Fifteen Months Old

One of my very favorite ages is from 15-18 months old. After learning what an amazing age it is when Josh went through it, I eagerly anticipated it with my following four children. This age is so much fun--the little toddlers have a huge explosion of personality and learning milestones, yet they haven't really gotten into the temper tantrum stage yet and are still cuddly and sweet. Every day is an adventure with them. I love it. And I love that Sam has reached that age (and am sad to know it's not going to last long).

Sam is doing well. His growth is slowing down a little and he's now in the 75-80% for both height and weight (26.6 lbs and 32.25 inches--he has a completely different body type than James, who was 23 lbs. and 33 inches at this age).

Here is a recent darling picture of him enjoying the great outdoors. And the mud. (Josh and Ally were having fun burying his legs):


He is just so stinkin' cute--I can't help but smile every time I think of him. I have to write down some of the adorable things he does right now...forgive me while I indulge myself in Sam's cuteness for a moment...

*He is absolutely fascinated by the vacuum and will chase me around the room trying to get it whenever I vacuum.
*He also has started playing with the little Thomas the Tank Engine magnet trains, hooking them up (but not on the tracks, usually on the couch) and making cute little "dew dew dew dew" sounds while he's pulling them along.
*And just like a little kid, he'll lie next to a car on the floor and drive it back and forth, watching the wheels going round.
*He sleeps with one of Savannah's baby dolls in his crib and "talks" to his baby in the morning.
*He loves Joel. The minute he starts crying, no matter what the reason, he starts wailing "Daaaa-ddddy" (James is the same way-LOL)
*He thinks computer mouses and keyboards are the coolest things in the universe. Who needs toys anyway?
*He loves "real" meals. None of this crackers and cheese stuff for this kid. He'd like chicken, rice, and steamed broccoli thankyouverymuch. He's learning to feed himself with a spoon.
*He lives to be outside. If a door opens, he's running to get there as fast as his little legs can go.

His vocabulary is right on track. I was admittedly worried for a little while, but that was my bad because James was so far ahead with his speech, so I was comparing Sam to James (bad mommy). James said 40 words by this age, when the average is 3-5. Sam is definitely okay based on where he should be. Some of his cute little words are:

Daddy
shoe "deeeewww" (drawn out)
outside "sie" (usually repeated over and over "sie sie sie sie sie...")
eye
hi (he loves to say hi to every single person we pass in the grocery store)
Ally
and my personal favorite, "Maw!" (which means Mom...he got it from Ally. Ally was downstairs yelling "Moooom!?" up the stairs to me and Sam immediately tried to copy her. So now whenever he wants something from me, he'll shout "Maw!" It cracks me up every time!)

So while his vocabulary isn't as big as James' was at this age, he's still doing well and I have stopped comparing his speech with where James was. I realize James was above average in that area and Sam is more on target with where he should be. It feels good not to be worried about that anymore!

He is one special little boy and I am having an awesome time being his mom right now. I love this age so much!

The Time Has Come.

The first day of school. Sigh.

The worst part of the day was watching Josh walk into the junior high. How is it possible that I have a child old enough for junior high? Time is going way too fast! ACK!

He was a bundle of nerves, but super excited, too. (I wonder if he'll get a haircut this year?! Probably not--better not get ahead of myself.) It will be interesting to see him evolve over the next year--I know there are going to be lots of changes taking place. I really am enjoying him lately--he's a really cool kid, very imaginative and funny. Last year he and his best friend loved being the class clowns--I wonder if it's going to be that way this year too?

Here is Ally in front of her fourth grade classroom. Last week we learned that the teacher she was assigned to died of cancer last Monday. So sad. So she has a teacher new to the school, but not new to teaching--she's been teaching for 26 years. Ally loves school--she is a good student and is a total social butterfly. People are really drawn to her.

And last but not least, little Miss Savannah ready for second grade, complete with a new lunch box. Savannah doesn't like to eat school lunch, but there is only a handful of home lunches she'll eat. She's a hard one to feed. And so sensitive. It takes her a month or two to adjust to her classroom and teacher, usually--she usually has one time of day where she'll just let loose and cry. It's her way of dealing with feeling overwhelmed. I do that, too, when I get stressed. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh? My sweet little girl...

James will start preschool next Friday--just for two hours on Fridays. I figured he needs the stimulation. He loves playing with kids, so he'll have a good time I think. Stay tuned for pictures of his big day...

I miss my kiddos!!!

One Last Hoorah

Joel's mom and I took four of the kids to the Eccles Dinosaur Park today, kind of a last hoorah before school starts on Monday. Josh opted out of going--he and Joel went school shopping and out to lunch instead. Boy, Josh is growing up fast--he is teetering on the edge of being too old and cool to be seen at places such as a dinosaur park with his family. It's so funny--I totally remember feeling that way around that age--I was mortified to be seen with my parents. So, while I'm not completely letting him get away with not wanting to hang out with us all of the time, I am cutting him some slack and letting him grow up a bit. (And believe me, I don't want to!)

Anyway, those of us who went to the park had a good time. It was a nice day--not too hot, thankfully. Here are some pictures of the kids checking out the dinos:


Ally with an Allosaurus. Pretty cool to have a dinosaur with the same name!

I couldn't resist posting this shot. Oh, how appropriate! ;)

They all really enjoyed digging through the sand for dinosaur bones. Little Sam LOVES sand--he was mad when we decided to move on.

Splash Pad Fun

They (as in, the city officials) recently built this cute little water park near my in-laws' home. Today my mother-in-law and I decided to take the kids over to it to check it out. It's just the cutest little thing! Perfect for Sam and James--not too overwhelming or scary, like a public pool. It was fun, too, because for the most part, we could sit back and just watch the kids run around and play--no hovering required!

This picture was taken a few minutes after we arrived. Notice how Josh is dry...he had decided that he wasn't going to get wet at all (he is at "that age" where he is super concerned about what people might think of him--I'm just waiting for the request to get dropped off around the corner so nobody will see him with his *gasp* family). So, he's at the splash pad and at first he just hung around with me and his grandma. Then he made his way into the splash pad--that squirting gun was just too irresistable...of course, he still had no intention of getting wet at this point...

Then Ally came along and took care of that:
Payback! (Or is it really a payback if the recepient is loving it?) Needless to say, once he was wet, his defenses went down and he ended up getting soaked and having a great time.

James loved the squirting watergun thing, too. He'd jump the entire time he was playing with it. That's one of his cute little things he does--when he is really happy, he bee-bops all over the place. So adorable!

Sam had a good time at the splash pad, but once he discovered this mud puddle, all bets were off:

Table Top Adventure

The girls were sleeping over at their grandparents' house tonight, Joel was attending a coaching class fairly late, so I decided to order my boys some pizza for dinner. (Confession: I love nights like this...No cooking! No pans! No dishes! Hooray!)

Sam has earned another notch on his big boy belt--he is an official pizza connoisseur now, too. He apparently loved the pizza tonight so much, he decided to help himself to a second slice. On top of the table.


And what's this? Spiderman on the way to rescue the stranded baby (who is thoroughly enjoying himself)?
Why, yes, it is Spiderman...not here to rescue, but here to join the baby on his fun adventure atop the table:

"Let's blow this joint, Bro--let's take this pie and go find some more trouble to get ourselves into!"

Every so often I get glimpses of what the future is going to be like with these two little rugrats. They are going to give me some serious gray hairs!