Boy in the Box

Step 1: Insert feet into box.


Step 2: Squeeze self into seated position in box.


Step 3: Fall out of box.


Step 4: Repeat.

Step 5: Try to get the dog in the box, too.

Train clothes

My grandma sent me two Thomas shirts for Easter. I love them.


Out of the box and over my current clothes. Also, I am king of destruction. Good thing it's only my playroom! Also, note the wild man bedhead - it makes me look crazy!!!


Blue train shirt. Train clothes make me sooooo happy!

A brilliant observation...

"I threw it to Emmie, Mommy." and then "Emma no has hands, Mommy!" *giggle* *giggle*

Happy Birthday to Miss Erin in Thailand!

And to Little Mr. Henry in Austin! I hope ya'll are enjoying your 81 and 62 degree birthdays - we're having another April snow day!!!


Here's the snow!


And here's my mommy!

Happy Easter! (and Happy 50th Birthday, Nana!)

A picture of Sammy's basket, taken last night. (We were still up when the Easter Bunny hopped by to drop it off...)


So happy to discover the basket!


He *loves* these chocolate bunny lolipops.


Here Sammy is, doing his happy shuffle.


Yes, he was allowed to eat chocolate bunny ears for breakfast.


snow boots and jammies - a winning combination


Sammy in his "Easter clothes" and ready to go to church.

April showers? No...

No, this is not a picture from this winter. It was taken five minutes ago.

Just FYI for my admirers in warmer parts. Snow. In April.

Jumping on the Moon

I was a crazy, crazy boy yesterday. Fun!

"More playing at the park with Calvin!"

The sun finally made an appearance yesterday after our week-long monsoon, so Cal and I met up at the park to take advantage of the break. There was a lot of water still hanging around, and we were very dirty boys by the end of the trip, but it was so worth it to play outside again!


Going down the slide together.


First I was on the see-saw with Cal, then I helped Caillou on it.


And the fun with sticks begins now...


Sammy and Cal "fishing" and other assorted things - aka playing in the dirty water with sticks.


*Splash!* *Splash!* *Splash!*


water + sand = mud

Emma and Sammy

looking fly on my way to church on Sunday

Belly pictures

Mom tried her hand at taking pictures of her own 34-week-belly.

Of course, I had to get in on it, too!

"Here's Sammy's belly!"

Watching Isaac

This morning Mom and I watched Baby Ike while my buddy Cal went to the Water Park of America with his mom and Grandma Sally. It was a rainy morning (again) so we were stuck inside, but I had a fun time "helping" with Baby Ike, showing him my toys and singing him songs - he smiled a lot to "Wheels on the Bus" which is one of my favorites, too. I think it could be fun to have a baby around...someday...not too soon or anything....


"Hello Baby Ike!"


Here's the cutester all by himself. He was very good. Too bad I woke him up early from his nap by slamming the bathroom door. (Yeah, we'll have to work on that one over the next few weeks!)

Easter Bunny outing

Looking good in my bunny ears post photoshoot with the Easter Bunny.


Laughing as the Easter Bunny dances to entertain me - I was the only kiddo there for a couple of minutes. The EB was great - very friendly and funny, too!


Smiling with my girl KP after our pictures.

Yesterday + Today = FUN! (Shoot, everyday is fun for Sammy.)

It's been over a week and I'm still loving this "Easter Bunny" Nana and Ba sent. He's cute put together (like a puzzle!) and fun in pieces too. His lower third makes an excellent hat...


and a drum, too!


Here he is in all his glory. "Funny Easter bunny!"


"Goats!" It was "very fun" to see and pet goats and bunnies at the MOA this morning.


I even liked the spring flowers. "Oops! This one came off."


Driving a boat at the Park at MOA. (Sammy is funny - he thinks the amusement park is outside. They did a good job designing it that way.)


Yesterday at the playground. It was 80 degrees but the lake was still frozen. Weird. (Mommy was a gross sweaty mess, BTW.)


Yesterday morning showing off all my friends in my crib. "Doggie, Monkey, Piggie, Naked Cow, Cow, Elmo!"


Happy riser.


(****Mom's note: Sammy has started picking out his own shirts. So if they seem a bit dorky to you please try to overlook it as toddler fashion sense is in full swing, for example this morning he woke up and said, "Sammy wear airplane clothes today." On the will-wear list: trains, cars, airplanes, dinos, and firetrucks. Especially firetrucks. I feel bad now for making fun of how "those moms" dressed their kids!****)

Here I am!

Check back for more pictures soon - we finally have the camera batteries charged!

"My Baby Brother is a Little Monster"

Is my current requested selection out of Elmo's Storytime. Hmmm....

Why no new pictures?

It's simple - I've ceased being cute. AS IF! I'm still waiting on camera batteries, but don't fret - very adorable new pictures coming soon!

"I'm a cow. Moooo."

I love this 20-second song by the Wiggles. I think it's called "I'm a cow" and it features a cartoon of a cow singing as Murray Wiggle milks it. I thought the cow was hilarious. I would say, "Look, Mama. Cow's singing. Funny cow." I must have watched this song about 15 times this afternoon - I could not get enough of it! Then, all though dinner I was saying, "I'm a cow, mooo. Mommy say it," (or "Dada say it") and cracking up.

(Jess' note: I found the part of the cartoon where Murray actually drinks the cow's milk as he's sitting next to said cow a little distrubing. And gross. Definite gross factor.)

The Ways of the World

Today while we were out at a MOMS Club thing at member's home, another (older) little boy pushed Sammy down. I was in the craft room with the other moms, and Sammy was out in the living room playing with the other kids. I heard him crying - loudly - and went to see what was the matter. Usually he takes a spill fairly well without tears or hysteria (unless he's tired or hungry) so I could tell he was pretty upset from the sound of it.

From what I could gather from Sammy, the older little boy pushed Sammy down and out of Nate's room, then shut the door. Mostly Sammy kept saying, "That little boy pushed Sammy down!"

I feel so bad for him, being such a happy-go-lucky little boy, and not understanding why the other boy was mean to him. I know he's eventually going to learn that there are mean people out in the world (not that that boy is mean, he's just a kid) but I feel like Sammy's still too little! (I guess as a parent you're never really ready for you kid to see the bad side of life.)

Ah, well, he's fine now. But his mom is still a little sad. This is one step in the gradual submersion process - for both of us.

A post-op report.

It's been two weeks since Sammy's surgery and he's fine. The surgeon called a week ago to say the mass was indeed a benign hemangioma, so no worries there. Then this weekend we had Kennedy's dad Jesse (who is a pediatric nurse) take a look at his scar. It is healing up nicely, no infection to date, and just looks like a little scratch. Thanks, Jesse! You saved us a $200 trip to the surgeon for a five-minute appointment! :)

Crazy kid.

From his crib, where he should be napping, Sammy is calling, "Emma come! Emma come get a bone! Bone, Emma! Emmmmmmmaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

And yesterday in the car, Sammy went off to toddler-universe, where anything is possible. "Train's coming. Do you want to ride the train, Kennedy? Yeah? Be fun!" (I guess he was on his cell with KP and I didn't know it.) Then today someone asked him if he liked trains. He said, "Yeah, ride trains with Kennedy. Choo-choo!"

What did he say?

Today as we were walking into the grocery store, a man was pulling away in his car. Sammy says, "Bye-bye!" and waves. Then he elaborates to, "Bye-bye fat guy."

That's what Jacob and I heard. But after some discussion were are pretty sure he just said, "Bye-bye that guy." We hope.

Bob the Builder

All week Sammy's been asking to "Play Bob?" He loves this new exhibit at the Minnesota Children's Museum.


He is particularly fond of Rolly. Tonight before dinner he was saying, "Rock-n-Roll!" - that's Rolly's expression. If you push a button on most of Bob's vehicles they say their catchphrase or whatever.


Driving Muck. I think Muck says, "Muck's on the job!" But I could very easily be wrong.


Watching the money go down the drain (ha!) with Cal before heading home. The boys had so much fun and played hard for two whole hours, only visiting the Bob exhibit and Habitot. Whew! What is it they say? "Learning is hard work"? or is it "Playing to learn is hard work"? I can't remember. But the boys did that.

A couple nights ago - wrestling with Daddy.

I believe this particular move is called "The Stretcher" - Sammy loves it.

An interesting gift.

This afternoon:

Sammy says, "Here go, Mommy. A big booger." Hands said booger to me. I stand there stupified with a huge booger stuck to the end of my finger.

Ah, toddlerhood.

Already a sweet big brother.

Today I was standing next to Sammy's stoller and I guess my shirt was riding up and showing off a good bit of belly (seems to be typical these days). Sammy put his hand on my belly and said, "Baby Freddie moving in there. Hi Freddie." Then he informed me, "Baby Freddie's coming out soon."

He's tried to pull my shirt down before when it's rode up, but hasn't greeted Freddie until today. I guess he's put it together in his mind now and is thus far looking forward to the arrival of his little brother. Yay!

I am so happy our boys will have each other in their lives. :)

Mr. Cutes

Peek-a...


Boo!