Chasing Ducks

Since Sam has had so much practice chasing Macy, our cat, he was very successful at chasing away the ducks.

Garden

Here's the current garden progress. I have peas on the left, a tomato in the middle, and broccoli and a pepper on the right.

Close-up of the peas. Well, I guess the picture doesn't show them very well. But they have flowers growing.

Tomato, broccoli, and pepper.

This is the lavender I planted two years ago. I showed Sam how to pick the stems to smell them, and now he picks one, then picks another and another. At least there are a lot of them there to be picked.

These are the first roses of the season. I took out all the roses in the back except this one because they weren't doing very well, and I didn't care for the color and scent. I kept this one because it has a beautiful fragrance. It's a light pink when it opens up.

Birds

Our feeder has been really busy lately, and I've enjoyed watching the birds come. Also, Sam likes to see them and signs "bird" very often.

Chewing & Drinking

Not tobacco & alcohol, but regular every day cuteness at the table.

Quick post & update

An update on our fish: Fred is doing well, and we have at least two other fish that survived. See John's post for details.

More pictures of the zoo will have to wait because I need to get them from John's camera. So instead, this week I'll post pictures of Sam being Sam.

He really likes taking his baths. He always asks to get his stacking cups down from the frog that holds the toys on the shower wall. This picture was taken last week.

Tonight in his bath, he kept laying down on his back and just hanging out. He usually only lays down when I ask him to so I can rinse his hair. It was pretty cute watching him kick his legs and have fun.

A Tribute to Our Fish

I was leaving the house with Sam on Friday morning when he pointed into the pond. I didn't see any fish, but I noticed the fishing boy statue was knocked down. It's been knocked down a few times in the last couple of weeks, so I didn't really think anything of it. But then I turned around and saw a very strange sight. There was what looked to be a large trout in our flower bed. It turned out to be our oldest koi, Fred! He looked so flat and big that I didn't recognize him. He was still gulping, so I picked him up gently and set him into the pond. I called John out of the house. We didn't see any other fish in the pond. Evidently the heron struck again.

Sam and I left, and John told me later that Fred didn't look too well. He was floating on his side. John said he took a hold of him and drug him through the water to help circulate the water through him. Then Fred started to swim better. So far, so good. I don't know how long he was out of the water. It's really hard to tell if he'll make it. But we swore that if he did survive, we'd put the new pond in the back this summer. And John's going to put up some fishing wire across the pond to deter more birds. If Fred makes it, he really is a trooper. He must not taste very good either.

Anyway, this is a tribute to our x-fish. We had two smaller koi, Barney & Wilma, and seven goldfish. Sam really liked feeding them every afternoon.

Bears and Cubs

Sam & Papa measuring up to the bears.

Crawling into the den.

Sitting up like a little cub!

Bunny Cage

There was a farm section that had farm animals, of course. I don't remember that section from the last few times I was there, but it didn't look new. Anyway, Sam saw some bunnies.

Down the Trunk Tunnel

In the Great Northwest section, there is a trail with a switchback that has this hollowed out tree trunk going from the upper trail to the lower trail. Sam climbed down it by himself. Very adventuresome for my 17-month-old son!

Group Picture (Sort-of)

This was the only group shot we got, but it's not really all of us looking at the camera. We're at the front entrance still, getting set up with the stroller and such. Candace also came, but arrived after we were halfway through the Great Northwest section. I'm so glad she met up with us! Tim slept in!

Zoo Trip

We went to the zoo the day before Mother's Day. I'll post pictures this week. Stay tuned.

Here, Sam tried on his sunglasses again. The strap barely fits around his head now. He still doesn't keep them on for very long before he pulls them down.

Spacing Out

John and Sam took it easy watching Sesame Street. Sam is entranced by it. Yeah! Usually he might watch a little bit of the kid's DVD that I pick out from the library, but it doesn't hold his interest. But SS seemed to do the trick.

Special Hugs

Tonight after we got home from the parenting class for Wonderful Ones, I was about to hand off Sam to John to be put to bed. Sam hung on to me and gave me hug after hug after hug. I even got a few closed-mouth kisses. And then some more squeezy hugs. I treasure them! He seemed very happy and content. Lately he's been whiny and clingy, so it was a wonderful relief. Woo-hoo!

Dinner outside

We had our first dinner outside for the summer. It was great weather!

Maemae's Card

Sam really likes the Valentine's Day card he received from Maemae and Grandpa Bob. He asks for it or gets it down himself at least once a day.

Blocks finished

I finished the set of purple blocks last night! I have 28 blocks of each color besides purple, and 29 purple blocks. Now I get to start making strips. I'm going to lay out the pattern today when Sam is sleeping. I'm so excited!

Playing in PJs

Sam likes to play with the train blocks from Christmas.

Ten Things Tuesday

1. I'll probably be the first one to post today. I am such a night owl!

2. I have 5 of the 6 colors finished for the quilt. My favorite color is remaining: purple.

3. Yeah, we get to go to the library today! (And get out of the house!)

4. I've been itching to get all the art and craft bins out and reorganize. But then Sam gets to bed, and all I want to do is veg and relax.

5. I really do like Mafia Wars. I've been playing it for over a year now, just about every day.

6. We'll have to see if Julia restrains herself from talking about Twilight in her TTT like she said she would. I actually want to see it now. I wasn't really interested before. I tend to stay away from the trendy really popular stuff. Kinda like my Dad and Titanic. I think he still hasn't seen it.

7. John is making raised beds for our vegetable garden out of old deck boards. I'm very excited to plant some veggies. He's doing such a great job. He's been working long through the night to get it done.

8. When I nurse Sam at the couch, I put the same red pillow behind my back. But at night I move it over so I can stretch out. The other day after I got Sam up in the morning, we both came out to the family room. I watched him go over to the couch, reach for the pillow, and put it on the correct side of the couch. I didn't ask him to do it, and I have never said "this is where the pillow goes." He must have just picked it up by watching me. And another time he reached the fabric pot holder that was sitting on the kitchen counter and walked over to the drawer where it goes, and he attempted to open the drawer. The drawer kinda sticks, so I helped him with it. I always make sure to praise him for putting things where they belong.

9. We cleaned out his toys a few days ago. Well, we mostly gathered his "baby" toys and put them away. Then I moved the bulky toys into the tall toy chest, and all the other toys fit inside boxes with the lids shut. It looks much neater in the living room now.

10. We had a non-family member babysitter for the first time this weekend. It was a success!

Popeye

Here's proof that Sam likes his spinach!

Ten Things Tuesday

1. We went to storytime today, and got some more books, too. It's always nice to have new books. Sam sure likes them. We also borrowed two DVDs - narrated stories. One was narrated by Bob Hoskins, the other by Danny Glover. We watched them at lunch, well, more listened to them. I think they were a little too old for Sam.

2. It sure has been raining hard lately. As we were driving to the library, it was a mixture of some kind of frozen slush coming down.

3. My coffee budget is overdrawn, so I have to wait to buy Starbucks. I'm having a really hard time waiting. It's just so easy to stop by the drive-thru on the way home.

4. My Mom is in the hospital because her asthma is being a nuisance. She will hopefully go home today or tomorrow.

5. Sam's doing this cute thing right now: shrugging his shoulders, leaning his head to one side, and grinning. So cute! I'll try to get a picture or a video.

6. He can now sign "toys" and "play".

7. He weighed 27 lbs the other day on our scale. Sometimes it seems like it reads light.

8. I'm planning on going to a Women of Faith conference in October. Exciting!

9. We're going to start a parenting class soon. It's for parents of 13-17 month old kids. It's once a week for 10 consecutive weeks. A few families from our baby class will be there too. I'm excited to meet some new families. I'm looking forward to hearing about different discipline techniques. And I want to hear lots of food ideas.

10. I can't wait to finish the quilt. I look forward to sewing on it every day. It's been so fun!