Stroller Pushing. Time to Get Him a Horn

                             Getting ready to roll- a little redirection is necessary.

                                                                Gaining speed.

 

Crash.

Gotta Go ... Bath Time is Over

Bath time is one of Sam's favorite parts of the day, but getting out of the bath and getting dried off is really not fun for any of us.  When we tell him it's bath time, he hightails it to the bathroom and bangs on the door (which remains closed due to random objects found floating in the toilet bowl & cleaning products stored in there). 
The bath itself is fine, it involves a lot of splashing, wet parents, and a happy baby.  He lets us know when he is finished by raising his arms and saying something that is supposed to be, "up."  Once he gets out however, he really doesn't want to be dried off.  I've taken to standing him in front of the tub to rub him down, so he can still play with his toys on the side.
Yesterday, I was toweling Sam off, and he was whining and trying to twist away.  I gave up, figuring it was warm and he was mostly dry.  I went to hang the towel up and turn to pick up his diaper, when I heard, "bye-bye," followed by, "go" and saw a naked, damp little baby toddle out of the bathroom.  The rubber ducky was in one hand and miniature wet footprints behind him.

Wine Glasses

                                                     What Sam thinks of wine glasses.

Car Keys

Sam is starting to assert his independence.  Like having temper tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants.  We're really not looking forward to the Terrible Twos.  Chris and I have decided to pick our battles and try not to give into every whim and desire, but decide what we are willing to deal with.  One thing we have been pretty lax on is letting Sam play with car keys.  This can backfire, particularly because we only have one set for Chris's truck, which he bought used.  Since we are both also pretty disorganized, it's hard to know whether to attribute missing keys to us misplacing them, or to Sam playing with them.
Often, when we go to leave the house, the conversation with each other (or Sam), goes something like this, "Have you seen my keys?"
"Did you check the hall table?" (where they are supposed to be)
"Yep."
"Was Sam playing with them?"
"Crap."
Typically we check in no particular order, the front door, back door, Keurig drawer, Dora the Explorer ride-on toy, surfaces (counters, tables), under the couch, behind pillows, the block bin, front stairs, and recipe book shelf.
Today Chris's keys were in the Dora the Explorer ride on toy.  I haven't checked for mine yet.

and the Little Man Walks : )

"Bye-Bye"

Two handed, introverted "bye-bye."   Sam has learned to use it at the relevant time, sometimes a little delayed, but mostly correct.  His new favorite way of letting me know it's time to leave, or I am talking for too long, is to look at me, curl up his hand, and state "bye-bye."  He then repeats it, until I acknowledge that he is ready to leave.  Awesome.  My one year-old is trying to dictate when to go.

Dancing?

"Wha'sdat?"

Sam's new phrase is, "what's that?"  He is pointing, barely waiting for an answer, and quipping, "wha'sdat?" to whoever is in earshot.  It's definitely a game at this point, his form of communication.  This weekend when his cousin came to visit, it was the literal definition of parallel play.  (Other than the time that they pet each other and Oden pet Sam on the head with a bus, which did not go down well.)  The boys would sit or stand next to each other, with barely any acknowledgement (except for the occasional stealing of a toy).  Every once in a while they would interact, or Sam would point at Oden and ask "wha'sdat?"  Oden would look at him, we would answer, "your cousin Oden," and they would resume their tasks at hand.