Confessions of a Control Freak: P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney

NOTE: Most of the info in this entry has already been posted on Facebook. I'm repeating it here for the people who are not on Facebook and, also, so I have a more permanent record of it.

Tomorrow will be two weeks since Sam's first birthday party. I meant to post this early in the week after the party, but our lives have not gone as planned for the last eleven days. On Monday, July 23rd, Sam had his one year checkup. Everything looked great! He weighed 21 pounds, 6 ounces (25th percentile) and was 30 inches long (50th percentile). He was also fascinated by the seemingly endless supply of white paper on the exam room table.

It was a good thing he liked that table because he was destined to see it a few more times in the next 11 days. We made it a year without a sick visit to the doctor, but we made up for it this week! He had his vaccines at his checkup, and that night he started running a low-grade fever. I didn't think much of it; we just gave him some Tylenol and some extra snuggles. The next day his fever was up and down, but it never went over 100 so we didn't worry. By Thursday his fever was higher and we figured that the time for a reaction to the vaccine was long past, so we called the doctor. Friday morning he was diagnosed with strep throat, and we started antibiotics. By Tuesday his fever was still high and his breathing seemed too fast. Sure enough, another doctor appointment and some chest x-rays told us he had walking pneumonia. Luckily, we caught it early so it could be treated with antibiotics, cough medicine, and time. This morning, eleven days after he first spiked a fever, my little dude showed glimpses of being back. He's still very needy and he gets tired easily, but I think I can safely say we are on the road to recovery. He was even happy enough today to discover a new obsession: the washing machine.

Here's a few "milestones" we've hit:

He crawls everywhere, can pull up, and will cruise along furniture when he has enough motivation. Last week (when the ibuprofen was fresh in his system) he decided he wanted to pet the dog who was laying on the couch. Sam pulled up, the dog moved to the other end of the couch, and Sam cruised along the couch for about 6-8 steps to get to him. Then he patted the dog on the nose twice, plopped down on the floor, and cried until I gave him some Cheerios. *eye roll*
He can say "Mama", "Dada" (or "Da-Tee"), "Nana", "fish", "yeah", "puppy", and something that sounds suspiciously like "thank you", but we're not sure about that one yet. He recognizes plenty of words and interacts with us as much as he can. There is lots of pointing, motioning, and babbling.
He loves to swim and is just about fearless in the water.
His favorite pastimes include chasing the dogs and cat, watching Finding Nemo (yes, still!), filling the silo of his Little People farm with anything he can stuff in there, and "playing soccer". He is surprisingly good at throwing and rolling his soccer ball.
Food is another one of his favorite things. He is not picky - so far he has eaten everything we've given him except avocado. His favorite foods are raspberries, mandarin oranges, bananas, goldfish crackers, and cheese.
He finally figured out the napping thing and will usually sleep for at least 90 minutes during the day. He goes to bed early and sleeps 12-14 hours at night. When it is bedtime he wants to be read to, sung to, and put down. He is not a snuggler and he loves his bed.
He is amazingly tough. He face-plants on the laminate floor on an almost daily basis and he almost never cries even though he has what seem to be permanent bruises on his forehead. The exception to this rule is when he wants attention. In that case he will purposely bonk his head lightly on something and scream like he has been mortally wounded. I've gotten really good at distinguishing his hurt cry from his "I'm crying wolf" cry. *another eye roll*
He is 110% Daddy's boy. If Aaron is in the room Sam wants very little to do with anyone else. Each night Aaron gives Sam his bath and puts him to bed. That is their special time, and I love that! On the rare occasions when Aaron has to work late bedtime tends to be a bit of a battle and usually consists of at least a little of crying for "Da-Tee".

Sam's birthday party was a huge hit. We did a Finding Nemo theme and, with the help of the ingenious Chelsea Keesler, turned the kitchen into an aquarium. Three days before the party my friend who was going to make the cake had to cancel (it wasn't her fault) so Aaron and I decided to tackle the beast ourselves. We were so proud of how everything turned out!

Chelsea made a sign for the front door. We also had seagulls and balloons lining the front walk.

We covered the kitchen windows with blue cellophane and made seaweed out of crepe paper and sand out of shredded paper. The fish were from Party City and Dollar Tree, and the bubbles are stickers I found at Hobby Lobby. We taped white and blue balloons to the wall in different sizes to look like bubbles.

Aaron went to the store and took Sam with him so I could finish the decorations. When they came through the door Sam got so excited and started saying "Fish! Fish! Fish!".