Horses!

The wonderful thing about living in Houston is that Sam and I have a vast array of outings available to us on any given week. There are plenty of places that want to charge us a small fortune to participate in their pint-sized entertainment (The Children's Museum, Zoo, Wonderwild), but there's also a host of places offering entertainment and/or education at the rock bottom price of FREE. Library storytime, mall playscapes (2 within 20 minutes of us!), countless city parks, etc. Today we found a new one to add to the list, and it might just be our favorite yet:

Welcome to the Houston Police Department's Mounted Patrol Division. That's right - on weekdays you can just walk in to the HPD stables anytime you want and spend as long as you like looking at, petting and feeding the horses. I'd heard speak of this adventure but we just hadn't made it over there yet. When another mom in our playgroup suggested we all meet there, I decided it was finally time.

I'd kinda made up my mind ahead of time that Sam would want to look at the horses from a distance but not get anywhere near them. Boy was I wrong! When we walked in and he looked down the long row of stables with giant hairy head sticking out of them he giggled! I offered him a pet, which he declined. I went another route and pulled out our bag of carrots. I showed him how to hold the end and offer it to the horse. I did it once - I only got to feed ONE horse - because Sam wanted to do the rest. And he had opinions about which horses we would feed, and he didn't want to feed any twice. When he was ready to feed another he would tell me "bite!" Next time I will bring lots and lots more carrots!

We met a horse named Sam! Get this: Sam-the-Horse had an appointment with the chiropractor while we were there - I'm serious! Who knew? Here are the two Sams checking each other out. Sam-the-Horse's human officer was there and we talked for a bit. He seemed very proud of his work, so it was neat to listen to him. We learned that the stables are a relatively new, $8 million facility, one of the finest police facilities in the country (I wonder what facilities are like in Canada, what with their love for Mounties and all). They have room for 50 horses but currently have 38 working.

Tomorrow there will only be 37. I commented on a sign announcing that another horse, Scotch, was scheduled to have his picture taken this afternoon. Another human officer informed me that he is retiring tomorrow - bad shoulders. He went on an on about what a great horse he is, and showed us how he answers questions by shaking his head yes. It was funny how over-exaggerated it looks when a horse shakes his head! I asked where Scotch would go and human officer was rather vague..."I think some type of rehab facility." For a man that clearly loved that horse he seemed to know very little about his future after tomorrow. Something tells me I may not want to know the real answer to that question.

Anywho, there was a little black kitten there too. The little ones had a great time chasing her around and trying to get her out from under the vending machine. I don't think she liked them very much.

At lunch I asked Sam what he was going to tell daddy about the horses we met today. "Bite!" I thought he wanted me to eat, but when he repeated it I realized that he was trying to talk about feeding the horses. I think we shall add this to our regular rotation of outings!

Emotional Birthday

It was like a switch. He woke up one day about two weeks ago and it was like it had always been there. He'd never used it before, but suddenly it was his favorite. It seems to carry a different tone, an air of authority.

No.

The other day I caught him practicing in his crib before he called us to get him up for the day. "No, no, no" in a sweet little sing-song voice. Prepping for his day, I guess.

To be fair, it probably didn't happen over night. He used to say "all gone." It was a multi-purpose word meaning "I'm done eating," "I need more," "Your plate is empty," "I don't like my current situation," "stop" or "no." It was so much cuter than no.

His mastery of the word does, however, seem to coincide with an increase in his willfulness, his demands, and his reactions. He gets a little physical when he really doesn't want to do something - the kid can hold on to the back of the carseat tighter than you'd believe. Sometimes he hits me, which earns him an immediate time out. He cries and flips over when I try to change his diaper until I wrestle him into submission.

And he tricks you. His tantrums aren't the super-violent type. He tried throwing himself on the floor a few times, but quit when we laughed at him. Yet he knows that we always give in to his pathetic face because its, well, pathetic. He uses his sad cry and pathetic face to manipulate us. And you know what? We didn't even realize it. It certainly started before no arrived. we just didn't see it until now.

Now we must discipline for real. Now we must distinguish what is manipulative, on purpose and disobedient. The other mamas have convinced me that he understands more than he lets on - they all do.

Welcome to the two's, little boy. Lets not stay long.

Milestones

Even though Sam has reached most of the major physical milestones that people generally associated with babies, I feel it is important to keep you updated as he reaches some emotional ones. Not as Earth-shattering as rolling over or first steps, but important nonetheless.

First - the pacifier. Its funny, we spent so much time encouraging Sam to take the pacifier. Chris referred to months 3-5 of Sam's life, the time during which he wouldn't take one, as the dark period. It was nice. It was crucial in helping him sleep through the night. It was wonderful in the car, necessary for nursery drop-off, and countless other things. My favorite parenting book hails pacifiers as the best way to teach a baby to self-soothe, an important role in emotional development - I felt vindicated in our use of the item. But my pediatrician continually reminds me that it could affect his teeth.

Plus, he's just getting older. And instead of needing it less and less only to soothe those difficult moments, he was wanting it more and more. It had become a security blanket. He was addicted. It was constantly hanging out of his mouth and starting to annoy me. So as of last weekend, it lives in the crib. There have been some really rough patches as we transition, but he does know the rule. Most of the time now he knows to set it down before we will grab him. Once he did try to wrap it up in lovie to sneak it out...oh that sin nature.

Second - dip. This probably isn't one you'll find in too many of the books, but common amongst the toddler sect. Apparently most foods taste better when they've been dipped in something, anything. Today he dipped his baked beans and vitamin in ketchup. The other day he dipped a green bean in pickle relish. He likes salad dressing, too. Whatever gets the food in his mouth.

My little boy is growing up!

Thanksgiving

Did you know that there was a Thanksgiving this year...and that we celebrated it? Looks like it might be an annual tradition to document our Thanksgiving adventures well after the fact. I'm going to blame it on the fact that Christmas follows immediately after, rather than on the fact that I never take my own pictures and thus have to wait for others to send me theirs.

This year was Thanksgiving in Florida. This time he was totally into watching the airplanes and trucks drive around the airport. Good thing since we got there early.


These are all of the people who stayed at Dave and Debbie's for Thanksgiving weekend:

Don't recognize a few faces? That would be Chris's Uncle Mike (Debbie's brother), Aunt Val, Cousin Nathan and Cousin Alex. Think that's a lot of people? Our big meal was at Debbie's Cousin Vaughn's house. If I recall correctly, there were 32 of us - I might have missed someone. I believe there were no fewer than 4 turkeys, 2 of which were fried. You know how its always hard to give up some of your favorite holiday dishes when you aren't home? Adding fried turkey to the list kinda helps make up the difference. Mmm. I stole so much of it as soon as it came out of the fryer that I barely put any turkey on my plate when meal time came around. But I digress. The 32 of ranged in age from 13 months to 93 years. Impressive, eh? Here are the three youngest:
Sam is one hour older than Zoe, Zack is 6 months younger. The three of them had great fun bouncing around on the trampoline. Sam would run all the way across and fall into a waiting adult's arms. When Great Aunt Val caught wind of this she jumped on the trampoline to await her first ever hug from the boy. We had to remove the little ones. every once in awhile because the big kids were getting bored with the gentle bouncing. Later that evening Sam entertained himself by filling his cup with ice from the cooler, taking it to the pool, throwing the ice into the pool one. cube. at. a. time. For about an hour. Many thanks to Val for supervising the entire hour.Later in the week we spent some time outside. Sam enjoyed trying to climb this tree at a big state park in Sarasota. Now when I was packing I asked Chris, "Do you think we'll go to the beach at all? Should I bring Squirmy's bathing suit?" He replied, "We might go but I don't think you need to bring his suit." Well we went, in regular clothes that came home salty and sandy. I think I will now live by the rule that you should always pack a child's bathing suit when heading to Florida, even if you think its too cold to get into the water.

Speaking of too cold, it wasn't. In fact it was too hot, at least for the clothes I packed for my child. I didn't really pay attention to the weather forecast and packed more for fall/winter than the summer/fall weather we actually had. That is why my son is rocking his undershirt while enjoying a ride on his new motorized "truck" from Grandma and Grandpa.

I think that catches most of the highlights. In related news, I've been practicing my own turkey-roasting skills. Soon I'll be ready to host my own fest. Gobble Gobble.

Snow

Did I mention that it snowed in Ohio? Well, I wish I could say that Sam just loved it. It seems to be a trend with Sam - he's not totally keen on most things the first time he interacts with them. Remember when he was afraid of the pool last spring? It seemed like he wanted to like it, but it was just so cold! He did decided that gloves were maybe and ok thing...

He enjoyed being pulled around in the sled. I used to enjoy being pulled around in that sled. He liked going fast, but he didn't like it when snow got kicked up in his face.Doesn't he look cute in his daddy's old snowsuit? The jacket was actually a little bit too small, but the pants worked well.

The boy always likes to have a job. His favorite part of the snow? Shoveling. So serious about it! Its like the sand at the beach...it all has to be moved and someone has to do it!
Maybe next year he'll throw a snowball...

Ah-Ball

Tonight we are all watching Ohio State play Ah-Ball. That would be "football" for those of you that don't speak Sam. We're 4 minutes into the first quarter and he has already noticed that all the players are wearing hats. He's told both teams to Go! He enthusiastically announces boom! whenever someone gets tackled.

This all makes me very excited to watch with him over the years to come.

Christmas 2010

Do you know what happens when you live 1000 miles from your closest family member? You travel - every year - for every holiday. Chris and I have been doing it since we met. Its great to see all of our family, but the packing is exhausting. Some years we wrap pictures of the gifts we've gotten for each other, some years we blow a wad shipping things around the country, some years we jam it all in our checked luggage and hope for the best.

But this year we had Sam (ok, we had him last year too, but last year he was pretty unaware). And this year Sam was getting a Cozy Coupe. He plays with one at the gym and loves it. I knew he'd recognize it. I wanted him to have it on Christmas morning. I wanted it under the tree.

So we drove. For the first time ever (yes, I moved between Houston and Columbus 3 times and had never driven it - God Bless corporate moves!). 20 hours door to door, including 2 sizable stops. Chick-Fil-A playgrounds are a beautiful thing, as are old family friends along your route. We drove overnight and through naptime, so Sam slept most of the way. Mom and Dad were TIRED when we got there. But I didn't hate the late night drive all that much. It was Christmas music non-stop and I had some nice reflective thinking time. But that's another post...

It was cold in Ohio. I spotted our first snow 76 miles south of Cincinnati and it stayed with us until the day we left for home. It snowed on Christmas eve as we were walking out of church - kind of perfect. Unless you're Sam, then it was both concerning and a bit frightening. Both my boys had their first White Christmas, and it made me happy.

Uncle Matt and (almost) Aunt Kate joined us in C-Bus as well. Kristen, George and Molly stayed in California this year - something about not wanting to fly across the country with a 2-week-old, not really sure about that ;-) It was (almost) Aunt Kate's first Christmas away from her parents and siblings, so we were honored to have her.

The first day and a half were pretty hectic - wrapping, assembling, cookie baking, food prep, and a quick visit with my High School Girls (we missed you Megan!). For the first time ever we brought kids - OUR KIDS - to the rendez-vous.

The volume of presents on Christmas morning was awesome. We did stockings upstairs first and then let Sam lead the way down to the tree. He ran right to the Cozy Coupe and jumped in. Five minutes later he got out and checked out his new car ramp, then knocked over a few cardboard blocks on his way back to the coupe. It took us a week to finish opening his gifts. The rest of us were much speedier and had a wonderful time opening all the packages. Daddy broke the rules and got Mommy a very special pair of earrings!

That afternoon we were joined by my Grandma and Grandpa Sivard, Grandma Gaffney and Uncle Tim. We cooked, ate, and opened a few more gifts. It was a very nice day.

The rest of the week was incredibly lazy - and wonderful. (Almost) Aunt Kate received seasons 1 and 2 of Criminal Minds and we watched a great deal of that show. I don't think many people showered before 11am the whole week. A little shopping, and lot of playing, some napping. Nice.

I feel like there are more stories to tell from the week, but this post is already quite long. I'll add more later.

Merry Christmas with love,

The Hunnifords

The Bottom Drawer

One Saturday morning Chris opened the refrigerator to get Sam a drink. While Chris was pouring, Sam opened the bottom drawer and then quickly ran off.I guess when you leave an open package of hot dogs in toddler's reach, this is what you get. Nothing like cold hot dog at 8am. Mmmm! Maybe I should load that drawer with peas and carrots instead.

Home

Just a quick note: yesterday we returned home from a 9 day adventure to Ohio. We drove this year (hence the 9 days - 2 of them were in the car). I didn't feel much like touching a computer on my week away. There is much blogging to be done, but today I am organizing toys. Stay tuned...