Ooo, pretty flowers!

Sorry guys--it was a late night and I'm brain dead.  So here are some pretty flowers on a lantana plant in our backyard (I've named it Carlos).  See you all next week!

High-flyin' fun

As I was driving along I-10 the other day, I noticed a new billboard on the side of the road advertising the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Theresa, New Mexico.  I made a mental note to check it out online as soon as I got home, because I knew a certain little boy would probably love it.  Turns out I know Sammy pretty well...if you look closely at the photo above, you can see the exact moment at which Sammy's mind was blown--he spent most of the time exploring the giant hanger and saying things like, "Whoa!" and "Oh, wow!"

Sammy was in complete and utter heaven and on his best behavior the entire time.  Even though he wanted to touch all of the planes, Sammy did a great job of listening to me and my mom and managed to look only with his eyes.

In addition to a huge collection of vintage aircraft, the museum also had a really nice display of classic cars from the 1920s through the 1970s.  Sammy had a great time pointing out all of the "fast" cars (i.e. any of the red ones) and telling us the different sounds that they make.

The highlight of the entire trip, however, was the one and only helicopter on exhibit.  Sammy kept walking back o the corner where it was displayed and saying, "hi helicopter!" and then making helicopter noises.  He would get rather upset when we walked around the hanger and he couldn't see it anymore--I think we probably did a total of four laps around the 64,000 square foot building just so he could see it over and over again. 

I'm pretty sure that this week's visit will be the first of many trips that we take to the War Eagles Air Museum--this is one obsession of Sammy's that I have no problem indulging.

The best of all medicines is resting

Well, I'm home again and on strict doctor's orders to take it easy and stay in bed as much as possible for the next two weeks.  No one seems to know why this kid is so adamant about making an early arrival; granted, I don't have much longer to go before I'm considered full term at thirty-seven weeks, but I'd like to let baby #2 cook for as long as possible (and hopefully give him time to flip around from the breech position he seems to like so much).  Because I'm going to be limited to such fun activities like showering, using the bathroom and surfing the web, I think it's best if I take another impromptu blogcation, unless you guys really want to see a series of my feet artfully photographed from my recumbent position in bed for the next two weeks.  I'll definitely be using my down-time to catch up on all of your blogs, so you won't be rid of me entirely.  I'll also try to post updates on facebook and instagram from time to time because I'm hopelessly addicted to social media and can't go completely cold turkey for that long of a period.  Here's hoping that I'm still pregnant when I'm back in two weeks--see you then!

Practice makes perfect

Both Sandy Cat and Sammy have been doing their parts to get ready for the new baby by using Sammy's baby doll as a proxy.  As you can see, Sandy Cat is always ready and willing to be a nap buddy/bed warmer at a moment's notice.

Sammy, on the other hand, has taken on more of an interest in making sure the baby has enough to eat and drink at all times and made the baby a gourmet breakfast of eggs, ketchup and sugar.  When I informed him that the baby might be thirsty after all of that yummy goodness, Sammy raced for the bottle and proceeded to give the baby some milk for the next fifteen minutes or so, which in toddler time is equivalent to approximately two and a half days.

I'm so glad to see Sammy taking on such a nurturing role, especially without having a real-life model from which to follow (although he did pick up quite a bit about the younger set while his cousin, Henry, was here in May).  I'm toying with the idea of maybe making his baby some pretend cloth diapers so Sammy can try his hand at changing him--I think he might enjoy that, or at least the act of velcroing something over and over again.

From the looks of it, I'd say Sammy's ready to be a big brother--hopefully his little brother will decide to wait it out a few more weeks before making an appearance!

A quick kitchen update

I've been a bit of a homebody lately thanks to the increasing temperatures outside and my ever-expanding waistline.  Because I'm spending so much time indoors with Sammy these days, I've had a lot of time to tweak things around the house.  The other day I finally got around to working on Sammy's play kitchen a little bit--nothing major, but I think the changes make the space function much better now.

Sammy loves the little clock that I hung over the kitchen sink and likes to count the numbers; I found the adorable vintage kitty wall coat rack at the thrift store at Fort Bliss, which gives Sammy the perfect spot to hang up his apron when he's not using it.  I've had the shelf sitting around for almost six months now and finally mounted it above the stove--now there's a place for Sammy's fun fabric foods that are within easy reach for his culinary creations.   There are still a few other little things I'd like to do in the play room, like hanging up some art work and such, but I'm parceling these changes out in little bits here and there so I don't run out of things to do too quickly.  Do you have any tips for helping me beat the heat (and the boredom)?

Twenty-three month update

Sammy turned twenty-three months old on Wednesday--is it just me or am I the only one having a hard time believing that I'm going to be the mother of a two-year-old in less than a month?!

Stats: Sammy is wearing all 3T clothing and pajamas and size 8 shoes.  I think he's working on another molar as he's been chewing on his fingers non-stop the past week or so, but I honestly don't know if any have broken through.  We made the switch over to motherease fitted diapers with covers about a month or so ago and we haven't had a single issue since; looks like my super soaker has met his match (knock on wood).  Sammy generally sleeps from 8 pm until 7 am most days and takes an hour and a half nap in the afternoon, although on some lucky days he'll sleep for two and a half hours.

New words/phrases: Sammy's had a veritable work explosion this past month and is picking up an average of 2-4 new words a day.  Here's just a sampling of what comes to mind: bulldozer, dump truck, motorcycle, elephant, puzzle, clean, blanket, share, helicopter, eggs, oval, hexagon and "excuse me."
Other tricks: Sammy knows most, if not all, of the letters in the alphabet, and all of his numbers up to ten.  He also knows most of his colors, like yellow, green, orange, red, purple, pink and blue and can identify and match a good number of shapes, such as square, circle, oval, star, triangle and hexagon.  Sammy has also mastered going up and down the stairs on his own while holding onto the railing.

Likes: Planes, trains and automobiles (along with the occasional boat and helicopter), "reading" books and being read to, dancing to music, drawing and coloring, his fuzzy blankets, bath time, and anything and everything to do with mommy.  Sammy has recently turned into a stage five clinger and will break down if I'm out of his sight for more than a few minutes, much to the chagrin of me and Captain Husband.
Dislikes: Being separated from mommy for any length of time, brushing his teeth, and diaper changes in public restrooms (can't say I really blame him).

Foto Friday: Feathers or fur

Sandy Cat really likes the perches that I put up for her in Sammy's play room, especially as they give her a safe place where she can watch over Sammy without worrying about him getting too affectionate and check out the neighborhood birds that like to congregate around the bird feeder in our backyard.   She had apparently just spied a few tasty-looking ones when I snapped this photo.

In other news, this baby is kicking my butt, or rather, he's kicking my back.  My lower back is still a mess, so I finally broke down and called my doctor in the hopes the could recommend something, anything really, that might help.  He gave me the name and number of a local massage therapist and I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with her, so I hope that it will do the trick or at least give me some sort of relief.  Maybe if I play my cards right I can convince Captain Husband that this will need to become a weekly expense until this kid is born--I kind of like the sound of that!

Couch potatoes

The other night one of my friends jokingly asked me if I ever rest and I totally see where she's coming from.  I've been pulling a lot of late nights between working on various sewing projects and testing out yummy recipes in the kitchen (I think on a subconscious level I'm taking advantage of being able to stay up until midnight while I still can).  But rest assured that there are days when Sammy and I don't get out of our pajamas until shortly before Captain Husband comes home from work in the evening--those sorts of days appear to be on the increase the further along I get in this pregnancy.  On those days, Sammy and I turn into full-fledged couch potatoes and watch entirely too much television.  Yesterday was one of those days--I was in recovery mode from hosting the trunk show the night before and Sammy was just in one of those moods where he preferred to be glued to my side rather than off playing and I was totally okay with that; I know it won't be long before he gets older and would rather be caught dead than caught spending a day with his mom watching HGTV.

Twenty-two month update (a few days late)

Sammy turned twenty-two months old on Monday and I totally let that slip by without an update of any kind somehow.  Sammy has grown so much both physically and mentally since the last update that it's kind of crazy.  I honestly think he's shot up about an inch in the last month (which may explain his need to sleep from 4 pm until 6 am the next morning earlier this week and him waking up from his naps saying, "Ow!" over and over again) and his vocabulary has been expanding by at least two words a day.   Sammy's wearing 3T tops and bottoms and size 8 shoes; I'm not quite sure of the whole molar situation, but if you'd like to stick your finger in his mouth to find out, be my guest--I'm once bitten, twice shy.

  

He's gotten really good at following instructions and will put his toys away with only a little prompting and at our last play date he actually willingly SHARED a toy with one of his friends; of course, Sammy's far from perfect and can throw a tantrum with the best of them.  However, he has picked up this somewhat adorable habit of saying, "I'm sorry," after he's finished wailing and flailing, which makes my resulting desire to punt him through the window diminish by at least half.

New tricks: Going up and down the stairs all by himself with alarming speed, making up songs and singing to himself, identifying numbers and letters wherever we go (this comes in handy when we're waiting in line at the store and I'll ask him to find me a particular letter--it buys me at least another 5 minutes of good/distracted behavior), saying "Hi" and "Bye" to nearly everyone we meet, "reading" to himself, and identifying several of his friends by name.

New words/sentences: "I see it/you", "Where did it/he go?", "What's that sound?", house, home, space, sun, rocket, car, chair, cycle (for motorcycle/bicycle), big, down, "Oh my!", star, water, cookie, cracker...and a whole bunch of other words that I just can't think of at the moment.  Sammy's recall is nothing short of amazing--when he hears someone say a new word, he'll repeat it a few times and will use it accurately a few days later, usually to my surprise.

Baby got back

A few weeks ago, Sammy started soaking through his diapers in a record amount of time.  I was at a loss, but I knew one thing for sure--I was getting really tired of mopping pee off of the floor several times a day.  I was getting so desperate for a solution that I almost resorted to disposables, but Sammy managed to flood through those in less than a half an hour (surely that has to be a record of some sort).  I talked to a few cloth-diapering friends who informed me that my beloved Fuzzi Bunz tend to max out once the wearer nears thirty pounds.  Crap.  Now what?  I had a few fitteds and prefolds left over from Sammy's old night-time routine so I tried a few different combos and struck gold with the following:

I've had to buy some additional components like more fitteds and covers, but I've gotten really lucky on eBay and Spot's Corner, so it hasn't been too expensive (contrary to what Captain Husband thinks); I also just ordered some wool wrap covers by Imse Vimse in the hopes that they will make this new system even more awesome.  Sammy can now go about an hour and a half to two hours between changes, as opposed to once every 30 minutes when he was in his Fuzzi Bunz (and a hemp doubler--my kid has the bladder of a race horse). 

The only downfall to my new super soaker combination is that it's a bit bulky and I may have to size up Sammy's shorts to 4T just so I can pull them over his giant butt.  He may look a little funny with that big bottom of his, but anything is better than dealing with the constant diaper changes and whatnot.  Since I've made the switch I've managed to cut way back on the amount of laundry I had to do thanks to all of Sammy's leaks.

And as you can see, the added bulk hasn't impeded Sammy's flexibility one bit. Have a great Earth Day Weekend everyone!

Happy Easter

Ah, spring--the time when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of giant scary bunnies.  Have a wonderful Easter weekend everyone!

Foto Friday: Spring has sprung

I had really hoped that Sammy's stomach issues (and mine) were the result of a twenty-four hour bug, but it turns out that whatever this is wants to linger a little longer, which means Sammy and I spent all of yesterday holed up at Casa L to the third in recovery mode.  This translated to me curled on the couch in the fetal position while I let Sammy watch copious amounts of Nick Jr.  Whatever works, right?  We both seem to be on the up and up now, but I have the feeling it may be another day or two before we're back at one hundred percent.

Anyway, here are few spring photos that I took on our trip home from San Antionio; we had made a brief pit stop in Fort Stockton to check out Paisano Pete (the world's second-largest roadrunner statue) and stretch our legs a bit.  Surrounding the visitors center were several beautifully blooming wisteria trees and their perfume was just heavenly, attracting all sorts of insects (along with me and my camera).  Here's hoping your weekend is filled with all sorts of spring loveliness!

Twenty-one-month update

Sammy turns twenty-one months old today--only a few more months to go before I have a two-year-old on my hands (eek!).  I know it's only been a months since the last update, but I really feel as though Sammy's grown quite a bit in both the physical and emotional sense since then.  He's saying "please" and "thank you" all of the time now and is starting to put sentences together.  Sammy loves to play hide and seek and thinks it's hilarious to jump out and yell, "Boo!"; this usually happens when I'm trying to use the bathroom.  Sammy also loves playing with older kids and often treats them like they're there for his own personal amusement, but fortunately they're usually happy to oblige him.

Stats:
I'm pretty sure he's grown a bit taller in the last month and am now thinking I need to go shopping for some 3T pants as Sammy's starting to look a bit ridiculous in all of his high-waters. Sammy also got a new pair of shoes the other week and is wearing a size 8 now.  Based on the following symptoms--drooling, chewing on his fingers (and anything else he can put in his mouth), and inflamed cheeks--I'm pretty certain he's cutting some of his two-year molars, but there's no way in the world I'm going to stick my finger in his mouth to find out.

New words:
Ouch, sorry, go, look, eat, light, bus, truck, milk, books, knock-knock, boo, notebook, "I don't know," "Where did it go," "I'm sorry," "This way," and last but not least, the oh-so-charming "I don't want it."

New tricks:
Assigning objects an owner--he goes around the house and points out the things that "belong" to mommy or daddy.  For example, according to Sammy, any and all tools in the house are mommy's (he's actually right); this trick can be somewhat funny as he usually employs it whenever one of the parental units is attempting to take something away from him; I guess Sammy's logic is that he can't give daddy the object in question if it belongs to mommy and vice versa.  Sammy also likes to "read" the letters that he sees; a while back I was changing his diaper in Target and he surprised me by reading off S, T, H, R, O and P from the warning sign on the changing table. Sammy has also started helping at bath time by putting on his own lotion and combing and brushing his hair. Sammy has "please" down pat and gets very put out when the magic word doesn't always work magically (like when he asks for Blue's Clues over and over again while saying "pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" and I've put my foot down because we've already met our quota of two episodes per day).