New School News

Breaking news: Sam has started a new school. After we moved from Durham to Chapel Hill, just five minutes away from my office, the commute to Durham and back for his daycare was something we knew we wanted to discontinue as soon as possilbe. So after nearly six months of the daily slog, Sam got a spot in the UNC daycare, called Victory Village (this is after being on the waitlist since April 2011). We are excited! Sam, not so much. He already misses his old friends and his old school. Drop-off is hard on both of us.

But the great thing about this new daycare? They send email updates, and lots of them! By lunchtime my last memory of him (looking pitiful) is replaced with photos of him looking engaged and happy.

The school is celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday all week. Today, Sam joined his friends in a game of "Cat In the Hat" bean bag toss! He also made and counted truffula trees (using pompoms, pipe cleaners, and playdough), and loved having his face painted like the Cat In the Hat. Tomorrow? They will eat green eggs and ham (Sam I am says he does like them). My thanks to Dr. Seuss for easing Sam through another tough transition! Oh, the places you'll go!!

My Sweethearts

(The last one is a new alpaca at the Museum of Life and Science, whom I have lovingly named Tina Turner. She is my best friend.)

Swim Lessons, Pike Edition, Class One

I signed Sam up for swimming lessons at the Chapel Hill Y. Now that he's a BIG BOY (read: 3yo), he participates in a group with a teacher, and Mommy is relegated to the sidelines. Sam has had two sets of swim lessons in his short life, and it is safe to say he is a bit cautious when it comes to large bodies of water, as he is with most things (except for large dogs, which he thinks are nicer than little dogs).

I honestly didn't let myself have any expectations, but after the hour unfolded, I would say it went about as I would have expected. Sam showed equal amounts fear and bravery, gravity and levity. He cried three times, refused to do two of the drills, but he also gave the teacher vigorous high fives, giggled hysterically any time he got splashed, performed a water rescue on both a giraffe and a zebra, and did his best to buck up when I reminded him that we were going to Foster's Market for a special treat should we both survive the lesson.

He and I are both committed to him learning how to swim -- me for obvious safety reasons, him because he is desperate to go down the water slide at the pool this summer. Honestly, I'm super proud of him. He was quite anxious but really showed some heart and stuck with it. Here's hoping I can get him pumped up to return for lesson number two.


A rocky start.


Hey, kid screaming next to Sam, you're NOT helping.


Putting on a brave face.


Kicking like a pro.


Look at that form!


Making a train! This was his favorite part.


The train went down the whole length of the pool!

Lazy

What I've been doing instead of blogging. But stay tuned! More swim lessons and soccer season are coming up, so we will have to get off the couch.

New Year's Resolutions by Sam Warrington

1. Question everything. Ask "why?" even while Mommy is explaining something. When she finishes explaining, ask "why" again. Repeat until she walks away.
2. Question authority. Say, "No I not," when confronted with perceived wrong. Refuse to wear listening ears. Continue to do what I'm not supposed to be doing while being told to stop doing it. Repeat until authority figure walks away or I am forcibly removed from situation. Then sound reasonable when trying to explain to said authority figure that I "just wanted to do it one more time," while crying.
3. Help Mommy and Daddy confront their snacking addiction by smelling on their breath whatever treat they're sneaking and questioning them about it -- loudly and repeatedly -- until given a bite to keep me quiet.
4. Continue my campaign to ignore the numbers 14-16 while counting and the letters t-x while singing the alphabet song or practicing letters. They are unnecessary. Also, Q. Ridiculous. 
5. Stop napping on the weekends. Takes time away from playing with Mom and Dad and also leads to a late-day parental breakdown and thus a little extra iPad time.
6. Try new foods. In 2012 I expanded my palate by discovering M&Ms and sweet tea. What's next?

A Very Grinch-y Christmas?

Thanks to my friend Courtney, and her holiday sampler CD from years past, Sam has discovered a new favorite Christmas song, "I hate Christmas," by Oscar the Grouch. Yes, in one simple song, Sam has learned the concept of hatred and how it applies to Christmas. Thanks, Courtney! Here's a clip of him dancing to his new fave. Oh, and my apologies for the sideways camera work. Lesson learned on that one.


In other festive holiday happenings, Sam had his preschool Christmas party yesterday at 3 p.m. I eagerly anticipated the sight of watching precious 3 year olds sing my holiday favorites. Um, no. Apparently his teacher thought throwing a "Hunger Games"-style competition reflected the true spirit of the holidays. No carols, no live nativity. I give you: musical chairs with Sam.
In case you can't sit through the whole 2+ minutes, I'll go ahead and tell you that Sam doesn't make it past the third round and pretty much spends the rest of the party in shameful tears. Merry Christmas!

This is what happens when you hire a professional.

There are two things Bruce despises above all else: spending money and having his picture made. Imagine his reaction when he learned that we were going to do a lot of both in one day! He handled it very well actually, particularly once I promised that this was the last time we would ever have our photos made by a professional photographer. Ever. As you can see, Sam pretty much loves having his photo made (the jury is out on whether or not he likes to spend money).






Colter clearly thought we were stealing his soul.


Colter pulled it together for this shot, but if you look closely, you can see that Bruce and I are both holding him in a rather tight grip. This one made the Christmas card cut.


See this grin? He was cracking up because he made the photographer laugh out loud when he responded to her request for him to sit on the dragon with this gem, "No, it hurts my penis!" Am I rethinking teaching him the anatomically correct word for *down there*? No. Well, maybe. I'm not sure.


This one makes me laugh. So dramatic. He did a series of such poses on this rock. Any passersby had to wonder what was up.


Group hug! (Actually, we were freezing and just trying to get warm.)



Note to self: No running during a photo shoot! Just not flattering. But I love that Sam has both feet in the air. He loves a good foot race, but he always insists on winning.


This one made the Christmas card too. When you spend a lot of money on a photographer, it then leads to spending a lot of money on Christmas cards. Nobody tell Bruce.


This was Sam in response to the photographer asking him to "look angry."
"Vewy Scawwy," to quote Sam.


Another shot of Sam running. Actually, he did this the majority of the time. I'm sure this was a new experience for the photographer.


And...still running.


Yep. Running. You get the picture.


Not sure what was happening here. He had called our attention to something in the sky. A dragon?


This was a runner-up for the Christmas card.