan was around the corner.  I went to check on her and when I came back Sam was chewing.  We are constantly having to check his mouth because he finds stray cheerios or grass or something and he will eat it.  Well, when I looked at him and saw him chewing I also noticed that his cheeks were bulging.  I yelled SAM! to get him to stop chewing until I could get to him.  He immediately opened his mouth to start crying and I couldn't believe what I saw. 

That boy's mouth was completely FULL of a stress type ball.  At the holidays Wal-Mart always has foam balls in the shape of characters and the one Sam ate was Santa.  It took me a good minute or two to get all of the pieces out of his mouth because he wanted to eat it so bad that he kept clamping his jaw down and then he would start chewing again.  Seriously?  I am digging around in his mouth getting everything out and the kid is still trying to eat it.  I held onto everything I got out which included 3 chunks the size of an egg yolk and multiple smaller pieces.  I wanted Will to see how much he fit in his mouth.  He had to have bitten it several times to accomplish what I was looking at and I was only out of the room for 5-8 seconds or so.  

Of course he got in trouble and was told not to eat balls so imagine my surprise when I returned from the chiropractor to hear that he had done it again with a baseball foam ball.  This time he only had 3 small pieces but oh my goodness.  Will said he got into trouble again and then I banned him from all balls for the rest of the night.  

I guess pot roast, carrots, baby corn, broccoli and potatoes wasn't enough of a dinner and he needed something more.  

Say Hi Dude

Earlier today Will and I were sitting on the couch and Sam was in Will's lap.  I was trying to get Sam to say "hi" because sometimes he will do it and it sounds correct.  He wasn't saying anything, just smiling at me so Will said "Say hi dude" and he waved at me.  Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard.  So Will said it again "say hi dude" and he waved at me.  I told Will he was in trouble if he had taught Sam that you wave when you say dude.

We were both laughing.  We would say "say hi" and Sam would just look at us, but when one of us would say "say hi dude" the kid would wave every single time.  Eventually Will try changing out "dude" for other words "Sam", "buddy", etc and he would wave each time; so daddy is saved.  Sam will wave if you say "say hi ____", but not if you say "say hi".  Too funny.

Tunnel play and 18 month clothing

Sam had such a blast crawling through the tunnel last night.  He would put toys in it and go get them and just crawl through to the other side.  He was truly scared of it the first time we opened it up; he would just look at it and cry a cry we hadn't heard before.  Once we got him inside it there is no keeping him out of it.

I moved Sam into 18 month clothing today.  I have been holding off because of his short little legs but he no longer fits into 12 month onesies or pjs and the shirts are a little short so it was time.  When I showed him an outfit and asked him if he wanted to put it on he got so excited.

Rubbing his head

Sam has started rubbing his head when he bonks it on something.  It is the cutest thing because he does it very slowly and he gets a look on his face.

I love you kisses

A few days ago Sam started giving me kisses every time I said "I love you" to him.  It is so sweet.  I guess because I would say I love you and give him a kiss he thinks that is what you do and I love it.  Two days ago Will was trying to get him to do it for him but he wouldn't.

Yesterday when I was holding Sam I said "mommy loves Sam" and he gave me kisses.  Will was nearby so he said "daddy loves Sam" and Sam gave me more kisses.  Ahahahaha.  He did eventually start giving Will kisses later in the day.

Exploring the ocean, peek-a-boo, pool and home

Once Sam warmed up to being in the ocean he had such a good time.  He would crawl around a little bit, play in the sand, pick up shells, eat the sand anytime I wasn't watching for more than 1 second and then be upset that he had sand in his mouth.

When Sam would wake up in his pack-n-play and see me in our bed he would stand up, peek over the top and smile at me; when I smiled back and would squat down until his eyes were behind the edge and then pop back up again.

I blogged before about Sam and Megan playing together before they would go to sleep but he took things a little farther.  If Megan decided she was ready to go to sleep and Sam wasn't ready he took action.  The first thing he did was stand up, grab onto her bed and shake it; when this didn't work he went over to the couch area and got their shoes and started throwing them at her.  He got into trouble for that one.  In the morning Sam would sometimes wake up before her and stand up and start to wake her up but he did really well with being told to lay down and also to stop kicking.

Sam loved the pool.  We even took him out of the float a couple of times and had him go back and forth between us and he kept putting his face in the water.  He did great with the water.  He gets better with it every time he is exposed to it.

When we got home I put Sam in the floor and he took off.  He went all over the living room and touched all of the toys.  It was like he was saying hi to each of them.

Bath craziness

I need to blog about the rest of our vacation but wanted to talk about bath time last night.  We put the kids in the tub together.  This is the second time we have done this and boy was it different.

I guess after splashing and playing in the ocean and pool Sam was ready to take on the bath in a whole new way.  He went nuts splashing.  I am talking floor, walls, daddy, Megan - everything soaked.  He had water all over his face and all over Megan's face and she was clapping and he was squealing.  Of course we won't allow crazy splashing with every bath but it was so fun to see them have a great time.

Vacation is the coolest thing ever!

Sam loves being on vacation.  He loves getting to see his daddy all the time and he loves all of the fun new things to explore.  Yesterday we sat him in his lawn chair outside the camper and it didn't take long for him to climb out and take off everywhere.  He crawled all over the patio and ventured off into the dirt.  He went under the picnic table, through the bars and round and round.  Everywhere he went he picked up sticks, rocks, pine cones, dirt and anything else his little hand could find.  When I gave him a bath last night the water was actually dirty - little pieces of stuff were floating in it.  I told him that he now officially had his "little boy card".  Today they were playing outside while I made lunch and when Will handed him to me (I was in the camper) he still had a leaf in his hand.  :-)

At one point today I put the blanket down for Megan to play on (she doesn't like to crawl around in the dirt) and he would go get sticks, etc and bring them back and put them on the blanket.

We have been putting the kids on our bed anytime I need them out of the floor so that they are contained (for the most part) and they can play.  We fill the bed with their toys and let them jump around.  Sam loves playing with Will's neck pillow.  It is a u-shaped pillow and he just goes nuts with it.  He lifts it over his head, he puts in up against his chest and bends over on it squishing it, he puts it on the bed and pounces on it, he puts it under his chin - it is endless and so fun to watch.

Sam is also enjoying eating out - this is not something we do a lot of at home.  He is a serious people watcher.  He will just stare at them and see what they are up to and sometimes flirt with the ladies.

Concentrating

Sam never spends more than a minute, if that long, playing with a toy.  He is too busy crawling/cruising and in general just moving around.  Tonight he was playing with a ring stacker toy and he was really trying hard to get the orange ring onto the pole.  He spent about 2 minutes working on it with the ring in his right hand.  Eventually he grabbed onto it with his other hand so that he was holding it in both hands.  Once he did that he got it on the pole in just a few seconds.  I clapped and cheered for him and he looked up at me and beamed.  He didn't know I had been watching him and he was so proud of himself for getting it to work.

He proceeded to sit there and take the orange ring off and put it back on for 3 or 4 more minutes; each time looking up and grinning when he did it waiting for us to cheer for him.  At one point after putting the ring on he lifted the entire toy in the air and started turning around in circles.  It was hilarious - he was holding up his trophy and rotating around with it.

We kept trying to get him to put a different colored ring on but he wouldn't do it - he was sticking with orange.  He ended up sitting and playing with that toy for the last 10-12 minutes before time for bed.

He loves himself and a new trick or two

Yesterday Sam was standing at the coffee table and he picked up the mirror and started talking to himself.  Every little bit he would give himself kisses.  He was really chatting away using sounds I haven't really heard much.

He crawled onto the landing to get a ball that I threw up there for him yesterday afternoon.  I told him not to climb the stairs so he decided to get back down.  Instead of crawling down like he always has he scooted to the edge, put his feet on the ground, stood up and took 2-3 steps.  After that he was hooked; he just kept getting up there and scooting off into standing and taking a couple of steps.

Sam has been putting toys into containers more frequently and will even do it on demand some of the time now.  I was sitting in the floor playing with both of them and we were singing songs and doing hand motions. At one point Sam grabbed my hand, turned it over and put the toy he was holding into it.  I was impressed.

Standing up

During Megan's PT session yesterday Mandy asked me if Sam had been standing up without holding onto anything from a seated position.  I told her I hadn't tried it, so today I tried it.  I sat Sam on my leg and told him to stand up.  The first couple of times he bounced a couple of times and then stood up.  Eventually he would just stand up.  What is great is once he is standing he always takes a couple of steps, even if there is nothing in front of him.

He seems to be more stable in his steps from this position as opposed to when he uses our hands to stand up and then we have him let go.  Of course there are times when he is in such a hurry that when he stands up and takes off he falls, but that is just Sam; moving too fast is something he does a lot.

Steps, Steps and more Steps

Sam took 5 steps today to get to me.  He has consistently been taking 2-3 steps but 5 is a new record.  We have discovered that he does so much better walking if he are sitting on the couch or a chair or something.  He will take as many steps as needed to get to us and then lean out with his hands.  If we are sitting on the floor he still just dives at us 95% of the time.

Play time and figuring out car cheerios

Someone gave Sam a Melissa & Doug ABC puzzle for his birthday.  There are no knobs on the pieces but they each stick up just enough that he can flip them out of the holes with his finger.  He loves this puzzle.  He will sit or stand and play with it until he has removed every single letter.  Then he will grab the letter "g" and take it with him all over the house.

Sam has a "get me" position.  If he is playing with me or Will or Megan and he is running away from us eventually he will lay flat on his tummy and start doing a frog kick all while smiling as big as possible.  He lays there waiting for the person to get him.  He does this all the time, anytime he thinks someone is chasing him or when someone actually is.  He loves to play chase with Megan and will watch over his shoulder to see if she is coming.  Once she is after him it doesn't take him long to get into position so she can squish him.

We taught Sam how to put buckets on his head a long time ago and he is constantly doing it.  He will empty out containers so he can put them on his head (he learned to empty them after dumping items on his head a few times).  Lately he will put a bucket/pail/container on his head and then take off crawling.  Crazy kid - he can't see where he is going and bonks into stuff and then laughs about it.  Will said he thinks they are helmets - I think maybe we need to get him one.

Last night after dinner we put the kids in the chairs on the front sidewalk while Will & I worked on assembling a new shade tent we bought this weekend.  After a couple of minutes Sam got out of his chair and started crawling in circles in the grass and then he crawled over to us.  I guess crossing the playground for cheerios made him realize he shouldn't be afraid of grass either.

The kids have almost identical car seats except that Megan's is a different color and a year older model wise; but they both have cup holders built into them.  We have been using Megan's cup holder to give her cheerios on road trips and when out running errands for a long time.  I have been trying to get Sam to eat cheerios out of his cup holder as well but he just couldn't figure it out; that is until last Friday.  Sam finally managed to grab a cheerio and get it into his mouth and there has been no going back since.  He will even make his "I am hungry" noise when his cup holder is empty and he needs a refill.  Such a cute sound to have two little crunchers in the car now - and so much easier for me to get him his snack.

What a boy wouldn't do for some cheerios

Sam isn't fond of sitting in/on, crawling on or standing on different textures.  He is fine with indoor textures but doesn't like grass, playground materials, etc.  This morning after breakfast we went to check out a new park that Will found.  The playground has a dinosaur slide and some really great equipment for when the kids get a little older.  After swinging for a minute I took Sam over to the dino slide and let him crawl on the plastic steps.  

For the longest time he wouldn't climb the stairs because he was too busy cleaning them off.  They had fake mortar lines and there was the ground material  from the playground in them.  He was picking pieces up with his fingers and throwing them on the ground.  Eventually he climbed up the stairs for me.  I put him on the ground at the base of the slide - it was a rubberized surface and he went over to the edge of it to play with the mulch material.  I walked over to Megan and Will and grabbed the cheerios and showed them to Sam.  I didn't expect him to come to me - I figured he would sit there and clap and wave his arms waiting for me to come to him.  I gave several cheerios to Will for Megan and turned to go get Sam and that boy was on his way to me.  He was really moving.  I couldn't believe it.  

Busy couple of days

This afternoon after nap we headed to Restore to drop off some items and decided to go in and look around for a little while too.  By the time we were back in the truck it was 5:47 and so we decided to go to Applebee's for dinner.  This was the first time the 4 of us have eaten out since Sam has been eating regular food.

Both Sam and Megan did amazing waiting for the food to arrive.  I was putting cheerios in front of Sam one at a time and he would snatch them off of the table and eat them.  I was taking my time replacing them because I didn't want him to eat too many and when he would see my hand going to pick one up he would get so excited.  One time Will reached across the table and grabbed the cheerio before Sam could get it.  He just looked at him and then when Will moved his hand Sam grabbed it and put his hand in his lap.

The kids menu was pretty lousy so I ordered something off of the regular menu for the kids to share.  I decided on Chicken Fettuccine Carbonara which had mushrooms, red peppers, peas, bacon, grape tomatoes and onions in it.  Let's just say that I picked good.  Sam was so stinking happy with every bite.  He even drank his milk from the cup and straw that they brought to the table.  Such a big boy.

Earlier today we checked out a new park.  It was snack time so I put a blanket down and the four of us sat down.  After snack Will took Megan to the swings and I stayed on the blanket with Sam because he was having so much fun crawling around.  He would crawl to the edge of the blanket and play with the dirt, rocks and twigs on the ground.  He wouldn't leave the blanket though - he just kept going all of it and right up to the edge; that is until Will came back from the bathroom.  Sam crawled off the blanket by about 2 feet to get to Will.

On Thursday Sam played in the sand for the first time.  I met a friend and her kids at a park and after swinging for a little bit I put the kids in the sand box and got out the toys.  He wasn't interested in the toys but  just wanted to pick up the sand and squish it.  He sat there and let me bury his legs in the sand.  I stood up and took one picture and it started raining.  Sam was wearing a hat so he had no idea it was raining and was a tad unhappy when I had to yank him up and take off for the shelter.

On Friday I gave Sam his first haircut.  He has been needing this for a few months and I finally couldn't take it anymore.  I had been waiting on the planets to align so that he was in the right mood and Will was here to take photos, etc etc; but I finally just had to do it.  So there are no photos of him getting it.  I cut about 2 inches off the back of his hair.  He did pretty good - he just didn't want to face away from me so he kept turning his head a lot.

Teeth & food

Sam's bottom two molars have now broken through just the tiniest bit.  So now all 4 molars have made it through a little bit.  I noticed when I was checking on his teeth last night that his top canine teeth are almost through, if you put pressure on the gum you can feel them.  I can't believe he is cutting them all at the same time.

Sam has been doing so much better feeding himself.  He still tries to stuff too much food in at a time but is getting better about slowing down with verbal commands.  He has mastered his new straw sippy cup too.  He can pick it up, drink and put it back down.  Unless he is really hungry he will drink until you tell him to stop, but again he is getting better about this as well.  He is also getting better about not bursting into tears when a meal is over.  Most of the time he will still start to cry but he can calm down immediately when we tell him that he is okay.  I decided to see if he has figured out when he is full yet and let him eat more than I thought he should before I cut him off.  He still cried when I made him stop and then he spit up everywhere which means he ate too much.  I am not sure how you teach a kid this, or if I even can; but we will keep trying.

Spray pool and lunch

We put Sam in the spray pool for the first time today.  He was okay sitting in the pool but didn't like it when we  turned the spray on and it got his head/face wet.  We had to turn it off and calm him down to get him to stay in the pool.  After the spray incident he wouldn't do anything but just sit in the water and look at us.  It wasn't until Megan got in that he started playing again.

Sam has been eating 3/4 of a sandwich for lunch every day for a couple of weeks.  Since he doesn't have a full switch it is difficult for me to know when to increase his food.  I decided today to go ahead and make him a whole sandwich and he ate every bite and his fruit and he didn't spit it up.  He was still unhappy when I took his bib off of him but I said "Sam you just had a whole sandwich you're okay" and he quit fussing.  I can't believe he is eating that much - I said to Will "what on earth is he going to want to eat when he is 3?".

1st Step - and more

Sam took his first step this afternoon.  I picked him up and celebrated with him and then had him try again.  He immediately took another step toward me and during his second step he reached out and grabbed me - so almost two steps.

We clapped and I cheered for him and he was so excited.  I turned the video camera on and tried to get a repeat performance but he was so excited he just kept jumping all over the place and I didn't quite get another step out of him.

Will & I will try again tonight to see if we can get him going.  I think he is ready to take off once he figures it out.

So Sam took several steps tonight.  He took 1-3 steps several times before lunging/diving at us.  He worked so hard he wore himself out and went to bed a little early tonight.

Top molars breaking through

Tonight Sam was crawling around with a toy coin in his mouth.  At one point I saw a little stream of blood and grabbed a paper towel for his face while Will cleaned up the coin.  It is a good thing I knew that he had a little blood pocket on his left upper molar otherwise we would have been trying to figure out what happened.  I felt of his gums and both of his upper teeth have broken through with 1 very sharp point.

Putting things "in"

Sam has started putting toys into containers.  He won't do it if you ask him to do it, but when he is playing by himself he will put something in once or twice a day.

Catching up

Sam is not one to sit and play with anything for very long.  He normally has a very short attention span and has to get moving again.  However, the other day he was playing with the piggy bank.  He had it on its side with the door facing up and he was opening and shutting it.  He thought that by doing this he was making it play music - but in reality his knee was touching the pig's nose which makes it play music.  He was so enamored with himself that he just kept doing it and smiling.  He played for 4-5 minutes which is a really long time for him.

When my mom was visiting Sam starting making a new noise.  He was kind of yelling a big O sound when he was happy or excited about something that was happening.  He is still making this noise and it is so very funny.

A few days ago I found a used Radio Flyer tiny trike.  It is a really cute tricycle that you use your feet to move instead of pedals.  I picked it up at night after the kids were in bed and I cleaned it up for the next day.  The next morning I sat Sam on the trike and he took off across the floor and then when he was done he held onto the handlebars, stood up and walked backwards to get over the seat.  Will and I were both impressed with this maneuver.  He has ridden it several times since then and has even gotten off once by standing up and swinging one leg over to the other side.

Sam and Megan have "fought" over toys for some time now.  Anytime Megan is playing with something Sam will crawl over to her and try to take it away from her.  She generally takes it right back but Sam has gotten good about grabbing the toy and taking off away from her.  A couple of days ago Megan was reading a book and Sam crawled over and took it away.  The book passed back and forth between them several times before Sam decided to grab it and "run".  He crawled about 4 feet away from Megan, turned his back to her and put the book in his lap.  He would look down at the book and then over his shoulder to see if she was coming to get it from him.  He repeated this, look at the book/look over his shoulder for Megan, every 5-6 seconds for a good minute or so.  Megan was no longer interested in the book and had moved onto something else but it didn't keep him from making sure his stolen treasure was safe.

Last weekend after the kids had their afternoon snack I grabbed an apple for myself and sat on the couch to eat it.  The kids were playing in the floor in the living room and it took Megan about 2 minutes to realize I was eating something.  Once she realized it she came over to ask for a bite and when Sam saw that he joined her.  They were both sitting at my feet looking up for a bite so I decided to give it a try.  I offered the apple first to Megan and then to Sam.  They both took bites out of it and chowed down on them.  Together they finished the remaining 1/3 of my apple and loved every bite.

A couple of weeks ago we moved Sam up to a size 3 diaper.  He is now wearing the same size as Megan.  He is still a little too skinny for this size so you have to overlap the tabs, but he is consistently peeing through the smaller size so we had to do something.  We are having to limit his liquids at night because even in the bigger size he is waking up wet 3-4 times a week.

Waving good-bye....I have been working with Sam to wave hi and good-bye.  Last week he would mimic the motion that Will made when waving but he wouldn't do it if I waved at him (in a different way) or if you just said the words.  Today Will and I had our first date in a long time because we finally found a new sitter. When it was time for her to leave I said to Sam "say bye-bye" and I waved like I normally do and Sam did his little wave, different from mine, to her.  It was so cute.  After she left I tried to get him to wave "hi" but he wouldn't do it and when I tried "bye-bye" again he did it once and then was done.

Sign language...we have taught Megan several words/phrases in sign language and are doing the same with Sam.  He doesn't like it when you take his hand/arm and do the signs for him - he just tightens his arm; but we keep trying.  This evening when it was time for dinner I did the sign for eat and Sam got all excited (he knows this sign and has responded to it for a couple of months) and when I said say "please" we think he signed please.  He repeated the motion more than once so it looks like "please" may be Sam's first sign language - how polite of him.

Hats!

My mom (granny) has been visiting us for a few days.  She brought along several hats for each of the kids.  Sam was having a blast with his hats and he has even figured out how to get some of them onto his head.  He has a fishing type hat and last night he was picking it up and forcefully/quickly cramming it onto his head.  He was so proud of himself each time he did it.  He would smile and sometimes clap for himself.  If the hat wasn't open he would try to get it on and "swoop" past his head.

This morning he grabbed one of Megan's ball caps and he put it on himself backwards.  He looked really cute.

It must taste good

While Megan is riding Daisy Sam is playing in the wagon.  He goes all over the wagon and every once in a while will climb out and onto my lap; but he prefers to crawl around and stand up on/in the wagon.  Today he was reaching down and touching the tires and getting the dirt/gravel/mud off of the tires again.  But today he would get it on his fingers and then stick them in his mouth.  I kept telling him to stop eating it but every time I would turn to watch Megan for more than a few seconds I would catch him trying to lick his fingers again.

High-Five

We have been working with Sam to give us a high-five and he hadn't quite gotten it until today.  He was sitting in Will's lap in the kitchen and I walked over and said "give me five" and held out my hand and he reached out and softly slapped my hand.  We cheered for him and I had him repeat it 3 or 4 times and then Will asked for five and he did it to him too.  He gave me five later in the day too so I think it might have stuck.

Following Megan's lead

Yesterday I decided to play with Sam's cars that had scared him the other day.  I want him to get used to them so that it doesn't cause an issue for him.  I was sitting in the living room with both kids and I pulled a car back and let it go on Megan's bench.  It ran off of the end and then did a flip.  Sam wasn't sure whether he was okay with it or not but Megan laughed.  She thought it was funny.  When she laughed Sam smiled a little.

I did it again and this time Sam watched Megan to see what she was going to do and when the car did the flip she laughed so he laughed.  This pattern continued for the next few times that I did it - Sam would look at Megan to see her reaction and then he would react the same way she did.  Finally he was getting excited and clapping and laughing when the cars ran off the end of the bench.

A little while later I put them on the kitchen floor and got them going across the floor and Megan chased them.  When they stopped I sent them back toward Sam and he was fine with it.

Doing it his way

Sam has his own way of getting toys out of his basket.  Megan has always pulled the baskets out from under the table, played with what she wanted and then put them back or left them and moved on to something else.  Sam, on the other hand, crawls over to the edge of the table, crouches down, looks into the basket and then reaches in and moves toys around until to finds something he wants.  He will then grab the toy and then sit up and play with it.

This method only allows him to see a very small portion of the toys that are in the basket.  This afternoon he went over and reached in and pulled out a toy and played with it for a few minutes.  Megan saw him do this and crawled over and pulled out the basket for him.  He got soooo excited about that. He looked through the entire basket, moving toys around, seeing what was underneath and he found his blue teething dog that he got for his 1st Easter when he was 2 days old.  When he saw the dog he clapped his hands, excitedly moved his legs back and forth and then grabbed it and put it in his mouth.  When Megan saw him get all excited she clapped for him and then gave him a kiss.  Such a sweet big sister.

Happy Mother's Day

Sam picked out a blue plastic boat for me for Mother's Day.  Sam was sitting beside me on the couch when Will handed it to me.  Sam reached over and took it from me and babbled something that sounded an awful lot like "mine, mine, mine."  He really loves his gift for me.

Berries, daddy and cars

This week Sam has had fresh strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.  He loves the berries.  He gets so excited when he sees me with one.

Sam has been really wanting his daddy lately.  He has always gotten excited when Will comes home, but the past few days it has been nuts.  He doesn't just want Will when he sees him, he flips out if he doesn't get to spend every single second with him immediately.  It is sweet that he wants to spend time with Will and we are working on patience, sharing daddy and not pitching a fit when he doesn't get exactly what he wants.

For his birthday Sam was given a set of 4 cars that make noise and that "go" if you pull them back and let go of them.  He loves playing with the cars so I put one on the kitchen floor and pulled it back so it would go.  He did NOT like this.  He didn't like it going by itself and he started crying.  I tried again 3 days later just to see if maybe he was tired the first time, or if maybe it wasn't the car but he freaked out again.  So, no making the cars go again for a little while.

Birthday Party!

This morning was Sam's birthday party at the park.  There were several people who were able to make it, though some were unable due to the reschedule.  His party theme was Little Buckaroo Sheriff.  We had the pavilion at the park reserved for 3 hours so we made the party for 2 hours so that there would be 30 minutes of setup and 30 minutes of cleanup time.

I got there early and set everything up.  I decorated a table, his highchair and hung up a Happy Birthday banner. We had his cake, cupcakes, drinks, a bucket of juice boxes and water, subway sandwiches, fried chicken and all the fixins.  Once Will arrived with the kids we took them over to the swings until everyone else arrived.  As people arrived everyone ended up on the playground and stayed there until time for gifts and cake.

We had Sam open his gifts first and he is still not into tearing the paper so Harper, our friends 7 year old helped him open everything.  He wore his cowboy hat for the first few minutes and then decided he was done with it too - I am sure it was making him a little warm.  After gifts it was time for his birthday cupcake.  I stuck his #1 candle in the cupcake and put it on his tray while we all sang to him.  The cupcake stayed on his tray for about 1 second and then he had it in his mouth.  He got a little bite, maybe two, and then he dropped it in his chair.  Harper gave it back to him and it was on.  He tore it in half and dropped most of it on his tray.  He was just eating that thing as fast as he could.  After taking several photos I started getting Megan and Sam's lunch together so that I was sure to get them what they would eat before it was gone.  It was time to clean Sam up so we could move onto having lunch so I took his tray off of the highchair.  He didn't fuss about it but he definitely watched where I put it.  It just had frosting on it and a few very small pieces of cake.  I washed his hands and face and then took him out of the chair so I could clean him off and he started crying.  He wanted the piece of cupcake that was sitting beside him in the chair and he wasn't happy that he couldn't reach it anymore.

The rest of the party was just everyone eating lunch and then a little more time in the swings for the kids before we headed home.  I stopped by Goodwill on my way home and dropped off the highchair because Sam transitioned to a booster seat a few days ago and I was just holding onto it for the party (I am so happy to have the space back in my entry).

Will took the kids straight home so they could get cleaned up and ready for nap.  Sam was completely out by the time they got home.  The park is only 5 minutes from home, but he was tired because he missed his morning nap and was outside all morning.

Sam got some fun toys and we all had a good time.  Sam and Megan both handled the "chaos", heat and morning really well.

On the move - with assistance

Sam got behind the walker wagon and took off today.  This morning he did great on the carpet and fell down every time he got on the kitchen floor because the wagon moved faster.  By this afternoon he only fell down about half of the time he was on the kitchen floor.

What was really cute was that he would walk until the wagon ran into something (his highchair, a wall, a chair, etc) and then he would just stand there so I would pick him up by his shorts and walk backward across the room while he pulled the wagon.  I would then put his feet down and he would take off again.

When he was done I put the wagon up against the play yard so that if Megan stood up at it, it wouldn't take off on her.  Eventually Sam decided to stand at it again.  I was changing Megan and he was pushing on the wagon with all of his might trying to get it to go somewhere.  He "dug in" and really gave it his all while grunting at it before he gave up and went to play with something else.

Feeling great and playing in the wagon

Sam woke up this morning feeling so much better.  Since he was feeling so good I decided to take the wagon to Megan's horse appointment instead of the stroller.  He had a blast sitting in that wagon while she rode the pony.  He played with his toys, the seat belt straps, the cup holders, the floor of the wagon and his sippy cup.  He was happy and smiling and putting his feet up.

Revenge of the MMR

For the past 2 days Sam has been running a fever from his immunization.  His fever started 2 nights ago and was 100.4; yesterday morning it was 100.8 and then gone after his nap but back again last night at 100.7.  I had to get him out of bed just before 10p to give him some more Tylenol and wait for it to kick in.

This morning his fever was 101.4 and he just felt lousy.  He ate all of his breakfast without a problem but didn't stay up for long.  I let him sleep until 12:30 and then I woke him up for lunch/fluids.  He wanted to eat his sandwich but then wouldn't chew it.  He just sat there and cried until I took the food out of his mouth.  I have extra baby food on hand just for this instance so I fed him 2 containers of peas which he ate happily.  He just didn't feel up to chewing.  He was only up for 30 minutes and then was asleep again minutes after I put him back down.  He slept a ton yesterday too - his way of working through the shot.

1 year portraits and laughing

Sam had his portrait session this morning.  We had the first appointment of the day, which is always nice for any appointment.  The photographer was very good.  She was entertaining to Sam, she was patient and gave me the poses I wanted.

Sam did great.  He wouldn't smile for the first couple of minutes but once I started tickling him he loosened up and started having fun.

Sam is laughing more often now at things that are funny and not just because he is being tickled.  I have started boxing him - pretending like I am boxing and touching him with my fist - and he finds it hysterically funny.  Tonight after dinner Will was playing in the floor with him.  Will was lying on his back and Sam was on the floor above his head.  Will put a coin in his mouth (something we do with Megan all the time) and when Sam turned and saw it he laughed, a strong, solid laugh.  It was very cute.

I love that his sense of humor is developing.

Copying Megan

Sam has started copying Megan's actions.  He has started playing with toys while lying on his tummy and kicking his feet.  He is also sitting up against the couch and bouncing back and forth off of it.  It is cute that he is copying her.

Open WIDE

When Sam is eating he opens his mouth for bites in a "regular" way, except when he is eating something he REALLY likes.  When he is getting something he thinks is really delicious he opens his mouth as wide as he possibly can.  It is really funny to see.  I told Will that he had started doing it and then the other day Will fed him blueberry yogurt for snack and he got to see it.

Sam can crawl ridiculously fast when he wants to.  It literally looks like he is in fast-forward sometimes.  Zoom...

1 year checkup

Sam had his checkup with Dr. Fennell this morning.  As usual, he did great.  He said that Sam has some congestion but everything else looks good.

He is now 31" tall and weighs 19 lbs 7.5 ounces.  He continues to be in the 90th percentile for height and 20-30th for weight.

He had a finger prick to test his iron level (which was fine) but man he did not like it.  He ripped the bandaid off and bled everywhere before we could get another one on him.  He didn't like the shots but handled them much better.

Happy birthday

Sam turned 1 today.  Will, Megan and I all went into his room together this morning and sang Happy Birthday to him.  He just sat there and looked at us but it was a fun thing to do and maybe the beginning of a family tradition.

We waited until after her morning nap to start opening presents.  He wasn't really into ripping the paper, but he did enjoy the presents that came out of it.  After nap we gave him a couple more gifts, this time unwrapped and he was much happier with this method.

Sam was still not feeling 100% today, he had a runny nose and was whiny but he still had a great day.

Eating like a champ

Sam is doing awesome without his bottles and from the way it is going I am sure he would have been thrilled dropping them a lot sooner than he did.

Recent meals Sam has enjoyed include a taco with tomatoes, avocado and cheese; pb&j sandwich; manwich; chicken pot pie; spaghetti and meatballs and baked tilapia.  He has had mango, pears, peaches, strawberries, bananas and pineapple.  The only food that Sam hesitates to eat is green beans - he will eat them, just not his favorite.

So far his cold isn't slowing down his eating, though Megan didn't start eating less until day 4.

Doing okay

Sam is doing okay with the cold.  He is sleeping, which is great.  He is very whiny and emotional but he still wants to run around and play some.  He is sitting in one place for long periods of time, which is extremely unusual.  He isn't running a fever, which is also nice.

Sam's first cold

I am so bummed for Sam.  He got up from his afternoon nap and his nose was running.  I was really hoping he wouldn't catch the cold since Megan has been sick for a few days already.

Since he has never been sick I don't know how he will handle it.  I hope that he will be up for his party on Saturday; we will have to make a decision on Friday based on how he is feeling.

The really sad thing is that Sam hates having his nose wiped so every time I do it he starts to cry, which of course makes it worse.

Standing, stairs, crouching and meals

Sam has been standing by himself a lot more.  He is consistently letting go or pushing back so he can stand freely.  He is even swinging his arms or clapping toys together while he is standing there.

We have a 1-step up landing area at the bottom of our stairs and Sam has been having a blast playing on it.  He keeps going up and down, up and down taking toys from the floor up or going up to get a toy and bringing it down.  He has been great about not climbing the stairs unless I am over there to watch him, until today.  This morning he decided it was time to go up.  I have to be careful not to correct him while he is in the process of doing something where he could fall because he tries to instantly rectify the situation and would jump off of the stairs.  I walked up behind him while he was going from stair 2 to stair 3 and told him he wasn't allowed to climb the stairs by himself and he climbed/gracefully rolled down.

Sam has started crouching down while he is on hands and knees.  It is really cute to watch.  This morning he crawled over to the coffee table and then crouched down to see into the toy baskets and reached into one and got a toy.

Sam has been doing great without his bottle.  At first he tried to drink his milk like it was his bottle - he didn't want to put it down to take a bite.  It took me about 1/2 of breakfast to get him with the program.  I had to stop feeding him and tell him to take a drink and then take the cup away to get him to eat more.  By dinner though he had the program down.  He was even taking drinks when he wanted one without me having to prompt him.

Clapping Déjà vu and last bottle

Last night I was reading through Megan's old blog posts and I saw one about the day we finally saw her clap her hands for the first time.  She was doing it in bed and I saw her on the monitor as Will walked into her room and he got to see her in person.

This morning when I went to get Sam up he was sitting in his bed clapping his hands.  This is the first intentional clapping he has done and he was so proud of himself.  He clapped all during getting changed/dressed as well.  So very cute.

With Megan we stopped giving her formula/bottles on the day she turned 1.  Our plan was to do the same with Sam but we ran out of formula today with his lunch bottle and since we are only 6 days away we decided to just stop the bottles now.  I am excited to be done with the bottles and I am sure Sam will be too.  He is always unhappy when he finishes one because he is still hungry so now he won't have to go through that.

"Mmmegan" and crawling

When I get Sam up in the morning I hug/kiss him and then lay him on his changing table and change his diaper and get him dressed for the day.  This morning I said say "da-da" and Sam just went back to saying "gagaggagaggaa"; and then I said say "ma-ma", same response; and for the heck of it I said say Megan and he said "Mmmm-an". He said a two syllable word that started with m and ended in "an".  It was awesome.  He got  so excited and kept saying it over and over again.  For the rest of the day he would try to say it every time we asked.

A few days ago he started getting the hang of helping me dress him.  He can now put his arms through the arm holes if I line them up for him - before he wouldn't keep pushing his arms all the way through, but now he does.  

Sam is now crawling the traditional way at least 50% of the time.  If he is on carpet he crawls the traditional way, if he is on a slicker surface (wood, tile, etc) he crawls the way he started out with the push/pull technique.  

On his own

Sam has been letting go of us/things to stand up by himself more often.  He is doing it a few times a day, though he doesn't stay standing for more than a couple of seconds once he lets go.

Tonight he let go of the table and turned toward Will - - he didn't move his feet, he twisted his torso all while not holding onto anything.

Overachiever

This afternoon we were invited to our neighbor's house to enjoy some authentic food from their homeland.  After lunch we all sat in the living room floor with the kids.  Eventually Sam followed their 8-10 year old son to the stairs.  He looked at them and then climbed onto the first step and dove back off.  He did this 3 times and then the kid ran back down the stairs and told Sam to follow him. 

Sam climbed every single stair, by himself, all the way to the top.  Once it was apparent he was going up I followed him up to make sure he was safe.  Prior to today he hadn't climbed even one step and just like that he climbed an entire staircase.  I carried him to the bottom because he was not the slightest bit interested in climbing down.  He wasn't down for more than a few seconds before he decided he was going back up and this time he went much, much faster. 

A little while before the stair achievement Sam was standing up at Will and let go.  He did it twice - he stood without holding onto anything for 2-3 seconds twice.  I told the neighbor that I would be back for them to teach him to walk in a couple of days because obviously their house is where Sam wants to perform new tricks. 

Sam also decided to be very chatty while we were there but he did something new.  He was growling/grunting and then started talking while in that voice.  It was hilarious.  He was growling/grunting all of his sounds. 

Not feeling his best

I think Sam is finally starting to cut his molars.  He has been a little warm today and he is extra tired - just wanting to sleep and lay his head on my shoulder. 

He did feel well enough to want some of Megan's egg roll.  It was spicy though I wasn't sure he could handle it.  I gave him one little piece from it and he wasn't thrilled with it, but he kept asking for more. 

Curious

Sam was playing with Megan's baby doll today.  First he drug it around with him by the foot.  He didn't do anything with it except take it with him wherever he went. 

Next he sat up, pulled the doll into his lap and proceeded to examine the baby's eye.  It has eyes that open and close when you change its position.  He poked that eye repeatedly for 5-7 minutes.  When he would poke it the lid would lift up and then when he pulled his finger out it would drop back down.  He was fascinated and just kept poking it. 

Eventually he moved on to pulling on the ears for a little bit and then he finally bit the nose and threw it to the side.  He didn't play with it for the rest of the day. 

Bites

I have been trying to teach Sam to take bites out of food, but the only thing I had been successful with was a banana.  Anything else I tried he wouldn't bite through it.  Tonight for dinner he had scrambled eggs and some toast.  He didn't do well with the first bite of toast, as usual; but man after he got the taste of the toast it was on.  He took awesome bites to eat the rest of what I was feeding him.  I am so proud of him for figuring it out. 

Wrestling

I started wrestling in the floor with Sam last night before bed.  I would knock him down sideways or backwards and wrap my hand behind his head to keep him from hitting it, which ended up not being necessary because he would catch himself every time and roll out of it.  He had a blast.  He was laughing and laughing and laughing.  He would try to crawl away and I would get him again - he thought that was great fun. 

After a few minutes instead of stopping him I was going to let him crawl away.  He was so worn out that he could barely crawl and it took everything he had to move just a little bit.  Will and I couldn't help laughing at his sad little attempt to crawl.  Needless to say he ended up in bed not long after that and he was out in less than 5 minutes.