Sam's back, faster than ever

Saturday while Murray went to work, I put Natty in front of a movie and took Sam upstairs to hang out while I took a shower. My bathroom still doesn't have shelving so I tucked the box of toiletries, etc out of the way, but left a few things I didn't think he could damage/could damage him unsecured. Then I placed him (freshly dressed in a cute, clean outfit) on his bum with some toys and popped into the shower. I heard innocuous clicks and rattles, as he knocked his toys around and then, just as I was shampooing my hair I heard something that tipped my "mommy alert" antennae. I still don't know what I heard - just a new click, but that's enough to warrant a check. I poked my head out the curtain and.....

There was Sam, smiling up at me from a pool of Scope. The half full bottle had been on my list of "undamagables" because it has a locking lid but, unfortunately, it hadn't been tightened with the last use. Oh my! I hop out, throw a towel down and strip Sammy and hop back into the shower with him. Oops, forgot to take off the diaper. Pull that off and "Oh my! Poop!" Thankfully the garbage is right outside the shower so it was easy to toss. And, with access to running water and soap, mess gets cleaned up quickly.

Back out to wrap Sam up in the remaining dry towel, reach across the hall to get one for me, and start really cleaning up the Scope. At this point my nose started bleeding (leaning down, after a hot shower - for me that's a guaranteed way to start one). Scope, poop and now blood - I'm just laughing at this point. And wondering," what's next!?!" I mentally run through potential catastrophes, hoping to at least get dressed before the next one hits.

Natalie, the angel, was still contentedly watching her movie when we both made it back downstairs.

Honestly, no matter what craziness happens, any day I get a shower is a Good Day in my book so I'm not complaining. And boy, does my bathroom smell minty fresh!

Natalie Rides and Sam Speaks

.....kind of. Last Thursday we decided that his, "Ma, ma, ma, ma" really was directed at me, so I get to claim his first word as "Mama," especially since Natty's first word was definitely "Da-da."

But the really fun "word" came Friday morning as Murray was making pancakes and Sam started yelling for, "Bwea(d)." I don't know how to write it like he says it, but it seems pretty clear that he was calling the pancakes "bread" and wanting more.

OK, so I realize that we're the usual over-enthusuastic parents, but that's one of the perks of having a baby.

A down-side is having a sick, fussy and snotty little guy. He's pretty miserable. Theoretically, I'm a firm advocate that a fever isn't something you treat (below dangerous levels, of course), but he's so unhappy we've been hitting the medicine cabinet pretty regularly. I can only handle so much of his unhappiness. I think it's a combination of teething and the cold we've all had. Not fun. He's getting through it, but he's definitely not back to himself yet.

With all the FB pictures of snow, I just have to mention that Autumn is still thriving in NE CT. Yesterday was crisp and sunny - the perfect day for Natalie's first ride on her bike, by herself!

We were all going nuts in the house (I was trying to get stuff done - what a mistake that is), Sam was fussing and Natty was harassing us both, so when my friend called that they were going bike riding at Pomfret School (the boarding school across the street with beautiful grounds) I jumped at the chance to join her. I bundled Sam up like a snow bunny and put him on Murray's bike and walked along, making Natty figure it out. It was quite a challenge to my patience, but she got better and better. The boys we were joining are good bikers - no training wheels or anything, so it was good for her to see them.

She now can ride semi-competently (with training wheels). I feel like she's been slow about learning to bike, which is our fault mostly. But she didn't/couldn't do the peddling motion for the longest time and still really struggles with steering. We're going again today, even if we have to ride in the rain, so she gets more practice in. She was so proud of herself and had a good time. "Today is the best day of my life!" was her comment. Hurrah for Natalie!

Our little man

Sam smiling

Sam sleeping

He loves to sleep and this is how he always looks. There's no nursing/rocking/soothing to sleep; he doesn't need it. Instead I lay him down, he grabs his soft lamb tiny blanket and pulls it over his face with his left thumb in his mouth. Then I put his blue monkey quilt over him and it's "lights out."

Not only is putting him down easy but, on quiet mornings as I'm pottering around the house, I hear him cooing, gurgling and chattering to himself when he wakes up. And when I get there, I'm greeted by a glorious, joyful grin (and usually a poopy diaper).

Of course, sometimes there are bloodcurdling shrieks or heart-wrenching sobs too - and then I race upstairs to rescue him (although I am one of those practical moms who knows that "if he's crying, he's breathing" which takes a certain edge off the panicky urge to run to him).

Otherwise....he loves being outside - he watches the trees go by instead of sleeping in the stroller. He makes this funny "grustly bear" growl/grunt noise that cracks us all up. (Natty named it - not sure where she got "grustly" but it stuck). He's not quite crawling, but commando crawls at a good clip. And tolerates Natty's maulings well - it's good training for life I guess. He's growing like a weed and is a kick in the pants - Lucky us, to have such a star!

The true sign of a school kid is.....

the fundraiser! For better or worse, that's where we find ourselves.

So, if you need giftwrap (and other random goodies), go ahead and buy it from http://www.SallyFoster.com and enter Pomfret Community School's account #367550 when prompted.

50% of your purchase supports Natalie's wonderful school. The deadline might be Oct 5 (that's the deadline for the hardcopy orders) so start shopping.

She, as well as the PCS PTO, thanks you.

A day in the life (and it's not over yet!)

The little man, coming at'cha!.

A photographer/nurse that I work with was over and got this shot (thanks Danielle!) - he's such a star! He's quite mobile now - not quite crawling, but commando crawling well. He loves to eat anything and everything. He has 5 teeth now and wants to use them. Oh, the howls when he's out of food!

Natty is doing well in school and the "I hate school" drama has decreased (thank goodness).

It's interesting the connections she makes. For instance, today we had a wild and angry morning (for the dumbest reason....we couldn't find her library book and today was Library. For all we knew she didn't come home with one last week but she wouldn't hear any of that and kept up a loud, petulant tirade about how awful I was that I wouldn't help her find it - and this is after I've looked in and organized all her bookcases. I nearly lost my mind. At one point in the morning Sam, who has a cold and therefore snot streaming down his face, is screaming because I can't get food into him fast enough and Natty is railing in high pitched whine mode about her lost (but more likely non-existent) library book and what a terrible mother I am. It was one of those out-of-body experiences where you take your soul/mind up to the ceiling and float around watching the chaos while your body is mechanically trying to fix what can be fixed (feeding Sam) and ignore or shout down what can't be (Natty). Ahhh, motherhood.)

Anyway, the point is, there were some angry words between the Buttner women this morning. So she brings home "Llama, Llama, Mad at Mama" from the library today. We read it through two times immediately after her arrival. Then she read it to herself while I made her lunch. Very cathartic I guess but she refused to comment on it. (The Llama, Llama books are great - cute, funny and apropos to life with children).

After such a stressful start to the day, I brought Sam into a steamy shower with me this morning to try to clear out his sinuses and that was the cutest thing. He loves water in any form (even just hearing it run) and we could have stood in the warm shower for hours. Normally he's not a snuggler like Natty was (He loves to be held, but he doesn't cuddle down in my arms like she did - too much energy) but he cuddled into my shoulder so sweetly under the water. And then he took a nap and I finished staining the stairs (matching the old stain fairly well, finally), took two beds apart, did some major touch ups to the dining room paint job and checked email. It's nice to check stuff off the list.