Lakeside with the Ladies

Mama got away for a few days. Its a big part of the reason that Sam and I stayed the whole week. It was time for my annual "Girls Weekend" with my dear friends from high school. So it was Memorial Weekend 2011 with the class of 2001...I'll let you do the math on that one ;-)

Remember last year when we went to Megan's parents' place in Florida? This year we hit up Meri's parents' place in Lakeside, Ohio. What? You've never heard of it? I'm shocked! It is a quaint little community on Lake Erie in northeast Ohio. Its an old Methodist vacation spot where no one locks their doors (honestly, we didn't have a key to the place we stayed in) and kids roam free on the streets. Golf carts or walking are favorable to cars and there's no need to do anything other than sun on the pier, play putt-putt and hit up the evening show.

And chat endlessly with your girlfriends. Our lives are all so different that on paper you'd never pick us out as friends. But at one point our lives were SO similar and we just can't seem to shake that bond :-)

A week in Ohio

Before I forget to mention it, this is how to survive a plane ride with a toddler:

After all the excitement of the shower weekend, Daddy headed home to go back to work while Sam and I hung around Gommy (sp?) and Papa's house for awhile. I spent some time prepping for my next trip (more to come!), but we also had plenty of time to fit in some fun.

Sam spent a lot of time playing out back. It wasn't 95 and humid, which was WONDERFUL for us. And he had lots of willing participants, including Papa and Uncle Matt. He picked up a new sport - Lacrosse. He mimicked everything that Uncle Matt did with that stick! And he and Papa played endless amounts of "baket ball." And my parents have new neighbors (well, new since I lived there) and there are kids on either side! So he got to play on a swing set and a bounce house out back as well.

Gommy and I and finally got around to taking Sam to COSI (http://www.cosi.org/), which we'd been meaning to do for quite some time. We went straight to the little kids area, which is the same concept as the Tot Spot and the Children's Museum in Houston that we love so much. What made this kind of special, though, was that Mommy used to play here when she was little. Well, kind of. The museum has moved buildings and changed a few things, but there were several elements that I clearly remembered using when I was little. No more baby chicks, though :-( It took Sam a few minutes to get comfortable in the new space, but once he had the lay of the land he felt like he owned the place. He even started telling other children what they were not allowed to play with because they were "mine!" Yeah, not uncommon these days, unfortunately. By the way, I love that they had rain coats for the water play area, but am wondering why they didn't have any in preschool sizes in an area designed for 5 and under? Hmm... But they DID have a very cool "hang out" room for big siblings. Since absolutely no kids over 5 are allowed in the little kid area, they have a supervised movie room for big siblings. How nice that must be for the mamas with a wide spread of kiddos!

Gommy also schedule a playdate for Sam. Who knew that she had friends with preschoolers?! Well we had a great time at an amazing park. Our neighborhood has some great parks that are always full of kids, but this one was fancy! Aw, the suburbs. They do have their draws...

And guess what - I got to go shopping for an entire afternoon! Papa kept the boy and the ladies hit up 2 malls and I took my time trying on dresses. Ahhh. It was wonderful, and I am a much better shopper when I have another opinion, and Sam doesn't care yet.

Sam also got to hit up the Big Pool for the first time this year. He loves the pool in my parents' neighborhood. With the beach entry, splash pad and baby pool that comes complete with "friends," who wouldn't love it? He mastered the art of jumping off the edge and is practicing kicking his legs while in a swimming position. I don't think we got any pictures, but I think he went three times while Mommy was gone.

That's right, Mommy was gone for a few days...

Celebrate Kate

Almost a month ago...wow its really been that long...we all flew up to Ohio to Celebrate Kate! It was time to throw this Bride-to-Be her first shower, and the whole family was coming for the occasion. For the first time, all TEN of us were in the same city: Kristen, George and Molly flew in from SoCal, we flew in from Houston, Matt flew in from Chi-Town, and Kate drove in from Indy. We're keeping the travel industry afloat.

Yes, so not only did we have a shower, but I met my niece for the first time! Sad that she was 5 months old, but fun nonetheless. She and I practiced rolling from back to front (a skill she mastered the day after she left me, I might add) and gave her mommy some tips on how to coerce a less-than-enthused baby into eating from a spoon (a skill I wish I didn't have, but glad to assist anyhow). She also gave me a nasty glare several times when I tried to make her do tummy time...he he he. She looks like a Stegmiller and has her daddy's mellow personality to go along with it. Speaking of whom, we also George for the first time since he returned from war, which was over a year ago. It'd be super-great if that threesome would move eastward and stop heading off to the dessert for lengthy spans of time.

The shower was pretty, my mom and DeLisa did a wonderful job. I felt for Kate, as I once had a shower much like this one was for her. All the guests are your fiance's family and his mothers' friends - its just a bit overwhelming! She did an amazing job meeting everyone and putting faces with stories she heard, etc. And it helps that Matt and Kate got loads of good loot. Kate's parents also came in for the occasion, so I finally met them.
Poor Sam didn't love that afternoon. The boys went out for lunch and to get fitted for tuxes (yes, Sam, too) while we partied. They brought him home an hour past nap time, so he didn't sleep long. When he woke up lots of people were still milling about, he was still tired, and disoriented, and just plane overwhelmed. He had probably his worst meltdown to date. It was BAD and LONG. Nothing would calm him. Finally he was able to get out the words "People Leave!" And slowly they did. And he played with Matt and Papa out back till it was all clear. Poor guy just doesn't do well with unfamiliar crowds. I guess he takes after Papa a little bit, too ;-)

Home

We've been gone, and gone again. Hence the radio silence on the blog front. We are home now, but its also VBS week at our church, so Sam and I are spending most of our time there this week. Hopefully I'll have some updates by this weekend...

A Day At The Park

This morning it was in the 60's. Ridiculously beautiful and unexpected for this time of year in Houston. Sam and I hit the park. This is how our outing began:

And this is how our outing ended:

No, the two are not related. He slipped on a pile of leaves on the concrete when he was running after a ball. It looked bad at first, and he couldn't shake the pain like he normally does. After a rinse in the drinking fountain, a call to the pediatrician (placed by a Mommy Friend while I consoled the injured), and a few pictures emailed to Dr. Grandpa, it was determined that no stitches were needed. Hopefully the lip, and Mommy's cute yellow shirt, both experience a full and speedy recovery.

Two Years Old

So Sam is now two years old - time for a developmental update. We hit up the pediatrician yesterday and Sam cried from the moment we walked into the building until the moment we left, except for the 5 minutes right before the doctor walked into the exam room and I was able to distract him with a Thomas book that had clearly been placed in Exam Room 4 by the Lord himself. No other distraction, not even candy, worked. At 18 months he started to cry in the waiting room...next time will it be when we get off the freeway? Or maybe it will go better, since he doesn't have another well visit until he's 3, didn't get any shots yesterday and won't get another shot (even flu shot can be the inhaled kind once you're two) until he's 4!

This time I remembered to take his immunization card - hadn't remembered it since his 6 month well visit! And I had to take in his first school form. Good news: he's fit to attend preschool in the fall. Also, he passed the very scientific autism screening.

But I digress. Because he is a big boy now, Sam weighed in on the normal person (read: not infant) scale for the first time - standing up, fully clothes, just like a grown up. And got measured standing up, which means its probably the most accurate height measurement we've had in his whole life. Sam is officially 33 1/2 inches tall (grew over two inches in 6 months), placing him in the 27th percentile. And my skinny little boy gained 4 pounds in the last 6 months to weigh in at 25 pounds, moving him all the way up to the 15th percentile. Woohoo! And get this - my take home sheet lists a BMI for the first time. Are we concerned about obesity in toddlers? Anywho, his is 15.66 for all those who are interested. I did some googling and that puts him in the green "healthy" band according to the CDC. Underweight? Not my kid!

He's talking up a storm, Chris and I are often the only ones who can understand him. Its hard to say how many words he has, because he'll repeat most things when asked. Still working on stringing things together, but he'll get there.

He's still a physical guy. Climbing on everything, jumping off everything, throwing everything, kicking everything. We're really encouraging the use of balls for the last two. I take him to the park almost everyday or else he has too much energy to take a nap. And mama needs naptime as much as the boy does.

Terrible Two's? I think so. Not truly terrible, but a power struggle for sure. He throws himself on the ground when he doesn't get his way, but I find that easy to ignore. Its when he uses his pathetic cry that I tend to give in more. He's learned to ask to go in his crib with paci and lovey when he feels emotionally overwhelmed, which I think actually displays some maturity even if it is reaching for "baby" comforts.

I'm trying to lighten up a bit about his eating. Its without question our biggest battle. He wants to graze, I want him to eat 3 meals and two snacks. But he's always been a grazer - he nursed 5 times a day (2-3 ounces at a time) until he was 12 months old! My pediatrician reassured me that I can teach table manners at any age, and that they don't enforce much with their three year old. Ok. I'm going to try to focus more on WHAT he's eating rather than WHEN he's eating it.

For those in the "children should be potty trained at their second birthday" camp, lets not talk for about 6 months. He's just not there. We can see signs that he's getting closer (telling us right before or after he dirties a diaper), but I know for sure there is no control there yet. Then there's this: few weeks ago he pooped in the tub and it really frightened him. Poor kid is very afraid of pooping anywhere other than a diaper right now.

What else? He can pick out his favorite books from the shelf. I've heard him make his first attempts to sing along with his "Amen Car" cd. He's graduated from pointing to the matching picture on his chunky puzzles to placing the pieces in the right spots. He now likes to color and really likes stickers. This year he loves playing in the water outside. Ok, I'll stop now. But let's do one last list for the boy...

Likes:
Running, Jumping, Climbing
Throwing and Kicking balls
Thomas the Train
Planes, Buses, Trucks
Playing with his Friends

Dislikes:
Not getting his way
Transitions he isn't prepared for
Being left alone
Overwhelming Social Situations
Rob Hays (I wish I were kidding)

Sam's Second Birthday

The day started bright and early with a bang...a huge pile of presents waiting for the boy as soon as he woke up. We wanted him to know that it was a special day from the beginning, so we started it with presents from Mommy and Daddy, Gammy and Papa, Nana and Papa, Aunt Becky and Mommy's Becky. You can see from the size of the pile that this child is loved. It took us about an hour and a half to get through everything because you have to stop and play with everything as it comes out of the package! And we did stop for pancakes when the birthday boy declared, "EAT!"



The next real excitement came after nap when Sam's friends came over for his Thomas the Train party. I tried my hardest to go with the theme this year, from the decor and food to the craft and activities. The result wasn't quite as dramatic as some of the things you might find if you do some googling, but I was still pleased.



Mostly, I was pleased with the cake. A friend of mine in our community group told me it was a "bold move" to bake my own cake after the amazinglyDelicious one I bought for the party last year. Then the group prayed for my cake making skills. In all things, seek the Lord in prayer, right?! Most of my Friday was spent making the cake and watching the royal wedding. Again, not as fancy as some you might find on theinternet , but for my first attempt at making my own birthday cake (ever!), I was a little proud of myself. I liked this cake plan because of all the candy - you see, Sam doesn't actually like cake. He gets really excited when you talk about it, asks for it, and then doesn't even taste it. Every time. Weird. So this way he got to look at the cake and eat the candy off the top. He was happy about all the jelly beans!

Sam cried through the first half hour of the party. I think it was caused by several things, but mostly he was overwhelmed. Once he calmed down, everyone seemed to have a nice time snacking, playing trains, decorating their own train cars, and climbing on the new fort that Chris built for Sam. And I think there were only two time-outs given out during the party...not terrible considering the presence of 8 toddlers!

After all our friends had gone home we took the birthday boy for chicken fingers and fries at a local place where we could eat outside on the patio. He opted for the regular chair instead of the high chair...so big. He even mostly obeyed when Daddy told him not to touch the water.

After all that he was too tuckered out to attack the presents from the party guests, so we didn't officially celebrating until after dinner on Sunday! He seemed a little disappointed that there were no more to open, silly boy. All in all, I think it was a great weekend for our boy. Now to see what the next year will bring his way...