Cheap Props
Who needs the Arboretum.... when you've got WalMart Garden Center? Ha-ha!
Blue Eyes
Blue, blue eyes!
Fashion Trendsetter
A football shirt and pretty beaded necklace for our trip to Kroger? Why not.
Chat
Sam and Uncle Andrew having a little long-distance chat.
Apparently it was
hilarious
...
Big Boy Swing
Look who's out of the baby swing.
He's even pumping his legs, trying to swing all by himself. Such a big boy!
Dentist Seeds
Just a few of the seeds we picked up after the dentist the other day
. They're going to give us some parsley and basil!
Brave Boy
Turns out this brave boy really knows how to wow a dentist's office!
I'd been dreading this first trip to the dentist for at least a year, but Sam did awesome! Going to the pediatrician is always a different story, but he really impressed the dentist and all her staff. They thought he was hilarious, sweet and a great talker! They couldn't believe he made it through the full exam. The dentist told me they usually do lap-exams for first-timers this young, but he had no problem sitting in the chair, leaning back in it, wearing the bib and the special glasses.
He let them brush his teeth with the buzzing toothbrush tool, rinse his mouth with the sucker-thing, and take x-rays of all his teeth. And when they asked him how many teeth he thought he had, he guessed twenty, which was correct! They went crazy when he said that, but I promised them it was just a lucky guess! Best of all, he has perfect teeth with perfect spacing (likely to be a $$ saver for Mommy and Daddy) and no "sugar bugs". He even got his picture taken for the No Cavity Club board.
Everything was perfect until it was time to paint on the varnish. Then he kind of lost his cool. There was nothing scary about it - in fact, it should have been the least frightening part of the visit. They just paint some colorless wax stuff on with what looks like a kid's Crayola paintbrush. But at that point he'd just had enough. Mommy had to hold him down while they quickly painted his teeth with the "yucky stuff". Ask him how his dentist's visit was and this will be the first thing he tells you about, but overall he did great.
I'd promised him I'd take him out to get some seeds for his part of the garden if he made it through the visit, so off to Lowes we went for some flower seeds. Yea Sam! Hopefully we'll have the same success again in six months!
Still Feelin' The Beat
He woke up still in a rock-n-roll mood. So, we turned on his new Fresh Beat Band CD and he rocked it out - in his jammies!
Rock-N-Roll Birthday
What a party! Sam's sooo into music, especially "wock-n-woll", that we decided to have a rock-n-roll party for his third birthday. We had a great time decorating and opening presents, but the party wouldn't been as fun as it was if it hadn't been for Sam's performance. I'm so happy he decided to sing some of his favorites for his guests. He's a real rock-n-roll star!
Granny Nell and Aunt Dell arrive with lots of presents
A special book from Granny
Micky Mouse Sing-Along from Gram and Pops
Pennies from Aunt Dell - always!
Sam thought it was hilarious that we were singing just to him!
Some record decorations with Sam's favorite songs A sprinkle cake - sprinkles inside and out!
Yummy pasta salad, veggies and chips and dips!
I found these questionnaires online to use with kids each year on their birthday.
Here's Sam's Third Birthday Interview!
Sick
You know you're in for a rough couple of days when he appears at your bedside in the middle of the night and he's
on fire
. To make things worse, Sam complained of a sore neck that night and again all the next day. His fever wasn't too high until about 2:30 in the afternoon. A high fever and sore neck was a combo I just couldn't handle. So off to the ER we went.
Thankfully, he didn't have what I was most worried about, Meningitis, but he was pretty sick. A simultaneous dose of Advil and Tylenol didn't even work as quickly as the ER doctor was hoping for. But after an hour or so, we were released with a diagnosis of "virus". Once home, both exhausted, it was cartoons and juice time. That seemed to do the trick!
At the Salon
Look at my handsome boy in the salon chair!
He went with me for the first time to see "Ms. Jean", and while it took lots of bargaining and lollipops to get him there, he ended up loving Ms. Jean and her chair that goes up and down!
Boo-Boo
You would've thought it was the end of the world, or something.
Sam hurt his finger (we're still not sure how) and the drama surrounding the injury was intense. But it was nothing compared to hysterics Brian and I had to endure while trying to get the bandaid on his finger. Two days to convince him to put a bandaid on. TWO DAYS! Not wanting a bandaid's no big deal if your boo-boo's not bothering you, but that was not the case here. He'd cry about his boo-boo, then cry about a bandaid, over and over.
My second and third graders always wanted bandaids when they didn't need them. I've never known a kid to not want a bandaid. I tried telling him it was a pillow for his boo-boo. I tried telling him it was a sticker for his boo-boo. It came down to an ultimatum - no playground until you wear a bandaid. He'd been asking to go outside and it was very nice out, so I gave it a shot. It just barely worked. He was still pretty reluctant. The second -
the second
- I got that bandaid on, he perked up, smiled, laughed and told me how awesome it was. I said, "See, it didn't hurt!" His response was, "Yeah! I told you so!"
No...I told YOU so. That's what I'm supposed to say. Grrr!!
The next day we scooted out to Target and got some pretty cool Sesame Street bandaids just for little people. With that came a whole new set of problems - wanting a new bandaid every five minutes and needing a bandaid long past when the ouchy had healed.
Sheesh.
Birthday Card
Working hard on his birthday card for Pops...
Bye-Bye-Binkie
Had I known, I might not have done it.
Sam didn't like his pacifier when he was first born, but I kept offering it to him because research showed it might help reduce his risk of SIDS. Once he turned one and that risk became almost zero he was fairly attached to it so I decided to not get rid of it right away. With each passing day he became more and more attached and soon it became clear it wasn't going away on its own.
We worked on getting rid of it in baby steps, starting with Mother's Day Out this fall - no binkie at school this year. Next came no binkie on the couch, it had to stay on the bed. Once he started sneaking it out of his room, hiding it behind his blankie, I decided I'd had enough! We put binkie away with the promise of ice cream if he made it through the night. That first night went great and we stopped for ice cream on our way home from MDO the next day! He hasn't asked for it since. That went MUCH more smoothly than I thought it would. Pheew.
Sweet Snowman
By far his favorite craft yet.
He made a snowman by licking each marshmallow and sticking it on to the outline I drew. Then we added the carrot nose and other snowmanly accessories. He was super proud!
Lounging
A year ago he didn't want to go anywhere near it. Now Sam loves this swing.
Turns out it's a handicapped swing, no leg holes which makes for easy access!
Kissing Hand
Sam was so excited to show me his "kissing hand" when I picked him up from Mother's Day Out this afternoon.
I asked him if they read the book and he said no, but I'm thinking they must have. I used to have my own copy, but I couldn't find it, so we'll have to check it out from the library the next time we go.
Breakfast
It was a two-bowl morning.
Two
full
bowls of oatmeal, more than Daddy eats when he has oatmeal for breakfast. All eaten with a little baby Gerber spoon. :)
Let's Go Look at Books
Just a quick stop at the library after running errands, before heading home to fix dinner.
Two of our favorites in these pictures:
Lulu's Busy Day
and
Sally Goes to the Mountains
.
Swings
Brian had the day off today and it was nice to have him home.
He watched Sam while I went to the store and then after lunch we took a walk to the lake and the park. Sam had fun watching the ducks and swinging. It was cold by the water, but overall, not too bad for January 2nd!