One of the first things I did after Sam was born was find a stay-at-home moms group. I went online and registered for a local Meetup group and bravely started attending events. The idea of hanging out with people I've met online seems bizarre, but those moms have been such a blessing to me.
This morning, Sam and I hosted a playdate at our house. It was a blur, but I believe ten women attended, and several women had two children with them. Sam was astounded by what was happening. His entire basement was a crawling, yelling, drooling mess. Many of the babies were even younger than Sam.
At one point, I was sitting on my stairs chatting with the women and wasn't paying attention to Sam. Then I heard, "Oh, oh, Sam!" I looked over to my son, who was standing next to the chest I use to stash stuff quickly before guests come over. He had pushed the lid off and was standing there, triumphantly holding a power strip and extension cord over his head. Perfect. I'm the mom who lets her kid play with power cords.
Several moms politely suggested next week's playdate be at THEIR house.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Sam's New Cousin
Hooray, hooray, a thousand times hooray!!
Today at 1:45 pm, Eric's sister Amy gave birth to her first child - Sean Thomas. I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be present for the birth and it was, in a word, amazing. Little Sean is just perfect and beautiful and looks just like his dad (complete with a full head of WHITE hair!). He is 7 lbs, 3 oz and is 21.5 inches long. I love him so much already.
Sam and Sean - just 369 days apart. How lucky for my boy to have a ready-made best friend.
Today at 1:45 pm, Eric's sister Amy gave birth to her first child - Sean Thomas. I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be present for the birth and it was, in a word, amazing. Little Sean is just perfect and beautiful and looks just like his dad (complete with a full head of WHITE hair!). He is 7 lbs, 3 oz and is 21.5 inches long. I love him so much already.
Sam and Sean - just 369 days apart. How lucky for my boy to have a ready-made best friend.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sam's Birthday - The Aftermath
A lot of the women in my mom's group are part of the movement to make children's birthdays three-ring circuses. They have hired clowns and ponies. One woman I spoke to recently said they had to rent a hall as they had over 60 people attend. These are FIRST birthdays. Talk about setting a difficult standard!
We are having a small party on Saturday with immediate family (which is still almost 20 people). I am not decorating. I am all for fun (frugal) parties, but not when Sam is one and will most likely cry or sleep through the whole thing.
Believe me, my son is not suffering. Eric came home yesterday with the most amazing ride-on toy I have ever seen. It's a fire truck, literally complete with all the bells and whistles. Sam LOVES it. He also ended up receiving seven phone calls, several greetings on an online message board, two emails, and one text message.
Ah, to be carefree and one again...
We are having a small party on Saturday with immediate family (which is still almost 20 people). I am not decorating. I am all for fun (frugal) parties, but not when Sam is one and will most likely cry or sleep through the whole thing.
Believe me, my son is not suffering. Eric came home yesterday with the most amazing ride-on toy I have ever seen. It's a fire truck, literally complete with all the bells and whistles. Sam LOVES it. He also ended up receiving seven phone calls, several greetings on an online message board, two emails, and one text message.
Ah, to be carefree and one again...
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Samuel James is one today!!!
Wow...a little surreal...our little bugger is a year old today. 365 days ago (at 9:24 in the morning), Eric and I were at United Hospital walking the halls. By early afternoon, Mark, Barb, Joyce, Bret, Wally, Susan, Jackie, Mike, Miranda, and James were packed into the waiting room. I (of course) treasure the pictures of Sam minutes after his birth, but I think my favorite pictures from that day are of our family in the waiting room. They all look so excited and happy. What a welcome! Sam has been loved and wanted from the moment he was born.
I haven't yet decided what Sam and I will do to celebrate today. Eric is busy with work, so Sam and I may go to a play area or out to lunch. We're celebrating with his Waiting Room crew on Saturday.
Sam has already had three birthday calls - Grandma Barb, Grandma Susan, and Auntie Jackie. They made him really angry (because I kept taking the phone away) and he hung up on Grandma Barb.
Happy Birthday, Sambo!!
I haven't yet decided what Sam and I will do to celebrate today. Eric is busy with work, so Sam and I may go to a play area or out to lunch. We're celebrating with his Waiting Room crew on Saturday.
Sam has already had three birthday calls - Grandma Barb, Grandma Susan, and Auntie Jackie. They made him really angry (because I kept taking the phone away) and he hung up on Grandma Barb.
Happy Birthday, Sambo!!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Join Us In Welcoming...Don!
Sam's first birthday is quickly approaching and the gifts have already started. My mom, who lives in Colorado, mailed her gift to Sam and told us we could open it early. So, yesterday we armed ourselves with the video camera and gave the bag to Sam.
He pulled out the tissue paper (he knows what he's doing), looked into the bag, and froze. Laying in the bottom of the bag was a small version of himself. My mom makes beautiful, stuffed dolls and fashions them after the recipient. Sam's gift was a boy doll, complete with Sam's dark brown eyes and full head of hair.
Sam pulled the doll out by its hand and carefully handed it to me. After he saw me kiss and hug it, he tentatively touched its hair and face. He took it back and in that moment, a lifelong friendship was born.
He threw the doll facedown onto the floor. He picked it back up and sat it on the chair. He flipped it off of the arm of the chair, took a drink out of his sippy cup, and spiked the cup off of the doll's back. Through all of this, he kept repeating, "Dah, dah, dah..." It almost sounded like what he calls Eric, but it was a little different and he only said it when he was looking at the doll. We couldn't figure out what he was trying to call it...Dah-vid? Dah-niel? And then it hit us: Don! Sam was calling his new friend Don.
Welcome to the family, Don!
He pulled out the tissue paper (he knows what he's doing), looked into the bag, and froze. Laying in the bottom of the bag was a small version of himself. My mom makes beautiful, stuffed dolls and fashions them after the recipient. Sam's gift was a boy doll, complete with Sam's dark brown eyes and full head of hair.
Sam pulled the doll out by its hand and carefully handed it to me. After he saw me kiss and hug it, he tentatively touched its hair and face. He took it back and in that moment, a lifelong friendship was born.
He threw the doll facedown onto the floor. He picked it back up and sat it on the chair. He flipped it off of the arm of the chair, took a drink out of his sippy cup, and spiked the cup off of the doll's back. Through all of this, he kept repeating, "Dah, dah, dah..." It almost sounded like what he calls Eric, but it was a little different and he only said it when he was looking at the doll. We couldn't figure out what he was trying to call it...Dah-vid? Dah-niel? And then it hit us: Don! Sam was calling his new friend Don.
Welcome to the family, Don!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day!
Sam made his Valentines several weeks ago but they were just dropped in the mail yesterday (sorry, grandmas and grandpas!). He thinks this Valentine stuff is pretty fun. He likes the decorations and I know he's going to love the heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches we're having for lunch.
We started the day with a good 20-minute snuggle, still in bed. Sam has since eaten Cheerios, drank a cup of milk, and watched Elmo's World. What a fun first Valentine's day!
We are sending all of our love from our house to yours.
We started the day with a good 20-minute snuggle, still in bed. Sam has since eaten Cheerios, drank a cup of milk, and watched Elmo's World. What a fun first Valentine's day!
We are sending all of our love from our house to yours.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Sam is so big!!
Today I just can't come up with anything clever or cute. All I can say is I have NO IDEA where this little boy came from.
This morning Eric and I took Sam to an open gym for toddlers. Sam rode bikes, played with balls, went down a slide for the first time...he was keeping up with the preschoolers. He is just fearless. He doesn't even look around to see if Eric or I am near him. He wants to explore and learn and touch (or taste) everything.
My heart aches a little thinking about how much he's grown. I looked at his baby book yesterday and marvelled at how tiny and frail he once was. Now, not even a year later, he's the little boy in the jeans and Gap t-shirt taking off after a ball.
Aw, Sam. Time flies when we're having fun!
This morning Eric and I took Sam to an open gym for toddlers. Sam rode bikes, played with balls, went down a slide for the first time...he was keeping up with the preschoolers. He is just fearless. He doesn't even look around to see if Eric or I am near him. He wants to explore and learn and touch (or taste) everything.
My heart aches a little thinking about how much he's grown. I looked at his baby book yesterday and marvelled at how tiny and frail he once was. Now, not even a year later, he's the little boy in the jeans and Gap t-shirt taking off after a ball.
Aw, Sam. Time flies when we're having fun!
Monday, February 5, 2007
Thank Goodness for Free Evening Minutes
I consider myself to be on the stern side when it comes to guiding Sam, but it is very true that parents have to choose their battles. Playing with the dog’s toys? Okay. Unfolding the laundry? Whatever. If no one is getting hurt and it means 20 minutes of happy play, I let it happen. However, it has become clear that I have to stop letting Sam play with my phone.
This morning, I checked my voicemail and had a message from my friend Tali. She said she was sorry she had missed my call last night and to try her again later. It was an ordinary voicemail in every way except one – I had no memory of calling her yesterday. I checked my phone, and found the following five outgoing calls:
Tali
925-80#-147625389
253-6256
362-589-147
Spalon Montage
I hope Spalon Montage calls to confirm the appointment he made – they charge for no-shows.
This morning, I checked my voicemail and had a message from my friend Tali. She said she was sorry she had missed my call last night and to try her again later. It was an ordinary voicemail in every way except one – I had no memory of calling her yesterday. I checked my phone, and found the following five outgoing calls:
Tali
925-80#-147625389
253-6256
362-589-147
Spalon Montage
I hope Spalon Montage calls to confirm the appointment he made – they charge for no-shows.
Friday, February 2, 2007
The Sounds of Silence
All parents know the time to worry about what their children may be doing is when it doesn’t sound like they are doing anything at all. I never expected the warning silences to begin so soon!
Sam is very gentle but is definitely all boy. When he is playing, there is a fair amount of noise. There are books falling off a shelf, blocks bouncing off of the wall, and his little noises and giggles. I can keep an ear on him while I get other things done around the house. There must be something that children are born with that tells them to resort to silence when they are doing something they shouldn’t be. Sam isn’t even a year old, and when I haven’t heard him for a few minutes, I know I’m going to find him doing something alarming.
When my house falls to silence, there are a few things that may have happened:
1. Sam got his box of wipes open and has pulled every single wipe out and spread them all over the living room.
2. Eric left his Play Station control on the floor and Sam is resetting all of his options.
3. I left the bathroom door open and Sam is giving one of Dee Dee’s toys a bath in the toilet.
4. Sam has wriggled through the barricade at the bottom of the stairs and is in the dining room, pulling the tablecloth to the floor.
5. Sam found my cell phone, called Wells Fargo and then activated voice dial.
I never would have thought a noisy child would be music to my ears!
Sam is very gentle but is definitely all boy. When he is playing, there is a fair amount of noise. There are books falling off a shelf, blocks bouncing off of the wall, and his little noises and giggles. I can keep an ear on him while I get other things done around the house. There must be something that children are born with that tells them to resort to silence when they are doing something they shouldn’t be. Sam isn’t even a year old, and when I haven’t heard him for a few minutes, I know I’m going to find him doing something alarming.
When my house falls to silence, there are a few things that may have happened:
1. Sam got his box of wipes open and has pulled every single wipe out and spread them all over the living room.
2. Eric left his Play Station control on the floor and Sam is resetting all of his options.
3. I left the bathroom door open and Sam is giving one of Dee Dee’s toys a bath in the toilet.
4. Sam has wriggled through the barricade at the bottom of the stairs and is in the dining room, pulling the tablecloth to the floor.
5. Sam found my cell phone, called Wells Fargo and then activated voice dial.
I never would have thought a noisy child would be music to my ears!
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