Chocolate

We try to restrict the sweets in Sam's life, though I'm a lot more lenient than I used to be.  He gets the occasional cookie as a treat, or lollipop when he visits the bank with his dad, but all in all, the kid is a little sugar deprived.  He loves chocolate though, chocolate anything.  So because he was & is reluctant to have anything to do with his potty (it was a storage facility or a place for his baby doll to poop), we give him an M&M when he sits on it.  If he ever produces anything potty related while he's on it, he gets another M&M.

This definitely motivated him to sit on his potty.  Sometimes he'll pass by the bathroom, then come out staggering under the weight of his potty.

"Mama, Sammy want to sit on potty.  Sammy get chocolate!"  

Of course he still hasn't done anything in the potty, but at least he's sitting on it minus the diaper.

("Mama, I no know how make pee-pee").

Yesterday we were driving when he told me, "Mama, guess what?"

"What's that?"
"I find chocolate.  I eat it all up!"

"Oh.  You did?  Today or yesterday?"

Pause.  "Yesterday?"

"Was Mummy home or Daddy?"

"Mummy and Daddy home.  I find chocolate under chair.  I eat it.  I tell Daddy, I eat chocolate all up."

"Was it yummy?"

"Yes, chocolate is yummy."

Silence.  I have a vague recollection of cleaning out my purse and finding loose M & Ms on the bottom from a recent trip to movie theater.

"Mummy."

"Yes?"

"I no sit on potty AND I EAT CHOC-O-LATE!!!"

Okay Sam, you totally win that one.

Resting

Sometimes when Sam is up super early (think between 4:30 and 5:45), we will try to get him back in to sleep by bringing him to bed with us.  However, if there is any sign of daylight, even a crack of light around the window shade, he is pretty much up for the day.  He will lie quietly for a little while, and then sing softly or start wiggling or petting one of us.  Often I will open my eyes to find him giggling in my face.  It's cute, but only after at least 5:30.
To let one parent sleep a little longer, someone will take him out to the living room to play, get him some juice and fruit, and then lie back on the couch to doze.
Usually the parent who attempts to rest on the couch will be offered, "softie?" (his blanket), "binky?", "baby?", and then a variety of other favorite objects, usually involving Thomas the Train and friends.
Then, that parent might be read to.  This is Sam choosing a book, summarizing the pages, and then holding it up, "see?  See fire en-jin?  Yes, red fire truck.  Loud!"
He might do a puzzle.  This is narrated and occasionally one will get poked.  "This piece go here?  You watching Sammy?"
Sometimes he cooks in his kitchen and I will open my eyes to find a plastic hamburger, wooden bun, and a handful of other toy food near me.  Today I got lucky and also received a real raspberry, which somehow was not mashed into the couch.
I wish I had this child's energy level that early in the morning.  Of course, three hours later he won't be the most pleasant person around.  And one day he'll be grown and out of the house, and I'll miss my collection of trinkets when I am lying on the couch, (except maybe the berry).

Relaxing in the Water

Vacationing in Falmouth, Ma.  Sam loved his beach chair in the water so that he could watch the waves go in and out.