It hadn't really occurred how independent Sam has always been until I had Marie. Now that she's getting older (all of 4 months now) I can see a huge difference between the two. Sam has always been fine without me. He knows I'll be back and while I'm gone he has his own agenda, things he wants to do. This was really nice when I ended up in the hospital because he was such an easy baby that I never had to worry about him. He took the bottle nicely and when I was able to nurse again he switched back patiently. He was fine with who ever had him and never complained.
Now he just flat out wants to do things his OWN way. He wants to hold Marie without any help and if help is offered then say goodbye to Sam. He wants to feed himself and doesn't want help. He likes to put on his shoes without help usually which means they often go on the wrong foot. He also likes to wear my shoes.
He basically has reached a point where most of the time he doesn't want my help at all. Daddy on the other hand can help sometimes better than I can. Daddy is cooler... or something. Yesterday we went to the park and Sam declared his independence loud and clear. He did NOT want my help with ANYTHING except getting on and off the swing and getting a good push while he was on it. He is always saying yes to everything so when he says no he means NO. I got a lot of "No, No", pushing my hand (or me) away, and general stubbornness when I tried to help at the park. He wanted to do it all on his own.
Marie on the other hand seems to be very clingy to me. She screamed, and I mean blood curdling, when I turned her over to the Dr today and chased Sam. She didn't calm down until she had my full attention again and so the appointment was a little exciting. I'm finding she does that fairly frequently when I've been gone for a bit or if she just decides she wants me to hold her. She's still the cutest girl on the planet but boy does she get upset sometimes if she doesn't get her mommy.
Lately this is what my kids look like. They are both heavily into teething and as you can see are using their hands as a chew toy. Sam unfortunately already has 18 teeth and is chewing his hands to pieces. The puddles of drool all over everywhere are a little dangerous (on tile) and really gross. However, Tylenol works wonders and is the only way I can salvage Sam's poor hands. I can always tell when they need more because this is what I see. You can guess what happened after I took this picture.
Reading with Daddy is always one of Sam's favorite things to do. Marie is old enough to join in the fun too. They were having so much fun reading Goodnight Gorilla this morning that I couldn't resist taking a few pictures. If Sam keeps up what he's been doing he'll be reading by the time he's 3. I really can't believe he knows his alphabet in 2 languages already. It's still a little rough but for a not yet 2 year old that's impressive. He likes to practice daily with his book and asks me to sing the alphabet song to him regularly. I'm in major shock and I'm really not sure how to keep up with this kid. He's growing up way too fast.
Ok, so I'll admit it...I have the world's cutest kids and I just can't resist putting up more pictures of them. As you can see Sam is anxiously awaiting the time that Marie can play with him. He's always on the ground talking to her and trying to pick her up and have her go somewhere with him. The last one is always a bit exciting and scary.
Sam loves ball and sticks. What boy doesn't. The outfit is from his Aunt Calli and I think it says pretty much everything about him. He's definitely my curious Sam and he's definitely a monkey. Nothing is safe from this child no matter how high I put it, if he wants it, he gets it.
Now he just flat out wants to do things his OWN way. He wants to hold Marie without any help and if help is offered then say goodbye to Sam. He wants to feed himself and doesn't want help. He likes to put on his shoes without help usually which means they often go on the wrong foot. He also likes to wear my shoes.
He basically has reached a point where most of the time he doesn't want my help at all. Daddy on the other hand can help sometimes better than I can. Daddy is cooler... or something. Yesterday we went to the park and Sam declared his independence loud and clear. He did NOT want my help with ANYTHING except getting on and off the swing and getting a good push while he was on it. He is always saying yes to everything so when he says no he means NO. I got a lot of "No, No", pushing my hand (or me) away, and general stubbornness when I tried to help at the park. He wanted to do it all on his own.
Marie on the other hand seems to be very clingy to me. She screamed, and I mean blood curdling, when I turned her over to the Dr today and chased Sam. She didn't calm down until she had my full attention again and so the appointment was a little exciting. I'm finding she does that fairly frequently when I've been gone for a bit or if she just decides she wants me to hold her. She's still the cutest girl on the planet but boy does she get upset sometimes if she doesn't get her mommy.
