Happy St. Patrick's Day
A Great Date
I'm still smiling from our date last weekend. We went to the Alamo (as usual) to watch one of our favorite movies. We first saw Scott Pilgrim when it came out in 2010. We're not sure, but we think it was our first real date after having baby Jack (mentioned here). We loved it then. One reason is the nostalgia. Although the movie came out in 2010, it takes place about 5 years earlier. So these young twenty-somethings fit right in with our memories of the post-college life. Watching it again with child number two leaving baby-hood, my nostalgia has increased.
Why do I love this movie? Why WOULDN'T I? It's directed by Edgar Freakin Wright. It has loads of NES love. The soundtrack is awesome. The cast includes Arrested Development lovers, future Captain America, and the final villain is Max Fisher!
But this wasn't simply a screening. They had a live band playing whenever the bands played in the movie. We were concerned at first whether that would work, but it worked SO well. The volume was just right, the energy was higher, and I loved that the Scott in the band changed his t-shirt to match the one screen. They gave us merch to use with the show: Bob-Omb logo Light sticks to wave when the band plays, firecracker poppers to blow when you favorite ex dies, and bubbles to blow when there is kissing.
I haven't smiled so much in a long time. It was pure fun. On the drive down we even joked that they should have specials for the show, especially chicken parm. Imagine our glee to see this:
Animal Sounds
Looking sharp in our Sunday clothes
Sam is 18 Months Old
Here is another Friday the 13th to commemorate Sam. Is it just me, or have there been a LOT of Friday the 13ths since the one when he was born?
I post a lot so I don't have much new stuff to say. Sam loves his brother. He has to copy EVERYTHING Jack does. Consequently, he plays with more advanced toys and playground equipment than Jack did at this age, and is scribbling earlier too.
Now that the weather is warmer we've been playing outside more. Sam is trying to ride the trike and swing and blow bubbles and anything else he can get his hands on. For my birthday I got a bike and kid trailer. This week we've taken three trips to playgrounds. The kids love riding in it and they get more time to play than when we walked. (Yes, they both are buckled in five point harnesses and wear helmets. This photo was while I was taking them out.)
Sam has a large vocabulary. It's mostly monosyllabic and highly dependent on context to understand what he is saying. But it's clear he is trying to communicate with us. His favorite word is "sure." He says it with a Chinese accent, and says it even when he means no. We giggle at his enthusiasm when he answers us "sure sure!" I made a list of other words that he says consistently:
- Mom
- Dad
- Jack
- Amanda
- Dog
- Bird
- Yes ("sure")
- No ("mm mmm" in a sassy tone)
- More
- Shoe
- Sock
- Hello
- Hi
- Uh oh
- Bunny
- Chocolate
- Chicken
- Cookie
- Cheese
- Bubble
- Thank you
- Book
- Bottle
Sam loves to help me with the chores. He vacuums with me, either getting his own or taking a turn with the big one. I bought him a broom for his dinner sticker chart prize and he sweeps the kitchen with gusto now. Lately I've had him help me with laundry and he gets so excited, you'd think it was his favorite activity.
Sam must be getting close to age two, since his fascination with trucks and trains is growing. He plays with our trains every day and beelines for them at the library. At home, he runs to the window when he hears a garbage truck. In this photo we had several trucks clearing snow from the street in front of our house. A front loader, a road grater, and a dump truck all working together right in front of us!
I realize this is a rather whitewashed account. For the past two weeks he has been teething 3 new teeth at once. That means he hasn't slept through the night for a long time. Teething and weaning (today was the last time I'm going to nurse him) have caused havoc with meals. They are emotional and difficult and he has become super picky. He also has had the sniffles for two weeks, with a constant stream of boogers, and a sore nose from all the wiping. Yesterday and today he has had diarrhea, causing a bleeding diaper rash, making him scream every time I change him, which is often given the diarrhea. Toss in all the usual toddler bumps and scrapes, and you can see how he spends about 80% of the last few days crying. Poor kid.
I love you Sam. It's a tough time but you will grow out of it. You impress me every day!
Tandem Sliding
Fort
For the four minutes that it lasted, the boys were very still and happy.
It makes me wish I was small again.
Date night
Last night we dropped the kids off at the rec center for date night. We all love using their babysitting. The kids get to play on the indoor playground, have pizza and a snack for dinner, watch a Disney movie, play in the bouncy castle, and get changed into jammies, ready for bed. Meanwhile Ben and I have four hours of conversation and quiet fun.
We had reservations at "the range" (lower case) in the Renaissance hotel. It used to be a large bank and they've made some fun renovations to the building, complete with enormous Native American murals and random vault doors with hand wheels and bolts. The furniture looked like it was selected by Tom Haverford. :-)
Dinner was delicious, we enjoyed the Restaurant Week 5280 menu. But I admit I had more fun wandering around beforehand.
It was freezing but we warmed up with hot chocolate and found an amazing tea shop! It's hard to find loose leaf herbal tea, but this place had an amazing selection of herbals and roobis.
