A couple of highlights for this summer will be having them both in Vacation Bible School for a week and also a trip to Texas to visit Paul's brother and his family. Sam absolutely adores his cousins so I have a feeling this will be a great trip. The seventeen hour car ride to get there however could be a different story!
But before we start on to summer I can sum up a bit of what's happened between spring break and now. It has been a busy few months here and the kids just seem to keep growing up faster and faster every day.
Spring Break was some very random weather. The actual first day of my spring break we had a huge snowstorm and Paul got to work from home that day. It was really nice and actually during his lunch break we bundled up the kids and took them outside to play in the snow while we shoveled the driveway. Because we hadn't had really any amount of snow last winter and none of any value this winter, we never got Sam a snow suit or boots. And Ally's is one of Emma's hand me downs. Thankfully however, we had a 24 month old snow suit in his closet (surprisingly the pants were fine, the coat was a bit short so we just switched it out for one of ours once we realized all he wanted to do was lay in the snow and roll cars so his poor wrists wouldn't be exposed to the snow) and a pair of Emma's pink boots.
The had a blast. Ally was a bit upset at first but she got snow on her gloves and went to move her hair out of her face and ended up with snow stuck in her hair, eyelashes, and all over her face. Once she was past the trauma of that she was actually perfectly happy to law down and roll in the snow.
After we fixed Sam's jacket (he's in the smaller one in these pictures) he was great. We had a bigger size coat so his wrists weren't exposed to the snow and he just laid down and rolled his cars everywhere.
After the short lived snow (literally it snowed like 8 inches that day and the next it was up to 60 degrees) we had Easter. It was very weird to have the kids searching for Easter eggs outside with snow on the ground and coats not needed.
Ally really got in to the Easter egg hunt this year. She had a blast finding the eggs. Sam loved it as well. He actually just went running and found every egg he could and put it into his basket. The kids have eggs numbered from 1-14 so everyone can get one of each of the toys in the egg, so my mom was going around behind him tossing the eggs just as fast out of his basket so the other kids could find them as well.
We celebrated Easter with my family on Saturday and then just did our immediate family Easter on Sunday. Unfortunately, Paul's grandmother was doing worse at the time and his mom and dad were spending most of their free time with her. She passed away a few weeks ago, and while it has been very hard for the family, she is no longer in pain and in heaven.
Because of his grandma's health, his parents also weren't able to go to Texas over Spring Break to see Lizzi and Chloe like they had hoped. So Dan and Krystl flew the family this way to spend time with his grandma and to let his parents see the kids. While they were here we took everyone to the zoo. The kids had an absolute blast.
Lizzi did a great job with Sam. She would hold his hand everywhere they walked. And keep an eye on him. Sam loves his cousins, so he was so well behaved and would listen to what Lizzi asked of him. It was so cute to watch.
After they had to head home, I took the kids to the children's museum with my sister, mom, and Emma and Luke. My spring break this year was two weeks long because of the new balanced calendar so I had so much more time with them then I am use to. We got to do so many fun things together and I really enjoyed every minute of it.
We pretty much jammed packed as much fun as we could into two weeks! Sam got off schedule at day care because we didn't have him go those days but it was well worth it to have him at home and with his cousins playing each day.
As for the past six weeks after spring break, we've just been busy working and coming home to spend the evenings outside. Sam and Ally love being outside. They would live outside if they could. We've started occasionally packing a picnic dinner and going to the park during the week. We'll eat at a covered picnic shelter and then let the kids play on the swing sets and run around the lake. Paul's parents will meet us occasionally as well.
What Sammy has been up to the past few months:
- He has really gotten into pretend play. He acts scenes out with his cars and trains. He makes full meals in the kitchen. He is loving cars, trains, books,, and playing in the dirt.
- He caught his first fish! A couple at the park saw Sam watching them fish and offered to let him hold the pole and reel in a fish if one was caught. They caught one and his face as the fish was caught was just about the cutest thing ever. He was thrilled and talked about that fish for weeks.
- I am needing to get a few doctor's appointments scheduled for him. We never did a follow up appointment with his asthma and sleep doctor. The appointment was scheduled for the day before my dad's memorial service so we cancelled it. I need to do the follow up to check on how he is doing and for the results of his sleep study test explained to us. He also needs an appointment with his regular doctor because school has mentioned several times that he might need to see a speech therapist. I have not ever been too concerned about his speech but once school pointed it out, I do realize he doesn't use his tongue to make sounds. He also is a bit loud, so perhaps his hearing needs to be checked as well. The loudness wasn't mentioned from school, but my mom's friend had a child who had hearing problems and it was found at 3 because of speech issues. So I need to get things checked out this summer.
- Sam is still a terrible sleeper. We are lucky if he only wakes up twice in the middle of the night. I don't even remember what getting 6 to 8 hours of sleep straight at a time is like. We put him down to bed at 8. He'll fall asleep on his own no problem. But he always wakes up the first time between 11 and 12. Then he can potentially wake up every 1-2 hours after that for the rest of the night. He also can be counted on to wake up between 4 and 5. We have to coax him back into bed so he doesn't try to stay up for good for the day. Half the time he'll put himself back to bed. However, the other half of the time he wakes up screaming from probably nightmares and we have to go in, wake him up fully, and turn his music back on to get him to sleep. It can't be good for him to have as little sleep as he does!
- He is at The Goddard School two days a week. He goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and gets a lot of fun play time in while there. It is so weird to pick him up in the afternoons and have him tell me about his day. His two best friends there appear to be a boy named Cohen and Noah. His teacher right now is excellent. She does so well with him and doesn't let him get away with much. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better teacher for his personality.
- Sam is fully potty trained with pee. Poop however is a totally different story. He can go a full day without having an accident. But he holds the number 2 until night time when he has a diaper or pull up on for bed. We have tried so much to get him to go on the potty but he won't do it. We are at the point of bribing. We have told him as soon as he goes poop on the potty he can go to the store and pick out anything he wants. No luck yet but we'll keep trying!
- He is also at the stage where he can be extremely good and helpful, or he can be pushing every boundary he can think of. We are getting into the back-talking phase and he is trying to see what he can get away with and what he can't. We have had to be pretty strict with discipline the past few weeks. It is hard to do, but I know that in the long run it'll be better for us.
- He is a big help to Ally when he wants to be. He loves to read to her and play with her. But usually it needs to be on his own terms. When playing cars, he only wants her to use certain cars. The same with trains. It's really cute to watch for the most part but again, we just have to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get upset and throw tantrums when it doesn't go his way. It's completely typical three behavior. I'm beginning to think that three is more difficult then the age of two!!!
- He is a cuddler. It is one of my favorite things about him. He loves to snuggle on your lap and he loves to hug. He will say I love you back to me whenever I tell him I love him. He gives you random kisses and hugs throughout the day as well.
- He is great with expressing emotions. Favorite phrases are "That makes me so happy!!" or "That makes me so sad"and he uses these sentences in the appropriate contexts.
- Our favorite line of his the other day was when we were sitting in the car at a stop light and all of a sudden Paul and I hear "Mommy, Daddy, look I see the aliens!!!!" He was so excited and kept asking "Do you see the aliens!?!" and we were just looking at each other in shock like where does he see aliens and how does he even know what those are?? Then we saw the ambulance going through the intersection and he said "There goes the aliens!" It was probably one of the cutest things ever and we just both started laughing once we realized that aliens is his way of saying ambulance.
What Ally has been up to the last few months:
- She has picked up vocabulary like a sponge. She talks and talks and doesn't really seem to stop. My mom thinks that is from me. She is great at vocalizing what she wants. In fact she will keep repeating what she wants until she gets the appropriate response. I was with my mom getting a bath ready for the kids. And Ally is sitting next to us and kept saying "I take bath, I take bath, I take bath" over and over again. Then when I finally asked, Ally do you want a bath, she goes "okay" and stops saying her phrase. It's like she will say what she wants repeatedly until you ask it back to her. Then she will immediately say "okay" and act like it was your idea all along. Probably one of the cutest things ever.
- She has begun to terrorize her brother. She watches Sam for what he is playing with and will look for a sneak attack. If he's playing with cars, she'll watch for an opening, run in, grab the car out of his hand, and run the other way as fast as she can. Once she is safely away, she'll usually drop the toy and go back to whatever she was doing. She looks for reactions and we've had to get on her about this.
- Ally is extremely dramatic. She has the facial features to make you think she has been beaten when she just got a light spat for doing something she shouldn't have been. She will also cry and cry and cry if Sam brushes past her and make you think that he completely pushed her over and then stepped on her. We have to be careful to be quick to judge Sammy for when she is crying, because I really think she sometimes tries to get him in trouble.
- She loves her books. I think her favorite things are ballons (boons) and books (stories). She'd be happy with just those two toys everywhere in the house.
- She wants to be outside all the time. She comes downstairs in the mornings, goes to the door and asks if she can go outside.
- Ally is not a fan of being with anyone other then Paul and I or grandparents. The church nursery is still a shock to her, and she really lays on her tears for us when we leave her. Part of the problem is we haven't been going consistently, so we really need to work on that.
- Her favorite food is mac and cheese. Literally she will eat it for every meal if given the choice.
- She has really bad bathroom issues. Ally holds in her poop. She had some really hard stools for awhile so it hurt her to go. We've adjusted her diet and added in a lot more fiber to get that issue under control. Unfortunately she is no terrified to go to the bathroom. She will hold it in for days and walk on her tip toes and tense her legs to keep herself from going. I need to get a doctor's appointment for her as well, but honestly, to get her to go to the bathroom we have to keep her from straightening her legs until she will go. It makes evenings kind of difficult when it's been a few days because she is clingy, hungry but won't eat because of her tummy hurting, and just over all a bit grouchy.
- Ally really has one of the best personalities ever. Other then when her stomach hurts, she is almost always happy. She's talkative, smiley, and content to play by herself. Really, if I could guarantee a third like her, I'd have one as soon as possible!!
- She sleeps like a champ! We still occasionally rock her to sleep, but she has just got to the stage where after prayers and story she will ask us to put her in bed. Then we'll put her in bed and she'll lay down, wave, and say goodnight. It's so weird after how long we've rocked her to sleep! After bedtime at 8 she will sleep without a peep until 8 on the weekends (or later some days) or until Paul has to wake her before going to work during the week. This girl loves her sleep. She definitely takes after me!!!
I'm amazed at all the changes both have gone through in six months. Who knows where they will be at when the summer ends! But I look forward to all that it will bring for us.
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