Huh. I'm not so great at these monthly updates anymore. Especially since Sam turns twenty-two months this upcoming Monday. But there are only a couple left before we hit two years, and then I will proclaim myself free to post (or not) whenever (or not) about Sam's milestones! Besides, we are just all having so much fun together - Matt, Sam, and me - that who has time to stop and write a blog post about it all?
Let's start with pictures. Four of them.
Sam, I don't even know where to begin. We are two months away from your second birthday, and in the last four months, you have turned a huge corner. You talk to communicate your wishes. You have wishes and ideas. You understand things like being silly and joking around, and that something can be untrue or made-up.
I've stopped logging your words, because they are just too many to count. We've added some great animals to your animal sounds list! Shark (chomp-chomp), turtle (snap-snap), crab (pinch-pinch), donkey (hee-haw), seagull (mine! mine!), wolf (aa-ooooo), rooster (aaaa-doo!), and chick (peep peep). You ask for books that you want, and you have some of your books memorized. So you help us finish lines and recite words when we read Goodnight Moon, Bunny and Me, I am a Bunny, Orange, Pear, Apple, Bear, Bunny Rabbit in the Sunlight, Hop on Pop, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Little Blue Truck, and This is a Moose. You ask us for applesauce or yogurt or milk or water. You say "diaper" or "change" when you know that you need to be changed. You ask to wear your "shark shirt" or "baseball shirt." The other day we built a big Duplo fortress, and now each morning, after you snuggle in bed for a bit after waking up, you slide yourself off the bed to play with "castle!" and to put the little Duplo people inside of it, who you call "babies." You string together words, like, "Mama eat pizza," which doesn't mean that you want me to eat pizza. It actually means, "Mama, I would like to eat more pizza, please."
You are a funny eater. You reject nearly all vegetables and most fruit. But you love applesauce and you love bananas (provided that we give them to you whole.) You used to love eggs but now avoid them. You still don't like meat very much, but you love breakfast sausage. You still like bread and toast a lot, and you ask "butter on it?" You love jelly. And you can be wooed into believing that pretty much anything is "sauce," and you love putting "sauce" on things. Soup or gravy or jelly or tomato sauce are all "sauce" to you. You will pretty much always eat cottage cheese. You had a brief but intense affair with baked beans where you'd eat the whole can if I would let you. You still like them now, I think, but are far less passionate about it.
You know your people, and you know them well. You know Mama and Daddy. You know that Beth goes with Nick, Steph goes with Pete, Mormor goes with Papa (who I can't imagine you remember, but who knows), Grammy goes with Pop; and you recognize GG (your great grandmother), Aunt Kristin, Uncle Pat(rick), cousins Laura, Shannon, Joanna, & Cameron, and Uncle Dan and Aunt Ruth. You know that our kitties are Emme and Hilde. You love the kitties. You know that mama's office fish is called "Toby-fish" (you named him), and you often ask for him when I mention the word church.
Bedtime continues to get easier and easier. You no longer fall asleep in our arms in the rocking chair. Instead, we read two or three (or six) books together, you with your blanket and bunny and nook, and then we turn off the light. Sometimes we sing a couple of songs. And then, into your crib you go. Most nights these days you settle right down (a couple months ago, you would stand and jump for a while first), and you want us to lie down on the floor next to you, and sometimes you ask us to reach in and hold your hand. But you snuggle right in and fall asleep. And once you're down, you're down. 8:30 p.m. (ish) until 6:15 a.m. (ish).
You love running (way more than you like walking), and you're getting better at jumping. You like throwing balls and building things with your Duplos. You love books. LOVE them. You will sit and read to yourself, or pull down your train book and push the buttons, dancing to the little songs that they play. You will bring books to us and just sit quietly while we read. A few weeks ago, you were really into bunnies, and would play with your bunny stuffed animals and request to read all of your bunny books. These days, you are most interested in your trucks and trains.
Your favorite song is still "Wheels on the Bus." But we also like singing a bunch of other songs together: "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "I'm a Little Teapot," "Five Little Monkeys," "Where is Thumbkin," "There Were Ten in the Bed," "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Jesus Loves Me," "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," "Skidamarink," and "Old MacDonald." You like music, and especially like watching dancers on TV. Yes, one afternoon a few weeks back, I turned on the TV to try to calm things down for a few minutes so that I could fold laundry. I was working my way down the channels to PBS Kids and first reached one of the other PBS affiliates, which was broadcasting a ballet. Sam, you stopped everything, crawled up onto the couch, and said, "Dancing!" You were fixated. Now whenever you see me pick up the remote, you say, "Dancing?" I love it.
Despite having a bit of a stubborn streak sometimes (because, you know, you're a toddler!), you are still one sweet, snuggly kid. You like snuggling in bed after we get you from your crib in the mornings. You like sitting in our laps when you want to read or when you are feeling sad or scared (and have I mentioned that you are scared of the vacuum?). You give hugs and kisses freely, and you blow kisses to say "goodbye," and are getting more and more reliable at saying "Bye-bye" and "Night-night," and waving. You love being tickled and you love laughing. You like exploring our faces and naming the parts (ear, nose, cheek, mouth, teeth, eyes, hair.) You don't like it when we make you hold hands to cross the street, but you love holding hands to say grace before we eat dinner.
Everybody says that the first year goes so fast, and they are right. But this second year has gone even faster. I was looking at some videos yesterday from last February and March, and I had forgotten how little you talked back then, and how tired and unsteady your legs still were. I can't believe how much you have grown into this crazy-haired, running, talking, laughing little kid who is so happy and so well-behaved and so kind the great majority of the time.
It's funny, when you were littler, I was glad to share time with you with other adults, and grateful that you loved your daycare teachers and that they love you. I am still glad and still thankful, but I also miss you more when you're away from me! Even when the rest of my days are stressful or draining, your smile and giggle and hugs make my heart swell. You are one special kid, Sammy. We love you so much!
Let's start with pictures. Four of them.
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| Eighteen months - May 21, 2015 |
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| Nineteen months (and three weeks...) - July 14, 2015 |
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| Twenty months (and three weeks...) - August 12, 2015 |
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| Twenty-one months (and three weeks...I am chronically late...) - September 14, 2015 |
Sam, I don't even know where to begin. We are two months away from your second birthday, and in the last four months, you have turned a huge corner. You talk to communicate your wishes. You have wishes and ideas. You understand things like being silly and joking around, and that something can be untrue or made-up.
I've stopped logging your words, because they are just too many to count. We've added some great animals to your animal sounds list! Shark (chomp-chomp), turtle (snap-snap), crab (pinch-pinch), donkey (hee-haw), seagull (mine! mine!), wolf (aa-ooooo), rooster (aaaa-doo!), and chick (peep peep). You ask for books that you want, and you have some of your books memorized. So you help us finish lines and recite words when we read Goodnight Moon, Bunny and Me, I am a Bunny, Orange, Pear, Apple, Bear, Bunny Rabbit in the Sunlight, Hop on Pop, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Little Blue Truck, and This is a Moose. You ask us for applesauce or yogurt or milk or water. You say "diaper" or "change" when you know that you need to be changed. You ask to wear your "shark shirt" or "baseball shirt." The other day we built a big Duplo fortress, and now each morning, after you snuggle in bed for a bit after waking up, you slide yourself off the bed to play with "castle!" and to put the little Duplo people inside of it, who you call "babies." You string together words, like, "Mama eat pizza," which doesn't mean that you want me to eat pizza. It actually means, "Mama, I would like to eat more pizza, please."
You are a funny eater. You reject nearly all vegetables and most fruit. But you love applesauce and you love bananas (provided that we give them to you whole.) You used to love eggs but now avoid them. You still don't like meat very much, but you love breakfast sausage. You still like bread and toast a lot, and you ask "butter on it?" You love jelly. And you can be wooed into believing that pretty much anything is "sauce," and you love putting "sauce" on things. Soup or gravy or jelly or tomato sauce are all "sauce" to you. You will pretty much always eat cottage cheese. You had a brief but intense affair with baked beans where you'd eat the whole can if I would let you. You still like them now, I think, but are far less passionate about it.
You know your people, and you know them well. You know Mama and Daddy. You know that Beth goes with Nick, Steph goes with Pete, Mormor goes with Papa (who I can't imagine you remember, but who knows), Grammy goes with Pop; and you recognize GG (your great grandmother), Aunt Kristin, Uncle Pat(rick), cousins Laura, Shannon, Joanna, & Cameron, and Uncle Dan and Aunt Ruth. You know that our kitties are Emme and Hilde. You love the kitties. You know that mama's office fish is called "Toby-fish" (you named him), and you often ask for him when I mention the word church.
Bedtime continues to get easier and easier. You no longer fall asleep in our arms in the rocking chair. Instead, we read two or three (or six) books together, you with your blanket and bunny and nook, and then we turn off the light. Sometimes we sing a couple of songs. And then, into your crib you go. Most nights these days you settle right down (a couple months ago, you would stand and jump for a while first), and you want us to lie down on the floor next to you, and sometimes you ask us to reach in and hold your hand. But you snuggle right in and fall asleep. And once you're down, you're down. 8:30 p.m. (ish) until 6:15 a.m. (ish).
You love running (way more than you like walking), and you're getting better at jumping. You like throwing balls and building things with your Duplos. You love books. LOVE them. You will sit and read to yourself, or pull down your train book and push the buttons, dancing to the little songs that they play. You will bring books to us and just sit quietly while we read. A few weeks ago, you were really into bunnies, and would play with your bunny stuffed animals and request to read all of your bunny books. These days, you are most interested in your trucks and trains.
Your favorite song is still "Wheels on the Bus." But we also like singing a bunch of other songs together: "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "I'm a Little Teapot," "Five Little Monkeys," "Where is Thumbkin," "There Were Ten in the Bed," "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Jesus Loves Me," "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," "Skidamarink," and "Old MacDonald." You like music, and especially like watching dancers on TV. Yes, one afternoon a few weeks back, I turned on the TV to try to calm things down for a few minutes so that I could fold laundry. I was working my way down the channels to PBS Kids and first reached one of the other PBS affiliates, which was broadcasting a ballet. Sam, you stopped everything, crawled up onto the couch, and said, "Dancing!" You were fixated. Now whenever you see me pick up the remote, you say, "Dancing?" I love it.
Despite having a bit of a stubborn streak sometimes (because, you know, you're a toddler!), you are still one sweet, snuggly kid. You like snuggling in bed after we get you from your crib in the mornings. You like sitting in our laps when you want to read or when you are feeling sad or scared (and have I mentioned that you are scared of the vacuum?). You give hugs and kisses freely, and you blow kisses to say "goodbye," and are getting more and more reliable at saying "Bye-bye" and "Night-night," and waving. You love being tickled and you love laughing. You like exploring our faces and naming the parts (ear, nose, cheek, mouth, teeth, eyes, hair.) You don't like it when we make you hold hands to cross the street, but you love holding hands to say grace before we eat dinner.
Everybody says that the first year goes so fast, and they are right. But this second year has gone even faster. I was looking at some videos yesterday from last February and March, and I had forgotten how little you talked back then, and how tired and unsteady your legs still were. I can't believe how much you have grown into this crazy-haired, running, talking, laughing little kid who is so happy and so well-behaved and so kind the great majority of the time.
It's funny, when you were littler, I was glad to share time with you with other adults, and grateful that you loved your daycare teachers and that they love you. I am still glad and still thankful, but I also miss you more when you're away from me! Even when the rest of my days are stressful or draining, your smile and giggle and hugs make my heart swell. You are one special kid, Sammy. We love you so much!
So true. Such a special kid, and parents! Love you.
ReplyDeleteSo true. Such a special kid, and parents! Love you.
ReplyDelete