Oh, hai, ku you want to know what's up here?

Lets talk about my
son, the boy who I spend most
of my time with now.

Here are some things he
hates: bedtime, diaper changes,
haircuts, nails clipped, dressing.

Here are some things he
loves: Handy Manny, hummus,
baths, cars, trains, pennies.

He drives me crazy
but I love him, I can't turn
away his kisses.

I thought it was about time for me to post an update on Sam, for the family out there who read this and for anyone else who might be interested in my ramblings about my little guy.  So, here is the latest...

For the last week we have had MAJOR struggles at: diaper change time, bedtime, hair washing time, teeth brushing time, and getting dressed time.  

Bedtime has been horrible, we've had 5 out of the last 7 night where we only had two choices.  Either put him to bed and listen to him scream and cry for an hour, or let him stay up.  There was no comforting him, no lying down with him, no rocking him in the chair.  He didn't want any of it.  Luckily last night we got a small reprieve - he went down well when Justin put him to bed and didn't really cry.  We're debating on the subject of naps.  Right now, on some of the days Sam doesn't nap he gets really tired and cranky and hard to deal with.  It's hard to tell if bedtime went worse on days he took a nap, because the days are about even so far when it comes to nap or no nap.  So, we'll just have to wait and see.  I'm sort of on the 'no more naps' side of things, because it means an earlier bedtime, which works well for us.

Sam also currently hates having his diaper changed and getting dressed.  There is nothing wrong - no diaper rash etc.  He just doesn't like it.  He starts thrashing and kicking as soon as he's put on the changing table or laid down elsewhere, and he pretty much keeps it up until we're done, and which point about 2 seconds after we take him off the table, he's happy and babbling and playing again.  So maybe it's just a power kind of thing?

He also hates getting his nails clipped more than almost anything ever.  At this point he's so tall and strong that I have to get Justin to hold him down so I can clip the nails.  It's horrible.  But it has to be done, if they get too long he not only hurts us when playing, but he scratches himself.  Last time I had to do both his fingernails and toenails, and he cried so hard he almost vomited.  Sigh...  I still have hope that one day, he will relax and realize that it doesn't hurt and it's not going to kill him to let me do it.

And don't even get me started on his hair.  It's shaggy, it's in his eyes, it's all over his ears, it bugs me!!  But he won't let me cut it.  He tries to look at the scissors as soon as he hears them, he won't sit still and he wants to grab them from me.  Last time we took him to a haircutting place it was a complete disaster, he cried horribly and she only got in one cut causing me to call him Caesar for the next two weeks.  There's a woman in my moms playgroup that cuts hair professionally and she's done a great job with my friend Amy's son, so I might ask her if she can give it a try - maybe if I dropped him off at her house for a little bit, she'd be able to get it done.

But... it's not all terrible twos!  In fact, there is a lot of TERIFFIC two-hood going on around here!

Sam is still a super happy little boy.  He has his moments, of course, but most of the time he is fun to be around.  I love having a little boy who loves to give kisses and hugs, and will cuddle with me.  On nights that he wakes up in the middle of the night and we bring him to our bed, I love the way he cuddles up and pulls my arm around him and nestles in to sleep.  It makes for a little bit of a sore back in the morning, but it's totally worth it.

The best and biggest thing in recent months has been that Sam is FINALLY really talking!  It's completely amazing.  He just started one day, and it's been a crazy accumulation of vocabulary since.  He will repeat words we say to him, and he says new things every day.  Here are some of the favorites...

• Hanee Manny (His current fav TV show, Handy Manny)
• Juice (means all types of drink)
• Mama
• Dada
• Show (if he wants to watch TV)
• hap (help)
• pillow
• cat
• bus
• doggy
• Sam
• rockets yes! (we don't know what that means yet, I think he wants to vote for rockets)
• wake up
• Edie
• And of course... Blue, Dora, Swiper, Boots

There are SO many that we could never list them all, and we are just reveling in the beauty of watching him learn and develop.  It's amazing how much being able to express himself has eased the tension.  Even though he's not always asking for things, just being able to convey his thoughts seems to make him really joyful.  He's starting to make small sentances, stringing together words like 'no sleep mama' (when he wants me to wake up and play), 'sammy sleep', and 'big bus'.

He knows his body parts, and finally doesn't get ears and eyes mixed up.  He knows where his hands and feet and his head are.  He can recognize, say and draw 'circle', as well as identifying triangles, squares, rectangles, octagons and stars.  He knows up, but we're still working on down.  The other day I asked him to go find me the remote and he went and got it for me.  Finally, my little errand boy is ready to be groomed... 

He loves the cats, and he follows them around.  Despite his sometimes... less than gentle treatment of them, he has managed not to get scratched yet.  It helps that most of the time, he's very nice about petting them, so they actually like him okay.  Phoenix is such an attention seeker that he'll take petting etc. from anyone even after that person has flopped down on top of him.

We're in a playgroup and we have weekly playdates with other kids between one and six years old (usually), which is a lot of fun and a welcome trip outside the house!  For the past month and a half, Sam has been spending every Thursday with my friend Amy and her son, Samuel, who just turned two.  Since we moved to Bellingham, I don't like going out in the evenings for my break time, so this way I have one day a week to myself (at least until I get a new job), and still get to spend evenings with Justin and Sam!

I think once the new year comes, I'm going to look into some classes that Sam and I can take together, and starting next summer or fall I'll probably look into daycare at least a few days a week.  Of course, those plans could all change depending on my job situation and whether I get a part time or full time job and what the hours are.

Last month we went trick or treating for the first time - he was dressed as a tiger for halloween and had a wonderful time.  He totally overdosed on chocolate and stayed up way late, but it was fun!

Favorites

His favorite toys to play with are still cars.  He has a bunch of action figures from the movie "Cars" and those are his favorites.  He loves his train table and usually plays with it every day.  He loves playing on our bed, jumping up and down, playing with the pillows, wrestling and getting tickled.  He likes books and is finally able to sit for longer books and is interested in them.  He recently went to see Wall-E with Justin, and Madagascar 2 with Grandma Deanna and did great.  His favorite movie is currently Toy Story.  His favorite shows are Dora and Handy Manny.  His favorite foods are mac and cheese, hummus, applesauce, yogurt, cheddar cheese and pancakes.

All right, enough about him for now... I think I've fulfilled my requirement for another month or two :-)  Thanks for reading - if you made it this far, kudos to you!  Next week my haiku friday will be shorter, but probably not sweeter, 'cause Sam is sweeter than sugar!

To see more Haiku Friday posts, click here!