amazed- so many firsts

WOW- in the last month, Sam has had so many firsts! We have been home one month and have completed our one month post-placement visit. Although i have had Sam for nearly two months....it feels like I have alwasy had him. He has become such an amazing, loving part of our family. His firsts for the last month:
first airplane trip, first night with his family, first trip to the zoo, first trip to the childrens museum, first jump/bouncey-house experience, first eating macaronni and cheese, first time eating a slushy, first time swimming, first ride on a carosel and childrens train, first visit to preschool and church, first trip to a mall and to Target, first pinic and trip to the park. Sam is wonderful and amazing and AFFECTIONATE....its so wonderful being home. We areamazingly lucky to have such an loving and wonderful little boy in our lives.,...i am just in awe that we have bonded so well and so quickly. Yes there are behavior issues, because he is going through many toddler phases- but there is such joy, love and fun to be had!!!!

Pre school visit

Hi all- Sam, John and I went to visit his new pre school yesterday and had a good time. They are affliated with an area HBC and is a "teaching" Child Development Center- where college students come to do their internships and observations for specific courses under the guidance of experienced preschool teachers with actual degrees in Early Ed. A friend of mine is their director of curriculum (Hi Jennifer) and fellow doctoral student with me, and just all around great teacher and mom. She is already putting me in touch with organizations that provide assisted devices, to try an dget Sam a little walker. He is being seen for a speech/lanaguage evaluation next week. I am happy with my choice :). She and the enrollment director spent over an hour with us in Sams actual class, had him do snack time, story time and some puzzles. He seemed excited but still pretty apprehensive when John or I would stray from his side. He liked the puzzles alot (which i have none of- for his age, so add that to my shopping list) His appetite has come back full force , so his tempermental eating must have been a fluke. Sam has been such a good sport about going into work with me to catch up with my sub and students. He loves being out and about and is always asking for the "beep beep". He has also been staying at the gym child care center (whose staff is great too) for some play time- they have much bigger space, play mats and such that are actually easier to play with than things at home. I really do not think leaving him at preschool will be too problematic or traumatic (i hope). He starts Oct 3rd!!! Where has this time gone? I havent taught since last May, so i really need to get back inot the swing of things....but oh how i woudl love to be a stay at home mom while i did my doctoral work.....next year (i said the same thing last year). Gabe has come around and been better with him, and I even had a former student come spend the afternoon with us. Sam grew fond of her (she gave him gummy worms , so of course he will love her! grrrr)
Today is casting day....not fun. I am going to try and squeez in a bath and such. I live less than 2 miles from the orthopaedics....so i hope we can run home and then back :)

Photo Extravaganza!!!!

EDVENTURE

ZOO TIME- My three boys

Apparently i am afraid for my life

Gabe took this Sam-cry-baby picture, John is antagonizing

Sam and his new casts- he is not pleased

busy, fun times and stress

hi all- i need to add some pictures soon...i have been slack. We are going to visit a developmental pediatrician and then back to the orthos tomorrow for casting. Sam is doing well, for the most part, and has really fallen in love wioth his brother Gabriel. However, Gabe is not returning the affection and basically finds Sam to be the "devil"- as he put it in his diary, but a "little boy who is also funny and does funny things"- so we have some reltaionship building to do. Sam is a rough-houser, he wants Gabe to run and be rough and tumble with him, and wrestle....Gabe is the quiet book reader and video gamer....so it has been quite a game of opposites. They both love the water, but no swimming due to Sams casts- so the one thing they have had in common will be out on hold until after Jan. Our gym has an inside pool, so it would have been great to go swimming any time....this also discounts the Great Wolf Lodge trip we wanted to do in December...ho-hum, unless the doctors can let us go cast-free for a week....surgery will still happen in January I hope. I had hoped for it to be sooner, like next month....so we can get this all over and done with. He has done the casting on and off for over a year or more in Ethiopia,(yet these were kind of ineffective b/c they didnt have adequate braces)....i just am not seeing the relavence in it now. Sam is also not eating as well as he was....he doesnt seem to have an appetite at all and will nto try many new things, that is very unlike him. He will eat the things he has come to love but not much else- so i cant complain too much. We are going to eat Ethiopian food this Saturday- just John, Sam and I- a late "happyEthiopian new year" dinner in Charlotte- so we will see how he reacts to that, since its been over 3 weeks since he has had Ethiopian food. I am having a hard time, internally, having to say No and limit him when he starts to do something that he shouldnt. He has gotten quite cocky and will just give you a look then doo it anyway (like try and pull the cords on the blind, or lick the tv or hit the dog ) His tantrums areon a super short fuse and even the slightest No or redirection sets him off...but they arent screaming and loud, and they are super short lived- so they are like "mini-tantrums"- but they are frequent, and i believe much of the "crying" is the fake type, for attention. I have seen his real fear/crying and it is nothing like this toddler-mini-tantrum crying he pulls out all the time. So it just seems his reaction to redirection. However, I am worried about how he will bein preschool next month . I wanna have a strategy beforehand.

Sams legs

Well we visitied with a doctor who is part of the Moore Pediatric Orthopaedic team yesterday for a consultation. Sam did great, despite the flurry it took to get there on time. The doctor performed a pretty detailed observation and spoke with us at length about what he feels is the best option. He would like to have Sam complete some more serial casting with better fitted/fiber-glass covered casts. His casts in Ethiopia were old school plaster and broke/cracked within days. We were possibly going to have them put on today (each Friday they have a club-foot team casting session)- but he thought about it and felt that he woudl like like the other two pediatric ortho specialists to see him as well. So we are going in at 10am next Friday for the whole team to evaluate him and to start the casting. He said that the casting will enable to stretch the tendons under his feet and also make surgery alot easier, with less scar tissue and tightness after healing. Surgery will probably happen right after the first of the year. That means we will be dealing with these casts on and off until then- Sept, Oct, November and December. I am not too happy about that but its for the best. After surgery he will be in casts for 3 weeks then in fitted braces, possibly for up to two years, Yowzers.

where is the off switch?!?!?!

Sam came with us to the wing night we attend each month with several other families. He played with the big kids andn ot so big kids (my friends grand daughter was there who is 2 and adorable)- he was wound up- but not in a bad mood, just hyper. He didnt fall asleep until nearly 945....i expected him to be asleep until nearly 8am. Then what to my surprise did i hear at 3:14am?! Little Sam feet pounding on the floors...roaming the top floor...just running around...not screaming and sad, not confused- on a mission. He was up and needed us to know he felt he should stay up. I tried to get him back to sleep- gave up after 45 min, left him in the big bed with John, and came down stairs....he slept maybe an hour more, then came trotting down the stairs. I tried to lay down with him from 6:15am until after 700am ...no avail. I even drove him around a bit after we dropped off gabe...let him run around the house and have an early lunch...tried for a nap at 1030- he slept like 45 minutes and was up again....he is still awake...would not take a later nap at 4pm either- we tried to fall asleep for over half an hour. I have no clue what is going on, but he has had less than 6 hours of sleep in the last day and he usually has 10 or 11.....yikes
Tomorrow we go to see a peds ortho specialist for his legs!

UUCC Nursery date

Today we went to our Unitarian Universalist congregation and decided to see if Sam would like to stay in the nursery. He was concerned a bit when we came in. Earlier this week we did a trial run just me, him and Gabe before Gabes akido class (also at the UUCC)- so this wasnt entirely new. Sam's concern was with the many other children there. I sat with him for a while, he started playing with different toys and his distance from me grew a little...i out his bag on the counter, his back was to me, and I slipped out. Over an hour later, no one had yet to come get me :) When we returned he was elated to see us, but also chatty with his teachers. He really does not have a clue as to how a class dynamic works, so even though there is a preschool Sunday school "Religious Ed" class that starts at 3 years old, we will probably keep him in the nursery for a while. I am so glad it went well. We came hoe, had lunch and ran around some,....then nap time. His schedule has become very routine. This Thursday, however, we have a doctors visit during nap time. Oh well, we shall recover, I am sure.
Tomorrow we may go up to Charlotte and get Ethiopian food :) I am excited. I even miss it alittle bit

kissing can be a hobby right?

Kissing and hugging, even after being upset with me or even a tantrum is something Sam loves.....he also loves flirting with my friend Amanda and trying to kiss her a few times before our evening was over. He was a riot tonight at dinner and the bookstore. I hope we can sleep in tomorrow....i am still concerned about his lack of sleep

toddler tantrums and kisses

well i have passed midway of the first week of my 6 weeks as a SAHM. Sam and I have been doing super- although he has had some major meltdowns with being told NO about something, or redirected to do something else. He doesn't stay mad long, but will scream and flail for a few minutes. I think he has a little cold or possible allergies- i will be keeping an eye on this, since he had a horrible early afternoon yesterday that ended in taking an early nap that lasted over 2.5 hours. He is not sleeping as much as he should- he goes to bed very easy but wakes up super early- this also plays a factor on his shorter fuse. He loves being held, so i am breaking out the Ergo afterall. Even after his short meltdowns, when he seems so pissed at me, he holds up his little arms for me to pick him up. If he has been especially upset he hugs me SO TIGHT, which is just adorable....he always wants to give kisses and hugs, and its just been to us. He likes to shake hands or give high-fives to people he meets. He loves the water table and loves the playground at Chick Fil A- he does not like to play at home alone, so if i am not right near him then he gets antsy. He also is not fond of kids rushing down the slide behind him and piling up at the bottom....that has lead to him trying to push them at the bottomof the slide....which has ended in me coming over to let him know its OK and to wait a few minutes and go after the kids....which results in his further antsy/whiney behavior , thinking he is being held back from playing. He just needs to learn boundaries, what can be played with and what can't and we must learn better ways to communicate with him....these arent major problems...i am delighted he wants me right with him to play- but he seems so hurt when i have to set boundaries....we will get our system together better :) He is still really scared of big "potties" - so we have to work on that here. His potty training is pretty good here at home with his little potty. I am having to work more with Gabe - teaching him how to play with Sam and help him communicate with Sam. Gabe likes to "make Sam come and sit"- which lead us into a big conversation about Sam not being a new puppy. We are starting several medical consultations on Sept 12 and 13th - wish us luck. Here are some cute pictures