Monthly Archives: October 2011

Happy Halloween!

We had a great THIRD Halloween with Sam! (See pics of his first two Halloweens at the bottom of this post.)

On Friday, we went to an amazing party thrown by my neighborhood MOMS club.

Then today, we went to see the Halloween parade (featuring a HS marching band and students from the local elementary school) with Sam’s good friend Eliza and my good friend Karla.

Last night, Sam helped us carve our pumpkin.

This afternoon, we headed over to the community center for some pizza and socializing.

Then, with Daddy home early, we headed around the neighborhood to trick or treat and check out the cool decorations.

And finally we went to our friends Matt and Rachel’s house to celebrate with Sam’s favorite baby, Baby Maya. Sorry, no photos. I guess I was over picture taking by this point!

*****

Here’s Sam’s first Halloween:

Here’s his second Halloween:

Happy Halloween, everybody!

Two Years Update

Well, it has almost been a month since Sam turned two so I figured it was time to write his yearly update!

Weight: 30 lbs (80th percentile)
Length: 36.5 inches (95th percentile). If the rule of doubling your age at 2 to get your adult height is true, then Sam will be 6’1″ just like Daddy!
Sam is talking a lot and makes sentences with as many as 6 words (although normally he talks in 2-3 word phrases). It is so fun to hear what he is thinking about all day. The other day, we were in the car and Sam shouted excitedly, “mailman have a banana!” I looked over and sure enough, we were driving next to a mail truck with a mailman eating a banana. Gotta love the observations of a 2 year old!
Ben and I have definitely had to be careful with our word choices lately. Sam loves to repeat whatever we say and has incorporated some adult-talk into his daily use. When I ask him how he is doing, he often responds, “pretty good!” He saw something gross on the sidewalk the other day and exclaimed, “nasty!” And when we were opening birthday presents, he kept excitedly repeating, “oh my gosh!”
Sam still sleeps in a sleep sack. I know he’ll need to get rid of it eventually but it works so well for us. Sam has not tried to climb out his crib yet, which I was crediting towards his cautious personality. But a few weeks ago I put him in his crib without his sleep sack and he immediately swung his foot over the side of the rail. I am sure he would have to work to figure out how to climb out, but with his height, it wouldn’t take long. Hmmm. Maybe he’ll get rid of his sleep sack when he moves to a big boy bed?
Speaking of sleep, Sam is still a pretty good sleeper. He usually gets 11-12 hours at night and 2-3 hours during the day. For a few weeks now we have had an issue with Sam staying awake in his crib for 1-2 hours after we put him down! I have talked with other moms who’ve had the same problem, so I guess it’s a common phase. He is always happy in his crib, but he usually still wakes up at the same time and ends up being a little crabby the next day.
Sam has been very musical lately. We are taking our second Music Together class and he loves it. He loves playing with instruments and has learned the words to many of the songs. The funny thing is that he never sings along, with the CD or with a person–he only likes to sing by himself! Our favorite song he sings is “Shoe Fly.” For some reason he sings it with a strong southern accent! I am still trying to capture it on video. While Ben and I love that Sam loves music, it has gotten a little annoying that we can’t listen to our own radio stations in the car anymore. As soon as we buckle Sam in, he starts shouting, “Sam’s music, please!!”
Sam still has a very healthy appetite. Eating is one of his favorite activities. Every morning he runs downstairs and excitedly shouts, “oatmeal!” when he sees Daddy has made him his favorite breakfast. His favorite meal, by far, is tacos and he knows the taco place (District Taco) by name.
Sam has been a super cuddler lately. He loves giving us hugs and kisses, which we couldn’t be happier about!

We love you, Sam!! Hope you love being two!

Two Birthday Parties

Last Sunday we had Sam’s birthday party! It was a blast and now all Sam can talk about is parties, presents and cupcakes. I had fun sticking to the theme of “things that go.” Unfortunately we weren’t able to get many pics of the kids, including Sam because it was so crazy. But here are some good before pics!

Coffee table entertainment:

Sam-style interior decorating:

Party favors (tags designed by Ben):

Cupcakes!

Menu created by Ben:

Shirt created by me:

On the menu: pasta salad, Texas caviar, car, plane, & truck-shaped PB&Js, pimento-cheese sandwiches, fruit-kabobs with car shaped cut-outs.

Oh, and transportation-themed wine for the grown-ups!

At least we got a pic of Sam enjoying his cupcake:

And since I am uploading pictures, I figured it was about time I posted pics from Sam’s cousin Ella’s Princess Party. Sam and I went down to Atlanta in July to help Ella celebrate her 3rd birthday and I just never got around to posting the pictures. We had a great time!

Pre-partying (Princess Ella was laying on the bed waiting for her nails to dry):

The set up:

Punch and juice:

Princess wands:

Amazing princess cake made by Ella’s Aunt April:

Flower-shaped PB&Js:

Crown-shaped, pink rice crispy treats

Fruit and cheese skewers:

Arts and crafts activities:

Happy birthday, dear Ella!

Sam was WAY into the ice cream.

Post-party cousin love.

Sisters!

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Today is Sam’s SECOND birthday!! What a big boy my little baby is turning into! I will have his two year post up in the next few days but I just wanted to give a little update on how his day is going so far.

Sam has been really excited about his birthday all week. He keeps saying “Happy birthday!” and if you ask him a question about his birthday (no matter what the question is), he will answer with “two” or “cupcakes!” Sam had school this morning so at noon I came in to bring ice cream sandwiches for all the kids. Sam’s teacher always mentions to me that Sam is a great eater and eats all of his food so fast. At home, he can be kind of a dawdler so I was surprised to notice that he was the first to finish his ice cream sandwich by about 5 minutes. I think my nickname in daycare when I was his age was “truck driver” because of how much I ate, so I guess it’s genetic!

Miss Mallory also told me that today in music class they sang, “Happy Birthday” to Sam. Apparently he got very embarrassed and his cheeks turned red! Just like mommy 🙂

After school we stopped by the grocery store to grab a couple things. Sam ran up to the teller and said, “Hi! I’m two!” He is certainly milking this birthday thing for all it’s worth…and he doesn’t even know that he is going to get presents tonight yet!