2:28 of Fame

So we were accosted by a news crew at the park about 10 days ago.  Before I even said yes, I had a microphone being fed through my shirt and they were telling me how to hold my baby.  Bad day to not do my hair or make-up, but it was the park!  And one of our first (and only) fall days so far, so the kids are wearing the first "warm" clothes I could find.  I swear I said some intelligent things, but this is what they chose to show.  You can also spot Sam's friend Harper Grace, she's the curly-blond following him around.

http://www.khou.com/home/Are-parents-potty-training-too-soon---174811121.html

They teased it a few times on the air, and those were mostly of me and the kids, too.

Sam's Afternoon

We put him down for his nap around 1:30, he was asleep by 1:50.  He slept and slept and slept.  We watched our last episode of Downton Abbey, which was a 2 hour episode.  Now I have to wait until January before the new season is available.  I started talking about Matthew and Mary and dinner tonight and Chris said, "Oh man, that took me a minute.  I thought you were talking about real people."  To which I responded, "They are real to me!"

But that is not the point of the story.  Sam napped for a long time.  At 4:15 we started discussing our wake-the-boy-plan.  Its not fun to wake him from a nap, but sometimes it must be done to preserver bedtime.  At 4:35 Chris went in, but the boy could not be roused.  He slept more.

Chris left the door open and we went about our day.  He slept until about 4:50.  Chris went in with serious kid gloves because Sam can be really mean when he wakes and you just want to avoid waking that beast if possible.  It started well, but went down hill fast.  As soon as he left his room Sam realized that his bag of Goldfish Crackers had been moved while he slept.  This was unacceptable and the tipping point for an avalanche of emotion.  A few things were moved, the bag of crackers replaced in an attempt to appease the sleepy beast.  But apparently the whole ordeal was just too much for him because the next thing he said was, "I want to take another nap!"

He walked into his room, climbed into bed, told Chris to shut the door, and was quiet.  Its now 5pm.

2 minutes later he calls for Chris.  We thought he'd tell us he was ready to try again, ready to be awake.  No.  He told Chris to flatten out the bag of Goldfish.  Y'all, this bag was on the dresser in the hallway.  Sam was in his room, door closed.  He had no line of sight.  That means that he was lying in his bed, thinking about how the bag had been left, and it was bothering him enough that he could not rest.  Holy Cow.  Chris adjusted to bag to Sam's liking and shut the door once again.

He called for Chris again at 5:20.  This time he was up for good.

We enjoyed a lovely evening, he and I took a bike ride and we had leftover spaghetti for dinner.  At 7:04 he said, "I'm ready to go to bed."  Wow.

Well, by the time we all got jammied, and played on the big bed, and tickled and laughed and took turns catching Annabelle who insisted on crawling off the bed and thought it was just histerical when you tried to catch her, and threw around a sticky eyeball, it was 7:45 when we achieved lights out. 

So yeah.  Remember how I said he was up at 4:40 yesterday morning?  I guess it finally hit him.  That and the little cold he's carrying around today.  Poor guy was just DONE.  I had to write it all down, because I think hearing a non-feverish 3.5-year-old boy ask to take a second nap of the day is a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing.

**Bonus Story: He got a sticky eyeball as a party favor from his buddy's 4th birthday.  Yes, his buddies are turning 4.  I don't want to talk about it.  But this eyeball is fun and sticks to things and crawls down walls, etc.  After dinner Sam said he was going potty and then we heard him playing by himself for about 10 minutes.  Eternity for him.  We noticed.  He was quiet when he finally came back, but assured us everything was Ok.  Later we played around with him, asking where his eyeball was because we noticed it stuck to the kitchen ceiling.  We laughed.  He laughed and said, "Oh I was scared and went in my room and didn't tell you guys."

So there you have it.  The first time he purposefully hid his actions from us to avoid punishment.  Now in this case it was a non-issue, the eyeball on the ceiling was funny (not sure why he thought we'd be mad about it).  But I took the opportunity to have a little chat about always telling mommy the truth, and if its an accident than I won't be mad and he won't be in trouble.  Now we both have to follow through...

Pumpkin "Farm"

Today we made the trek to the Pumpkin Farm.  And by Pumpkin Farm, I mean Christmas Tree Farm that trucks in boxes of pumpkins to let all the Texans pretend with during the month of October.  And by Christmas Tree Farm, I mean a place that grows some type of Cypress tree that I pretty sure could never hold an ornament.  We wore shorts, my daughter a sundress, because the high today was 89.  They sold snowballs, not hot cider.  Sigh, I miss the Midwest.  But these are the types of experiences that I want for my children, so we made do with what we had.  Fortunately they don't know much better.  Sam has been to a better one, but he was 18 months old and doesn't remember it. 

He enjoyed climbing the pumpkin piles, although I don't think he was really supposed to!  His true love of the day was his little red wagon.  He spotted them the moment we walked in, and it was his precious the entire time.  It took a good bit of negotiating and convincing to get him to leave it by the stroller while we rode on the hayride though the fields of conically-trimmed Cypress bushes Christmas Trees.  He picked out several pumpkins and piled them in, took them out, rearranged them, fit another in.  He pulled the wagon around, parked it, pulled it some more. 

He loved the giant inflatable slide.  This is improvement, as usually I have to climb up these types of things with him.  He went down about 10 times.  He still had no interest in the bounce house.  He only likes those when its just one or two kids (and when does that ever happen?).

Lady A, of course, was along for the ride.  She likes to be outside, so I'm sure she enjoyed herself in spite of the interrupted nap.  She looked awfully cute, and tried to eat the hay.

We came home with three small pumpkins.  That was negotiated down from 5 - 3 because he is 3.  They already have faces drawn on them.  They have been placed on the front step, brought back in, arranged in this room and that.  They are resting in Sam's room for the night.  So much for my fall decor!  He loves them, though, and that's what matters.

So, why so much negotiating with my preschooler you ask?  Because today he woke up at 4:40.  And in spite of Daddy's best efforts, he was up for the day.  So by the time we arrived at 10 am he had already been up for over 5 hours and had a soccer practice.  In an effort to preserve a happy family outing from one meltdown after another, we were choosing our battles.    On the way home, after he woke from a 25 minute power nap, he told us that he was worn out because "I've had a pretty busy day!" 

A Day Of Athletic Achievement

When they came to visit us over Easter, my brother and sister-in-law did a few 3 mile run/walks through my neighborhood.  This morning they finished the Chicago Marathon. 

Matt said it was an awesome experience that he never wants to do again.  Of course, that was at 3pm on race day when his body was feeling less than ideal, so I plan to ask again in about a month.  They had a cheering squad that found them 5 or 6 times and waved giant crayon-shaped piggy banks (crayon for the teacher, bank for the banker, red for Miami University) to get their attention.  Way to go Matt and Kate, quite an accomplishment!

Not to be outdone by her aunt and uncle, Annabelle chose race day to display her own athletic prowess.  Today she started to crawl!  She has been army crawling for a few days, and given her brother's preferance for that style for almost 3 months, I thought she'd stick with it for awhile.  But today she put it all together.  Slow and awkward, for sure, but a crawl non the less.  Way to go Annabelle, quite and accomplishment!

Annabelle Crawling!

*Please excuse Sam's attitude in the video.  We're working on it, I promise.  

7 Months

Obviously the big news this month is our transition from independent sitter to aspiring crawler.  The girl wants it badly!  She is most motivated by Sam and his things - are you seeing a trend  here?  She wants something in her mouth ALL the time, sometimes she almost looks possessed trying to get that accomplished, so that is a motivation as well.  When she collapses off of her hands and knees she generally resorts to "flying."  She pulls her head, arms and legs off the ground for extended periods of time.  I'm pretty sure she's convinced this will actually get her somewhere.

At 7 months Annabelle's days go something like this: She sleeps about 11 hours at night (7:30-6:30) without waking.  She naps from 9-11 and 2-4:30, if allowed the opportunity.  Unfortunately sometimes that isn't possible, so she often sneaks a third nap in there, especially on days when I have preschool pick-up.  She nurses 5 times per day (6:30, 11, 1:45, 4:30 and 7:15, all times "ish") and eats about 3 oz of baby food at lunch and dinner time, whenever that might be.

I am finding her preferences for solid food to be in line with what you'd expect from an adult pallet.  She hated the over-cooked broccoli (who doesn't, it gets so bitter!) and prefers the roasted acorn squash to the steamed butternut squash.  That one smelled so good in the oven I almost made soup for myself instead of baby food for her!  Green veggies go down easier when mixed with a sweeter one, like carrot, and fruits are preferred over all.  Crackers are her true joy.  She received her first one from Gommy at a wedding I was in a few weeks ago - I am told the child was heartbroken when she dropped it.  I get it, for all she knew it was the only one in the whole world!  What joy she must have felt to be handed another!  Oh, and she really only eats her food warm - including bottles.  Little Miss Priss.  Sam still eats his veggies raw and/or frozen.

Still no teeth.  Not expecting any, there is a history of late teething in my family, but it sure would help her out.  She really wants to feed herself but doesn't have the pincer grip required for bit size pieces yet!

The girl has a serious hair situation going on.  The top is coming in curly.  I think that if it were longer it would form some nice spiral curls.  But it is still short, so it mostly just sticks straight up in mohawk fashion.  Headbands and bows are now more necessary than ever to help contain the crazy.  The sides and back are still really short, so we'll have to wait and see what happens with it in the long run.

I am pleased to announce that we are getting better at making her laugh.  We've found a few ticklish spots (her neck always, belly sometimes) and she loves to "fly."  After this week I can also tell you that she like to ride Sam, with adult assistance of course.

And here are the lists...

Likes:
-Chewing on anything and everything
-Neck Tickles
-Fruit and Crackers
-Holding Mommy's hair while she nurses

Dislikes:
-Broccoli
-Being left alone
-Going in and out of the car seat too many times in a row

Getting Ready...

Look out world, Annabelle has places to be!  Remember how I talked about her new sitting skills?  Well just about as soon as she had completely mastered that and we felt comfortable leaving her be in her new position, she decided she wasn't content.  Now, just about as soon as we sit her down she leans forward and pulls herself onto her hands and knees.  She has also learned to get up on her hands and knees from her belly.  Once there, she rocks and rocks.  All signs point to a crawling baby within the next few weeks. 

Watch her work!

This is going to mean new things for all of us.  Sam will have to learn to share more, and to keep up high the things he really doesn't want to go into her mouth.  I am going to have to baby-proof again.  Together we'll have to weed through the toys that just aren't safe for her and put those in a special place.  Will she be into the same things that Sam was, or will she find new things I never worried about before? 

Soccer

It appears we have entered the world of extracurricular activities - Sam has started a soccer class!  I debated a bit about signing him up for a team (the YMCA league starts at three), and then I got a postcard in the mail advertising the Soccer Shots program.  It is awesome!  The 45 minute class meets on Saturday mornings (inside a community center...A/C!).  The first half is spent with cute little drills and exercises, and the second half is a little scrimmage.  It really is the perfect introduction to the game for this little group of 12 3-4 year olds.  Other perks: no cleats or shin guards required, and Coach Alex provides all the balls.

Sam missed the first class (we were out of town) but slipped right in on week two.  We signed up with several of his school friends and he enjoys seeing familiar faces there.  He spent a good portion of this last week practicing his skills and asking me, "What's Alex's other name?"  It took me a minute before I realized he was trying to remember the word 'Coach.'  Alex is wonderful with the kids.

Here is a video of his first scrimmage.  You'll see at one point that he is concerned about a boy who fell and lost a shoe, that is his carpool buddy and classmate Leo.  Can't wait to see him progress over the 10 week "season!"