Author Archives: Caitlin

First Day of Preschool!

Sam had his very first day of preschool today! We went to an open house on Friday and Sam got to go in to see his classroom and meet his teachers.

A little blurry, but a cute pic of Sam ready to meet the teachers!

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He was a little overwhelmed at first but quickly got interested in all the toys.

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This morning Ben and I took him in for his first day. Here is our little guy posing before we left the house.

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And a family pic (Sam really wanted to bring his new favorite book with him).

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Walking to the school:

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Posing outside (Sam was annoyed to be taking a pic instead of heading over to the playground):

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First impressions:

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He seemed fine until we walked out the door and he followed us right out into the hallway. We explained to him that he was staying and that was when he got a little sad. But as soon as we left he settled right in.

It was a little strange being away from him all morning and I was SO excited to pick him up. I peeked in on him through the window and he seemed to be enjoying himself. But as soon as he spotted me he burst into tears! Sam’s teacher, Mrs. Mallory, assured me that he had been a happy guy the whole morning.

She also told me that he didn’t eat his cookie at snack time and just carried it around with him for the rest of the day (and all through lunch!). When we got to the car I asked him a few times if he wanted to eat it but he just said, “nope!” (his new favorite word). After we got home and I took his shoes off, he jumped down from my lap, sat on the bottom step and ate his cookie. I guess he had been waiting till just the right moment to eat it!

 

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My Two Year Old Eats Octopus

Right around Sam’s first birthday, my friend Nicole recommended that I read My Two Year Old Eats Octopus. I loved it! It is all about picky eaters and what you as a parent can do to raise a “foodie.” It is a super interesting read. I loved the section on what babies eat in other countries (Gerber makes mango baby food in Mexico!) and the anecdotes and tips from professional chefs. At this age, Sam will not eat everything but he is usually pretty adventurous and we have been encouraged to keep offering him different foods, even if he doesn’t like them the first time. The other night we ordered roasted Brussels sprouts while we were out to eat. When they arrived Sam started shouting with excitement, “Brussels sprouts!!” I think our waiter was pretty surprised!

Anyway, after researching the author, Nancy Tringali Piho, I learned that she lives in the DC area! On a whim, I asked her if she would be willing to come speak at our MOMS club and she agreed! In fact, she even used to live in our neighborhood! We had a great turnout and a lively discussion. It was such a treat to get to meet her. She was an amazing speaker and it was so great to be able to ask her questions. I recommend that any of y’all with kids get this book right away. You’ll love it! And be sure to check out her blog too! http://mytwoyearoldeatsoctopus.wordpress.com/

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22 Months

Note: I would just like to say that I actually had this post done a few days ago but we were having technical difficulties loading the pictures. Luckily my IT guy worked on it all night and got it fixed!

 

I cannot believe my little baby is going to be two in just two months!! He is growing up sooo fast and we have just loved getting to see more and more of his personality. Here is what he is up to:

Physical

  • Can walk on his tiptoes.
  • Can jump. Sam can actually get off the ground with both feet at the same time.
  • Runs everywhere,
  • Can climb onto the couch.
  • Can get himself onto the little rocking toys at the playground
  • Still very cautious and tests new moves out a few times before attempting them on his own.

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Language

  • Becoming SO much easier to understand.
  • Can’t really make /k/, /r/ or /l/ sounds and says /sh/ for /s/.
  • Repeats anything and everything he hears.
  • Creates  original “sentences” (e.g. “all done mommy’s car” which means he’s ready to get out of the car!).
  • Has strung as many as 4 words together but usually uses 2-3 word sentences.
  • My absolute favorite sentence: I love you, Mommy (pronounced more like “Aw wuva mommy”).

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Cognitive

  • Obsessed with all things that go: airplanes, helicopters, bulldozers, tow trucks, big rigs, buses, etc.
  • Likes to read but has been more into physical activities lately.
  • Just learned to sort objects by color and is starting to learn the words for different colors.
  • Really likes pretending. His favorite trick is to put a bag on his shoulder and say “Bye bye, Mommy!” But he also likes to pretend almost anything is an airplane or dump truck (especially pieces of food).

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Behavior

  • Wow! We are really reaching the terrible twos! Sam loves to test us and often repeats “naughty” behavior while looking right in our eyes to make sure we’ve noticed.
  • We have started doing some time-outs when appropriate. We are kind of using “Love and Logic” which basically means we always stay calm (don’t raise our voice) but try to stay consistent in giving consequences. Right now timeouts are on my lap and last about 30 seconds. Sam often does the exact same behavior once or twice right after his time-out to test us but usually stops after that.
  • Of course Sam’s behavior  isn’t all bad these days!! He loves to give us, and Henry, kisses and hugs which is pretty much the sweetest thing ever!
  • Sam is a little shy and clams up a little when meeting new people or when in a big group of people. But other times he can be a real flirt.

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Sleeping and Eating

  • Naps from 1 to 3 or 4 (usually closer to 4)
  • Sleeps at night from 8:30 p.m. to 8 or 8:30 a.m.
  • Sleeps in a sleepsack while holding his smaller sleepsack that doesn’t fit him anymore. Somewhere along the way it became his lovey.
  • Sam still loves food! Ben and I always joke that about 10 bites into any meal Sam’s mood visibly improves and he gets so goofy.
  • Sam’s favorite food right now is ice cream and he talks about it constantly. In fact, as soon as we walked into Jason’s Deli today he started shouting “ice cream!!” I guess he knows the routine! He also loves bread and all fruits (current favorites are grapes and melon).

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Sam has an announcement!

Well, two announcements: 1-He is going to be a big brother and 2-He drools a lot!

But assuming most of you are more interested in the first announcement, here are all the details (I am borrowing some FAQs from my friend Merritt):

When are you due? February 8th

How far along are you? 13 weeks on Wednesday

How far apart in age will the two be? I got this question at the store on Friday!! A little presumptuous I thought since I don’t really look that pregnant yet! But in any case, they will be 2 years and 4 months apart

How are you feeling? Not that bad! I am a little tired but I think I am clearing the morning sickness stage. It hit me hard early on but has since tapered off.

Are you moving? Not unless we win the lottery, which will be difficult since we don’t play. We will have to figure out how to squeeze two kids into a tiny little room, at least for a few years.

Does Sam know? Not really. I have been telling him there is a baby in my tummy but I think he finds this more confusing that anything else.

Will you find out the gender? Of course! I can’t imagine not knowing ahead of time. We have to wait until 20 weeks, which will be sometime in mid September.

Do you have any ideas about what it is? I think it is a boy. But of course, it is really hard for me to picture it being anything else. I kind of just keep picturing Sam in there! I actually took this new test called Intelligender. It is a pee-in-a-cup test that you can buy at the drug store. It has only  been on the market for a couple of years and is still patent pending. According to them, it is 90% effective when done right. It says I am having a boy. But after I took the test I looked it up online and almost everyone said it was about as accurate as flipping a coin. We’ll see!

Do you want a boy or a girl? I want a healthy baby! I would LOVE to have a girl at some point, but we plan to have more kids so I am really happy with a boy or a girl at this point. A girl would be fun (something new) but I also think it would be really fun for Sam to have a brother.

Are you having any cravings? Yes! I am thirsty all the time (not sure that really counts as a craving). And I am really craving tomatoes with salt, pickles, and minestrone soup!

Any other questions?

My Grandma Katie

This morning my mom called to tell me that my grandma passed away. I was very shocked and so sad to hear the news. My grandma taught me to cook, knit, sew and inspired me to become a teacher. It will be really hard not to talk to her again. I love you and miss you, Grandma.

Air and Space Museum

While Judi, Char, and Rebecca were here, we ventured out to Dulles to see the new Air and Space Museum. It was a really neat place with lots for Sam to see. We loved going up into the mock control tower to see the planes land. Unfortunately we got a late start that morning and had to leave the museum a little early to feed a hungry boy (and his hungry parents) but we’ll definitely visit again.

ps-I hate that these pics have such a blue cast but I am too busy to edit the white balance! Sorry!

The Outer Banks

I am so sorry for my lack of posts lately. All I can say is that I have been very busy lately. As some of you may know, I am back in school! I just started at UVA this summer getting my Reading Specialist degree. It is a program that I started a few years ago and I finally got my act together to complete it. It has been fun being back in the education world and I know at some point in the future, when I go back to teaching, it will be a great resource. I am taking two classes during the summer term. Each class is condensed to about 1 month (instead of the usual 10-12 weeks) so I have been working like a mad woman to get everything done when Sam is asleep. Anyway, I have a lot of catching up to do in the blog world.

A few weeks ago we went to the Outer Banks with my in-laws. We have been taking a beach trip with them for about 4 years now and it is always a fun and relaxing get away. The first year we went to Cape May, NJ. Then we went to Rehoboth, DE for two years. And this year we decided to try Duck, NC. After how hot and humid it was, we are thinking about trying something a little further North (or West) next year!

We had a great time enjoying the beach and hanging out at the house, which was beautiful and had a pool!

On one of the overcast days, we headed to the Wright Brothers Memorial, which was great! There was lots for Sam to see and plenty of open space to run around. The best part was that right next door there was a tiny little airport and we got to see two tiny little planes land while we were there. Sam is currently obsessed with airplanes, so this was a hit.

We also checked out the lighthouse one day. We didn’t actually go up in the lighthouse but there was plenty to do in the park around the lighthouse. They had a great wildlife center with daily classes for kids of all ages. We lucked out and just happened to be there for the 2 year old class. As it turned out, Sam was the only kid in attendance, so he got a lot of special attention.

The highlight of the trip for me, though, was running into John and Sherry from Young House Love. It was actually on our last day, on our way out of town. We pulled over to pick Char up from the coffee shop and I recognized the Petersiks walking down the street. I flagged them down and had a nice little chat! They were super sweet and even introduced me to baby Clara. I’m just sorry I didn’t think to get a picture!

Thanks Judi and Char for another fun vacation!!