Our Birthday Season

When Samuel was born, we met a group of moms who all had babies within a couple months of age of Samuel. That group has since expanded and contracted, with some of the original moms going back to work, or moving out of state (or country), and some new moms and babies added over time. We started out with only kids Samuel's age, but have since added a few who are older, and several younger siblings as well.

Even with all the additions and subtractions, we still seem to have a birthday "season". Our season kicks off with Emelie's bday at the beginning of February (which we were unable to attend :( unfortunately), followed quickly by Ellie's bday and Sophia's and Sebastian's. The season ends with Samuel in May, and Alara in July. Between Emelie and Samuel, we seem to have only a weekend here and there without a celebration.

It pays to have older friends. Last year Ellie introduced us to the "Chuck E Cheese" bday party, and this year, the "Little Gym" bday party.What you don't see in this picture is what everyone is lined up for. Each child took their turn running full force across the room to launch themselves at a large foam triangle pad and knock it over, while everyone else chanted, "1, 2, 3, SLAM THAT CAKE". As you might imagine, this chant has reared it's head in everyday life quite frequently since then. I'm told Lillian chanted it for an hour in bed that night before she finally fell asleep. We didn't realize how much affect it had on Samuel until a few days later, as it made its way into most of his pretend play. Suffice it to say, we count ourselves lucky that Shira has not yet played the step in for the foam "cake."
I believe Samuel and Steve are crawling like crocodiles in this picture. They also flew like birds, slithered like snakes, and did a number of other animal like activities coordinated with music. These places sure have their party routine down. Samuel has since informed us that he will be having his birthday at a gym as well (and at the park, and at Shannon's house, and have a pinata...)

The balancing act

Can you tell this party was in the evening past our bedtime?And it wouldn't be a true party without pizza and cupcakes.

frogginess

Ask and you shall receive. If you ask Bubbie or Popsie, that is.

Right before Shira was born Samuel spent the weekend at Bubbie's and Popsie's house. One of the highlights of visiting them was swimming in their pool. And since then, he has been telling Popsie that he needs a pair of goggles in order to go swimming at his house again.

You can see what showed up when they visited a couple of weeks ago...No pool? There's always time to swim in the tub...
And just in case it was too sunny in the bathtub...

Developmental Milestones: Language and Movement

Samuel isn't 2 anymore. It was a jump in the past couple weeks that we realized (especially since our birthday "season" has just begun) that we have passed through calling Samuel "2" in any form. You know, around March/April of last year, he was "almost two", then he was just plain old "two" (although, there is clearly nothing 'plain old' about being two), then he was almost 2 and a half, then 2 and a half.

But now, he really isn't anything related to two anymore. He is very clearly ALMOST THREE.

What are some of the indications?

Loco*motion: Samuel is a "toddler" no more. There is nothing remotely toddle-like about his movements. He quite literally moves in leaps and bounds. He can gallop, though he hasn't learned to skip quite yet. Though he clearly can get anywhere he would like to go, he still prefers to be carried everywhere beyond his immediate desires**.

He has also acquired the desire to be watched while he performs his impressive physical feats. Not a day goes by that we don't hear many, many times "Mommy/Daddy, watch this! Watch this! No, look!"

Language: His leap in language has really been extraordinary recently. He is speaking in full sentences, using pronouns, articles, and prepositions, but what I am finding the most enchanting at the moment is his lack of "inner voice". He has entered the stage where he has enough language that he is capable of speaking all of his thoughts, and he has no inner monologue, it all comes out. It reminds me that I really need to refresh myself on Vigotsky and Piaget to keep myself up on the different stages he is going through. Guess I should check out Erikson, too, while I'm at it.

Locomotion: Shira is working on some locomotion herself. She currently is trying to get into the crawling position from the seated position. She does a little scooting, but nothing very deliberate at the moment. I am amazed at her reach, however. She manages to grab toys by sheer force of will that are nowhere near her.

Language: She isn't verbalizing much yet, though we have found that if we eat in front of her, and don't provide her with anything, she will scream at us until we do. Obviously, she knows how to get her point across, and isn't shy about being heard. Steve swears that she has called him "Dada" a couple of times now.

*In this case the "loco" in "locomotion" refers to the Spanish for crazy, rather than the Latin for place.

**Translation: If he wants to go look at something, retrieve a toy, do something he knows he probably shouldn't, he has absolutely no trouble sprinting any distance required. But if we're talking about walking the 100 feet to the car, down the block, or just about anywhere else, he attaches himself to my legs, insists that I pick him up, and tearily moans, "I can't do it." I really want to encourage him to be a walker, but perhaps I am being silly. When I remember that he has plenty of time to learn to transport himself, I revel in the luck I have at having one of the most cuddly, loving, physically attached children on the planet.

visiting our old haunts

Samuel and I used to take the bus to story time at least once a week. Since Shira has been born, we haven't gone nearly as often. Part of it is because Samuel kept protesting that he didn't like it. Another part of it is that it just is more hassle getting two kids on the bus to the library in time than one.Yesterday we felt like staying a little closer to home, so we hit up the Children's Library Storytime.

And since the Junior Museum and Zoo is right next door, it was the natural next stop.
One of the things I really like about the Junior Museum is that kids of different ages interact with each other. They don't have much choice, the place just isn't that big.Of course Samuel's favorite part was that they were ripping out most of the "zoo" and building a new habitat for the bobcats (real ones, not machine ones as I assumed when Steve first said "bobcat.")

Snack time

Legos in Bed

Samuel is always the first one awake in the morning. He comes into our room around 6:30 to nurse, and a half hour to an hour after that, Shira wakes up. He likes to be the first to turn on the light for Shira in the morning. When we still swaddled her, he frequently insisted on being the one to unswaddle her. Now he frequently climbs into bed with us while Shira takes her turn nursing.

This morning, Samuel insisted that I help him build a lego house, but Shira and I didn't want to get out of bed.

gonna wash that tahoe right out of my hair

It is approaching the end of February and we still needed to wash the salt off of our car from our Christmastime trip to Tahoe. Perfect job for this sunny 75 degree day.The hose was definitely Samuel's favorite part. It's pretty much an extension of the penis, right? Not that girls don't like to play with hoses too, there just seems to be a strong imagery parallel. Actually, that's not really fair, I think Samuel got his mischevious hose ideas from Babar, as one of his favorite parts in that book is when Babar's son fills up his trunk and sprays Babar while they are doing yard work.Anyone else feel like this is the original and the mini version right next to each other?

Ano Nuevo Elephant Seals

I woke up this morning with the desire to go somewhere. It's February, and we haven't been to see the elephant seals in a couple of years, so I announced at 7:30 that we should jump in the car and go* so that we could try to make it to Ano Nuevo for the first tour at 8:30am**.

We didn't get there until just past 9, but amazingly, they had exactly two tickets left for the 9:30am tour. I had prepped myself for the fact that the tickets would probably be sold out and we would just continue in the car for another half hour and spend the day in Santa Cruz. Steve admitted later that he was so convinced of that scenario, that he was almost disappointed when the ranger told us there were tickets available (the disappointment can probably be attributed to the fact that The Boardwalk was open today... well, and maybe due to the presence of Marianne's Ice Cream Shoppe in Santa Cruz).Don't let the wool hat and sweater fool you, we lucked out on the weather. I came with multiple down coats, as well as a snowsuit for Shira, sure that it would be foggy and very cold, and instead spent a good amount of time wondering why I didn't just wear a t-shirt. It was unbelievably gorgeous out. Which served to remind me that part of my crankiness recently has clearly been the lack of sunshine from a couple of weeks of rain (well that and some severe sleep deprivation - please come to an end cold and flu season. Why can't both my children be healthy for more than a week at a time in January and February?)Samuel, Shira and I are posing in front of ONE piece of a blue whale's spinal bone.Two males posturing for women and territory

It was an amazing day. We got closer to the seals than we have ever been before. By law, you're required to stay AT LEAST 25 feet from the 5000 lb, 15 foot long seals (you can probably imagine why), but we ended up walking within 10 feet of a couple of them. And had the chance to stand on an overlook only about 30 feet away from hundreds of babies, adolescents, mammas, and testosterone laden males. We took a ton more pictures today that can be seen here.

When asked if he had a good time, Samuel responded that we should come back "next time." He also said that his favorite part was, "the fighting ones." Samuel seems to be especially enthralled recently by any talk of hitting, kicking, fighting, etc. Is there a testosterone hormone surge right around 3 years old? Shira was fascinated by the animals, the sand, the bushes and a couple of little girls who were also on the tour with us.

To top off a beautiful day, we ate at the new Oaxacan place in Half Moon Bay. I highly recommend it. Chicken enchiladas with mole. Yum. Authentic carne asada con nopales. Caldo Pollo. We'll be back.

*What that meant in real world time is that we managed to get everyone dressed (though Samuel chose to remain in his pajamas, so dressed for him meant shoes on and change of clothes in the car), fed and snacks, change of clothes, carriers, multiple down coats and two children loaded in the car in just over a half hour. Might be a record.

**Seeing as we didn't leave the house until 8:15am and Ano Nuevo is (according to Google Maps, which obviously doesn't account for my lead foot) an hour and 10 minutes away, you can see how this might be a little unrealistic.

New Movement

Shira has taken the first steps toward crawling.

She can get into the crawling position from her tummy.

I'm really looking forward to the stage where she can start getting around on her own, though I know this can potentially cause a whole host of new sibling issues.

Like, what happens when she can grab Samuel's toys and he can't simply move an extra foot away to get them out of her reach?

Or, Samuel decides it's time to to tackle her or play "knock, knock" on her head, and she decides that isn't where it's at for her? Hmmm, maybe this could be a good thing.

Speaking of which, we have recently noticed that Samuel's "crazy" behavior coincides with Shira waking up from her nap, or just about anytime that anyone is paying attention to Shira (especially me).

When he sees me holding Shira he frequently insists on holding her himself, and a favorite past time is rapping his fist lightly on her head, or sitting behind her and holding on as he leans back, then rolling her back and forth, until he decides he has had enough, at which point he unceremoniously lets go and leaves her lying on the floor. For the most part she is a pretty good sport about it.

Steve and I are trying to figure out how to give Shira love and attention, without Samuel feeling that he needs to take over the situation by jumping off of furniture, banging on computers, yelling, or sobbing.

I have echoes of screaming matches with my mom recurring in my head which go something like, "YOU LOVE DAVID MORE THAN ME!!! HE GETS EVERYTHING HE WANTS!!! AHHH!!!" So far I can't figure out which child is going to be more pissed at me. Right now I am the only one (as far as I know) who berates me for being a bad/not perfect mother. Can't wait until my children take up that mantra for me...

Goal!

Ok, so my freecycle habit can get a bit out of hand, but I stand by most recent acquisition.

And the crowd goes WILD!!!Shira watches intentlyFuture Coach??

Farm Fun

We got there way too late to get any fresh eggs, but Samuel and Shira both enjoyed seeing Luna the (currently pregnant) cow, the pink pig and black pig, and the sheep and goats.
It has been so long since we have been to our favorite farm, that I believe this is the first time that Shira was old enough to enjoy it. She seemed particularly thrilled by the goats.
Samuel couldn't wait to see the pigs, but wanted to know what happened to the baby pigs. I explained that they were taken to the farm that we visited with his preschool class (but kept out the part about how they are probably bacon by now).Samuel doesn't like to be left out of the Shira love:

Valentines

Tomorrow Samuel hands out his first Valentines.

I had totally forgotten about how we would make a Valentine to hand out to each student in our class at school.

We tried to keep it simple, so Samuel could actually be involved in the creation of his Valentines. The result - Steve and I cut out 20 hearts (out of the card stock we used to make our wedding invitations, I thought that was a nice touch :)). Samuel instructed us on which of his scissors we should use for the hearts* and he stuck a sticker of a "Valentine" Elmo on each heart. Now we just have to write his name on each one and we'll be all set for preschool tomorrow.And yes, he did get a haircut today

*You know, the kind of scissors that cut out borders

The Dentist

Samuel had his first dentist visit yesterday. Steve and I get an A+ for teaching good dental hygiene. I get a C- for my possible involvement in passing on teeth that are far too large for the mouth they were matched with.

On the other hand, I get an A+ for choosing possibly the most awesome pediatric dentist on the planet.

The toys and sports paraphernalia that decorate the office were expected, and I wasn't at all surprised by the clever use of flatscreen TVs that were hanging on the ceiling above every dental chair.

But the staff were amazing. They didn't just "let" or "encourage" Samuel to sit on my lap, but insisted upon it. Each time they brought out a new tool they showed Samuel how it worked, had him touch it, used it on his hands, and when he got scared, stopped and waited, and had him look at it and touch it again, until he was ready to have it in his mouth.

Ok, so when I first saw Dr. Kelly I had some serious questions about what decade he belonged in. All I can say is, he must REALLY REALLY have identified with "This is Spinal Tap". But I couldn't hold that against the guy. His chairside manner was amazing, and he put both Samuel and I at ease.

Yay! For our first successful dentist visit!

PS no mention of cavities or concerns other than the clear crowding of teeth and less noticeable overbite. sigh. definitely my genes on those last two... at least i can also (try to) take credit for his gorgeous hazel eyes

Superbowl Sunday

I am happy to report that we have such good friends that when at 5:30 (over halfway through the game) I asked which teams were playing, and which colors were which, no one in the room batted an eye, made a disparaging remark, sighed heavily, or told me to be quiet.

But I'm jumping ahead.

The day started with our Sunday shopping expedition to the farmer's market. In order to distract Samuel from bouncing off the walls while Shira finished her morning nap, I suggested we ride to the market. Samuel instantly made a beeline for the front door in order to prepare the bikes.By the time we reached the market, I had already forgotten that today was the Superbowl, until our local dairyfarmers/cheesemakers asked if the 5.5 lb block of jalapeno cheddar (dubbed "spicy cheese" by Samuel) that we had requested they bring for us this week was for a Superbowl party. I sheepishly responded that no, the three of us (no cheese for Shira yet!) is perfectly capable of eating 5.5 lbs of raw cheese before it goes bad all on our own, without sharing.

I'd say as a tally of our family members, Steve watched the vast majority of the game, with Samuel and Shira coming in a very distant 2nd and 3rd. I can't recall watching any of the game at all. I'd call that a successful afternoon for me :)

Clearly the company was excellent:
Mason graciously shared his toysAnd a big thank you to our hosts, Becky and Gil, two of our favorite people

Is this for real?

Or are we just staging this ridiculously happy family?

Friday Lunch at our house

Sebastian is becoming one of the active participants nowadays. No doubt he will be climbing onto the tramp in no time.

The trampoline was a big hit, and not just with the kids.
Sometimes it seems the inmates are running the asylum

Our new easel made its Friday Lunch debut today.
Four kids could paint at the same time without too much drama.
Art projects are becoming center stage with all of the almost three year olds.

When Samuel gets hyped up, he loves to be the daredevil. He was excited to show his diving off to anyone who would watch.