It's Christmas Day!

You were so excited for today to arrive. You visited Santa about a week before Christmas and loved sitting on his lap and telling him about the cars that you wanted him to bring. You talked a lot about Christmas Day and about Santa and his reindeer coming. This is the first year that I think you really started to understand about Christmas and what was going to happen. You couldn't wait to open presents and eat cookies! You got so many toys, so many!!! Grandpa and Grandma got you a DVD player for the car and out and about, along with your own toy mp3 player and cell phone! You got lots of books (you love to have me read to you) too! At Papa and Grammy's you got a new motorized Jeep. Since it was so big, it was actually at home. From Santa you got lots of Thomas the Tank Engine tracks and engines, some Diego toys and of course the Cars toys that you asked Santa for! You opened more presents and got more toys today than you know what to do with! But I know that you will love playing with them all! Merry Christmas Day to you!

Hello???

It sure has been awhile since I have posted anything on your blog! Well I guess that is because we have been pretty busy since your brother Ben was born. At first you were not too happy with having to share me with Ben and I think you were a little jealous. But the last couple weeks you have seemed to adjusted and just the other day you said, "I love you Benny." You almost always call Ben, Benny (which I think is so cute). You like to help me change his diapers sometimes and you really like to help me give him a bath. But the thing you are best at is making sure he has his pacifier when he is fussy! You like having me home with you all the time, but I know that you miss your Grammy too. You and I have been getting ready for Christmas, doing lots of shopping and once a week you and I have a Christmas craft playgroup we go to. You are so cute these days with the things that you say. You must listen really well to what your Dad and I say, because you repeat them at the funniest times. Today, we were shopping and I was getting your and Ben off the stroller and into the car, I got Ben into the car and you were messing around on the stroller and almost tipped it over. I started to yell and you and said, "what are you doing?" and you came back with, "Mommy, I crazy!" Oh, you just had me laughing so hard and I couldn't even think about yelling at you anymore! You really make me laugh a lot with the things you do and say! You are so full of energy and it's so much fun to watch you!

School Halloween Party

This evening your "school" (daycare) had their annual Halloween party. You really had not worn your Halloween costume that much, just a couple times for a few minutes at home. You really didn't want to wear it, but Daddy and I kept telling you that you could only get treats if you had your costume on. We got to school and you were really shy at first, but when we found your teachers and your good friend, Puka, you were okay. You made a some art with stickers and a hand with popcorn. You drew some pictures of pumpkins and of course you got candy along the way. You wanted to hold your favorite pieces of candy and would not let me put them in your bag! You had a great time going around to all the classrooms and getting candy and doing activities. At the end there was a magic show (were you called the magician Santa Claus!). You like eating your cookies and watching the show. Here are some pictures.

Leaf Raking & Jumping

The weather could not have been nicer today (especially for the middle of October), it was 75 and not a cloud in the sky. Daddy and you went outside and raked leaves. Daddy made some huge piles and you loved jumping and rolling around in them! You guys played out there for hours. And later when Aunt Jeanette came over to babysit you played in them some more. I still had Grandpa's camera and got a big lens out and got some nice pictures. More pictures here.

Cider Mill with Aunt Becky

Today Aunt Becky took you to the cider mill with some of your cousins. You really like playing with Joey and had a great time. Aunt Becky got some pictures too!

"I Naked, I Naked"

today when I picked you up from school your teacher, Ms. Lacee, had a funny story to tell me about you. Apparently you told her that you had to go to the bathroom and so you went into the classroom bathroom and got your pants and pull-ups off and then decided to take your shirt off as well. Then you ran into the classroom running around, shouting, "I naked, I naked!" Your teacher was laughing so hard and tried to sternly tell you to go back to the bathroom and put your clothes back on. But should couldn't say it without a smile. She said you were just too funny! Oh the things that a toddler does!

Riding Around

I just had to take a couple pictures of you riding your four wheeler. You have really gotten the hang of driving it and can steer it just where you want to go. And now even when you get stuck, you know how to get off and turn it around and hop back on! Whenever you can get outside this is your favorite thing to do!

New Room!

Your new room that you and Jacob are sharing is finished! You really seem to like playing in here and you are doing great sleeping in your new bed. Although you still keep calling the room Jakey's room and you still call the baby's room your room. I am sure in a few weeks you will be all adjusted though. I hope that you like your new room!

Big Boy Bed

Tonight you slept in your new big boy bed for the first time. It's the bottom of the bunk beds that you are sharing with your brother Jacob. You did great too! We did the same things we normally do before bedtime. Took a bath, got your jammies on, got some milk, gave kisses and hugs to daddy and Jacob and then off to your room. We read two books like always (and like always you asked to read more!). Then I layed with you for a few songs on the cd that I play for you each night. I kissed you good night and you said good night and I shut the door. I couldn't believe it was that easy, but it was. You fell right asleep and looked so cozy in that big bed. You did wake up once and called for me and daddy and daddy went to lay with you. But I think that you did great for your first night. I don't know that you are ready to give your crib up to the new baby that is coming, but I think that once it gets here you will be okay and well adjusted to sleeping in your new room and new bed.

A Day with Thomas

Okay, well it really wasn't a whole day, but it was a couple hours and you LOVED it! We went to Huckleberry Railroad to visit Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas the Train is your favorite cartoon right now and you already have lots of Thomas the Train toys. You are being to learn all the names of the different engines too. So I got tickets and you, Daddy and me and went for a train ride on the real Thomas the Train! We talked about it for a couple days beforehand and you were very excited. And when you actually saw Thomas your face just light up. You couldn't believe how big he was! You kept saying, "big Thomas." You loved the train ride and went between Daddy and I to see different things. You always got some tattoos of Thomas and his friends and played with some of the Thomas toys they had set up there. You really had a great time there and if I would have known how much stuff they had to do there we would have been there longer, but there is always next year. Here are some pictures!

Splish, Splash, this is how I take my bath...

For the most part you LOVE bath time! You think you have your own little pool and really instead of taking a bath you splash and splash and jump and throw water! There are some days that more water ends up outside of the bath tub than in it! Your favorite thing to do is use your cups to dump the water out of the bath tub, and I put more and more towels down to soak up the water. Tonight I thought I would take some pictures of you in the bath. I put lots of bubbles in there and you were "cleaning" the walls of the tub!

Zoo Days

I got a Detroit Zoo pass for you and Grammy for this spring, summer and fall (really it's a year round pass, but I don't think that it will get much use in the winter). Today you guys went for your first trip together and you had so much fun. Grammy said you loved seeing all the animals and she even got you a new stuffed white tiger! I will add all the zoo pictures through the year to the link on the side named "Zoo Days".

Climing On Out

This morning was like most mornings; when you wake up I let you "talk" to yourself and stuffed animals in your crib for about twenty minutes before I go in and get you. Except for this morning when I went in to get you instead me lifting you out of your crib you swung your leg over the side bar, put your foot on the rocker next to your crib and climbed right out! You got this big smile on your face, like wow, that was pretty neat, I can get out of my crib by myself! I was really amazed that you waited until I got into your room to do this too. I don't plan to put you in your new big boy bed until the end of August when you start sharing a room with Jacob. So hopefully you will think that you can only climb out of your crib when I get in the room and not beforehand.

Two Years... (too fast)

Today you turn two. WOW! I can't believe that you are two already, I know I have said that so many times. When you turned one month, seven months, one year, just the other day. I always am saying how fast you are growing and how big you are getting, but you really are! Now you are learning so many new things, the world is your playground and you are defiantly exploring as much of it as you can. Two years ago you had just entered this world and I had to do everything for you. Now there isn't much that you want me to do for you. You couldn't feed yourself, now it's an insult if I dare try and feed you or help you eat. A year ago I had to dress you and changed your diaper 100 times a day (okay not really that many times, but it seemed like it!), today you can almost get yourself undressed and you have started using the big potty. There are so many countless things that you have learned to do in the past years, that it really just amazes me. Even simple things - last night you wanted your lawn mover and your big box of legos in the living room. And you didn't want to make two trips. All by yourself, you figured out to put your lawn mover on top on the lego box and push it into the living room. I am really just amazed already at how smart you are and how you have figured out to do all these things.

I love that you are getting bigger and doing things on your own, but I am also sad at the same time. I am loosing the little baby you use to be, I miss being able to hold you all the time. But all the kisses and hugs you give me now all the time are priceless and I wouldn't trade them for the world. I love the way you laugh now and scream when you are happy. I love how excited you get to see something and how you run to get it. I love how you hide around the corners of the house and peek out at me and then hide back. I love it when I think that you are handing me something, just to have you pull it back, and you know that you are teasing me. You are such a happy little boy, there isn't two minutes that go by that I don't think there isn't a smile on your face. You love life and I love that about you. So it's okay that you are getting bigger, but just know that you will always be my little baby.

Birthday Pictures

You are having a couple small celebrations for your 2nd birthday. So I thought I would just put them all in one post.

On your birthday you celebrated with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Becky and Aunt Jeannette. We had pizza for dinner, which is one of your favorite foods! You got all kinds of cool stuff, including a new CD and Radio Player, Hummer truck, Story Telling Teddy Bear, clothes (which you found b-o-r-i-n-g, but I really liked!) and a new book, and camera. Grandpa and Grandma also put away some money for college later on, which is always much appreciated! We had some cake, which you could not wait to get your hands on! You had been asking all day about cake, cake! Pictures here!

On Friday you celebrated your birthday with Jacob, Daddy and Mommy. You got some new Bob the Builder Trucks that talk and a Tool Bench, so you can fix things like Bob does. You also got a new Remote Control Jeep and some books. Your big present was a new picnic table for outside. You love playing outside and you really like to eat outside. You really like your new picnic table. You can see all the pictures here and here.

Sunday you celebrated your birthday with Papa, Grammy, Uncle Matt, Aunt Kim and Lily. It was raining when we got there, but I knew that wouldn't stop you and Jacob from getting outside once the rain stopped! And thank goodness I packed extra clothes because you found a nice big puddle in the grass! We had some BBQ food for dinner. And you really wanted a green cake so we had a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake from Baskin Robins and of course you loved it! (I don't know what you are going to do without birthday cake after today!) You got a new Buzz Lightyear bubble blowing machine, which you and Lily insisted Grammy get working right away! And from a new wooden table and chairs set from Grammy and Papa. You love your new table and love having your own place to eat and play on! Pictures here.

I really think that you had a great birthday! This is the first year that you really ripped into those presents and got excited about what you were opening. The highlight though for you was BIRTHDAY CAKE! You got three birthday cakes, plus cupcakes at school and every time your fingers were in the cake before the candles were blown out! At night when I was rocking you, you would just keep saying, "birthday cake, more birthday cake." I think that you probably had dreams of floating in birthday cake! You were also great at telling everyone thank you for your gifts and giving everyone thank you hugs. I hope you had a great second birthday!

Little Pedicurist

After your bath tonight I realized that your toe nails were looking a little too long. So I trimmed them up with your nail clippers. And then fixed up your finger nails too. You are always pretty good about getting your nail trimmed, as long as you get to play with the nail trimmer when I am finished. Which is fine with me, since you have not figured out how to turn the thing around to actually make it trim. After that I was getting your milk ready for bedtime and you decided that Daddy need his toe nails trimmed too. You carefully pretended to "fix" all of his toe nails. I wonder how well you are at painting?!

More pedicure pictures here.

You Used the Potty!!!

For the past three nights before your bath you have wanted to get your potty out and try to go pee in it. You have to get all undressed before you will sit down on it. And then I thought that we would look at the pictures of a Parent's magazine to relax you. We point things out and you name things. And you love looking at all the babies. After the first night of doing this you got so excited to do it the second night, "pee, potty, book" is how I knew you were ready. So tonight we did the routine and after about two minutes you went!!! I was so excited for you! And I didn't have my camera ready, so I said, "stay there, I will be right back!" And ran to get the camera. Of course then you didn't want to sit back down, but at least I for a couple pictures to mark the moment. Congratulations Sam! I thought that we would wait about another month to start potty training, but as with most things, you are letting me know when you are ready. And so the training will begin...

And I am sure that you will just love me when you are older for sharing this picture!

Playtime with Maya

Today your friend Maya came over to visit (well really she is mommy's best friend's daughter), but we hope that you guys will be good friends too! At first Maya was a little shy, but I think it took all of about five minutes for her to warm up to you and you guys were having so much fun together. You pulled each other in your wagon and played with your Lego's. A couple times neither of you wanted to share, but that was okay. We all had some lunch together (your kid's favorite mac-n-cheese with chicken nuggets), but I think that Erin and I ate more of it than you and Maya did! Then we played outside. You had a lot of fun playing on your swing set with Maya. You guys went down the slide and swung the swings and chased after each other. Then we had some strawberries before Erin and I realized that it was nap time. You guys had a great time together and when I asked you later that night if you wanted to play with Maya again, you shook your head so fast I thought it was going to flop off! (and then you kept saying "lawnmower... lawnmower..." no Maya did take your lawnmower home with her, but you have to share Sam!) More pictures here.

An Adventure to the Zoo

About once a month Aunt Becky babysits you on a saturday so that I can work on my eBay stuff. You really don't like to let me work on eBay when you are home, so I figure you would have much more fun with your aunt. Today you guys did some shopping (Aunt Becky really likes to shop, you will learn this as you get older if you have not already!). And then after lunch she took you to the zoo! You loved looking at the all the animals and watching all the kids too. You saw the Tigers and got to see them "roar"! And the giraffes and the monkeys and the polar bears and so much more. You really had a lot of fun there and like spending more time with your Aunt Becky. Here are some more pictures!

This is for the Birds!

You and I have been feeding the squirrels in our backyard for a long time now and we finally got a small bird feeder out there a couple weeks ago. Today you wanted to help feed the birds. You would get a small handfull of bird seed and put it in the cup we use and then try and put it in the little holes in the bird feeder. This took you quite some time and finally you thought why not just throw it on the steps, that was much easier! More pictures here.

So Tired... But Resisting a Nap

Lately you just won't take a nap during the day. I think that it might have started since you start school (also known as daycare). You can't seem to relax at school and now that you are going there two days a week, you get off schedule during the week. So sometimes you take a nap, but most of the time you resist them. Like you did today for Grammy, she put you in your crib and you just cried and cried, you did not want to take a nap. So when I got home from work, I did my normal Wednesday quick vacuum and since you were pretty crabby (since you didn't take a nap) I carried you while I vacuumed. And you were so tired that you feel asleep while I was carrying you. So I laid you down in daddy's chair in the living room and slept there for an hour. All through the rest of my vacuuming, the laundry going, and me making dinner. Guess you were pretty tired, but just wanted to sleep on your own terms. Since normally you sleep in your crib I don't get to watch you sleep, so it was nice to just sit and watch you be so peaceful. I loved being able to just stare at you and wonder what you are dreaming.

Sam's Own Page

I have decided that since I cannot seem to keep up with the scrap booking anymore, but I still want to place to keep pictures, milestones and just day-to-day stories in one place, that I am going to start a blog for each of the kids.

Most of this blog will start from Sam's second year (since I have a scrapbook already done for his first year and the second year is about a quarter of the way done - and I am determined to finish it!). But I think that I will try and backtrack the first two years when I have time.

So whoever wants to see anything and everything about Sam just come on over here! (I am still keeping the family blog, which I will post things about the entire family.)

Note: This will be written as if I am talking to Sam, since this is really their memento and I want them to be able to go back and read this like I was telling them a story about themselves.

Mr. Clean

I guess that I my cleaning is starting to rub off on you. You fight me for the swiffer every night when I sweep the kitchen floor. So tonight after I got done sweeping I let you take a shot at it... and I must say you did really good!

Video here...