Haircut!

So Josh has been growing his hair for months - I think a combination of his overall desire to look like a girl, and a particular desire to have hair that he can tuck behind his ears. I don't have any particular objection to him growing his hair, just to the corresponding battle over washing & combing it, and the frustration he exhibits when it "makes his face tingle." So for weeks we've been discussing the possibility of getting it *trimmed* -"not too short"- and he finally suggested going the other day. We didn't have time until tonight, and after the first go-round, we actually ended up going back and asking them to cut off a little bit more, but in the end, I think it turned out great.



I think he may be sad in the morning when he realizes she cut off the curls he was trying to keep, but at least we can see his cute muppet face again!

The Fearless Sam...

This photo really says it all - thanks Amy!


This is just so typical of Sam - Josh wouldn't even try Lauren's bike; Sam's scampering on it as fast as he can. There is a really steep slide at Josh's school, that Josh has only gone down once or twice, and not until he'd been there for months - it's so steep they have a parent assigned just to stand next to it as the kids come down. Sam's first destination whenever we stay to play after dropping Josh off? You guessed it...

Sam Sam Samara at 18 Months

So Sam is officially 18 months old today, which seemed like a good reason to get the blog going again - I'm stunned by how fast the time has gone, and by how much he is changing every day...


He's continues to be incredibly physical - and absolutely fearless. At the playground, he scales up ladders and down slides, without a moment's hesitation. Climbing & jumping with both feet, dancing in circles, and more than anything, doing whatever he can to keep up with Josh. They have a new game, basically blowing air at each other, and as soon as he's ready to get up in the morning, Sam starts puffing his cheeks out to let me know he's ready to find Josh... Then he chases Josh around the house, eager to do whatever he wants... Luckily for us, he has remained incredibly good natured, smiley and sweet - he's learned to make a little sound whenever he kisses you, and loves to give everyone hugs and kisses. It seems likes he's on the verge of talking - lots of consistent sounds and he clearly *thinks* he's talking... In the past week or so, he's really picked up "bye bye" - although it sounds like baco baco - and waving from the window.


He had his first "play date" today, although really, it was just Thea's younger brother coming over with Thea so her mom could get some things done... Jasper's just a few days older than Sam, and they've met a bunch at various parties & coop events, plus they share a mutual & desperate desire to be allowed to play at school... they seemed to have an excellent time, even with the always helpful supervision of their bigger siblings.


Thea keeps telling me she's going to marry Josh; I don't have the heart to tell her I think he just wants her clothes...

Then again... she is the kissiest little girl I know!

Josh & Aiden's Birthday Party

On January 3rd, we celebrated Josh & Aiden's birthdays with a belated party at the Everett Children's Museum. The extra two weeks actually meant that almost everyone could come. There was cake, pizza, and lots of running wild. Overall, I think it was a success - crazy & loud, but I hope everyone had a great time!

Silly monkey boys...

Josh & Aiden checking out another fantastic cake from Wagner's

And then going crazy over some presents.

Lauren & Thom - Amy, we really missed you!

Kai!

Smiling Santi

Josh & Anna

Dan & Sam - Sam loves him!

Thanks for making the drive guys!

Anna running the show

Cody, Grady & Santi

Sam Sam

The end of a long day...

And finally, some cousins recuperating...
Aiden & Grady & Santi spent the night - a perfect end to the day.

Happy Birthday Joshua!!!

So unfortunately, the weather this week (snow, snow, and even more snow...) pretty much derailed all of our birthday plans - and then all of our alternate plans as well... but in the end, I think things worked out OK.

Josh's preschool usually does a whole birthday thing, including a special crown and song, and earlier this week we made pink race car chocolates for the other kids, but because of the weather, school was canceled all week. I think Josh was more disappointed about the crown than anything else; he knew it was going to involve pink & mermaids... Luckily, because his teacher is the amazing & thoughtful person that she is, she set up a time for the kids to come by & pick up the various holiday projects they had made, and used that as an opportunity to surprise Josh with his crown after all. I think his face says it all...








At first I felt bad for him, since it was only a few kids, but in retrospect, I think that might have been for the best. His friend Thea was there, with her little brother Jasper, and Sam got to be there as well. Much more informal, and I think that smaller group was probably much more comfortable for him. He never hesitated at all, and was just so pleased and excited to have his crown after all. Thanks Kris!!!

Birthday hugs from the super sweet Thea!



Josh & Aiden were suppose to have a party on Saturday afternoon at the Everett Children's Musuem - but because of the weather, they were actually closed on Thursday - for the first time in their history! That, combined with the possibility of really terrible driving conditions for folks coming from Olympia, convinced us to reschedule the party for January instead. Unfortunately, Josh's friend Cleo will be out of town then. So we decided to chance the weather, and did a mini-party on Saturday afternoon for just the two of them. Cleo is alot like Josh, and I think was as happy as he was to have something less crowded. They had a blast, and it gave us a chance to get to know her parents better as well - outside the usual chaos of preschool...







For Josh's actual birthday, we mostly stayed home & cozied up while snow, snow, and more snow came down. More photos to come...


Overall, maybe not the birthday weekend we had planned, but when Josh was falling asleep tonight, he did say it was "the best birthday ever."

Happy Birthday Sam Sam!

More to follow; it's just been a VERY long day...

Happy Birthday Aunt Jenny!

You can come home now...