The many faces of Candy Land...
This was our first game - he got it from Gram and Pops for his birthday. He lost both times we played but he had no clue what that meant! These first few games were all about learning how to take turns, draw cards, and count hops along the candy path.
He woke up still in a rock-n-roll mood. So, we turned on his new Fresh Beat Band CD and he rocked it out - in his jammies!
What a party! Sam's sooo into music, especially "wock-n-woll", that we decided to have a rock-n-roll party for his third birthday. We had a great time decorating and opening presents, but the party wouldn't been as fun as it was if it hadn't been for Sam's performance. I'm so happy he decided to sing some of his favorites for his guests. He's a real rock-n-roll star!
Granny Nell and Aunt Dell arrive with lots of presents
A special book from Granny
Micky Mouse Sing-Along from Gram and Pops
Pennies from Aunt Dell - always!
Sam thought it was hilarious that we were singing just to him!
Some record decorations with Sam's favorite songs A sprinkle cake - sprinkles inside and out!
Yummy pasta salad, veggies and chips and dips!
I found these questionnaires online to use with kids each year on their birthday.
Here's Sam's Third Birthday Interview!
You know you're in for a rough couple of days when he appears at your bedside in the middle of the night and he's
on fire
. To make things worse, Sam complained of a sore neck that night and again all the next day. His fever wasn't too high until about 2:30 in the afternoon. A high fever and sore neck was a combo I just couldn't handle. So off to the ER we went.
Thankfully, he didn't have what I was most worried about, Meningitis, but he was pretty sick. A simultaneous dose of Advil and Tylenol didn't even work as quickly as the ER doctor was hoping for. But after an hour or so, we were released with a diagnosis of "virus". Once home, both exhausted, it was cartoons and juice time. That seemed to do the trick!
Just a little birthday shoot with my three-year-old musician.
We took these in downtown Denton the day after our meningitis scare. I was suprised he felt as perky as he did. Kids bounce back so fast. Needless to say, we got lots of looks and heard lots of "awwww's" from passers-by. One person even stopped his cell phone conversation as he walked by to tell me Sam looked like something straight out of Mayberry!
Look at my handsome boy in the salon chair!
He went with me for the first time to see "Ms. Jean", and while it took lots of bargaining and lollipops to get him there, he ended up loving Ms. Jean and her chair that goes up and down!
You would've thought it was the end of the world, or something.
Sam hurt his finger (we're still not sure how) and the drama surrounding the injury was intense. But it was nothing compared to hysterics Brian and I had to endure while trying to get the bandaid on his finger. Two days to convince him to put a bandaid on. TWO DAYS! Not wanting a bandaid's no big deal if your boo-boo's not bothering you, but that was not the case here. He'd cry about his boo-boo, then cry about a bandaid, over and over.
My second and third graders always wanted bandaids when they didn't need them. I've never known a kid to not want a bandaid. I tried telling him it was a pillow for his boo-boo. I tried telling him it was a sticker for his boo-boo. It came down to an ultimatum - no playground until you wear a bandaid. He'd been asking to go outside and it was very nice out, so I gave it a shot. It just barely worked. He was still pretty reluctant. The second -
the second
- I got that bandaid on, he perked up, smiled, laughed and told me how awesome it was. I said, "See, it didn't hurt!" His response was, "Yeah! I told you so!"
No...I told YOU so. That's what I'm supposed to say. Grrr!!
The next day we scooted out to Target and got some pretty cool Sesame Street bandaids just for little people. With that came a whole new set of problems - wanting a new bandaid every five minutes and needing a bandaid long past when the ouchy had healed.
Sheesh.
Working hard on his birthday card for Pops...
Had I known, I might not have done it.
Sam didn't like his pacifier when he was first born, but I kept offering it to him because research showed it might help reduce his risk of SIDS. Once he turned one and that risk became almost zero he was fairly attached to it so I decided to not get rid of it right away. With each passing day he became more and more attached and soon it became clear it wasn't going away on its own.
We worked on getting rid of it in baby steps, starting with Mother's Day Out this fall - no binkie at school this year. Next came no binkie on the couch, it had to stay on the bed. Once he started sneaking it out of his room, hiding it behind his blankie, I decided I'd had enough! We put binkie away with the promise of ice cream if he made it through the night. That first night went great and we stopped for ice cream on our way home from MDO the next day! He hasn't asked for it since. That went MUCH more smoothly than I thought it would. Pheew.
By far his favorite craft yet.
He made a snowman by licking each marshmallow and sticking it on to the outline I drew. Then we added the carrot nose and other snowmanly accessories. He was super proud!
Sam was so excited to show me his "kissing hand" when I picked him up from Mother's Day Out this afternoon.
I asked him if they read the book and he said no, but I'm thinking they must have. I used to have my own copy, but I couldn't find it, so we'll have to check it out from the library the next time we go.
Just a quick stop at the library after running errands, before heading home to fix dinner.
Two of our favorites in these pictures:
Lulu's Busy Day
and
Sally Goes to the Mountains
.
This was a first for both of us.
I'd never done an official gingerbread house before, only the graham-cracker-on-a-milk-carton kind when teaching second grade years ago. This came from a kit I got at JoAnn's and it was very sturdy and easy to put together. Sam had fun deocrating once I got everything assembled. He worked on this with me for a long time. He put each "little ball" on the roof very carefully and was dilligent about getting every last peppermint somewhere on the house. We think it turned out pretty cool!
Silly boy.
One of Sam's friends gave him a candy cane at his Christmas party. Sam had tried one a few weeks ago and didn't like it, but this one made him quite happy, and silly!
Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine who used to work for Disney posted a link on Facebook to a Muppets clip from 1970-something in celebration of the opening day of the new Muppets movie. I watched the clip and thought Sam might like it, too. I showed it to him one morning on my phone and he thought it was hilarious!
We've added Mahna-Mahna to our morning ritual now. Brian gets up and gets ready around 5:30. Sometime between then and around 7:30 or so, Sam shuffles into our room with Binkie, Blankie and Hop-Hop. I pull him up on the bed and we either go back to sleep for a couple hours, or lay there lazy for a while. Either way, we always watch a little Muppets on my phone before starting our day.
Want to take a little trip down Muppet Memory Lane? Here's the Mahna-Mahna clip:
That is one BIG tree.
Sam and Gram and I visited the Galleria yesterday to see the tree-mendous tree and watch the ice skaters. The tree was sooo big my camera couldn't fit it all in, so I pulled out my phone and was able to get some good shots! The first and last pictures show
almost
the whole tree! So much fun going to Galleria with Sam since I used to come here at Christmas when I was little, too! Next week we're heading out to Northpark for more Christmas-y window shopping. Let the holiday fun begin!
Forgot to post these pics of my handsome beanie baby.
We stopped by Target on our way to the Holiday shoot a couple weeks back and saw this hat on an endcap for just one dollar. It was in the boys department, and while it fits Sam, I have to admit it's a little poofy. But it will have to do, as all the toddler hats are too small! :) It was fun to take pictures of him wearing something new. I shot these at a pretty park in McKinney. He was cooperative for the most part, but in order to get the shots on the stone wall I had to bribe him with the promise of fruit snacks and an extra Oswald when we got home.
He held me to it, too. He's almost impossible to trick!
