Dancing machine...

My little man LOVES to dance.  I think it's hysterical, but my humor threshold is pretty low.  The problem is, he stops dancing the second that he sees you pull out a camera.  It's almost as if he's embarrassed.  He usually shouts "Dance! Dance!" and then hops up and starts bouncing around.  I started listening to Christmas music this week, and it seems that he likes Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You."  He's also busted a move to some Luke Bryan and The Lumineers.  He's not very discerning.

If you want to judge me for my early Christmas music, feel free.  I'm not apologizing.  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtdgntdSemw&feature=youtu.be

I hope he keeps dancing.  I've always said that no matter how bad a dancer a guy may be, a girl would much rather he dance badly with her than sit at a table all night long.  The Shermans love to cut a rug.  

Oh, October...

You wore me out.

I am so thankful that it is mid-November.  The past few weeks have been a complete whirlwind.  Between football season, Halloween, school, and Mistletoe, I am so glad to have a small break before the chaos of the holidays arrives.  I'm sure this will be a short reprieve.

Halloween was somewhat of a mess this year.  We knew that it was supposed to pour, so the whole neighborhood was up in arms trying to figure out what to do.  We ended up going around with our little gang on the Wednesday before.  In the end, I was glad we did.

Sam wanted to be a superhero.  This is the first year that he picked something that I wasn't enthused about, but he's a little boy, and little boys like what they like.  No more "baby" costumes for him. :( He agreed to be Batman, and I found a costume for him at Target.  I wanted Alex to be his sidekick, so I searched for a babyish Robin costume.  No such luck.  I ended up making my own--I still want him to look like a baby!

Robin wasn't interested in putting down his graham crackers to take a picture.  

We were trying to help him up.  He did not want to leave the candy, and he was in the middle of a full-on meltdown.  Can't say I blame him.

My dad was bound and determined to dress up to answer the door.  It was very sweet of him, albeit a somewhat creepy clown. Alex wasn't too sure of him at first. 

Shoving candy in his mouth.  He catches on quickly. 

Part of our neighborhood crew.

I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to go to his little school party, but I was able to sneak away from Mistletoe for awhile.  Bless his heart, he was so excited that I was there--he wouldn't let me go far.  

His new love--books.  I am so thrilled about this new development.  The only downside is that when he wants you to read to him, he practically throws the book at you.  I'm headed for a black eye in the near future.  He's a big fan of  Good Night, Moon.  He calls it "Cow."

I had to work Preview Party, so Anthony met me up there with friends.  We hardly ever have pictures of just the two of us, so I'm quite proud that we actually remembered.  We had a great time that night, although I was exhausted the next day.  It set up a long couple of days while I worked Mistletoe.  

Ta-dah!

This week it's felt like winter, which is an unusual development for November.  We had a chance to break out the raccoon hat.  It's a favorite of mine.  

Cute, right? 

Lastly, today Sam's class celebrated the letter "h" with horrible hair day.  It didn't take much this morning. 

Trips to the pumpkin patch and the fair...

Good Lord, October has been busy.  I feel like we've had a minimum of three obligations a week, and that's a low estimate.  Things aren't letting up any time soon, but that's pretty much how fall is every year, right?

Alex's little class went to the pumpkin patch at the Agriculture Museum this year.  It was nice to not have to drive way out to the one we usually go to.  He's still young to really appreciate everything--he won't be 2 until December--but he enjoyed himself.  For those of you who haven't been in a long time, they have a HUGE indoor motorized train set.  I mean, MASSIVE.  It's fantastic because there are all kinds of buttons the kids can push to make the trains go, turn on lights in houses, make the cows moo, etc.  He loved that.

Yes, he needed a haircut.  My children always need haircuts. 

Later that week, we took the kids to the fair with MP and Joe.  Have I mentioned how hard it is to get a picture of all of us looking at the camera?  It's practically impossible.  

 It's amazing how much braver Sam has gotten.  He rode several rides by himself--and they weren't necessarily "kiddie" rides.

We were there for awhile, and Alex was great in his stroller...until the last 30 minutes.  The only way to contain him was to either put him on Anthony's shoulders or give him food.  I couldn't get a good pic on my cell phone, so these are pretty blurry.  

Bumper cars

Sliding

\

I'm not really a huge fair person, but we had a really good time.  I highly recommend the fried Oreos. Anthony had the fried cookie dough, and while delicious, there's no way anyone could eat it without getting sick.  And that's saying something coming from this family because we know our way around a dessert table.  

Boys...

Alex is busy.  Very busy.

Everyone always talks about how different children can be, and they're totally right.  Just this morning I have taken away markers and crayons, a butter knife (!), and some chapstick that he was smashing into my favorite robe.  He pitched an absolute hissy fit every time.  He is fast, sneaky, and seems to like getting in to anything he can find that's dangerous.  His favorite activity right now is to carry around a step stool and turn lights on and off repeatedly.  He is still climbing everywhere, and he unfortunately bumps his head quite a bit. There's no stopping him.  I'm hoping this doesn't translate into his teenage years, or else we're in trouble.

He is still incredibly affectionate.  I am now rocking him to sleep at nap time just so that I can enjoy his babyhood a little more.  Of course, his sweetness can escalate to a serious temper tantrum in a heartbeat. He's already thrown goldfish at me today. The crackers--not actual fish.

In the past weeks since he's started his little program, his speech has exploded.  He finally gets out of the car without crying, and he's even made a friend.  I feel like that's a ridiculous statement since he's not even two, but apparently, he follows around a little girl named Anna, and constantly calls out her name.  It's pretty cute.

Other words in his vocabulary--

"Sam," "Mama,"" Daddy," 'Mimi," (still working on Grandy) "Papa," "Sissy,"  "uh-oh," "ok," "Aw, Man!," "Awesome!," "thank you," "juice," "outside,"  "ball," "Mine!", and "No!" among others.

Sam as settled into kindergarten nicely, and he is loving his new school.  I'm so thankful the transition has gone so smoothly. He certainly gets the concept of a weekend now, which is funny.  He's always asking when he has his days off.  He finished up soccer season, which we are thankful for--it makes Monday nights awfully hectic.  He is such a big boy now.

Alex hanging out with the soccer boys.  

They love to draw.  On anything.  Rugs, walls, carpets,...

Hanging with Grandy on his birthday. 

First field trip. (To the fire station no less!) 

Last soccer game. 

First. Day. Of. Kindergarten.

Wow.

Just wow.

Sam started kindergarten last  Monday.

Sunday was a little chaotic since we came home from our trip that afternoon.  It was pretty crazy getting unpacked, washing clothes, and making sure that uniforms and bags were ready to go.  I didn't sleep well that night.  My mind just wouldn't stop.

Anthony and I took him to school that day.  For the first week, we were allowed to walk him to his classroom.  The school he's attending is so much bigger than his previous one, and it is K-6.  He looked so small in his little uniform.  We took him to his room, and he met his teacher.  At that point, he got a little nervous and hid behind me.  We showed him where to hang his bag, and he sat down at a table by himself and began to color.  He then looked at me and said, "I thought you said my friends were going to be here."  My heart sank.  He does have friends from his old school, but none of them are in his class.

When we left the classroom, I teared up.  I honestly didn't think I would--we had been so busy, it hadn't occurred to me.  But after he asked where his friends were it was like a punch to the gut.  Bless him.

I shouldn't have worried.  When I picked him up that afternoon, he jumped in my car like he had been going there for years.  He told me all about his day, but the thing he was most fascinated by was their discipline program.  Each child has a monkey.  When you get a warning, your monkey is moved once.  2nd time, you miss some of recess.  The third time, Sam informed me, "You're really, really, in trouble.  You miss recess AND they call your mom."

It's been a full week, and so far he hasn't had his monkey moved.  It's amazing how much better he acts for others.  Why can't he be so cooperative for me?

He has enjoyed Computer, Music, Library, Discovery, Gym, and Spanish.  In other big news, he officially has a friend.  Kids crack me up.

The amount of time it took me to finish the Spiderman on his bag was ridiculous.  I probably shouldn't have waited so late to do it.  Lesson learned.  

Sitting at his new table.  

The infamous monkey.  

Alex started his program today, and I wish I could say it went as well.  Since Sam prefers his daddy and his grandfathers, I swore that Alex would be mine.  I'm eating my words.  

He screamed the second I walked out the door, and today was only the "phase-in" period.  I have made no plans for the days that he's there because I fully expect to get phone calls.  I'm hoping he'll settle in sooner rather than later.  

At least he was happy before we left this morning.