BRASHER

Sam bumped his head

2009-11-07T21:54:00.003-05:00

Poor Sam! He also bumped his head this week. It happened about 5 minutes before we left the apartment to go to his 12 month check-up at the pediatrician's office. He was walking in the hallway and slipped and hit his head on the marble base board. It swelled up immediately of course and is now a big purple bump. On one hand, I am glad he can walk because he is happy to be able to get around and follow Lucas everywhere, but he is also too young to be walking and gets injured way too often. Tonight while I was brushing Luc's teeth, Sam fell into the bath tub and bumped his head again. He cried and Lucas said, "Why did Sam want to fall into the bath tub?" Good question, Lucas! Poor little Sam!

At his 12 month check up, Sam weighed in at 19 pounds 4 ounces and he is 29 1/2 inches long. (Just for fun - Lucas was 22 pounds 6 ounces and 32 inches long at this age.)

Sam's appointment was on Doug's birthday. After Sam's appointment, Julianne took some pictures of Sam in Central Park. Stay tuned for those...they are really cute! (And it was not easy - Sam didn't nap, bumped his head, and got three shots right beforehand).

Central Park Zoo - Poor Lucas

2009-11-07T21:49:00.003-05:00

Both of my boys took tumbles this week. For Lucas, it happened at the Central Park Zoo when we had not been there 5 minutes. He fell on his chin, which he has already had stitches in. Poor guy! He wanted to see what it looked like, so I took two pictures:

But we managed to stay and have a fun time. What a brave boy! (It may have helped that Hillary gave him some chocolate!)

Funny boys

2009-11-07T21:46:00.003-05:00

Lucas made a special picture for Doug for his birthday. He didn't let me help at all:

When I asked him to get dressed, this is what he did (what a joker!):

Sam got a glow sea horse for his birthday and he loves it. Lucas loves it too and he even told me he was jealous. Thanks, Grandad and Nai-Nai:

And a few more:

Scootering in the Leaves

2009-11-07T21:42:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday, Doug!

2009-11-06T13:02:00.004-05:00

I hope you have a great day. I love you.

Happy 1st Birthday, Sam!

2009-11-04T23:32:00.007-05:00

Sam, you are 1 today. I cannot believe it. What a joy you are in our family! I am so proud to be your Mom. When you see Daddy, you reach for him and giggle. Lucas loves to call you Sama-lama-ding-dong. You and Lucas have a bond that is precious to watch. You have big brown eyes that look green sometimes when we are outside. You have been walking for about a month. You have two top teeth and two bottom teeth and in the last few days, 4 more teeth have broken through the gums. When you hear music you dance and tonight you were trying to jump in place. Yesterday you climbed on the couch all by yourself and then on to the table where the fish tank is. You are always moving stuff around so you can climb up on other stuff with it. You love animals, mostly the neighbors' cats. When we are out, you love to watch for birds and then you squawk at them. And you are loud, perhaps you know you must be in order to be heard over your brother. When we put your cake in front of you tonight, you did not hesitate to jump in and cram it into your mouth (I hope you don't have a tummy ache tonight). Sam, we love you!

I wish we had a group picture from tonight. Thank you Scott, Sarah, and Julianne for joining us for the festivities! We love you guys, too!

Happy Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T21:49:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful Halloween, though we were sans Doug. Our building threw a Halloween party followed by trick-or-treating. It was awesome. We enjoyed a fun evening with friends from the building and friends that came over to join us as well.
Here are the highlights:

And here's how the day ended...not too shabby:

Mema in NYC for a day

2009-10-30T23:35:00.005-04:00

Mema was in town for one day. We made every minute count. We had a great time!

Trick-or-Treating at Doug's office

2009-10-30T23:32:00.003-04:00

Today we went to Doug's office for some trick-or-treating.

Even Sam knew what to do:

We had a lot of fun:

And we were all impressed by Bernadette's costume:

The boys

2009-10-30T23:31:00.003-04:00

I tried to get some pictures of the boys in their matching sweater vests. Lucas was cooperative, but Sam wasn't. Here are the pictures anyway:

And here are some other funny pictures of the boys:

Ward Halloween Party

2009-10-30T23:28:00.000-04:00

This year Lucas wanted to be a bear because that's what his friend, Gavin, wanted to be. So Emily and I got to work and we made matching bear costumes for them. They turned out pretty cute:

Our ward had a Halloween party last weekend and it was so fun!

Conversations with Lucas

2009-10-29T21:15:00.004-04:00

The other day I bumped into Lucas. He said "ouch" and I said "sorry." Then he said, "No Mom, you have to say do you forgive me?"

On the way home from school it was raining. Lucas said, "I want to say something really, really mean." I said, "Oh yeah, what?" Then he said really meanly, "rain rain go away."

Lucas likes to play school now. He asks me to make a "schedule" which he dictates to me. It goes like this (these are his words)...Arrival, Circle Time, Snack, Music (pronounced 'muse-get'), Park, Story Time, Lunch, Rest, Snack, and Pick up. It's pretty funny. During circle time I suggested a few songs. Some of them he liked, but when I suggested "How Firm a Foundation" he told me that it was only for church.

I told him I would not lay down with him the other night because he was throwing a fit. He started crying and said, "but Mommy, you are my best friend."

If I say no to something he wants to do, he almost always replies with, "I have an idea..." Then he proceeds to tell me how we can do the thing that I just said we couldn't do.

I cut up an apple for Lucas this week and he said, "Mom, when you get an apple you should say 'Thank you, Johnny Appleseed' because he planted all of the apple trees." Then he ate a few bites of his apple and said, "Mom, there's some green inside my apple. That means that Johnny Appleseed might love me." What are they teaching him at school?

And the funniest conversation lately was this past week. I was frantically cleaning the apartment so someone could come see it. Lucas wanted to watch something but I turned on a video that Sam likes so I could clean without him fussing. Our conversation went like this:

Lucas: Thanks for cleaning the house, Mom.
Me: You're welcome.
Lucas: I like a clean house.
Me: Me too.
Lucas: If the house was dirty, I would NOT live here.
Me: Where would you live?
Lucas: Somewhere else. By myself. Then I could watch whatever I want on the TV. (pause) And I could do whatever I want to do to the TV when you are not in the room.
Me: Oh yeah, like what?
Lucas: Like touch the TV screen and slime stuff all over it. And jump over the back of the couch.

Playing Catch

2009-10-27T20:37:00.003-04:00

Sam likes to play catch. And he is pretty good at it too. Enjoy the video:

Hilarious

2009-10-23T22:39:00.003-04:00

I found this wig when I opened up my box of Halloween costumes today. I bought it when Lucas was little. He didn't like it then:

But he sure likes it now. He wore it to a friend's house today. And when it was time for bed, he asked if he could sleep with it. About a month ago I went to Ricky's to get some hair stuff. It's an interesting store - they carry Halloween costumes in season and all kinds of funky wigs. Lucas saw a row of wigs on mannequin heads and asked what they were. I explained and then he asked what they were for and I explained that sometimes people who do not have hair wear wigs (I didn't get into the whole fashion side of it, I decided to just keep it simple.) I thought that was the end of it. Then a few weeks later I picked up Lucas from school. While we were walking home, he looked up at Sam and said, "Sam, it's okay that you don't have any hair. We can just go to Ricky's and get you a wig."

Bath Time for my boys

2009-10-23T22:38:00.001-04:00

I love a good bath picture. The boys love the tub, even though they fight over who gets to sit in the front by the faucet.

Sam doesn't take a bottle really, but he knows how to use one:

Crabapple Grove

2009-10-23T22:26:00.002-04:00

We had a few really nice days this past week where the temperature was around 70 and the sun was shining. So...off for a scooter ride to the park we went.

Grandpa & Grandma Jo in NYC

2009-10-20T21:50:00.005-04:00

Burton & Jolene came to NYC for a visit and we had a wonderful time! Thank you for a great visit. We love you both. And Burton, as Lucas said today, "Be safe." We look forward to your emails from Afghanistan.

The park

2009-10-20T21:42:00.001-04:00

I love a good park visit with the boys. Our visits to the park have changed a lot now that Sam is mobile. I used to follow Lucas around with Sam safely snuggled in the carrier. Now Sam is mobile so I chase him and try to prevent him from getting injured while trying to keep track of where Lucas is. Of course, they are always at opposite ends of the park. Today, they played in the sand box together and it was heaven. I just sat and watched. I love these boys!

Lucas

2009-10-20T21:39:00.001-04:00

Lucas is very creative and he always says, "Mom, I have an idea." He then proceeds to tell me about an adventure or activity he wants to do. These pictures are from a hunt he did one day - a hunt to find the missing hammer. It was hilarious. For awhile, he was putting the clues he found in his detective hat (although he called it his "betective hat") until he started collecting items that didn't fit. The hat then turned into a bucket. He makes me laugh!

I love watching him sleep.

Fun with Friends

2009-10-20T21:37:00.000-04:00

Gavin came over last week and we made cookies.

We went to the Children's Museum last week with Henry.

Luc & Sam

2009-10-20T21:32:00.002-04:00

Lucas is getting so grown up. He is full of questions all of the time. Just tonight he asked me where Jesus lives. He is full of hilarious things too. The other day he said, "Hey Mom, do you know what is the only thing taller than you?" I thought he was going to say "Doug" but instead he said, "a giraffe." He loves to play with my jewelry box too and he asks me about the individual pieces of jewelry inside it.

Sam is learning to use the booster seat to get into things. He walks really well now and walks more than he crawls. It's interesting how quickly he went from one to the other. He is really funny and I see his personality emerging. And I think he threw his first tantrum today. He is strong-willed and LOUD...but I guess he has to be sometimes to be heard over Lucas.

Bath time

2009-10-20T21:31:00.001-04:00

There's nothing like a cute clean baby just out of the tub.

Sharing toys

2009-10-20T21:21:00.004-04:00

These toys once belonged solely to Lucas. He now shares them with Sam.

Sam can walk

2009-10-10T18:38:00.003-04:00

Sam has been doing this for about a week now. He especially loves to walk to Lucas.
Enjoy!

A few things from the past week

2009-10-09T21:06:00.004-04:00

Doug took the boys to the Children's Museum last weekend while I cleaned and prepared for another open house for our apartment. Lucas did this with Sam, unprompted. It warms my heart that these two boys love each other so much.

Julianne and John hung out with us one evening:

We went to the Central Park Zoo this week with Lilly (Lucas was at school). Lilly got some practice with Sam which will be helpful when her little brother arrives soon:

Look at my big boy Lucas:

And Sam has been busy doing new things: