New Skills:
Praying - Samuel has been praying by holding our hands since the summer. Recently he wants to pray by folding his hands. It is so cute.
Samuel likes to shut himself (slowly) into a room (usually a closet) and then giggle until you come open the door. He especially gets a kick out of it if you ask, "Where is Samuel?" while he shuts the door and is inside. It is like the beginning phases of hide-and-go-seek. He does a great job of not smashing his fingers in the door.
We have been working with Samuel on the skill of picking up and cleaning up. He does a pretty good job of picking up if you tell him specific task to do (go put this car in the basket etc.) It does depend on his mood, but that is probably every thing at this stage. He has self-assigned himself to help fold laundry (wad up a towel or shirt and shove it in a drawer). I try to praise him for having a helpful attitude and then refold the item when he isn't looking.Climbing up on the couch - ugh! Samuel is tall enough and strong enough to pull himself up on the couch. It is a good workout for him. He was very proud of himself the first time that he made it up on the couch and went running across the cushions, only to fall and bang his nose on the arm of the couch. Oh man! He hasn't screamed like that in awhile. I thought there was going to be a lot of blood, but there was not any. His nose swelled up and he has a scab on his nose, but no worse the wear. I was probably just as upset as he was. He also figured out how to climb the step stool (and gave me a heart attack when I found him standing on the top step).
Likes:Hummus - praise the Lord - Samuel will eat broccoli, carrots, and peas dipped in hummus. He isn't too fond of them on their own, but will eat just about anything (lunch meat, tortilla) if you dip it in hummus for him. Sometimes he suggests somewhat odd combinations. He also likes guacamole (but won't eat avocado).
Truck Tunes - Lord have mercy! This is completely my fault. I was having a "just leave Mom alone for five minutes so that I can get one thing done" moment so I looked up "construction trucks" or something on YouTube. I found truck tunes and now Samuel asks for the truck video all the time. He wants to wear shirts that have trucks on them. He wants to read trucks books (but that comes in a dull second place compared to the truck video).
Coffee Maker / Coffee Pot - once again, this was kinda my fault. We got a new coffeepot and I let Samuel help me take it out the box and with that, it was over. He staked the coffee maker as his. He has taken the coffeepot everywhere with him - in the car, in the bathtub. I think we may have made 800 cups of hypothetical coffee. Samuel knew all the steps to making coffee - pour the water in, scoop in grounds, press the buttons on the front, pour the coffee in a to-go cup and add creamer. He dragged that coffeepot all through the house and would insist on you taking the cup of coffee when offered. Of course he wanted me to sit with him and watch the process. Someday my child will play independently...right?Balloons - someone at church passed along some balloons from a baby shower to us - and they have been a huge hit. Samuel will say, "ba ba" and try to lay on the balloons. He laughs when they float up the ceiling.
Cooking / Stirring - as the theme of the month goes - this was my own fault - I let him help me stir some eggs for an eggbake and now he begs to stir things. He will often have a meltdown during cooking. He gets mad that the eggbake has to go in the oven. He gets mad that he can't touch the hot oven. It is usually towards the end of the day so neither of us is filled with patience. We get eggs for free (thank you Darla!) and so sometimes I will let him crack one or two eggs (which he enjoys and is really pretty good at cracking them) and whisk them around in the bowl. He likes to run the show and tell me what needs to be added.
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| Checking out a new (long) stick |
Outside - this hasn't changed much, but Samuel loves to go outside. I don't even take toys out for the most part. He will play with sticks, rocks, leaves, and dried grass.
The best of times: When he laughs, when he spontaneously tells you that he loves you, when he does something completely unexpected and hilarious, when he prays
The worst of times: irrational meltdowns or all meltdowns / tantrums, when he can't tell you what he wants, when he wants to be held allll the time
Sleep: On the positive side - Samuel does not really cry anymore when he is in his crib. On the negative side - I can't get him on a good schedule. We spent all of last month transitioning down to one nap and it was rough. We were finally on a good schedule and he was napping for two or two and half glorious hours in the afternoon. Daylight Savings Time threw us off (over two weeks ago!) and I can't get him adjusted. He is back to napping for 60-90 minutes (along with waking up at 5am) and then being ready for bed by 4:30-5pm and it makes the afternoons and evenings trying. I think he has dark circles under his eyes. Poor guy. Hopefully we will get back on a good schedule after we get done traveling for Thanksgiving.
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| I told Samuel I needed one picture of him in his Halloween costume. |
Speaking of holidays - we had some holidays to celebrate this past month - Halloween and pre-Christmas. We went trick-or-treating to four different houses of church members and Samuel made out like a bandit! He would wear his Samasourus costume until he got the candy and then would take it off. It was a fun night.
We also attended a Halloween parade on the town square and Samuel loved the band. It was cold, so we didn't stick around for too long.
Paulding's Historical Museum had a festival of trees in mid-November and we had fun checking it out. Samuel definitely understands more of Christmas this year, but I still think we have a year or two until he really "gets" it.
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| At the Festival of Trees - our serious Sam |
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