Big brother day care

When I picked Sam up at the babysitters on Monday, Sarah said Sam had a fall at the park on the teeter-totter.

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He hit is face, I guess, and was wailing. Instead of walking over to Sarah, who he would usually go to for comfort, he started walking away, which she found quite odd and couldn't figure out where he was going until Sam walked up to Malachi, one of the other kids that Sarah watches. Malachi gave Sam a hug, in a very big brotherly way, and looked at his face as Sam was going on about what had happened and was pointing over to the teeter-totter.

Sarah expressed that it was quite sweet how Malachi took care of Sam's hurt and Sam was quite satisfied with the effort and went back to playing. I am so thankful that Sam is developing supportive, healthy relationships with the kids he hangs out with during the day and even more impressed as stories like these come out of his interactions with them. We are truly blessed to have our son being cared for in this manner during the day.

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Water painting the driveway

I thought that Sarah, the lady who watches Sam during the day, had a great idea today. When I went to pick Sam up tonight, they were out on the driveway using water and paint brushes to "paint" the driveway. The cement would turn dark where the water was applied and it seemed like Zac, Sarah's son, was very intent on getting the full driveway painted. Sam was having a great time following the older boys around and trying to get water out of their buckets to paint with.

Anywho... I guess it may only be fun when other boys are also doing it since Sam wasn't too interested in "painting" our driveway even though he was insistent on going outside after dinner. While trying to figure out what would occupy Sam, like his trucks and the bike pump, I ended up spraying a non-toxic "natural" stain, moss, mildew, etc cleaner on the walkway and one side of the driveway. I bought the stuff after reading an article that was in the Costco Connection and after investigating it more online.

The stuff is supposed to work gradually over time without scrubbing; with the action from rain and getting wet and drying, etc. The bottle says that within 6 months you should notice that the areas sprayed are not as stained and "cleaner". I thought I would try it before renting a power washer and doing it that way, which I will have to be careful about so it doesn't upset the pond.

I bought it awhile ago and just hadn't put it on anything yet due to the recommended application instructions say to not put it on in hot weather or direct sun, so when it is overcast and not raining for over 5 hours after you apply it. Not an easy task in Oregon, but not impossible, you just have to realize the conditions are right at the time you have time to put it on. I guess that was tonight for me.

I am very interested to see how well it works. The driveway and sidewalk up to the front door have gotten quite gray in comparison to how it was when we moved in. You can tell the driveway has grayed since the places where the tires are when the cars are parked are not as gray due to wear from driving and stopping in those spots. So time will tell and if I remember to report, I will do so after 6 months.

Sam is settling in

Well, Sam seems to have settled into his first week of daycare. On Friday, he was happily playing with a big puzzle at one of the tables when I came in. He didn't notice me for several minutes until I said his name. He came over with a puzzle piece to show me... I asked him to put it back on the table, which he ended up giving it to one of the other kids who had taken over it when he turned to walk to me, and then came back and wanted up. It was all very calm and he didn't seem to have the wimpery relief that I was there finally.

We tried to keep the same schedule as school with nap time right after an early lunch, but with a piano tuning going on in the house and me and Sam running errands in the late morning, he got lunch and nap time about an hour late. Aimee said he was asleep before she even laid him down in the crib. He slept for over 2 hours too. It was great.

Oh and he sure has had a great appetite lately. He eats all his vegetables, with minimal fussing by the end, crackers or cereal, and a full helping of a fruit (he loves applesauce but we have been trying mango lately, which he is warming up to.) Oh and tonight Aimee made a berry smoothie with yogurt and a berry mix we get from Costco... we all had them and had no problems finishing them off.