French Class

Sam started his new mini preschool french class this morning. This is a big deal for Sam and our family. There are 10 kids in his class and the entire class est en francais. Vive la France! We talked about it all morning. We packed his bag with extra clothes, pictures of his family, an art smock for art projects, and a big boy pull ups! Hopefully this experience will help along the potty training.

Lately, Sam has taken on a keen interest, or shall I call it an obsession, with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He loves to watch them playing a concert on tv. Sam plays and sings along with his own guitar and makeshift microphone. At the beginning of a song, he will dutifully count down to start, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, just like Tom. When Tom makes a gesture with his arms and hands, Sam is right there with him. Sam even told me that he needs a black guitar like Tom's. You see Tom has multiple guitars that he uses throughout his concert and Sam wants to switch his out too. We agreed that we would pretend his red guitar is black.

I continue to be so impressed, amazed, inspired, and full of love as I watch Sam grow and develop. He talks more and better every day. Nina at daycare feels that Sam is really ready for the preschool he is starting today. I am glad for that because we are in the process of filling out preschool applications for a 3's program for next year. It is so hard to believe that it is just a short year away for real preschool.

This past Tuesday, Sam tried out a tumbling class at a gym on Atlantic Ave. He really liked it. He walked across the balance beam, jumped on a spring board, hung on a bar, did a forward roll and ran around. He also played on the parallel bars by holding one bar with both hands while he balanced his feet on the other bar. He was able to walk his hands and feet all the way down the bars by himself. He is really strong and a quick learner.

Love him, pray for him, and wish him luck as he meets new friends, speaks french and continues to love life!

A busy day

Sam started early today, around 6:45. After having breakfast outside with Mommy and the flowers, he went to the park with Daddy. We were then asked to join William and his parents at Prospect Park to visit the zoo and have a picnic lunch. After a very long walk to and from the park, we headed to Brooklyn Heights for Santiago's birthday party. Sam had a lot of fun playing with Santiago's toys with his friends from school and he was happy to sing his favorite song, "Happy Birthday"!

Catching up

Well, it has been a month since we have had an update to the blog and Sam has sure been busy in that time.

He has moved to a big boy bed having the front crib rail removed. He has only fallen out of the bed three times so far and I think he has figured out how to stay more still in his sleep. This may contribute to his inability to stay still for even 2 seconds when he is awake, or maybe that is just part of being 2 years old! At any rate, whether he is in the pool, at the park, at the bookstore, or strapped into his chair at the dinner table, he is in motion.

Sam now sports a new scooter, which he has nearly perfected after only a couple of weeks. I liked it much better when he just stood on it and wondered why it wasn't moving. Now, he speeds mightly down the sidewalk with no fear whatsoever while I am on pins and needles hoping he doesn't crash, fall, or both. He loves that thing. He is so fast now that we may need to limit the scooter to in park use only. Sam still absolutely loves balloons. We now have a balloon pump in our home which is used several hundred times a day. It is a little hard for Sam to use by himself, but it is just a matter of time. He also loves band aids. He got a new band aid tonight after a small fall on the scooter.

We went to Myrtle Beach for the fourth of July with some friends. Sam had a blast on the beach and in the pool. He played minature golf, visited the aquarium, and rode the rides at Broadway at the Beach. He also got to spend a day with Papa Sam and Grandma Sugar where he had a fantastic time. He often tells us that he wants to go to go ride the airplane and go to Papa's house in Papa's car.

He is continuing to learn french with Vivianne and he is now great when I drop him off at New Playground on days when we all have to work. Sam loves music. He enjoyed playing the banjo at Papa Sam's house. When we came home, we went to a concert at the park and he made a paper banjo. Sam loves walking around playing his banjo and makes a great sound to improvise the music. He is a very happy little boy and a real joy to all around him.

Sam is growing taller. He can open most of the doors in our house by himself, including his bedroom door. When he is in time out, he tries to escapes sometimes before his 2 minutes are up.

He is precious and we love him very much!

Bon jour!

Sam had a busy day today which started out with our new french babysitter. Her name is Viviane and she is great. She was with us from 8:30 to noon and we spoke in french the entire time. Sam said "merci" and he repeated a few words she was trying to teach him which were the names of fruits in french, it was very sweet.

She took Sam to the park while Mommy ran a few errands, then we all went to the supermarket together to buy some groceries. While at home, we played and sang songs.

After Sam's 3 hour power nap (making up for the missed nap yesterday when he sang songs for an hour and a half in his bed at day care), we went with Sofia and Laura to the park. Sam and Sofia are so incredibly cute together. Sofia took Sam for his very first tire swing ride and he loved it. They also shared a tricycle together. Cute, cute, cute.

Happy Father's Day

Sam has been settling back into his routine this past week as he returned from vacation in North Carolina. He returned to day care on Wednesday and Thursday and played with Mommy on Tuesday and Friday. He was really excited for the weekend when he had both Daddy and Mommy to play with. He has spent a lot of time riding the bicycle (which he now pronounces flawlessly), playing in the park (which he loves especially the swings and slides) and he got to play with Sofia a little this weekend.

Mommy found a new babysitter whose mother language is French. She is going to start spending time with us next week and will come every Tuesday morning. We are excited about improving both Sam's and Mommy's language skills!

Today was Father's Day and we had a nice family day. Sam started the day early, around 6:15 and he gave Daddy a card that he made. We all had breakfast together and went to church. After church, we had brunch at Miriam's. We were dining outside on their patio when the rain started falling so we had to move inside to finish up. After Sam's nap we all played more and listened to one of Sam's favorite songs from dance class, the running song. Sam ran his heart out. We all had dinner together and then Mommy and Sam played on the roof with a big, blue ball and Sam's new harmonica. Sam was ready for bed when the time came. It was a very nice Father's Day!

North Carolina

Sam is wrapping up a ten day excursion to North Carolina where he traveled between Greensboro and Chapel Hill to visit his Grandparents, Great Granny, Great Grandma, Aunt Jess, his cousins and other relatives. He had two more birthday parties along the way and racked up lots of baloons from Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods, one of his favorite past times.

Sam had his first gator ride and threw rocks in the creek at Grandpa Delbert's house. He saw lots of cows and fed the goats at Papa Sam's and Grandma Sugar's.

He played at the playground on the swings and the merry go round with Grandma Leah at the park in Kernersville.

He played bridges and tunnels with Raegan and Parker and practiced ballet and dance with Raegan at Granny's house.

Of all the fun he has had, his most favorite activity is playing in Papa's car. He could probably sit in there all day.

We look forward to our next trip to NC.

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday morning, Daddy and Sam started the day at Carroll Park where Sam ran around like crazy and enjoyed the swings. After the park, the family rode their bicyles over the Brooklyn Bridge and went to Battery Park. We had lunch in front of the North Cover Marina in front of the World Financial Center. Sam had eggs, bacon, and toast. After lunch, we decided to take the NYC water taxi back to Brooklyn. This water taxi takes you to the Fulton Landing in DUMBO. We rode our bicycles back home to make dinner. Mommy made pork chops and mashed potatos. Sam liked the pork chops. Sunday morning, we set out early for Prospect Park. We picked up bagels along the way and ate them on the lawn at the park. We played kick ball, watched the dogs play in the water at dog beach, and threw stones in the water near the waterfall. After the tour of the park, we went to the Lincoln Playground. Sam had a blast on the big, spiral slide, playing ball, running around, and of course, swinging on the swings! On the way home from the park, Sam made up a cute song, which he serenaded Mommy with all the way home.



In the afternoon, we went for a visit to mid town Manhattan to visit our friends Amol and Theresa. Sam ran around their apartment like a little crazy man. He jumped on the floor and climbed on their couch.

We took a cab back to Brooklyn and went to Lunetta, an Italian restaurant on Smith St., for dinner. Sam enjoyed speghetti with tomato sauce. Sam kept us laughing all weekend.

Happy Friday!

Friday morning, Sam rode on the back of Mommy's bicycle to go to French class. He had a lot of fun with the activities including creating an objet d'art, playing with a mini parachute and lots of balls, and making pizza with play dough.

After class, he went to the park where he found Sofia. He almost jumped off the bicyle when he saw her and exclaimed her name loudly "Sofia!!" They had fun with the swings, slides, and stairs and near the end Sam scared Mommy to death when he decided to explore the area by the fence and she could not see him for about 3 minutes.

Sam had lunch with Sofia at a nearby restaurant and then went home for a long nap. After the nap, the sun was still out, so he went on the roof to play with the ball and blow bubbles. Daddy came home early and joined us on the roof.


Hopefully, the nice weather is here to stay!

Sam's birthday party

Sam had a fun filled birthday party with some of his close friends and family at his house this weekend. They played with toys, play dough, balloons, and enjoyed a music class with Sam's music teacher from day care.

Uncle Andrew gave Sam a remote control car and he played with it for about a half hour non-stop by himself making it go up and down the hallway, doing donuts, and crashing into the wall. He even put it on top of another truck and tried to make the little car pull the truck down the hallway.




Mommy made Sam a chocolate cake, cookies, and jello sail boats, which he enjoyed. He also ate lots of guacamole that night for dinner. After all of this fun, I am sure he is ready for more celebrating with the rest of his family in NC on our upcoming visit!


A good time was had by all! :)

Friday with Daddy

Sam and Daddy had a day together. They carried out Sam's Friday routine with french class and dance class in the morning. Sam napped while Daddy had lunch and then after Sam's lunch they played with blocks, play dough, and a ball of string from Sam's t-shirt. They had a lot of fun and at the end of the day, they were tired and ready for bed!

Fun with friends on a sunny day

Sam's morning started off with the typical mix of french children's music, cereal with strawberries and a cool glass of milk. He needed the energy for a fun filled day with friends, the park, playing basketball, gardening, and taking a bike ride with Daddy. Once he finished breakfast, he was ready to go, in fact, he put on his sneakers all by himself today, which really impressed Mommy.


Lucia and Jessica came to play in the morning. They had a grand time riding the tricycles, swinging, sliding, and running. After park time, they had lunch together before parting ways for their nap time routines.

After Sam's nap, he went for a spin on his shiney red fire engine while he waited for Sofia to come out and play. He played basketball with Sofia and they ran around playing catch and bouncing the ball on the stoop stairs.


Ben was out front with us tending to the front garden. Sam and Sofia had their tools and were ready to help.

After dinner, Daddy took Sam for a ride on the bicycle as they accompanied Mommy to her french class. Sam was really happy to be outside again.

Sam did not want to go to bed at bedtime. He did go to sleep and woke up around 9:30 crying furiously. Mommy and Daddy thought something was wrong, but all he wanted was to get out of bed and hang out on the couch. Once we discovered he was duping us, he went back to bed. He is now sleeping sweetly and we have our fingers crossed it will last all night! :)

Laughing with Grandpa

Grandpa celebrated Mother's Day with Sam, Mommy, and Daddy. After helping Mommy build a new rail around the roof deck, he played with Sam.

Daddy cooked us a nice dinner and then took Sam for a bicycle ride before bed time.

Lucia's birthday

Sam started his day early as he happily played with Daddy who just returned from a business trip. We headed out for a visit to the upper west side to visit cousin Lucia and go to her birthday party. Sam had a blast riding a tricycle and blowing bubbles. Sam loves to blow bubbles and he was teaching Lucia how to blow her wand (see this cute picture.)

After taking a little nap in the stroller we headed to Central Park. They have a giant playground and Sam had a blast running around, throwing his ball, and riding in the swings.

Just before he went to bed he had a suprise visit from Grandpa Delbert who has come up for a visit.

Dinner with Sofia

One of Sam's best friends is Sofia. She lives next door to us and they act like a little brother and big sister. Tonight we went out for dinner together and they wanted to sit beside each other. Here they are entertaining each other. Very cute.

Pizza Party

Sam and Mommy made pizza for dinner. Sam helped by tasting all of the ingredients as we made the pizza. We started with pita pockets for the crust. I gave him one to put on the pan. He took it and tore off a piece and started eating it. Then, I gave him a spoon to help spread the tomato sauce on the pizza. He started eating that too, just like soup. I was afraid we wouldn't have enough for the pizza. Then, for the mozzerella. You guessed, it, he ate the pieces he was given to put on the pizza. He must have been starving.

Battery Park with Friends

Sam visited Battery Park City today and played with his friend Jazmin. They had a blast looking over the water at The Statue of Liberty, running in the grass and splashing in a fountain.

Finally, the nice weather seems like it is here to stay!

Lounging

Daddy and Sam like to lounge on the couch together. In the morning, they watch sunrise earth in HD, watching wildlife and nature as the sun rises in really beautiful places.

Welcome to Sam's World!

This web page is a place to keep you up to date on the going's on of our precious Sam. He is approaching his second birthday and is learning more every day.

We look forward to sharing stories and photos and reading your comments.