T-ball

T-ball

Friday, November 30, 2012

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.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

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.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

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.

Friday, November 23, 2012

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".

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

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.

Monday, November 19, 2012

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.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

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.

Friday, November 16, 2012

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.

Friday, November 9, 2012

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.


Monday, November 5, 2012

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.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

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.