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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The great grape escape

I bought some grapes at the store last weekend and we have been eating on them all week for dinner. Sam loves them and has even learned how to pull them off the stem himself and recognize if the stem breaks off and needs to be further separated. I know it sounds trivial, but for a 28 month old, not so easy to do. Anywho... I asked him for one last night, since it was the last small bunch left. I only asked for a couple but each time I did, I would say "Thank You" really enthusiastically and make a gesture like it was some great prize Sam was rewarding me with. Then pop the grape in my mouth and chew as if it was the best grape that I had ever had. Well I guess the flattery worked, cuz I think he gave me all the rest of the bunch, except about 3 or 4 that he ate, waiting for me to say thank you and gobble it up. The giggle he was getting out of it was well worth all the overplay. I was feeling kinda silly that night so it was great fun for me too. He especially cracked up when I got a slightly sour one and couldn't make the normal excited act and made a sour face. Then he got the biggest laugh out loud belly laugh when he was trying to give me one of the last grapes and I said it was ok that he have it but that he better hurry up or it was going to get away. By coincidence he dropped it and it rolled across the table toward me so I batted it around a little bit as he was also trying to grab it, like it was trying to evade our capture. I eventually let him catch it and he popped it in his mouth to secure it but wasn't chewing it. Again I said he better hurry up and chew it so it didn't get away. He put both hands over his mouth like he was gaurding the exit of the grape prison but played around with it in his mouth for a little bit. Soon enough, "pop" out it came, landing on the table where he quickly grabbed it and bit it in half; gotta make sure it doesn't do that again. Aimee and I burst out laughing and we chuckled about it all night. I think Sam thought that grape WAS actually trying to get away from him by the time he got it the second time, so he wasn't going to let it get away again. I think Aimee might have gotten a video of it on her phone, but I am not sure. If she did, I will ask her to post it or post it myself later.

First woodworking project

We were at HD today looking at some plants that I saw tasse the other day when I got some new dirt for the raised garden beds. Well I got the basic approval of my finds but got the obvious question of where said finds would be planted... Uh... I was hoping that was aimee's department, so it would have to wait.

So Aimee went in search for some flower seeds she did know she wanted and Sam and I went in search for waterproofing membrane and shower pan forms for options for the master bath. We got directed to the wrong isle by an obviously misinformed employee, who evidently thought I was talking about shower forms, not just the waterproof membrane that would go under tile work. I digress.

We were on our way back to the tile department and in the main isle they had a line of 1x8s stacked on HD buckets and there were a bunch of kids and their parents making a small wood project. I was at first concerned that Sam wouldn't be interested or able to keep his attention on it, but figured if it didn't work we could take the stuff home and try it later.

Sam got his own apron and a pin that said he had completed the flower basket project. We got the kit, Sam grabbed a hammer and glue from the bucket by the sign-up table and we went and found a place at the plank to sit down to work on it.

Sam did great. He was very interested in the wood pieces and for some reason, especially the bag of nails. Anywho I figured out pretty quick, with a glance at the instructions and the kids around us, how it went together... Bottom, two sides, and 6 slates for the two sides.

We got started off kinda slow and I helped Sam hammer the first couple nails to attach the sides to the bottom... I was a little worried about getting a finger smashed by a two year-old left to hammer on his own. Sam was doing pretty good with less and less help, so I gave him more and more freedom with the hammer. I am happy to say, although there was one close call, we both came out with a finished project and no hammered fingers. He did have a little bit of an aiming problem but evidently practicing with the play workbench has paid off because he eventually got every one of the nails hammered in.

We even let him pick out two flowers to put in his planter on or way out of the store; what we are doing when I took the above picture. I'll have to post a picture once we get the flowers planted in his planter, hopefully tomorrow.

All-in-all, this was just one more example of what I was talking about in the last post...he is such a capable little man. I guess this is what parents talk about time going by so fast; it sneaks up on you.

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My little big boy

Sam helped me bring the yard waste cans back in from the street this afternoon. I was curious if he could manage one of the cans by himself, not really expecting that he could, and he pulled it the 10 or so feet from the street all by himself and then tipped it up to standing too.

Sam has been amazing me the past few days that he has been home with me. The daycare provider had family in town and asked if we could make other arrangements for Thurs and Fri so they could have some family time. We didn't come up with any other arrangements so I just decided to make it work for the two days.

We went to the park on Thurs that has a 3 story play structure and Sam was climbing the vertical ladders between the levels with little difficulty and pretty confidently. He even was going down the slide from the top level by himself, after I got comfortable with his ability to do it. He is quite the competent climber. He wore me out climbing all over the place.

Today we went to a local open gymnastics place during the 0-5 yr old time and, after warming up to the new place, Sam really amazed me again with his physical ability.

I guess it really has been since last fall when he went into full time daycare that I had really been out doing stuff with him like this. We have stayed mostly inside during the winter even though he has had time playing outside with the older kids at Sarah's when there have been the occasional nice afternoon.

Just trying to get stuff done around the house on the weekends makes it hard to go do fun stuff like this normally. It is kinda sad that it took being "forced" by circumstances into spending extra time with Sam to realize that I really like my son and love spending time with him. And I need to take more of an effort to make time to "be" with Sam and not just be around him.

Well lesson learned.

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Sam's Tub delima

Sam had a very interesting bath last night. We got him in there right after dinner, figuring that he would get his bath, in pajamas and then we could play and hand out until he went to bed. Well, that was a nice plan, but not what happened.

Sam got himself mostly undressed by himself; upon protest from any help at all from us. He finally got undressed and I put him in the tub. Aimee was about to wash him when he said, "Poop. Sam Poop." So I asked if he wanted to sit on the toilet to go and he said yes. We waited for him to say he was finished and were actually surprised to see that he had actually peed. So he went back in the tub and I started to get his toys out of the tub caddy when he totally looses it; complete freekout.

I thought he had hurt himself with how much he was wailing. He was also saying something that was kinda hard to understand with his present state, but I finally figured out that he was saying "sock fuzz". I had a hard time not falling down laughing at his distraught reaction to seeing his sock fuzz floating in the tub water... he was clamoring around trying to catch the floating pieces.

We had to "catch" a floating piece of sock fuzz to allow him to calm down enough to get washed and out of the tub and then it took another half hour of putting on his pajamas and a new pair of socks for him to mostly forget about it. I guess he got a lot of energy out of him though, cuz he went to bed after everything was over with very little effort.

Here is the video of the event:

Ice Cold Video

Here is a video we got of Sam doing the "ice cold" routine in the car; I had forgotten I had taken the video or I would have included on the previous post.

Ice cold

Sam got to saying "Nice" while playing with Grandma B, as she was commenting on how well he was coloring and he evidently liked the word. He then stated to say "ice" for some reason, probably due to its similarity to "nice".

Then when we were coming back from Sherri's for breakfast, he combined "ice" with "cold", that he has been doing for a long time. I don't quite know how it all got put together in his little head, but he evidently correlated that ice is cold in the car on our way home and started saying "ice cold", unfortunately it ends up sounding like he has a cold bottom and a little bit of a potty mouth; see if you can figure that out.

Done digging... for now

Well, I think I am done digging for now. One more load of dirt to take to the landscape yard... I have the main part of the patio dug out to the grass so that I can get the wood chips spread out and we won't have such a dirt pit any more. I hope I have enough wood chips!

I also built a small deck from some of the deck boards so that we had a place to step out of the house and make the transition from the house to the ground a little easier. The way I initially did it the deck ended up being about where it was originally, which is too high, so I have to get Aimee to help me move the 8'x4' deck, dig down where the cement footings go and put it all back. I should have planned it a little better from the beginning. I guess trying to get it all together quickly and not spend a lot of time on a temporary deck isn't a good idea in the long run.

I am hoping to have it redone and the wood chips spread out by the end of the week so it will all be ready for this holiday weekend. Aimee is thinking of inviting some friends over to pick the cherries off the trees since they are getting ready finally. I just have to make sure the back yard is at least a little kid friendly so the parents don't have to be weary of nails or screws or loose boards, etc.

I don't have a problem with Sam being out there with all that stuff cuz I know where it is and watch Sam like a hawk to make sure he doesn't get close to anything harmful. Sam is so laid back and obedient to stay away from what I direct him away from that it is rarely a problem anyways and I hardly ever have to intervene to keep him safe. We are just getting to know our friends from the parenting classes we have been taking and some of them are quite protective of what environment they will put their children in, even with their supervision, so I would rather not give them any misgiving of having their child at our house.

Sleepy arms

Sam has woken up twice in the past week just screaming. It is a particular scream that I think I will recognize now. It took a while the first time to figure out what he was talking about since I usually don't turn the light on at all when I go to check on him at night when he wakes up and needs help getting back to sleep. This blood curdling scream was particularly urgent and at first I couldn't figure out what he was trying to tell me... I don't remember exactly what he was pointing to and signing, but in the dim light I noticed that one arm looked darker than the other.

I got out the flashlight and his right arm was a bright red color, almost purple, had a slight patchy look to it and upon further investigation I found that he had some sleep lines from his shirt dug into the underside of his arm up by the armpit. Conclusion, Sam had his first limb "go to sleep". He had evidently laid on his arm and cut off the circulation and it had built up pressure in his arm. It was probably not a fun state to be woken from; I know I don't appreciate getting woken up when that happens to me.

Anywho... once we let it set for a minute the right color returned, he calmed down and went back to sleep.

It happened a few nights later to a much lesser degree and he was much better at identifying that it was his arm this time. It was much less red this time and took less time for the arm to "wake up" and get him back in bed.

These first experiences into the less pleasant aspects of life must be very alarming to a child. In trying to be calm and identify with him what the issue he is having I think we are teaching him how to work through the unpleasantness and let us know what the problem is so we can help him.

Sam's Slide

Aimee went and picked out a slide for Sam at ToysRUs and upon trying to get it into the car decided it didn't fit and left it at delayed pickup. I went and got it today with the trailer while I was out at Costco picking up a cool floating inflatable 10 foot island for our camping trip this Summer. Just have to say that the float is really cool since it has a mesh center area that lets water in to cool the 4 seated riders, but will be great for Sam to be able to get in the water without being in the open lake. Hopefully it will be a good idea and if not it wasn't that expensive.

Anywho... I got it the slide of the box and put the support pieces on it and when Sam got up from his nap, he got to play on it until dinner time. He had such a blast. He was quite timid at first and even had a little trouble climbing the stairs since the slide is taller than he is. The first slide down it he turned over and went down on his belly, feet first. The next several times he wanted me to help, which ended up me having my arms outstretched to him from the bottom so he felt like I was going to catch him... he would go down mostly on his own and I would catch him at the bottom.



By the time dinner came he was going up the stairs by himself, sitting down at the top and sliding down on his bottom without needing us at the foot of the slide. He gained some real confidence doing it over and over and over... it was really fun getting to see him enjoy it so much. He did complain about hitting his bottom on the floor after awhile, so Aimee put a blanket at the end to add some padding. Sam approved.

bathroom buddy

I was in the bathroom, using the facilities, and Sam came in, moved his little potty chair out into the middle of the floor and sat down on it fully clothed as he commonly does while we are in there. I said, "Now all you need is a book." Sam got up and I didn't realize until after Sam came back and sat back down that he had a book with him. I guess he took what I said as a good suggestion.

Whistle mimic

I was sitting at the table at dinner and for whatever reason, did a whistle. Sam copied it pretty good without actually whistling... it got me laughing pretty hard that I had a hard time whistling again to get him to keep doing it.

Poor Sam

Well, as trivial as it may seem to some, we have successfully identified that Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen handle pain in different ways. For whatever reason, Acetaminophen is taking care of Sam's teething pain to the degree beyond what Ibuprofen was helping him. He slept with Aimee in our bed this morning for 3 hours after waking up at 6:45 this morning, screaming. Aimee sat with him for awhile, after giving him the Acetaminophen, thinking he may want to nurse but when he didn't and just wanted to lay his head down on her shoulder, she laid down in the bed with him on her chest and he zonked out. (Wow that was a run on). Anywho, after about 20 minutes he was so out that she rolled him over and he slept there until 10am.



He had a low grade fever of around 101.5 when he woke up screaming, so there may be something else he is fighting cold wise. I doubt that the teething is causing all of that. I haven't felt too good the past couple days either, so we may be sharing something in that manner.

Luckily we got this game plan last night after 3 days of dealing with him and us just being desperate for relief. We decided we needed to go get some other Acetaminophen, since the Tylenol suspension we had was in the recent recall, and try it to see if it may help more than the Ibuprofen. Thank you fiends of other babies with teething issues for suggesting this in general; I just wish it would have dawned on us that it was his teeth that were the real issue and the Ibuprofen was just not relieving it.

Evidently his teeth are really bothering him, cuz this cut the pain, allowing him to sleep long this morning, have a cordial morning with Aimee, take an hour nap this afternoon, and did ok tonight when we went to the Birth to Three class that is kinda late for his normal bed time. You could still tell he wasn't feeling all that well, but he played in the other room for the first half hour of the class. He ended up sitting the last part of the class in my lap, very relaxed and content since I gave him another dose of Acetaminophen, instead of playing in the other room with the other kids. He felt quite warm, so figured his temp was on the rise again.

He ended up the evening with another 101.6 temp before bed and hopefully the Acetaminophen will keep it down overnight so he can fight whatever it is without having the dangerous high temp that would require intervention on our part. He was asleep on my lap almost as soon as the light went out tonight and he didn't even barely stir when I laid him in bed.

Sick babies are not fun; I hate not getting it right at first and needing to work through the options until something works... I guess you try your best and the rest is up to God to guide the way. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes while we figured this out.

BTW, I don't like typing Acetaminophen.

Sam "issues"

We have had an exceptionally whiny and irritable son for the past couple days; nothing seems to solve his distress. I don't know if it is the teething (which should be handled by the ibuprofen), the fact he is having outbursts at the table that result in him finishing early (hungry), just plain boredom, or something else we are not seeing that is causing him to be kinda distant, but a little clingy at the same time. Pray that whatever it is, Sam is able to communicate it or it reveals itself to us so we can address what is going on. He has been doing this moaning, "Uhhh!!", sound all morning and it is about to drive me nuts; in trying to figure out if there is something wrong and because I don't feel too well since yesterday either. Maybe he is getting some kind of flu or cold that hasn't manifested itself completely yet?

Why can't parents just read their children's minds? ...it would be so much easier!

I have been trying to get him to tell me when he hurts his hand or whatever that he is hurt before he gets any kisses to make it better. I started doing this with him a while ago and now any time he pinches his finger a little or bangs his hand he wants it kissed. But it is usually just him pushing his hand into your face and when we don't see him do it, we don't understand what he is doing some of the time. So the need for him to tell me it hurts before he gets the kiss, which is gladly given.

Oh and he got a timeout today for biting Aimee's hand when she tried to take him out of the office so I could be on a work conference call and they could go do errands. He has just been a moaning, irritable, fussy, obstinate mess of a little guy all morning. I feel really bad for him and just don't know how to console him.

Well, hopefully getting him out of the house and distracted will help with the way he has been acting. Aimee is taking him somewhere this morning I can't remember and then going to have a picnic lunch outside since it is somewhat nice out, and then going to watch a friend's child for about an hour this afternoon. Hopefully Eleanor and Sam can get along so Aimee isn't too stressed when she gets home.

Bend over backwards.

Aimee, Sam and I get to rough housing from time to time and it usually is instigated by me with Sam. He sure likes being flipped over from his belly to his back; when he is on his belly, I grab his legs, pull him up so his feet are above his head and then kinda toss his feet so he lands on his back... this is done on the bed or couch so soft enough to catch him. He also enjoys coming and flopping down on us when we are lying on the ground. He will just lay his head down afterwards, sometimes it seems like he is listening... to our heart, stomach, breathing... something, cuz he has a concentrated, for lack of a better word, look on his face when he does this.

Sam also likes to climb up on your back when you are on all fours. Yesterday Aimee had put her head down in this position and Sam came up and kinda pounced on her back, with his feet at her head. They had just come home from somewhere and he still had his shoes on, so when Aimee raised her head up and he was on her back with feet up in the air, I grabbed his shoes off his feet. Aimee thought I was lifting him but in fact I took a couple steps away to put his shoes down by the door. Thinking I had him, she raised up and Sam went sliding off the back of her, planted his forehead on the floor and arched his feet over him as they went over his head.

I hate giving notice of these types of events, but it is part of growing up. Lord knows I had my share of falls, accidents and emergency room visits; but I can't say that I remember Mom talking about any bad falls we had when we kids had in our first years.

Anywho... We were both mortified that this had happened but when he wouldn't be held more than a couple seconds because he wanted to continue to play and even though he continued to whimper for a couple minutes, we figured he was OK and unharmed. Oh, but this was after he fell and had a big bump under his eye that had pretty much gone away at this point, but still. This was probably the 5th time I can think of when he really fell hard or hit his head, but was probably one of the worst contortions he has gone through.

1. Don't remember the details, but he was pretty young, less than 3 months old
2. Grandpa and Grandma Beltz's house 6-9 months - head hitting the corner of their chair with metal brads on it; ended up having two welts puff up and turn into one big knot.
3. Auntie Ann's (early Nov 09) - falling off the bed when I turned my attention for a second. The box spring and mattress were on the floor but the carpet pad is pretty worn and it sounded like he hit solid floor.
4. Falling backwards off the couch during playdate at the groups most protective mom's house; I felt like a really neglectful dad since he fell to the floor and landed on his bottom then whipped his head back and hit it on the rug covered hardwood floor. But, to my defense, Sam had been playing on our couch for months where we had shown him how to be careful and respect the edges; evidently unfamiliar couches have a learning curve and are not to be dismissed as the same as home.
5. This week's bend over backwards.

He continued to play and act normal the rest of the day and went to bed without trouble so hopefully any damage done was minimal. I just hate when the unexpected tumbles happen and my protective impulse get bruised; I guess you can't keep them in bubble wrap their whole life. He is bound to have more during his life; he is a Beltz, after all.

Bed, now.

In putting Sam to bed the last couple nights, he has evidently been really tired or not really interested in the books we have been reading for the nighttime ritual. It probably helped that it was kinda late last night when we got home from shopping at Costco and Fred Meyer, so Sam got a later dinner and to bed about half hour later than normal. I started reading his books, only two when it is that late, and he signed "bed" to me. This is a new sign he has started to do when we prompt him for it, and I have been pointing to his bed at night when I do the sign so he evidently got the idea that was his bed and he wanted to get in it now.

So when he did it the second time and pointed to his crib, I knew he meant business. I stopped reading, had him turn out the light, thinking I would still get some cuddle time in the rocker, but NO, he signed bed and pointed toward his crib again. I got up and he did lay his head down while I tried to rock him like normal while standing up just a little bit before laying him down, but when I guess I didn't lay him down fast enough. He picked his head up off my shoulder and signed bed again and pointed at his crib again. So I said, that is fine said his final goodnight prayer and set him down, said goodnight and left the room. There was not another sound come out of that room and he went right to sleep.

It is great to see him come to understand when he is tired and all he has to do it ask to go to bed when he wants. Tonight I actually got in one book, which he showed interest in, but that was all and he did the same thing tonight. I didn't fuddle around this time and said his little prayer and left... again without a peep and he went right to sleep. Amazing. We will have to see how long this lasts... hopefully potty training will go just as easy when he figures out what we mean when we sign potty when he is evidently straining.

Sam's belly laugh

Sam just started doing this really good belly laugh/giggle. It has happened in a couple different situations when Aimee and I have been playing with or even just holding him. I have yet to get it on video since by the time we get the camera, he is evidently all laughed out. We will keep trying to remember to video it from the beginning and I will post as soon as we get it.

Sam started signing

Well, Sam started signing a couple words yesterday. When Aimee was feeding him last night, she brought him a piece of bread and signed bread to him. He made what looked like an attempt to make the same sign, like clapping, which he uses for "more" right now, but sliding the hands by each other. The actual sign is swiping your right hand on the outside of your left hand, so it was very close.

On another sign, Sam has always identified what the bath sign is; he really likes his bath and all we have to do is give him the sign and he is headed back to the bathroom. It seems at times we can't get his clothes off and the bath filled quick enough. (aside: Maybe we should get it ready before giving him the sign it is ready.) So when Aimee went to give him a bath last night, he was getting undressed and did an open handed bath sign; rubbing hands alternating up and down on his chest. The real sign is with closed fists, but it was very clear this was what he was signing cuz when Aimee would say the word he would make the sign.

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.

Sam's attempts at feeding himself

Sam has been attempting to feed himself. Aimee has some more details on her blog, but thought I would mention a couple details here.

Last night when I had to feed him by myself before Aimee got home because he was screaming and trying to climb into his highchair, he was evidently hungry. He wouldn't let me feed him more than a couple bites, so I gave over the spoon and he got a couple good spoonfuls in when he started just kinda playing with it. He also got this, for a better way to describe it, "sinister" look on his face (like when a madman in a movie contemplates his master plan) and was jabbing his spoon into the bowl of food he was eating. I hope this isn't something he is picking up from kids at Daycare.
He then decided to start wiping the mess of food on his face and got it in his hair and chair and essentially everywhere. Aimee and I are quite neat freaks and are having a hard time with him making a big mess, but trying to let aside our inner Monks to let him be a kid and explore and figure it out for himself. We have been successful to this point in keeping him from playing with the bowl too much, like picking it up or swiping it off the table, but have tried to not clean up every little splotch of food he gets on the table and himself. I don't want to give him a complex about having stuff on his hands as I have seen some kids almost have a panic attack if they get messy hands... and I don't want him to turn out like me since I can't continue eating comfortably with sticky hands or utensils.
All that said, it is amazing how well he is doing and how little help he really needs now to feed himself to his content; then he lets us help him finish eating and is fine with it. I guess he is just starting to express his individual space and initiative.