A Good Week!

Hi everyone - Sam here. We are just finishing up a good week . . . . no big new fun activities. But we got some good news and spent some time hanging with the family.

As we mentioned last week, I had to have some tests done up at our local children's hospital. The first test was a Sweat Chloride test - they put some medicine on my arms, then some electrodes, and then they wrapped my arms up and collected my sweat. Interesting huh! Here I am with daddy getting the electrodes . . . . a little shock treatment? Hum!

Then I had to sweat lots for 30 minutes so we put my heavy coat on and found a play area at the hospital. They had this super cool police car we played with. I think I NEED one of these at home!Ok - I did do some pushing as well, but I was having so much fun riding it was hard to give up my turn. Then we went back to the lab and they cleaned me up and took away my sweaty gauze pads for testing. Then they drew 3 vials of my blood. I didn't flinch or cry at all. Not through any of the tests. The lady said I was a champ!

The GOOD NEWS is that all my tests came back negative . . . and given the problems they were testing me for, that is really good news! So now that all the big, hairy, ugly diseases are off the table, we're going to visit with a doctor to see if I need some growth hormones - or not? The best possible outcome for a little guy who isn't gaining much weight.By way of other fun activities, my brother and I spent some time together, trying not to bug each other too much. Here we are blowing bubbles in the bathtub. Good times!We absolutely LOVE helping out in the kitchen - - cooking, cleaning up, whatever. I got to wash the dishes this time. Who doesn't love playing in water?And we're learning how to load the dishwasher - - not just throwing the dishes in it, but actually putting them where they are supposed to go so they will actually get clean. Who knew there was a method to this?
And I know we've asked about child labor laws before but we've never heard back from anyone. Trash - really? I'm not even 2 years old yet!
Mason and I both love music. We put on a piano concert the other night. It was a beautiful duet! Thanks for the concern from everybody . . . . all is good and I am feeling lots better. I'm shooting for 6 weeks without getting sick. Keep your fingers and toes crossed!
Mason Alert: Howdy! It's weird having to wait till the end of the blog to talk! But Sam deserved a little blog time this week. I tried hard to be a good big brother this week. Sometimes that is easier than other times! For instance . . . . at the hospital playing with the police car . . . . I thought for sure the car had a flat tire so I changed it for Sam. I didn't even make him get out of the car.It snowed a little bit on Friday this week. Not enough to go sledding, but definitely enough to play in. Daddy dunked me in the snow! I guess my hair needed washing. And there was definitely enough snow for a snowball fight! We are armed and ready. Can you see the picture that daddy made in the snow for us?
Here's to another great week!

Our BIG Day Out!

We've been stuck around the house for a few weeks now and we finally had a chance to get out of the house yesterday and enjoy the beautiful weather. But before we show you those pictures, here's an update on Sam - he's doing better, still a little weak, and still coughing a nasty cough. But overall he's definitely doing better. He's been losing too much weight though over the winter so he has to go in to the hospital for some tests this week. Keep thinking good thoughts for him!

Before the weekend finally rolled around we tried to have some fun around the house - here we are coloring. We both have learned to enjoy our artsy side!Daddy treated us to one of his favorite snacks one afternoon - chips and clam dip. Go chips!Here we are enjoying a good game of Chutes & Ladders. Darn those chutes - they got me right at the end and I came in second!We also took care of a few jobs around the house. Sam and I both have our own sets of tools - good thing too cause we both know how to use them!And of course there's always the household chores to take care of - here we are doing the dishes. The rule in our house is . . . . she who cooks doesn't have to do the dishes!

And now to our BIG day out . . . Aunt Jen Jen & Uncle Michael gave us each a gift card to Build-A-Bear Workshop for Christmas. We hadn't had a chance to use them yet so we started our Saturday with a trip downtown to the workshop. It was incredibly fun! We picked our animals and then had them stuffed. Then we went over to the fluffing area and cleaned them up. My monkey has never looked better!Here we are after we picked out their clothes and got them dressed. Then we named them and printed their birth certificates. My monkey is named "Soured" and Sam's frog is named "Hoppy". I picked out my monkey's name all on my own. We LOVE our animals - thank you!!!

Daddy treated us to ice cream after we were done at the workshop. Sam and I both picked chocolate - yummy!Then we headed for Faultline Park up by where mommy used to live when she was first in college. We had so much fun out in the sun! I climbed the rocks . . . .Sam played on the slide . . .I LOVED the swings . . .And we stretched our legs out climbing up the slide.
After mom and dad tore us away from the park we drove over to the Garden Park ward to play at the duck pond. Sam fell asleep on the drive over so it was just me and daddy. Take a close look at this picture - - - do you think I had a GREAT day out?Finally here's a picture of me and Sam after church today. Note Sam's Cheerio necklace from nursery. The weatherman said there were some more "Sun days" coming this week so maybe we get to go to church again this week. Hum?Sam Alert: Hey everybody - - - mom said my shoes were on the wrong sides? Maybe that's why they were so hard to walk in?And here is yet another darn cute picture of me! Could I get any cuter? Have a great week!

Recovering . . . .

. . . . Slowly but surely. Baby Sam (yes we still call him that) ended up with RSV and the rest of us are still coughing too. But we think we're over the worst of it. Fevers, coughs, sinus gunk, body aches . . . ick, ick, ick! Mommy had to take a work trip right in the middle of the week but she came back early so that daddy could have a day at work last week too. We're looking foward to being healthy and playing hard again real soon!We didn't get to leave the house much last week, so I enjoyed talking on the phone to anyone who would answer when I called. This photo was taken while I was chatting with Uncle Noley. He was sick too - I think everybody had this gunk last week!Daddy and mommy were pretty sick too this last week so Sam and I tried to pick up some of the housework so they could rest. Here we are doing the laundry - we LOVE to do laundry. What is more fun that water and bubbles . . . lots and lots of bubbles!Sam dusted . . . .And I cleaned the bathrooms . . . with a smile on my face!And the best way to start out a new week is . . . with a fresh loaf of homemade banana bread! Stirring, measuring, pouring, stirring some more . . . plus licking the bowl . . . a great way to end a rough week!Sam Alert: Howdy everyone - hope you are all healthy and happy. I'm back on the road to both . . . finally! Mommy said they were hoping to make it through two boys and toddlerhood without having to deal with RSV - - but I snuck it in on them. He he he - although I don't ever want to do this again! Really not a lot of fun at all! This is a picture of me getting my haircut - Friday was haircut day. I actually sat still and didn't fight it and I think mommy did a great job. I'm handsome as ever!

Icky Bugs!

Hey everyone - we are down and out for the count (ok - out for a few days)! Our house has been overtaken by some mean germs and we are all sick! Daddy and Sam had been trying NOT to get sick for about a week when their bodies finally gave in. Mommy caved over the weekend and now I'm coughing like a sick dog and running a fever of my own. But . . . we'll survive! We did manage to do a few fun art projects at the house before we all ended up sick in bed - here we are coloring dinosaurs with daddy.

We enjoyed making some Valentine's day cards for our friends and family too. Sam loves to be in on the coloring/creative action!Mommy and I went to a party for Uncle Randy's birthday on Saturday. I got to play with my friend Easton. We had tons of fun!Sam Alert: Howdy - I'm soooo tired of being sick. This bug got me good! I've had a really high fever for a few days now and mommy finally took me to see the doctor yesterday. She gave me a new round of medicine and hopefully I'll start feeling better soon. Ugh!!! Here's to fighting the bugs!

The Long Days of Winter

I have adopted two new pets . . . . I found them hiding in my room one day and now they are two of my best friends - Sam the Lizard, and Iggy the iguana. I love them! I named them all by myself. I take them with me everywhere. I feed them. They sleep with me under their very own blanket. And they don't make much noise - so mommy and daddy said they can stay as long as they don't make a mess! Meet Sam the Lizard and Iggy.

It was our daddy's birthday this week - I think he said he was turning 102, or some big number like that. We took him out for dinner at our most favorite steak place. I was persistent about telling our waiter that it was daddy's birthday so of course they brought out the saddle and sang happy birthday to him. He was a good sport and actually climbed up on the saddle unlike mommy when it was her 100th birthday. I shared his bowl of ice cream with all of us. Our waiter was nice enough to let me climb on the saddle too. Grandpa L gave me pointers on how to ride on his 80th birthday so I'm a pro at this thing! Sam didn't want to - ahhh, what a little maturity will do for a kid!

We did have a yummy dinner - and what's better than a free bowl of ice cream? The next evening we made dad a birthday cake. It took all of us - stirring, running the beater, licking the beaters, licking the bowl, watching the cake bake, wishing it cooked faster, waiting for it to cool, frosting the cake, and then of course singing happy birthday, blowing out the candle, and eating a a giant piece! Happy birthday daddy! We headed out on Saturday in the hopes of finding something fun to do. Mommy thought she had a good idea, but it ended up being more of a place to go to have people try to sell you stuff than a fun play place for kids. But we still got to do a few fun things . . . like explore a helicopter. We decided that Uncle Carl can definitely take us for a real helicopter ride the next time we go down to see him.I got to try my hand at La Crosse. I was pretty good for a first timer.
We played on a bounce house and a slide. Nothing too spectacular but enough to get us out of the house.Sam even went down the slide.

And we found the "tails and scales" people and got to pet a snake. Can you believe mommy got this close to it?

Or maybe the right way to phrase it is . . . can you believe mom let us get this close to a snake? Sam Alert: Hey everybody! I adopted a new pet as well. His name is Spinner, the turtle. Daddy made a "leash" for me to use to take him on walks, which I love to do all around the house. Here's to a great week!