Little Summer Booties

It is hot in the summer! And to me nothing screams summer in the south than a couple of baby booties playing in the sprinkler :)

Sam at 17 months

Sam turned 17 months last Friday. I have a list of things I want to remember about Sam at this age. I should have written this post three times by now but I get crippled with the thought of it. I know that sounds so strange. With Andrew I wrote his monthly post on the exact day more than I didn't. But with Sam I don't want to miss any detail so then I just don't write at all. That doesn't even make sense but in my head it does.

But I know if I don't write a post at all then I really will forget and that will make me sad. So here are some fun things Sam is doing.

He is the funniest little guy I know. His personality bursts at the seams.

He loves to carry things and tells us "bye-bye" when he does

Sam has the best facial expressions. He has from the moment he was born

Sam loves a tag blanket. I got him one for his first day of day care b/c he loves to snuggle with blankets and I thought maybe he would be one of those babies that loves tags. Well I was 100% correct with that assesment.

All tags calm him down. Especially this blanket. When his sleepy he looks for a tag to suck on. He liked pacifiers more than Andrew did but grew out of that pretty quickly, but tags have stayed as his comforting tool. I think it is cute and reminds me he is still my baby.

He is a determined boy. He likes to have a mission and completes it before moving onto something else. He loves shoes. I am not sure if I have mentioned that before on his monthly posts but the boy LOVES shoes. I have more shoes for him that I ever did with Andrew. He will pick out the shoes he wants to wear. I think it is the funniest thing. He also wants to have one shoes at all times and looks to make sure everyone else does too.

He still loves milk but recently is drinking more juice. He calls anything in a cup juice. Orange juice seems to be a favorite.

This month he decided he would eat peaches. Sam is not a baby who likes fruit. He is my meat and potatoes kid. He used to drink the fruit pouches alot but that has slowed down. I would buy $30 worth of fruit pouches a week and now I just buy the $3 apple sauce ones that come in a box and they last a while. They are good to take to restaurants but other than that both boys have lost interest.

Sam is saying more words now. He says: more, dog, apple, Abby, Andrew (getting so much clearer), Ralphie is more clear too not RaRa anymore, Dadda, Mommie (now calls for me when he is in his crib), juice, car, baby, ut oh, no (and says no when he doesn't like what you are doing and will answer no if he doesn't want something - this is helpful), shoe, mine.

He can point out body parts very well.

If you tell him do something he will do it. Like find your other shoe. Or where is your cup (and he will go get it).

We are teaching him to keep his cup and food in the kitchen. This one is harder than I would have thought but he is slowly getting it.

Will answer you no or yes by shaking his head and if the answer is no he will say no.

Below are pictures from our beach weekend. This was the second time Sam has been at the beach. He did great with the sand. He did not like the hot tub.

Sam at 17 months (actually taken on May 25, 2013)

I got him his first pair of crocs for the trip. He LOVED them and was so proud of them.

Sam does not meet a stranger. He adapts to any place you take him. Will talk and flirt with new people. It is amazing to watch. I love this child so much. Every day I make sure to give him extra kisses and hugs.

Spider Man

Superheros and little boys go hand in hand. Andrew has starting taking interest in superheros. He doesn't know anything about them and sometimes tells me they are the bad guys. But he has a batman cape and talks about spider man all the time. Over Mother's Day weekend we went to a friend's birthday party at a gymnastics gym. These are great parties. The kids can run and jump to their heart's content. But this party had a special treat. Spider Man came! I couldn't believe it. I think I enjoyed it more than Andrew did. He was a little terrified of him. We got to take our picture of Spider Man and this one goes down as a memory of mom terrifying son - good times in Hattiesburg :)

Andrew loved jumping into this foam pit

Even Spider Man liked jumping into it - after flipping and spinning his body before landing

Mommy and Andrew with Spider Man (see Andrew was not thrilled with this idea)

Sam's first Mommy and Me Family Night

Sam had his first Family Night at Mommy and Me on Monday. Daddy, Andrew, Mommy, Aha and Mick all went to celebrate Sam. It was a small group which I like the best. We got some great pictures and the boys had fun. Andrew picked up  everything with no problem. It was odd seeing him as the big kid. He was outgoing and loving every minute of it. Sam loved that his brother was there. And Sam's favorite part was when Ms. Madelene read puppet books. Sam got sooo excited.

I love this picture

We had a fun night. My little boys are getting too big.

I'm now 34

It's that time of the year again - MY BIRTHDAY!! I  love birthdays. Saturday the 18th Andrew and I had a mommy and me date. We went to a dance recital to see his friends dance. It was really cute and I think Andrew had fun. I had a great time. After the recital we went and had lunch. He was a good date.

That night my friend Mandi had a few couples over and we went on another friend's (Neely's) boat. It was such a good time. We laughed and goofed off like we were in college.

 

It was a really fun weekend. On Monday, my actual birthday I woke up to three sweet boys singing happy birthday to me. They got me a blender. It is what I needed and we make smoothies during the summer so I am glad I have a new one. 

We also had Sam's Mommy and Me that night. We got to spend alot of extra family time and it was a perfect end to my birthday.

Lots of Love

"Mommy you are the greatest mommy" - Andrew

"Mommy you are the bestest mom in busy town" - Andrew

These are two phrases I heard yesterday. Andrew was so sweet to me yesterday. I got alot of hugs, kisses and "I Love you's". I had the best day. Here are some pictures of Mother's Day 2013. It will go down as a great day!!

Sam and Mommy before lunch

Andrew and Mommy and the Train station

Daddy and his boys

my baby Sam

Brothers

Andrew and Ralphie - they are doing the same pose

Andrew LOVES Ralphie

Funny boy

Mommy and all three of her baby boys :)

I think the pictures sum up how much fun I had yesterday :) I am feeling very blessed.

Precious Boy

Andrew is a natural!

Fun Boy

Andrew is growing and changing too fast! It is exciting and scary at the same time! We love him oh so much!!

Aunt Abby's Wedding

Owen's sister, Abby got married at the end of April. She married Eric...so the Munton's have Erin, Erin and Eric as in-laws. I personally think that is funny.

Here are some pictures of the weekend. Sam and Andrew were ring bearers with cousin Wil.

The cousins! Andrew, Carson, Nate and Wil

Daddy and Andrew

So cute! Wil, Nate and Andrew

Me, Abby and Erin

Owen and Nathan with their Uncle Conrad and Aunt Martha

Andrew and Sam getting read to walk down the aisle

Abby and Mick waiting for 2 pm!

Aunt Martha and Mick (brother and sister) and Uncle Conrad and Aha

Connie, Abby, Andrew, Me and Ann

Family! Owen, Abby and Nathan

It was a really fun weekend. I think I am still recovering...it's hard to stay in hotel with two little kids.

Brothers

Andrew and Sam are interacting more and more. It is fun to see them play and be with each other. At mommy and me last week Ms. Madelene asked us to "interview" a mom who we look up to. Whose children are what we hope our children will be like. Unfortunately I don't have anyone that comes to mind for me to "interview" but a friend of mine posted about this book called "Siblings without Rivalries". It is a book that I have been meaning to purchase. Now that Sam is able communicate (a little) I really need to make it a priority to read. That is my wish for my boys to grow up as friends. Sure there will be fighting and jealousy but I want to help them realize it is ok for the other one to succeed and to be happy and for them to be happy for each other. I pray with all my heart and soul they are friends. True friends. I wanted them to be close in age so they would grow up with similar interests.

I know Andrew is little but he did something this past weekend that really made my heart smile. He went to the beach with Owen's parents (I KNOW...by himself). They took Andrew to LuLu's for dinner and bought him a football to play with while they waited for a table. They played and ate and then packed up to go to the condo. As they were leaving Andrew asked them to get a football for Sam. So they did. When we went to get Andrew at their house on Sunday Andrew immediately got the LuLu's bag to give to Sam. Again, it melted my heart. Another wish is for both of them to always think about their brother.

Sam at 16 months

Playing at the Park

Sam at Mommy and Me

This is a new thing - he wants to climb on the chairs

He has the best facial expressions

It is hard to believe that Sam is now 16 months. I am a week late in posting because I have been dragging lately. I haven't felt all that great and it has been hard to bounce back for some reason. But I can't miss a monthly post on my sweet Sam :)

He is 24 lbs. We went to the doctor last week b/c he had a stomach virus and I wanted to make sure his ears were ok. He had the stomach virus for 4 days (reason I haven't felt good). But he is good now and back to his charming self.

Speaking of being a charmer :)...Sam has a temper when he doesn't get what he wants. He cries the loudest of screams and goes to a corner to show his disappointment. Sometimes he lays downs and kicks his legs. I am trying to ignore this behavior. My first reaction is to laugh b/c it is so dramatic but I don't. He also hits when he gets frustrated. You can tell he doesn't know how to express his feelings in any other way. We are hoping this passes soon.

His vocabulary is getting better by the day. He has perfected "Mommie" He says it so funny.
"RaRa" is still Ralphie, he also can dog (every animal is still a dog), book, mine, shoe, ball, hello, hi, bye-bye, car, eye, da (for dad), still trying to say Andrew. Those are the words I can think of right now.

He can point to his hair, eye, ear, nose, & mouth. He likes to point to your eye as well. He likes nose kisses and gives great hugs.

Sam is still going to sleep around 6:15 pm. And he wakes up once a night. In fact when he doesn't wake up it is a big bonus for me. I think I am extra tired b/c of this. I don't go straight to sleep so I am up for an hour or so winding back down.

I think Sam is going to test us in every aspect of life. Andrew accepted rules and boundaries. Sam hears you and does the opposite with a smile on his face. But his smile is so cute that he usually gets away with it. This is bad and I am not consistent with Sam which is going to backfire on me. I know this but as mentioned earlier - I am tired!

Sam still loves music. He dances when he hears it. You can tell he is drawn to it.

He has the best facial expressions. He is so animated. I love it!

This little boy has me wrapped around his little finger. I love him. He is a great snuggle baby and he loves his momma! My wish come true.