Halloween

Snow

Last winter it snowed A LOT.  Every week almost it seemed.  We were stuck in a weather pattern that blew in storm after storm.  Of course Sam remembers nothing of this.  So this early, pre-Halloween Nor'easter just changed his entire world.  I picked him up to change his diaper and he peered out the window over the driveway.
"Oh," he said, looking down at our neighbor's car. "Wose's ca?" = (Rose's car?)
"Yes, there's snow on it," I told him.
"Oh, snow."  He looked down at the chunky, slushy driveway.  "Snow, mess!"
I really have to agree.  Luckily the sun came out and melted most of the snow before it hit noon.  We did go to get bagels this morning and he clomped down the street in his new Timberlands (until I can figure out what inexpensive, warm snow boots to buy a toddler who needs new shoes every month).
We agreed the snow was very crunchy and went to get our bagels, this was all minus a hat because he will not keep it on.
When we came out of the coffee shop, now covered in cream cheese and minus a hat, the snow on one side of the street had been melted by the sun.  There were now puddles and slick concrete.
"Snow gone!" Sam cried, but then spotted snow still on the mulch around trees and across the street.  "Snow?"  We had a little chat about the sun melting the snow.
The rest of the walk consisted of, "sun!  Snow gone!  More snow!  Wet!"
The fact it snowed before Halloween is going to make for a really long winter.  Snow gone?  Please?

Making Applesauce

All those apples that we picked, that we couldn't eat, had to be turned into something good, so we created applesauce.  Sam was a big fan of attempting to cut with a plastic knife, which was actually him stabbing the apple slices I had peeled and set out, and saying "cut!" and transferring apples chunks from bowl to pan and back.  Sam also enjoyed eating lots of apple pieces.  We did this project on the (cleanish) floor, which despite some good wiping down is still suspiciously sticky.

 

 Recipe

Lots of apples, peeled and chopped

Washed, especially after much handling by toddler

Simmered in a saucepan with a little water & some cinnamon

 Pureed in blender

"Stop Car!"

I had to run errands after I picked Sam up the other day, so to keep him pacified, I gave him a piece of my scone as I pulled away from the daycare.  Sam ate it, then asked, "more cone?"

I told him I was driving, and when I stopped the car at a light, he could have another piece.  There was silence in the back seat for about 30 seconds, when suddenly I heard, "STOP CAR!"

Apple Picking: Who Knew Apples Get Stuck?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDq0y5UUq-k

Dump Truck

At the playground Sam is obsessed with this dump truck.  I take him there so that he can use the structures, slides, and swings that we don't have at home, but he will literally run around with the dump  truck for up to an hour if I don't intervene.  Yesterday he decided that he could ride on it, instead of pushing it or filling it with sand.  However, to ride it, he needed my keys so that he could "turn it on."  So he tried to ride around like this, with my keys in the cab.

Sam Works

Sam has decided that he goes to work like Mom and Dad, which he told us the other day.  He knows most of the time when one of us are out of the house, we are "at work."  When Chris was driving him to daycare the other day, they passed the lot where the local DPW backhoe is stored.  The backhoe wasn't there.
"Backhoe?" Sam asked.
Chris explained that the backhoe was working.  Sam thought about this.  "Mama work?" he asked.
"Right," said Chris, "and Daddy will go to work after I drop you at daycare."
"Daddy work."  Sam agreed.
"Yep."
"Sam work." Sam decided.
"No, Sam goes to daycare to play and learn," Chris told him.
"Sam work."
"Sam goes to daycare with his friends to play."
"Sam work."
We think that he has determined that if someone is not at home they are "working."  So I guess we have an 18 month old who "works."

Autumn

Now that fall is beginning to change our daily environment, it has taken some explaining to Sam.  I am learning that I still need to fine tune my explanations.  Recently he pointed to a leaf that was on the ground and said, "yuck, trash." (We've been working on not touching trash that we find outside).
I explained that it wasn't trash, it was a leaf and it came from the tree above us.
He looked at me, puzzled, and asked, "down?"
"Right," I told him, "it fell down."
"Down, bang.  Ow!" he said.
"Well, no.  More like down, glide, um, float."
"Bang!"
"No bang." I tried to show him how the leaf fell.
"Ow, bang."
"Well, maybe.  You never know."

The next conversation was a week or so later when he found some more leaves on the ground at the playground.                                                                                       
"Leave... down. Back?" he asked, holding it up for me to put back on the tree.
I lifted it up and showed him how if I tried to put it back that it would fall back down.  We had to do this several times before he lost interest and found something else to do.

Yesterday we practiced crunching leaves, which he thought was very cool.  I did too, because usually when he is crunching something underfoot, it involves his snacks and then the broom, which he likes to try to use, which then becomes a more expansive mess.  As we crunched down the sidewalk I remembered walking to school for years directly through the crunchiest leaves possible.
                                               
Next up, raking.  I'll have to try to find a little rake.

Sam's World

I've read about how a baby will think that the world revolves around him, that they are literally the center of the universe.  We had a conversation with Sam's pediatrician about this and the child's perception of daily life.  This is apparent in so many day-to-day activities:  a baby waking up and you are at their beck and call, their whims and desires, and interactions.  Sam has displayed this so much recently too, but it came to complete fruition when the moon was hanging low and bright at dusk last night, as we took a walk through the neighborhood.
I pointed it to him.
Sam looked up, "moon," he observed.  As we moved, it disappeared behind a house.  "more moon?"  We watched it all along our walk and then returned home.
We read a book on the couch and then Sam declared, "moon!  Moon?"  I explained we could see it from the deck.  He arranged his trucks, balloon, and book and slid off the couch.

We walked out onto the deck, where Sam looked up.  "Sam's moon!" he called.  Truly, I saw that to a toddler, the world revolves around them.

Back to Work

Back to work and now immersed in it.  I think to post blogs and then there is just so little time.  Sam is adjusting to his new daycare, he loves it, but we pay dearly because he misses us so much that he likes to visit with us at all hours of the night and some days just wants to be held after work for hours on end.  So chores like laundry, cleaning, dishes are really hard to do.  I wish, like he does, that I could sit on the floor for hours and play with him, or be outside running around, (or even looking at trucks)!  Work gets busier everyday and when I want to be relaxing, or emailing, or updating the blog, I am checking work email or thinking ahead (or behind), or correcting work.  I can't imagine not working, but part time seems more and more ideal.  Hoping there is a good school year ahead and that we all adjust completely sometime soon!