We were in Montreal for a conference. Got to see friends from our Philly days who live there now, which was nice (their son, who's now 10, was in our wedding when he was a bit younger than Sam is now). Went out for mussels with J's lab. Sam was tired, and after flopping about on J's lap and mine for a bit (where he couldn't stay, because it's impossible to eat mussels one-handed), he stretched out on two chairs that J. pushed together and fell asleep. (He did the same in Las Vegas, as I may have mentioned, at a buffet.) Excellent trait in a child, being able to fall asleep anywhere.
Last night we went to the Big Apple Circus, surprising Sam (we were going to go, then found out how much it costs, then I found a discount code online and bought tix last-minute). Sam's two favorite things, as told to our upstairs neighbor this afternoon? Getting to sit next to his friend from kindergarten (whom we bumped into unexpectedly), and the "flying snap peas." (Say it out loud if you don't get it.)
Kid updates:
Bean has tremendous urges towards vertical-ness these days: she is pulling up on chairs, convenient adult body-parts, the couch, and less congenial supports like the yoga ball. She has gone from wailing every time she falls over to just blinking in surprise and getting back up. But it's such a drive that trying to get her to sleep tonight involved her pulling up to standing (using my hip, as I lay on my side next to her, as support), being placed back horizontal by me, nursing a few seconds, then grunting and pulling back up, at least 25 times in a row. I think she'll be a climber, too-- she pulled up to standing on the lower of two stools we have in the bathroom, while I was bathing Sam tonight, then when I next looked at her (from 4 inches away) she had climbed on top of that, holding onto the knob of the bathroom cabinet. Yikes.
Bean's also a fan of self-feeding; Stephanie has let her feed herself with a spoon a couple of times (I don't have the same level of mess tolerance), and she frequently feeds herself these little puffs, and recently tiny bits of shredded chicken or salmon. When she has the option, she refuses spoon-feeding in favor of picking up itsy bits of stuff and feeding herself. No teeth yet, so she's just gumming it all into submission. Of course, this goes along with picking up itsy bits of other random stuff and putting it into her mouth, which combined with her increased mobility means we have to, ahem, start sweeping our floors on a more regular basis.
Sam's finally gotten the hang of his pedal-less bike over the past week (last summer his feet couldn't comfortably reach on both sides, so he'd never gotten into riding it), and is now scooting and gliding at every opportunity. I think we'll be able to add the pedals-- sans training wheels-- in another month or so.
He got into some trouble at school this past week for hiding on the playground at recess (and staying hidden when the whole class was calling for him, and then claiming he couldn't hear) because he was upset that his teachers were busy and couldn't push him on the swing. After much discussion both at school and at home, and a long letter to his teachers crafted jointly by me and him, and written out by him, everybody is over it, and I think he has learned the associated lessons. But in some ways, it's like he's going through a more sophisticated version of being 2 years old-- when he wants something he wants it RightNowThisMinute, and learning to wait and take other people's priorities into consideration is very challenging.
This afternoon we'd decided to take a picnic to a nearby large park. Sam very much wanted to invite other people along, so in addition to our upstairs neighbor Paula (who did come along), and Uncle Dan and Aunt Sara (who met us there later), Sam invited two other neighbors whom we say hi to frequently but don't know very well (one, who lives down the street, we don't even know by name; both thanked him and declined). Sociable kid, in funny ways.
To end: we have a robin nesting in the holly bush right by our front door. She flies off the nest most times when we enter or leave via the door, so we've been using the back door more often. Still no hatchlings, but it's fun to monitor.
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