Sam is 24 months today!

Sam is two years old!  Look at that cutie pie.  We just can't believe how quickly two years has flown by.  Though, to look at him, people guess he's almost three all the time.  He's a big boy that towers over his entire playgroup.

He's just started his two year old tantrums and insane moods.  He's always been a bit feisty but now he's started his lay on the floor and scream and flail phase.  But I'm not too bothered by it because at least now I know it's normal and it'll pass.

He remains entirely devoted to his brother and just loves him so much.  He looks at the window every afternoon to look and see when Jack will be dropped off from school.  He tackles his brother when he decides it's time to wrestle and he holds his hand when it's time to be nice.

He loves hanging with the older kids and loves a good party.

Watch out for this one because he sure likes crowds and being social.  Doesn't want to read a single book but will talk to any stranger in any public place.

I just love my little guy with the feisty attitude.  Happy 2nd birthday Sammy!

Sam is 23 months today!

Sam is 23 months old today!  Looking pretty old in these pictures.  My blonde haired blue eyed baby is almost 2!

He continues to be a "maniac" as Jack calls him.  Jumping on couches, climbing on tables, eating a ton, laughing, smiling, giggling, and throwing temper tantrums.  He's got quite a boisterous personality usually. 

He really loves to be out and about and with people.  Sitting at home with mommy is fun for Jack but not for this one!  He screams and kicks every time I drag him away from Jack's school after pickup.

But happy birthday to this cutie.  Thanks for being happy and lovely, even when you're not sleeping well and throwing a fit.  :)

Sam is 22 months old today!

There's our Sammy!  Wearing his brother's hand-me-down shirt that Jack wore when he was 3.  Sam isn't even 2 but he's a beast.  Everyone always thinks he's older than he is because he's pretty tall and solid.  

Not much new this month except a lot of new words and language development.  I'm not sure anyone can understand him except for us but that's okay.  He's not shy about telling us exactly what he wants.  And his go-to move is to grab us (or any adult really) by the hand to lead him/her to where he wants to go.  Sometimes it's just to play with him outside, sometimes it's to show us how crazy his older brother is being, and sometimes it's right to the fridge for more food.  But he's very assertive!

He's starting typical 2 year old behavior and gets frustrated pretty easily.  If a toy or something isn't working right away, he's quick to yell and throw and run around screaming.  Luckily it's not that often and we aren't very phased.

 

Besides, he's even cute when he's throwing things.

He is playing well with Jack now and that is awesome.  Of course, nowadays the roles have switched slightly and sometimes Sam is the aggressor, pulling Jack's hair or tackling him to the ground.  Wrestling is fun when both parties are in agreement, but not so fun if one isn't in the mood.  But we try to let them work it out themselves.  

Jack really thought it would be great to tickle Sam during these photos to make him laugh.

It did make Sam smile but then he was OFF and ready to chase down big brother.

Happy 22 months Sam!

Jack is 4 1/2 years old!

Look at our big 4 1/2 year old!  Jack is suddenly very proud to be four AND A HALF and can't wait until he's 5.  I don't know what he thinks will happen but I guess it just sounds very cool.

Jack remains one heck of a kid.  Complicated, smart, sensitive...an enigma.  John and I are definitely still trying to figure him out...and I'm pretty sure he has the upper hand!  He is funny and cuddly and moody and there's no one like him.  :)

His current obsession is numbers.  Of any kind.  He loves taking measuring tapes all around the house and measuring any and all things in our house.  He loves analog clocks and telling time (which is really cool).  Jack also loves elevators and escalators and, as he puts it, "high places".  He loves to park on the top floor of parking garages and just take the elevator up and down.  It's an extremely fun way to spend a Monday.  

He is reading better and better every month.  Not that you would know it because he's the kind of kid who clams up when you ask him to show off his knowledge.  But he'll randomly read signs or pages in books so I know he knows a lot of what he sees.  John and I, like most parents, have been spelling things occasionally so that Jack and Sam don't know what we are talking about.  But it may be time to end that tradition as the other morning Jack leaned over and whispered to me, "Mommy do you want to go get some C-O-F-F-E-E?"  Awesome.

This handsome 4 1/2 year old starts his second year of preschool in a few weeks and I know he'll do just great.  He's come so far the past year.  Now if we could only get him to stop saying "poopyhead" and "shut up".  Sigh.  Love you Jack!

Sam is 21 months old today!

There's our smiley Sam, 21 months old today!  It's such an awesome age and John and I are enjoying him immensely.  He's learning new words and putting together more and more sentences every week.  

We can't get over how friendly and social the little guy is.  He'll take anyone's hand and lead them around, showing them different things or engaging in games with them.  Sammy has the cutest little voice so to hear him say "hi" or "bye" with his little inflection is really adorable.  

As he approaches 2 he is starting a few temper tantrums.  But they seem so short and easy to us compared to what we've seen.  :)  He'll throw himself on the ground for a full 3 or 5 seconds and then it's over.  And back to looking for fun or mischief to get into.  He loves to climb on top of anything and everything.  He loves jumping and he loves running after his big brother.  Really there's nothing he loves more than his big brother.  It's pretty awesome.  Even when the feeling isn't always mutual. 

Overall we are just in awe of how good-natured and happy and even-tempered he is.  What a cutie.  Happy 21 months Sammy!

Sam is 20 months old today!

Well, as you will see, I didn't get a nice, in focus, shot this month because my darling Sammy would NOT SIT STILL.  Not that he ever does so I guess this perfectly captures my little boy at 20 months.  

This kid is ridiculously cute.  He really has the sweetest, cutest disposition.  Sweet definitely doesn't mean mellow or calm though.  Sam is constantly bouncing off the walls, jumping off tables, standing on chairs, and yelping in joy or frustration.  Because he is happy as a clam right up until he doesn't get something or can't figure something out.  And then, BAM.  He's an almost two year old, flinging himself on the floor and screaming.  But, for some reason, it's just sort of cute when he does it.  And it's usually over very quickly.

He continues to learn new words every day and he can say so much now.  He and Jack play so well together now.  Sure, there are still times when Jack hits him or doesn't want him around, but a majority of the time they play and giggle and have a great time.  Sam just absolutely adores his big brother.  He tries to copy him at every turn which is both cool and frightening.  Because his 20 month old body sometimes doesn't have the skills and coordination to keep up with a crazy 4 year old.  

Sammy still gets up sometime between 4:30 and 5:30am but we've fallen into a routine and it's manageable most days.  He's still taking two (very short) naps every day but hopefully I can get him down to one fairly soon.  

He's starting to like books a lot more which is awesome.  Finally!  We can complete a whole book!  (Well, as he hurries me to turn the page).  Who has time to sit that long?

Not this kid!  So happy 20 months Sammy!  And, to keep it real, here's another side of Sam, post-photo shoot.  :)

Sam is 19 months old today!

Look at this guy!  He may need a haircut and he may be sweaty from playing outside all day but he is so darn adorable.  Sammy is one happy dude.  

He's got such a sweet, lovely disposition and is always ready to play with people and have fun.  Every day he says more and more words which is so cool.  He communicates really well which makes life much easier.  Though he has yet to be able to communicate why he needs to get up at 4:30 or 5am every day.  But luckily he's in a pretty good mood every morning so it makes the wee morning hours pass a little quicker.  

As I've said before, Sam LOVES his big brother Jack.  It's gotten to the point now where he just copies whatever Jack is doing verbatim.  And if Jack is eating something, he wants the same thing.  If Jack is playing with a toy, he wants that toy.  But the main thing is just the mimicry of the actions.  It's crazy and adorable and frightening all at the same time.  If Jack climbs on the couch and jumps off, Sam does too.  If Jack splashes water in the bath, Sam does too.  When we get to preschool early, Jack likes to run around the gym and slide on his knees on the slippery wood floor.  Sam does the same thing now and the two love to make it a game.  

So we are FINALLY getting to see the two of them be cute together and it's a pretty nice payoff.  The other day after Sam had gone to bed Jack told me "I love my little brother."  And when they are playing and Sam wanders off, he laments his absence and wants him to come back.  Today at the park there was a giant twisty slide and Jack was flying down it over and over.  Sam was interested so he sat down right next to Jack at the top and the two of them went down together, side by side.  Wasn't long before Sam was flying down himself.  Pretty cool.  

He's still pretty attached to me which can make basic every day things fairly difficult (i.e. going to the bathroom, doing laundry, doing dishes…or anything really where I can't hold him or sit next to him).  But I know it's a phase so I try to react sympathetically to the never-ending "mama mama mama!"

So happy 19 months to our little Sammy!  Our smiley Sam.  :)

Sam's 18 month doctor's appointment

This cutie had his 18 month check-up today.  Sure, he climbs up on tables, jumps off chairs, and is generally a handful, but he sure is adorable.  And, per the doctor, Sammy is in great physical health and is hitting all his milestones.  

The only thing we talked about is his apparent dairy allergy.  Or maybe not full on allergy but intolerance.  I guess they usually do the full dairy allergy test at 2 years so, until then, we've switched to almond milk.  We tried Lactaid but he threw that up too leading the doc to believe it may be a real dairy (milk protein) allergy rather than a lactose intolerance.  

Anyways, it's not that fun avoiding cheese and all dairy but we are making do.  Sammy certainly doesn't seem to mind though.  He's as happy as can be.  

And now, his stats:

Weight - 26 pounds, 9 ounces (60th percentile)

Height - 34 inches (90th percentile!)

It's crazy because he seems so much heavier and bigger than Jack was but it turns out he's only about 1/2 pound heavier and 1/2 inch taller.  Crazy.

And, for good measure, a little video of Sam saying hi to you.  (Sorry about the vertical alignment!)

Sam is 18 months old today!

Sammy is 1 1/2 years old today!  Such a big milestone.  So big and yet I almost forgot that today was his 18 month birthday.  The poor kid…stinks being the second child.  But look at him!  Does he look like he's suffering?  Definitely not.  

He continues to be a fairly happy-go-lucky little guy.  He does get frustrated but he generally is quick to smile.  Except in the mornings when he is grumpy because he's up at 4:30 or 5.  When will the early mornings end?!  I can't wait.  But he gets up that early every single day and it's just exhausting to wait for the sun to rise.  Luckily we have our little routine down which I'm sad to say includes some episodes of "Curious George".  Oh well.  Second child.

I love making this kid laugh because his giggles are adorable.  He understands everything I say now which is so fun.  I tell him to throw away a piece of trash and he goes right for the trash can.  He loves to eat with silverware (with some success) and try to blow his nose himself.  He's starting to say some words which I'm not sure everyone would understand but I definitely hear bubbles, bottle, inside, outside, up, down, again, TV, cheese, and more.  

That's his serious face.  Do you like it?  Makes him look more like his older brother.  :)

He's constantly moving and exploring.  It's exhausting but he's a hoot.  Sam's a curious guy…like he was curious what it would feel like to smash his face against this clipboard.  I gather it was pretty cool.  

His relationship with Jack remains the same.  Sam adores him and when we drop Jack to preschool he cries and screams and I have to drag him away.  Why, I don't know since 90 percent of the time Jack just hits him or pushes him or yells that he doesn't want Sam to play with us.  It's kind of sad and I get so upset when Jack hits him for no reason.  But there is that 10 percent when Jack is great with him and is showing him how to do things and proclaims "I think he likes fountains because I like fountains!"  Pretty cute.

This hug though was totally for show.  Don't be fooled.  Because it turned from a hug to a pretty hard headlock that ended with this tears.  

Sigh.  Happy birthday Sam.  We love you so much…even the crazy older brother.