TGIF

This shot was taken in the parking lot of Sam's daycare this morning. Doesn't he look healthy? You wouldn't even know he was diagnosed with Strep throat on Wednesday! Sam had been feeling puny since the weekend, but I honestly thought it was allergies or an ear infection. 24 hours of antibiotics later, he is back and full of beans.

BFF Birthday

You may recall Sam's BFF in Charlotte was Pete. Well, not quite a year later, Sam has a new BFF, and he lives two doors down from us. You may remember him from such previous posts as Halloween. His name is Eli, he is 6 months younger than Sam and not exactly fluent in English. But they don't let those things get in the way of their relationship. Eli had his second birthday party on Sunday, and Sam partied like it was his birthday, which makes sense considering we didn't have a party for Sam's second birthday. No, I haven't forgotten, and Bruce can tell you I'm already researching 3rd birthday party themes. But back to Eli.


We didn't plan their coordinating ensembles.


The party buffet. Sam ate that entire bowl of grapes and pretty much nothing else, not even the cake. I'll explain later.


Waiting for the birthday boy. A motley crew.


That's Eli's dad trying to pick out "Happy Birthday" on the guitar, with little success. Sam looks concerned. Why? The halting guitar playing in the background? Perhaps because Eli couldn't blow out the candles? I think it was because the cake didn't look like the buttercream-laden concoctions to which he has become accustomed (At school. We only feed him filtered water, broccoli, and free range chicken.). Eli's parents don't give him anything sweet to eat, and his cake was pretty much entirely made up of carrots. So Sam just licked off the frosting of his piece. Plus he was full of grapes.


Sam monopolized the sand box.


This is Eli, opening Sam's present. He took waaaaay too long, so finally Sam blurted out "It's a steamroller!"


The party ended with a wrestling match between Bruce and the boys. Sam might look like he's being overpowered, but he finds if he goes limp it disarms his opponent.

Shades of Green

Unlike the shades of green currently being endured at our friend Sarah's house, I'm talking about the kind of green you see on St. Patrick's Day. We celebrated with matching green shirts (Bruce and Sam), various colored foods (tasted better than they looked), a 5K that was only upsetting to one of us (Sam), and an adult beverage that was not green but was certainly Irish. Let's begin our tour of the day.

For breakfast? Green pancakes. Not my best idea. I'll not show you my attempt at making one in the shape of a four-leaf clover.





Sam doesn't totally have his colors down yet, so he couldn't argue with me that these weren't exactly green.

Then Sam and I were off to a 5K at UNC with my friend Logan. Sam had a really great time, because everyone thought he was THECUTESTHINGEVER.


I know.


Sam and Logan


Thanks a lot, Ramses! Is this not pitiful? Sam is clearly a Duke fan.


Post long-run smoothie? A homemade Shamrock shake for Bruce, with a little one for Sam. Bruce thought it was just OK. Sam thought it was awesome and called it "ice cream." My version was a healthy take on McDonald's: vanilla greek yogurt, blended with honey, ice, mint extract, and, of course, green food coloring. I guess I should have added more food coloring, because these were the same sickly shade as my pancakes.


My leprechauns having a treat at the Marry Durham festival downtown.


And Bruce's St. Patrick's Day dessert: a Guinness float. I learned my lesson and didn't try to color it green.

Museum Madness

On Sunday we promised Sam that we would take him to a lego exhibit at the Morehead Planetarium after nap and after the ACC Championship game was over (boo!). Sam popped up after a truncated nap and asked to go to the museum, or as he calls it, the 'seum. When I gently explained we weren't going to our usual museum, he countered sadly with "no alligator, no snake, no owl?" I got him on board with the legos, however, and we were off. Unfortunately, I didn't do my research, and after really building it up to Sam (to counter his disappointment at not seeing an alligator), we got to the door only for them to tell us they were closed. Note to self: stop building things up for Sam. No alligators and no legos!? To salvage the afternoon, we headed over to Kidzu, the children's museum in Chapel Hill, which just so happens to have free admission on Sundays. I think Sam was sort of confused about how things unfolded, but Kidzu plied him with cake, so he didn't complain much.

Close-up with Sam

Scenes from a haircut

Shaggy D.A.


Tangled.


Candy!


This sucker is totally worth the $20 haircut.


Traded the purple sucker for a blue one, because the purple one got a lot of hair on it.


Watching a little Dora. Very short crop in the back!

Um, I forgot to actually a take an "after photo." It's a lot shorter now, and it makes him look all grown up. He likes it because it isn't getting tangled or caught in things.

First Thursday at Oval Park

Imagine what the ideal dinner scenario would be for your inner two-year-old. Maybe at a park or playground? Surrounded by dozens of other kids your age? Pizza? Ice cream? Eating while standing or running around? That was pretty much Sam's dream come true for dinner last night. On the first Thursday of each month, Oval Park in Durham holds a get-together where local food trucks and small children gather.


(The blurry one on the left is Sam.)



At first, Sam thought every truck was an ice cream truck. Sadly for him, we started at the pizza truck.




But we managed to get him to take a few bites of pizza before he headed for the ice cream truck.


Sam entertained everyone in line for ice cream. He danced around; kept yelling for help (we think it was a ruse to cut in line); and at one point pulled his shirt up, stuck his hands in the back of his pants and strutted around asking, "Where are my hands?" A few folks commented that it might be a mistake to give him sugar when he was already so amped up. Whatevs.

(You can see him, here, shirt raised. That's me beside him, trying to act nonchalant. They need a wine truck.)

Here they are, wrestling over the ice cream spoon.


A good night was had by all. Maybe next time, Bruce and I will also be able to eat dinner.

Global Warming

Bruce commented that it felt wrong to dress Sam in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt today, and it did. Actually, we would have put him in long pants, but the only ones that were clean were corduroy (I overdid it on the corduroy this season). The great thing about Sam's ensemble today is that it is also picture day at school! Ms. Aury couldn't help but ask me if it was OK if they tried to comb his hair before the picture. I told her that if his hair was neatly combed, it wouldn't look like him. I don't think she understood. We never order the school pictures anyway, but we may have to order today's. Take a closer look. Yes, he's sporting a purple necklace and a (temporary*) tattoo on his arm. This is how I want to remember him. My Sammy. They better not comb his hair.

*We've had this "temporary" tattoo for over a week now. I'm starting to panic. Will my baby always have a pirate ship tattoo on his arm? How long do these things last??