What! Another post about Sam!

There is no reason in Sam's mind why he could not ride his Dad's bike.

Sam has a new best friend. Sam chooses his friend's well. A sandbox in the backyard and a train table in the front room. I think Sam is getting a handle on this "playdate" thing.

What sound does a duck make? "Back, back!" 

I could be wrong but I think I found a new favorite snack.

This was taken after half the bag was consumed. I don't know where all that food goes! Maybe he burns it off while he's tackling me to ground and throwing balls in my face.

New find! Bounce Palace. A first Sam was apprehensive until I got into the bounce house with him. He loved having me hold him while I jumped and jumped. Basically I considered our visit my work-out for the day.

If Sam ever happens upon a bar you will be sure to find him doing this.

Choas!! After playing in the younger kid area for a while we ventured to the big kid arena. Legs kicking, children flaying about, sinking bodies and lots of laughing, crying and panting. I think I needed to get out of there more then Sam did.

Sam is learning his alphabet.

Sam's newest talent: clicking his tongue. His favorite time to exercise this talent is when I am singing to him. He'll click when  I pause or to a beat, for example: The ants go marching one by one, hurrah "click!" hurrah "click!", The ants go marching two by two, hurrah "click!" hurrah "click!" etc. My favorite is when he is almost asleep and I am singing him a good night song and he still can't fight the urge to click: baby beluga in the deep blue sea "click!" you swim so wild and you swim so free "click!". I think his clicks before bed are a close 2nd to his random giggles and chuckles he lets out right before he falls asleep. At least I know he is falling asleep happy.

A week of hiking, family and throwing

 Last Monday Hank took the morning off and we found a great hike along the American River.

We were trying to teach Sam all about moss, fungus and dead plants. Maybe that's why he has that expression on his face. I still thought it was pretty, but you can't please everyone.

Then we had a gigantic treat this weekend. My sister and brother-in-law came to visit! Sam absolutely LOVES my sister. I can tell she has an earned a special place with him because he head butt her to the point of tears. That he reserves for only a privileged few.

If one visit wasn't exciting enough my sister's best friend (who I am going on play dates with now a days) came over as well with her family. We had a party at the park. We needed to get out of the house because Sam kept chucking things at the other baby. We had a family night about being soft but I am not sure it's sticking yet.

So as previously mention Sam's new thing is throwing everything he can get his hands on. I have tried to be creative in attempting to lessen his aggression, but mostly in vain. I've decided to accept the fact that he is a boy and needs to throw...desperately! So I made colored spaghetti!

And throw he did. Not as much as I thought he would. Maybe we'll try again soon. If I can gear myself up for the clean-up that is!

Paper

I really enjoy making paper and fiddling with paper crafts. Paper has actually brought me a lot of joy and at times has been my therapy.These are my most recent paper creations

 

Making paper can be very spontaneous and often exciting. I like incorporating new colors and torn scraps in hopes of a happy accident.

I just love texture.

I really enjoy decorating paper as well and I try to incorporate my papers into my family journal. I know that scrap booking is changing a lot now a days. With blogs and digital photo books it doesn't seem worth it to spend so much time and money making a scrap book anymore. I don't think I will ever give up my family journal. There is something so intriguing about hand made crafts. I really enjoy the quirts and mistakes that occur when something is homemade. My journal is chalk full of accidents, mistakes and messy handwriting. For me it works and is very satisfying.

I really enjoy the designs of scrap booking paper. Here are some panels I made for Sam's room. Excuse the little man below.

 

Ahh paper. The world of paper is a never ending flow of creativity and energy. I really love paper.

Yum! a little adventure in cooking

I have noticed that the past couple months I have gotten really lazy with cooking. Hank is hardly ever home so I am really unmotivated to make a fancy for meal just for Sam and me. I think I realized one day after Sam had had his 3rd peanut butter and honey sandwich that I needed to get out of my food runt. Hank got me America's Healthy Test Kitchen Cookbook for Christmas and I have made a goal to develop some skills in preparing nutritious food for my family. It has been a really fun couple weeks. Hopefully by blogging about my kitchen creations it will keep me motivated to continue cooking/baking and poor Sam can experience some variety in his diet.

  Ingredients
1 TB olive oil
 1 onion chopped
1 cup bulgar
1/2 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup chopped broccoli florets
1 cup spinach
1 can drained chickpeas
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper

I sauteed the onion in the olive oil until it became tender. Add the quinoa and 1 cup of broth. When quinoa is halfway done add the bulgar and the rest of the broth and water. When both the quinoa and bulgar are done, add the Parmesan cheese, garlic, broccoli, spinach, chickpeas, salt and pepper. Stir all together. Put the mixture in a casserole dish and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake on broil until cheese melts. Enjoy!

Tidbits from the week

Sam started a tumbling class this week. Oh is he is a big fan. Since it is for little guys it's pretty flexible which is good for Sam because he just runs around the gym like an excited bunny. He'll stop at a station for maybe a minute and then see something else that excites him and scamper off. We've gone 3 times this week and every time we have to leave Sam yells for more. He is learning though. His teacher is so nice. In this picture his teacher is helping Sam jump with two feet. I am going to blatantly brag here; Sam is a natural. His teacher has already commented on his ability to climb and hold onto bars. He's also the cutest kid in the class and I know everyone is thinking it!

Here is Sam with his bud Ty.

It was a challenge to get him to come out of that swing, even when he started to look like he was going to throw up.

My newest addition to Sam's doll collection. A rhino.

Saturday was cold so Hank got the night off from Cheesecake since he was scheduled on the patio. As soon as we heard the news we bundled up and drove up to Auburn. Such a nice town. They have a cute downtown and so we spend several hours exploring the shops. Here we are at an old fashion soda bar drinking an Irish Soda. I think Sam got the biggest share.

We had dinner in Old Town Auburn and when we were finished the night time fog against the lights felt so mystical. It was pretty romantic. Hank said it was the perfect thing to do on his day off. I had to agree.

I have found a new favorite activity. Take a glass of water and color it with food coloring. Then give your kid a brush and let him paint the floor. When he gets bored with that dump the water out and let him splash in it (be careful of slipping). Lets just say by the end of our event his hair was a red orange color. It was really fun.

Holidays!

So the fun all began a couple weeks before Christmas. Hank took time some time off work and so we took advantage of that. Here we are at Folsom Lake. We hiked around a portion of the lake caking our boots with mud as we went. Sam is sleeping on my back believe or not.

Our lunch time break. Right before we settled ourselves we saw a flock of geese take off and fly to the other side of the lake. It was the only noise we had heard for several minutes. It was beautiful. Sam's awe stayed with him even during lunch.

So much excitement! Sam needed a second piggyback nap.

This is at the Discovery Museum in Sacramento. The museum is tiny but still has some interesting exhibits. It was cold and rainy outside where a portion of the grounds were. We ventured out anyway and Sam enjoyed getting muddy in all the puddles. He was yelling really loud when this pictures was being taken.

I found another great place to exhaust Sam out. It's called Bounce-U. Basically it a big building full of inflatable gym equipment. It was bit old for Sam, don't ask him to admit it though.

Here we are on the grounds of the Maidu Indian Museum.  Sam just loves those puddles. Our tour guide was a Native American man who kept telling us how we don't appreciate the land or it's animals. No one can say that about Sam! Look at that expression. He's one with nature!

Finally it was time to travel to southern California to be with family for the Holidays. Here we are at the Cusowrth's famous annual Christmas eve party. We have relatives who travel two hours to be there every year, it's that fun!

The Christmas Eve PJs tradition carries on.

Christmas morning at my parents' house. The big hit of the morning was this wooden train my parents gave him. We had a great morning with my family. My sister's kids are at a great age for Christmas. That made the experience that much more magical. The only sad part was my sister Anna and her husband Mike were in Paris for Christmas and couldn't be a part of the festivities. Fun for them and sad for us. Good thing we do this Christmas thing every year I guess.

After my family's Christmas we headed over to Hank's Parents' house. Where Sam got this awesome tunnel play set. The whole time he was trying it out he kept saying "oooohhh".

The following week included a variety of fun activities. Here we are on a family hike. Our boots got that old mud cake thing again. Whenever I hike with my mom I learn all about the Chumash Indians and how they used the native plants. Someday I want to grind acorns and make mush bread from a  fire.

Sam's cousin Elliott is only 6 months older than Sam and the age gap is getting closer and closer. Apparently they are partners in crime. My mom told me she heard them in the bathroom flushing the toilet and laughing together. I think Sam might be the follower in this relationship. As you can tell from this picture he trying to follow orders but is obviously doing something wrong.

Avery is 5 and is a perfect older cousin to Sam. She lets him pick her nose and everything.

We had a lot of fun at Ventura Harbor. Maybe it's cheesy but I seriously can't get enough of this picture. Their little  sweet faces in pirate gear, it's just too funny!

Daniel, my brother, took a few quick family pictures with my camera. I think he did a great job considering our limitations.

Sam is so expressive now a days.

Over at the Florence household there wasn't the usual crowds of family members bustling around the house. For a variety of reasons the only people who were there for Christmas besides my little family was Mandy and her boyfriend or I should say finance!!! It was such a joy to get to know Richard and have him all to ourselves while we were down. He is a fun, delightful, sweet man and I couldn't be happier for Mandy.

After our SoCal trip we did our own little Christmas. Pancakes and eggs for breakfast, and then...

Presents! Sam at first would open a gift and play with it for a while before we could coax him into opening a another. By the end he got the idea and would grab presents out of my hand knowing there was something inside for him. The big present he got was a little tikes basketball hoop. Now a days you'll find Sam dunking a basketball in his hoop over and over and over and over. The present was a hit! Yeah!

One last hooray! the Sacramento Zoo. Apparently, I am finding these picture spots really funny. It's sad to say goodbye to all the fun, family and friends. We spend New Years with Hank's Uncle's family and I surprisingly don't have any pictures. We played games and then had a dance party at midnight. I guess life needs to move on and we can't party all the time. To be honest I feel like I DO party all the time because I am with Sam all the time. So really I have a lot to look forward to for the new year!