Creativity

We have two little creative people. It's just fun to watch their minds work and watch them do new things. Now these pictures are a little old (they are from the end of July) but I saw them as I was looking for something else and couldn't resist.

To start with, I hope Marie likes this picture when she's older because she did this all the time for quite a while. We finally got a picture (or 5) and I'm so glad we did cause it's hilarious. It's funny to see the differences between Sam and Marie because Sam never really did this even though they are both little clowns.
Sam saw the boards leaning on the bench and guess what he decided it was. They got put to great use while they were located there (with lots of supervision). He climbed up and slid down over and over and over again.

And finally something that hasn't stopped...The Mommy Playground! Or more recently the Mommy Park!! I'm not really sure where Sam came up with the idea but at this point if I ever end up on the floor that's what I become. I've tried to do exercises to fix my stomach gap(from two big babies) but every time I get attacked by these two one of which says, "Mommy Park!!!!!!" with as much enthusiasm as you can imagine. I don't know if my stomach will ever be the same for multiple reasons all to do with these little people.

Sam actually requests the Mommy Playground now. I guess that should be flattering right?

My little tree hugger

My little man likes to give hugs. He's really cute although somewhat abusive in the way he loves to hug his little sister. She sometimes loves it and other times I get to run to the rescue. Well, the other day we went to a park and walked around a bit. Sam had a ton of fun climbing and running around. He also decided he liked the trees and decided to go around hugging a bunch of them. So here is a short clip of the tree hugger. (When he says "Ih-Ah", it means "Big Hugs" and is said frequently around this place although not usually to trees. This was a bit of an exception. I guess he was excited to be free and running around in nature that day.)

The Playground

Marie and Sam love playing at the park. A while ago Marie discovered the joys of going down the slide. It didn't take her long to find out she could do it on her own. So here she is going down...

My little man

In digging through some of our old stuff, Arnold found his old glasses. Sam thought it was funny to wear them and so we got this picture. He didn't want to hold still for the taking of the picture though which is why Arnold is pinning him down. I love his little grin and how much he looks like his Dad.
Here he is working away at the computer. Yup, my little computer man. He loves it, although I'm not sure why other than he gets to be like Daddy.
And finally, climbing. I can't have a post about just Sam with out a picture of him climbing. Well, almost. He does it so much and finds so many ways to fill his climbing need that it's pretty easy to include yet another climbing picture. The funny thing about this one is that he slipped and got stuck. :)

Soprano? not Alto for sure...

Well, I guess that's more of a yet. For now, I'm pretty sure there are some things that end up out of the range of hearing. Or atleast I wish they ended up out of the range of hearing.

Father Son time

Arnold has been home since July on what's called Parenting Time here in Germany.  You can take up to 3 years of Parenting Time after a baby is born here.  Pretty crazy!  Anyway, We have been using the free time to do many different things (ex. Arnold has been studying for the Texas bar in Feb :P  That's when the parenting time ends :( Bummer. )  However, I have loved this time with Arnold home since it means that a very bored at work Arnold has been here to have moments like these daily.

Our floor is constantly covered in Choo-choo tracks since Sam has an obsession with trains, particularly Thomas the Tank Engine which can be seen on the track above.  (Oh, Thanks Jen for the book that started it all.  We always know what to get him when we are looking for gifts.) 

I don't know if you can see it but they are listening to music together.  I love how Sam is perched on the chair and they are already bonding over computers.  I think they were there for a good 15 minutes or more which is pretty good for Sam who NEVER holds still.

Playing in the cupboards

Sam loves to play in the cupboards. His favorite thing is to climb in, shut the door and then hide in them. One second he's there and another he's gone. When looking for him I usually hear little giggles from the cupboard. Here he is teaching Marie the joys of hiding in the cupboards.