Sam's Other Pocket

Sam is really into his pockets these days - loves putting things in them and walking around saying "pockets" :)  He sometimes confuses the neck of his shirt as a pocket, and recently found an extra special pocket on his diaper:

It's a dog's life :)

Casey (Sam and Nicholas' nanny) sent me these photos of Sam :)

Happy Birthday to Sam!

Sam turned the big 2.0 last weekend and we had a little party with family and friends.  So crazy to imagine how much he has grown over the past 2 years, and as they saying goes - how time flies.  Sam was pretty into his birthday this year - especially the cake and the candles.  I think the gift unwrapping got a little overwhelming for him, but he has been enjoying his new toys this week.  Kind of nice having his birthday in the winter so he has new toys to play with as the weather outside gets colder.

Geoff's Mum made him a lion cake :)

He did blow out his candles (with a little help from his Dad ;)

Bath Time

Nicholas stayed over last week so we put both the boys in the bath tub.  They are so incredibly cute together and I love seeing how they interact and how unique their personalities are.

Two little angels right? ;)

Nicholas perfectly content playing with the toys

Someone is starting to creep on his toys

Eating bubbles

Halloween 2011

This was Sam's entire Halloween experience this year.  Last year he had a cold so we did not take him out, and this year, though he was well-practiced with Casey in saying "trick or treat" and "happy Halloween" he was totally not into the costume thing.  He did enjoy pointing at the costume packaging and saying "roar" and "lion".  Baby steps ;)  So I hate to ruin the surprise for baby #2, but she is going to be a lion for her second Halloween :)

Not really feeling it ;)

And we're done :)

Santa and the boys :)

Casey just sent me this photo the the boys with Santa.  This is Sam's first Santa encounter :)

Body Painting

Great art is made when you put your whole body into it:

 

Sam loves his (decaf) tea

Geoff gave Sam his own mug of tea last weekend - he just loves it :)  The mug is Geoff's from growing up when his grandmother had a tea mug for each of her grandchildren at her house.  Geoff has been holding on to it for many years and it is the perfect size for Sam :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-k_G1dYS9M

Sam & Nicholas

Over the past month or so Sam and Nicholas have been spending almost every day of the week together as we have been sharing child care resources while we found a new nanny.  Our new nanny, Casey, started full time this week and she will be taking care of both boys.  They are at such a fun age, it is really terrific that things worked out that they boys will be able to spend so much time together.  Here are some photos of the two boys (who I have been asked are twins at the playground ;) together:

We got the wagon free on the crib from a neighbor - huge hit

A lot of time is spent in the wagon :)

Bath time!

The paparazzi interrupts bath time

Acquarium and Dinner with Jordan - 8/30/11

Geoff and Jordan took Sam to the Aquarium last week and Jordan was kind enough to send us the following photos - well these an one of 2 penguins in a rated R position, so I will keep this G.  We went to grab a bite to eat :)

New Forest 2010 vs 2011

I love looking back at photos of Sam from a year ago - it is so much fun to see his little faces from back them and also see how much he has grown since.  Here is a photo of Sam from New Forest last summer (mid-July really) and then mid-August of this year :)

New Forest

On Wednesday we went to New Forest for the day.  We had visited last summer, but only stopped in quickly, so we wanted to go back to check out a few more places in the Forest. Sam loved it there - he could run around and there were sticks galore!

Kew Gardens

We visited Kew Gardens on the Tuesday of vacation - we had been there last year with Sam and it is a really great place with so many pretty things to look at and plenty of space for Sam to run around.  They have a huge playground area as well and added in a new "creepers and crawlers" exhibit this summer.

Sam meets Peacock

In the Creepers and Crawlers space

Throwing a very large pine cone

Loving chocolate

When we were on vacation we stayed with Andy & Lesley and their daughter's Anna and Rachel.  They were so incredibly sweet and took such good care of us.  The girls played with Sam and Rachel took Sam out to their little orchard to pick his first apples with her.  Lesley also took him out to their garden to pick onions and he said "pull" for the first time.  They were such generous hosts and bought Sam a bunch of toddler food and treats - here are some photos of Sam trying out (and loving) his first packet of chocolate petit filous.

What? Do I have something on my face?

UK Trip - Beale Park

We were on vacation last week and went to the UK for Geoff's cousin's wedding.  The wedding was on Sunday afternoon at a really lovely place and so on Monday we set about finding some fun places for Sam to visit.  Geoff's Aunt Lesley recommended that we visit Beale Park and it was a fun afternoon trip. 

They had a small train that looped around the grounds and allowed Sam to say "choo choo" many times  :)

They also had a "Little Tykes" area with lots of plastic play structures.  Sam loved all the slides and said "slide" for the first time there :)

(Just before) First haircut at Barber

Lauren just sent me this photo of Sam - she took it while he was waiting for his first haircut at a barbers.