Accomplishments:
Dada went on a mission trip - We survived a week away from Dada. I told Ian, "I feel so sorry for whomever stays with Samuel when we are in the hospital with the Baby." Samuel asked about Dada about 800 times. Since Ian flew out of Indianapolis, we were able to drive together to the airport, drop him off, and then drive just a few hours to MamaG's (and Samuel napped for an hour of the drive that I had solo!).
Dada went on a mission trip - We survived a week away from Dada. I told Ian, "I feel so sorry for whomever stays with Samuel when we are in the hospital with the Baby." Samuel asked about Dada about 800 times. Since Ian flew out of Indianapolis, we were able to drive together to the airport, drop him off, and then drive just a few hours to MamaG's (and Samuel napped for an hour of the drive that I had solo!).
Samuel also asked about "Pa" (PapaG) about 800 times. I told him, "Dada and Papa are working together." So I think he now thinks that Ian and Matt work together all the time. It was fun to get pictures of them and show the pictures to Samuel. We spent a lot of time looking at pictures on Momma's phone during the week (but we watched no TV... moderation, right?).
Ian's flight got delayed on the way back by 3ish hours. I decided to just drive all the way home by myself (we were already on the road when we found out about the delay). Samuel did amazingly well... until the last hour. Then we were both tired and the sun kept shining in his eyes (and there wasn't a way to block it). But we made it. It is fun when you can see growth in your kid. He did so much (so much!) better in the car than our trip to IL for Thanksgiving.
On the flip side (what is the opposite of an accomplishment?) we just got back from Presbytery and Lawdhavemercy - Samuel slept horribly. He napped for 20 minutes and then slept from 7pm-12:30am and 4am-6:30am. So I may never let him sleep outside of his crib ever again. I always think, "Oh he will get tired, he will sleep" - not my kid - the more tired he is, the worse he sleeps. I look back and chuckle at my new mom self thinking, "Babies sleep when they are tired." Nope. They sleep when you put them on a rigid schedule and follow it. I could say a lot more about Samuel and sleep, but who wants to hear about that?
2T jammies - Samuel is still wearing 18 month clothing but I moved him up to 2T jammies and they seem to fit better. He has "vroom! vroom!" jammies in size 2T so you can guess how Samuel feels about moving up in size. Once we finish our stash of size 5 diapers, he will be in size 6.
Putting mittens on - Samuel has gotten so much better at putting his mittens on over the course of winter. At the beginning of winter, he basically would shove his whole hand into the big part. He now knows to put his thumb into the thumb part (sometimes he puts his pointer finger in with his thumb, but he will let me fix it). He used to wear his mittens for 5 minutes and then take them off. He wears them the whole time we are outside (or until he soaks them by picking up snow).
A few more sounds - Samuel has created a sound for a cat. It sounds something like, "yumyum" but it is his "meow". He saw a figurine of a Souix Indian this month and called it, "Jesus" so instead he learned "how-ow-ow" while tapping his hand over his mouth. Probably not the most socially acceptable thing. He has a sound for "owie!" (see dramatic finger story below).
The other day I asked Samuel to carry an apple to the table while I worked on making the rest of his snack. After a few moments, I realized that it was quiet in the dining room. Homeboy was eating the apple - like taking bites of the apple - not choking, not being ridiculous - just eating the apple like it is not big deal. He now insists on eating grapes the "big boy way" (the whole entire grape!). Sure Buddy, anything to give your Momma anxiety.
Playdough - Samuel is finally a fan of playing playdough! Wootwoot! I love playing playdough.
Bubbles - Samuel has been a fan of bubbles for quite awhile, but he has finally figured out how to ask for them. He had bubble baths at MamaG's house and thought they were the best. He asked for a bubble bath every single time I went to the bathroom (and at 8 months pregnant, you can guess how many times a day that is). He also wants to play bubbles in the sink (see muffin story above).
I feel like I am especially sappy these days (until I am not - ha! then it is, "I have the Holy Spirit dwelling in me. I can be patient and self-controlled.") Samuel has moments of such sweetness and it is so hard for me to think about having an infant and our whole dynamic changing. We are thrilled to welcome Brother, but it is hard to think about Samuel's whole world changing. Overall, I think it is a good thing. I feel like we have come so far. I used to tell tiny baby Samuel, "Samuel and Mom are a team. We have to work together." I mainly said this when he would cry and cry and I didn't know what to do. The other day I realized, "We are! We are a good team. We do work together." I know his moods, hand gestures, and preferences. I would like to think that he knows when I am fun-Mom and when I am serious-Mom. I enjoy spending time with my kid! I don't feel like all day every day is "grit your teeth and get through this". I have a pretty good idea when to let the rules slide a bit and when to stand firm. He is my sidekick and I am his (truthfully he has Mom and Bunny as sidekicks). We hang out together all day, every day for the most part. I have had a lot of small moments in the last month that I have felt proud of Samuel and how far we have come.
On a somewhat different parenting note, I told myself before I became a parent that I did not want to lie to my kids. And it is getting hard. I am not sure why people feel like they can lie to toddlers, probably because it is easy. The main times that it is challenging are food and TV. I so often want to say, "I don't have any yums" instead of, "we aren't having anymore muffins today." Or "the tv/ computer/ whatever is broke" instead of "we aren't watching any trucks right now".
Talk on the phone - Samuel has realized that he can "talk" on the phone to people. He really only wants to talk to Dada and sometimes PapaG, but he asks everyday (sometimes multiple times a day) to call Dada (he puts his hand in a flat palm to his ear and tells me who to call). He likes to hold the phone up to his ear and walk around. He usually doesn't say much. I need to get him an old phone from the thrift store (it has been on my mental to do list for about 3 months).
Help make muffins - for Valentine's Day, I tried to think of some things that Samuel loves. The list was: cracking eggs, stirring stuff in a bowl, blueberries, bubbles, muffins, and watching trucks - so we made blueberry muffins together and then I let him play in the bubbles from the dish soap while watching trucks drive by the kitchen window. He did such a good job! I told him to that we had to work together and stir gently. All the ingredients stayed in the bowl for the most part and he did so well. He did have a meltdown when the muffins came out of the oven and they were too hot to eat. A few months ago, he would stir so violently that flour would fly out of the bowl and he was so bullheaded about how things needed to be done that he wouldn't listen.
2T jammies - Samuel is still wearing 18 month clothing but I moved him up to 2T jammies and they seem to fit better. He has "vroom! vroom!" jammies in size 2T so you can guess how Samuel feels about moving up in size. Once we finish our stash of size 5 diapers, he will be in size 6.
Putting mittens on - Samuel has gotten so much better at putting his mittens on over the course of winter. At the beginning of winter, he basically would shove his whole hand into the big part. He now knows to put his thumb into the thumb part (sometimes he puts his pointer finger in with his thumb, but he will let me fix it). He used to wear his mittens for 5 minutes and then take them off. He wears them the whole time we are outside (or until he soaks them by picking up snow).
A few more sounds - Samuel has created a sound for a cat. It sounds something like, "yumyum" but it is his "meow". He saw a figurine of a Souix Indian this month and called it, "Jesus" so instead he learned "how-ow-ow" while tapping his hand over his mouth. Probably not the most socially acceptable thing. He has a sound for "owie!" (see dramatic finger story below).
Likes:
Big Boy Anything - At times, Ian or I will mention, "what a big boy bite!" or something along those lines. Well it has either paid off or backfired. Samuel is all about big boy anything now. He has a Big Boy Diaper that he gets to wear at nightime (it is actually a pull up for like 5 year olds but it leaks less often than anything else) It has Spiderman on it and Samuel is obsessed. He wants to wear Big Boy diapers for naptime (or anytime really). I now buy three different types of diapers (my pre-Mom self is rolling her eyes and my current Mom self is muttering, "choose your battles and move on"). There are normal Costco diapers, Big Boy Naptime Diapers (Pampers Sesame Street), and Bedtime Big Boy Diapers (Nitetime Spiderman). I try to be careful about labeling anything as Big Boy as then Samuel wants to do it the Big Boy way from then on.
The other day I asked Samuel to carry an apple to the table while I worked on making the rest of his snack. After a few moments, I realized that it was quiet in the dining room. Homeboy was eating the apple - like taking bites of the apple - not choking, not being ridiculous - just eating the apple like it is not big deal. He now insists on eating grapes the "big boy way" (the whole entire grape!). Sure Buddy, anything to give your Momma anxiety.
Playdough - Samuel is finally a fan of playing playdough! Wootwoot! I love playing playdough.
Bubbles - Samuel has been a fan of bubbles for quite awhile, but he has finally figured out how to ask for them. He had bubble baths at MamaG's house and thought they were the best. He asked for a bubble bath every single time I went to the bathroom (and at 8 months pregnant, you can guess how many times a day that is). He also wants to play bubbles in the sink (see muffin story above).
I feel like I am especially sappy these days (until I am not - ha! then it is, "I have the Holy Spirit dwelling in me. I can be patient and self-controlled.") Samuel has moments of such sweetness and it is so hard for me to think about having an infant and our whole dynamic changing. We are thrilled to welcome Brother, but it is hard to think about Samuel's whole world changing. Overall, I think it is a good thing. I feel like we have come so far. I used to tell tiny baby Samuel, "Samuel and Mom are a team. We have to work together." I mainly said this when he would cry and cry and I didn't know what to do. The other day I realized, "We are! We are a good team. We do work together." I know his moods, hand gestures, and preferences. I would like to think that he knows when I am fun-Mom and when I am serious-Mom. I enjoy spending time with my kid! I don't feel like all day every day is "grit your teeth and get through this". I have a pretty good idea when to let the rules slide a bit and when to stand firm. He is my sidekick and I am his (truthfully he has Mom and Bunny as sidekicks). We hang out together all day, every day for the most part. I have had a lot of small moments in the last month that I have felt proud of Samuel and how far we have come.
On a somewhat different parenting note, I told myself before I became a parent that I did not want to lie to my kids. And it is getting hard. I am not sure why people feel like they can lie to toddlers, probably because it is easy. The main times that it is challenging are food and TV. I so often want to say, "I don't have any yums" instead of, "we aren't having anymore muffins today." Or "the tv/ computer/ whatever is broke" instead of "we aren't watching any trucks right now". 
Fast forward a few days and we are trying to pack up quietly at our AirBnB while everyone is exhausted and hasn't had any food or coffee. Samuel started going through a toiletry bag and found a bandaid. To entertain him and appease him I put it on his pointer finger. Lordhavemercy! He was so dramatic about it. I took the bandaid off an hour later because I couldn't take it. He was throwing a fit and non-consolingly crying like it was his thumb all over again. We kept telling him, "It is not really hurt. You are okay!" I could not believe how dramatic he was being... and nothing was wrong. Since then, he has brought up his finger "owie" about every other day. It slays me because there was nothing wrong with it!
Happy 22 months Samuel Cary! We love you! Here's to soaking up your last month as an only child. Love, Dada and Momma
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