Working on his first 2-year molar

On Saturday I checked Sam's mouth again to see if he was starting to get any new tooth action and there was a little something happening.  He is working on one of his bottom molars - you wouldn't know it by his actions but it is starting to come in a little bit.

A little fun with the baby monitor

Today for nap I put Sam in the pack-n-play in our bathroom and I setup the monitor so I could keep an eye on him.  When he woke up from his nap he stood up and was admiring himself in our mirror.  He was smiling at himself and looking from various angles.

At one point he walked to the other end of the p-n-p so I panned the camera to follow him.  The camera was sitting on the counter directly across from him and it makes a very soft noise when you adjust it.  He heard it and looked right at it.  I then adjusted the up/down portion so that he was in the middle of my view.  He stared intently at the camera for a good 20 seconds and then he slowly sat down.  The p-n-p has a row of fabric at the top and his head was just behind it so he couldn't see the camera.  He stretched up just enough for his eyes to clear that fabric and then he sat back and put his blanket on his head.

We continued this pattern - me following him, him mesmerized, him sitting and stretching to look and then covering his head - for several minutes.  I could have done that all day - it was so much fun because he was so cute about it.  He wasn't upset at all, just curious about "big brother" watching him.

Putting himself in timeout

Sam, being a typical 21 month old, does stuff all the time he knows he is not supposed to do and when he gets caught he immediately stops and stares at me with his guilty face.

Today he was sitting in daddy's chair with the baby monitor in his hand.  He wanted to get it all morning and it finally got the best of him.  I was getting snack ready and he saw his chance.  When he heard me coming he looked at me, climbed or rather jumped down out of the chair and was making a beeline to put the monitor back where he got it.

Although it is clear from his response to getting caught that he knew he wasn't supposed to have the monitor, this is not when he put himself in timeout.  He only puts himself in timeout when he hurts Megan.

He is constantly stepping on her, knocking her over, crawling over her, etc.  She is a tough little one and for the most part isn't even phased by what he is doing; but every once in a while he will actually make her cry and his response is to run and sit in the timeout chair.

Megan was extremely tired today because she was awake from 10:30 until at least 3:30 (the last time I checked on her).  She wasn't unhappy she just wasn't sleeping.  Anyway, when she is overtired she has less patience with Sam.  He was brushing her hair and she didn't want him messing with her so she would move and then when he didn't get the message she pushed him.  I told him that he needed to quit brushing her hair and to brush the baby doll's hair, or my hair, etc.  This worked for a while but he really, really likes to brush Megan's hair so eventually he went back over to brush her hair and when she moved he fell on her and she hit her head.  She started crying and he put himself in timeout.  I made him give her kisses to tell her he was sorry and I told him he wasn't in timeout but he wouldn't get up for several minutes.

He loves her so much and he felt bad that he made her cry.

New skills from the past few weeks

Sam is learning so much lately it is difficult to keep up with all of it.  Will taught him how to push in his chair after he gets down from eating so he now does this every time he climbs down from his chair.  Speaking of his chair he can climb into and out of it now, only getting stuck on rare occasions.

Sam knows exactly where he sits in the car and how to get into the house.  When it is time to leave I help him down the stairs into the garage and then tell him to go wait by his door.  He will walk around the car and stand by his door.  When we get out of the car I put him on the ground and tell him to go wait by the door for me and he walks around the car and to the back door and waits for me to open it.

The other day on his way by Megan's door he stopped and knocked on it.

He is doing a great job "coloring".  On Thursday I held a blank piece of paper still while he scribbled all over it.  He would take turns using each hand.  He did so well I had to turn the paper over so that he had a new place to draw.

I have been working with him for months to get him to say the word no.  He doesn't want to do it.  He is obviously capable of it, he just won't.  The other day I was in the kitchen making dinner and Will was in the living room with the kids.  Will told Sam he  needed to stay on the carpet until mommy said it was okay to go into the kitchen and Sam said "no".  Will said "yes" and Sam said "no".  This went on four times.  To this day that is the only time he has said it.  Food is a serious motivator for my little guy.

I started working with him to step into and out of his pants/jammies and he has got it down now.  He does a great job balancing and knowing which foot to pick up.

Speech lesson for Megan

Yesterday during Megan's speech therapy he was looking at her through the viewing window and saying "hi sissy" over and over again.  I told him that she was getting help to learn how to talk to him.  He watched her session for several minutes, off and on.

A few minutes after we got home Megan was in the jump-jump and Sam was on the bouncy/rocking horse.  He leaned off the side of the horse so that he was about 10 inches from Megan's face and then he did the most amazing and tender thing ever.

Sam did the sign for more over and over again while saying the word more.  He then moved onto the sign for all done while saying all done.  After doing that several times he started doing the sign for music.  He can't say music yet so he just looked at her while he did it.

I was in shock.  I was behind him when he was doing this and kept thinking, man I wish I could record this.  I realized the video camera was in reach but when I turned it on (it makes a sound) he whipped his head around and looked at me.  I told him to go back to what he was doing but he never did.

How amazing is it that at 20 months old he was conducting a speech lesson for her.  Incredibly smart if you ask me; and also incredibly tenderhearted and sweet of him to help his sister.

Picking up Megan

Every night when I am getting dinner ready for the table Sam gets very excited.  He starts walking around saying amen and he will pull out Megan's chair.  Last night he had already pulled out her chair and was back in the living room with Will and Megan waiting for me to say it was ready.  When I told Will that dinner was ready Sam stood up, got behind Megan and tried to stand her up.  I guess he didn't want to wait for daddy to do it.

Mommy's coat, ipad pic, ut-oh and beep

Last Friday when it was time to pick Megan up from school I put Sam's coat on him and we headed to the door.  We were a few feet from it when he pulled away and ran into the kitchen.  He grabbed my jacket off of the chair for me.  I was wearing a sweatshirt so I didn't need it but my little guy was making sure I was nice and warm.

Our Ipad cover came with a thin cardboard insert that looks like the home screen.  He loves that piece of cardboard and plays with it all the time.  The other day he set it down on the coffee table and noticed the "apps" on it and he started touching them with his pointer finger like we do with the Ipad.  It was so cute, he would touch it and then tilt his head like "why aren't you doing anything".

I have been working with him for several weeks to get him to say "ut-oh" and he just wouldn't do it.  At one point he was kindof humming it.  Well the other day he finally said it and he has used it non-stop since then; sometimes correctly and sometimes just as a fun new word.

Our oven beeps 5 times when it is up to temperature and 5 times when the timer expires.  Two days ago when it beeped to let me know it was up to temperature Sam ran to the edge of the carpet and said "beeeeeep".  He is not allowed off of the carpet when it is time for me to open the oven because he is ridiculously fast and the faster the goes the more likely he is to fall and I don't want him to get burned.

Bath time, kisses, zealous cleaning and getting a concept

Sam had the best time during bath last night.  He was so excited he kept running in circles.  Once in the bath he gathered all of the toys and they kept floating away so he corralled them with his legs and then laid on them with his arms stretched over them.

Today at the grocery store Sam blew kisses to everyone he saw - he did not discriminate, everyone got kisses.

Before lunch Sam was cleaning up the books he and Megan had been playing with (on his own accord) and I told him it was a good thing to clean up but that he needed to leave the book Megan was reading alone.  I walked into the kitchen to refill my water and a moment later he screamed and took off running.  When I glanced I saw Megan getting her book back - I don't know what she did to him but as Will said "it is like messing with a dog who is eating; you don't take her books".

Sam has dry skin on his legs and I put lotion on him after his baths and first thing in the morning.  The lotion is sitting in his windowsill at the foot of his changing table.  Tonight when he went into his room to get changed into his jammies he ran up to the window, pointed at the lotion and very clearly said "have".  He worked hard to make sure I heard the "v" sound to know what he was saying.  He was asking for me to put lotion on his legs.  I said "good job Sam, you want to have mommy put lotion on" and he said yes and was so happy that I understood him.

Singing

This morning I had Megan in my lap facing me and Sam was sitting on the couch beside us.  I was singing and doing motions to several songs with them.  Sam has started trying to do some of the motions like make the spider for Itsy Bitsy Spider or roll his arms for Wheels on the Bus.  This morning he was getting really close to getting the arm movement down for Wheels on the Bus so I said "do it Sam" and I wasn't expecting the response I got.  He started singing "round and round, round and round all through the town".  He wasn't perfectly clear but he was on beat and so very close with his sounds.

I praised him for singing and he was so proud of himself.