James Rocking

Posted by: Jose

 

James Rocking Guitar Hero III

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Posted by: Jennifer

 

After the other day’s rant, I thought I’d write again to share the positive things that have been happening. Two-year-old attitudes and temper are still certainly a part of daily life, but yesterday was such an awesome day, and today has started so well that I have to tell you about it.

Perhaps I should start with the day of the Safeway fiasco. That same afternoon, after lunch, James was reading his Avatar magazine which had been taken away after his tantrum in the store, and had been earned back. I was cleaning up the lunch stuff and looked over into the living room. James had collapsed the bug mat and was lying on his tummy on top of it, legs in the air, reading his magazine (side note: he has a real interest in reading – unavoidable really – and has lately taken to asking “What does this say?” and pointing to writing on containers, cereal boxes, books, etc.). It was so cute, and I tried to get a picture, but just as I got the camera sneakily turned on, he got up and said, “I want to go upstairs; it’s naptime.” He says this from time to time. He definitely still needs his naps! So off we went, and he drifted off into dreamland! Obviously, part of the problem at Safeway stemmed from tiredness.

Yesterday was a really fun day. One of the moms in Julia’s and my baby group thought it would be fun for a bunch of us to go see a movie together. Every first and third Wednesday, the cheap movie theatre in town plays a “Hollywood Babes” movie aimed at women with babies. It’s understood that there will be babies in the audience, and no one complains when your baby cries. I thought it was a great idea, so I packed up the kids, got James to eat his lunch with the promise of popcorn, and off we went. James loved it. He sat on his booster seat with his Jr. Combo in a cardboard tray on his lap and soaked it all in absentmindedly putting “popturns” in his mouth one by one. Only once did he ask to get down, and when I told him he had to stay put, that was the end of it. He laughed out loud at the movie, and my friends thought he was incredibly cute. I know that some of the times he laughed, it was just because everyone else was laughing, and he didn’t have a clue what was funny (the movie was “The Simpsons” – not our first pick, but you don’t get a choice on baby days). Julia was extremely well behaved as well. She wanted to stand for awhile, but then started to complain, so she sat cuddled on my lap with her soosie, and went to sleep. After the movie, the four of us moms stood around in the lobby for a bit and chatted. James checked out all the arcade games, especially the ones that had racing wheels, and the one that had two motorbikes to ride. He went pee when I asked him to (a big accomplishment in a public place!), and left the large model of Optimus Prime alone when I asked him to. The other mothers were impressed, and I was thrilled.

The rest of the afternoon continued in similar fashion. James didn’t get his nap at all, which made me nervous. We got home around 4:00, so I didn’t want to put him down then. Suppertime is kind of the witching hour, but James was awesome. While I made supper, James put all of the cutlery away after I showed him how to sort it, handed me the rest of the dishes from the bottom rack to put away, entertained Julia in her swing for awhile, then played in the bottle drawer. This kind of made me cringe, because it means all the nipples and such will have to be re-washed, but it kept him entertained, quiet, and most of all happy for a solid half hour, if not more. He lined up the nipples, stacked them, put them in a dish on the island, and had a grand old time. Julia was actually the fussy one. She was tired, and for some stupid reason, I wasn’t recognizing the signs. She sat in her swing and loudly voiced her complaints.

James decided once again what his bed time was going to be last night. Jose and I were finished eating, and James was still picking at his soup when he announced it was naptime. I didn’t argue, even though it was only about 6:20. I asked if he wanted a bubble bath, which he did. Upstairs, we had a little head-to-head over getting undressed. With the joy of the day still fresh in my head, I was determined not to fight with him, so I gave him a choice: get undressed or go to bed. He chose not to get undressed and although he didn’t technically say “I choose to go to bed” those were his actions, so he was carried to bed, and left there. He cried for a bubble bath for a few minutes, and I waited it out in my room with a good book. I have found this to be the best method. After a few minutes there was complete silence. Usually this means something has distracted him, and he’s playing, but when I went to check on him, he was sound asleep with teddy tucked up by his face. The poor little guy was so tired; he just couldn’t handle it any more. I left him as he was, clothes and all, covered him up, and let him sleep. The time: 6:50pm!

We didn’t hear from James until about 5:30 this morning. Jose’s alarm had gone off for the gym, and James wandered into our room. Jose convinced him it was too early to get up or even watch the Treehouse channel, and he lay with me for awhile, eventually falling back to sleep. I had to wake him up at about 7:15 to go to Michelle’s house because Jose was coming back from the gym him. Again, the morning could have gone two ways. James really doesn’t like being woken up, but I stayed sickeningly cheerful (difficult in the early morning hours), and he was just fine, and merrily waved goodbye as he went off for his weekly play day with Elena.

Now, James is at Michelle’s, and Julia and I have the place to ourselves. While I’ve been writing this, Julia has alternated between lying on her bug mat, hitting the ladybug with a soft ring toy, sitting in my lap, and now she’s expressing her disgust at being on her tummy. I should go rescue her.

Ups and Downs

Posted by: Jennifer

 

Wow. The Terrible Twos really do exist, and it can be really awful living through it sometimes. James, yes, James – the adorable, sweet, happy little guy – has had some sort of spell laid on him, and he has become Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He is still the adorable, sweet happy little guy underneath and we get to interact with that one from time to time, but we are seeing sides of him we never thought possible. I had to haul him out of Safeway today. Picture this: we’re standing in line; the cashier asks James if he would like some stickers. He refuses to say “yes please” and so I tell him he can’t have them until he uses his manners. Holy crap. Who knew that two little words could set off such spectacular fireworks? We got to see it all: the flinging onto the floor, the crying, blubbering, screaming, and it digressed into flopping around on the floor, and then kicking. Needless to say, he never did get the frigging stickers. What he did get was a free ride out of the store to the car under my arm, kicking and screaming all the way. He was deposited unceremoniously into the car and told to get into his car seat while I put the groceries in the back. He was lucky I didn’t leave him in the parking lot. Julia sat in her car seat the whole time just looking around totally content. Thank God! It was hard enough pushing the cart one-handed while carting out a 30lb squirming mass of toddler.

Luckily, James is not like this all the time, and we are learning how to avoid these daily scenes. It’s a tough road though. Killing with Kindness is a pretty good method, but it doesn’t work all the time (e.g. Safeway). Calling his bluff works well, but again, it doesn’t work all the time. In fact, nothing works all the time, which is why the road we’re traveling is so difficult. He’s taken it into his head that he never wants to go potty. We’ve had some accidents that could have been avoided if he’d gone when I asked, so my solution to this battle has been to threaten diapers. I know that according to the experts, you should never use negative or demeaning words with your child. Well, the “experts” can stuff it as far as I’m concerned – if wanting to avoid being considered a baby is going to keep my son dry and out of diapers, well, I’m doing use it. So there. Just for the record: my mum says even I wasn’t this stubborn. James sets his mind, and you might as well try moving heaven and earth as changing it.

However. We’re getting through this, and just trying to make sure he gets lots of one-on-one positive time with us. We also point out with lots of praise the things he’s doing well. For example, he got dressed, and ate both breakfast and lunch without needing a professional negotiator today. Some days, each of these activities can take over an hour. Because, I admit it, I’m stubborn too (but remember, not as stubborn as James!!). It’s sometimes (ok, often) hard not to sink to his level and act like a two-year-old myself. We’re working on that too. And he does still show that devastatingly sweet side to us. He likes to cuddle and read books together, and our bedtime routine consists of at least one story, two songs, and tons of hugs and “tisses”. The kiss routine alone is quite something – he gives a kiss on each cheek, then the lips, then he gets one on each cheek and then the lips. After that, it’s Papa’s turn!

Anyway, poor little Jua – she hasn’t had much air time lately. Partly because she’s so easy in comparison to other things we’re dealing with! She’s starting to chub out with little dimples at her elbows, and “bracelets” at her wrists. Her little thighs are absolutely delectable, and it’s very hard not to just sink your teeth into them. She had a doctor’s appointment last week for her 3 month check-up, and he’s very pleased. Julia now weighs 11lbs 13oz, and is 23.5” long. She’s got a blocked tear duct which is producing some green crusties, but the doctor isn’t concerned, and we’re just supposed to massage the corner of her eye. She definitely has her own personality, and it’s a lot of fun to see her developing it. She’s quite the little character on the change table, and that’s often where we get the most fun out of her. The other night I spent 10 times as long as I needed to changing her because we were having so much fun laughing and talking to each other. It started with her letting out a little shriek out of nowhere and then laughing because she enjoyed the noise she made. She kept trying to repeat it, but never got quite the same noise out again. One of Julia’s favourite activities right now is to stand in front of the mirror and have a chat and a laugh with herself. It’s too cute. She also likes swimming, but hates the change room. We’ve only gone once so far, and when we were changing after swimming, Julia started to scream like she was being tortured. That was two weeks ago, and I’m still scarred. I didn’t know babies could make that kind of sound. Horrifying. Turns out, she just wanted out of the loud, echo-y change room, and when she got to the lobby, she went to sleep in Jose’s arms. She was fine; I’m the one who’s totally traumatized! Besides that, Julia’s an incredibly sweet, patient baby who spoils her mummy by sleeping tons. She slept for 11 hours last night! After about 5:30 or so, I kept kind of waking up and dreading to go over to her bed in case she had died or something (the horrible things that go through a mother’s head!). So I’d lie in bed listening. She always made some sort of little noise, so I knew she was safe. James slept in too – he didn’t get up until about 8:30! A more normal night sees Julia sleeping about 6 or 7 hours. Saturday night though, she acted much more like a “normal” baby and got up at 1:00am, then again at 4:00. I was not impressed, but knew deep down that I’m thoroughly spoiled and can suck it up every now and then.

So that’s life with the Samayoa children! Stay tuned.

Lots to be Thankful For

Posted by: Jennifer

 

We just finished a really wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We had a houseful of people, and great meal, and lots of fun. Due to various schedules, we had Thanksgiving Dinner yesterday (Monday). Our guest list included (in order of arrival): Claire, Miguel, and Scamp, Antonio and Chico, Grant and Sue, and Jess and Ryan. Claire and Miguel arrived on Sunday, everyone else at different times on Monday.

We always enjoy having Claire and Miguel around. For Sam, it’s an opportunity to play with his cousin; for Jose it’s an excuse to go to Future Shop; for James it’s a chance to play with some fun family members; and I get to catch up with my sister and have a good time. Jose and Miguel went to Future Shop (as usual) and each came home with a new game for their Xbox 360s. Ironically, they were both games that Claire and I wanted. Miguel got Guitar Hero, and Jose got Dance, Dance Revolution. We spent a good chunk of time Sunday afternoon and evening rocking out and dancing up a storm. Both games were a lot of fun. In the evening, Claire and I made the cheesecake that was to be dessert for Thanksgiving Dinner. That was just the beginning of our cooking marathon, and what a beginning it was! I made the filling, and Claire made the crust and dipped strawberries in white chocolate. We knew we were in for a very decadent dessert.

Monday morning got off to an early start, although it felt very much like sleeping in to Jose and me. Both kids slept all night, and didn’t get up until about 7:00. Claire got up with James, and Miguel went off for some Tim Horton’s coffee for everyone. I fed Julia, and we gradually got moving. We made a nice big breakfast around 10:00 so we didn’t have to have lunch as supper was going to be fairly early. Then the food marathon began in earnest. Claire started with her sweet potato pie, and I made stuffing. Then I made a quick trip to Safeway because my roasting pan wasn’t big enough for the 21lb Hutterite turkey. Jose helped with the turkey as he always does because I can’t bring myself to touch it. He rinsed, buttered and stuffed it, and it found itself in the oven becoming delicious. A little later in the afternoon, I put the carrots in dilled wine sauce in the crock pot (but not before another trip out for the dry white wine). Later still, we started the potatoes, and got the sweet potatoes and leftover stuffing in the oven while the turkey sat for a bit. I got a lesson on how to make decent gravy from Sue (mine has NEVER turned out very well before yesterday), and we got everything out onto the table. It was a beautiful spread if I do say so myself. The food was delicious, and the turkey was the best I’d ever made – it was juicy and perfectly roasted. Everyone enjoyed the meal, and then it was time for cheesecake. Instead of decorating the cheesecake as a whole, Claire and I decided to decorate each piece individually like in a restaurant. The slice of cake went in the middle of the plate with a dollop of fresh whipped cream beside it. A white chocolate-dipped strawberry went on top, and another tucked into the whipped cream. The final step was to drizzle some homemade chocolate sauce over it in an artistic fashion. What can I say, everyone raved! I have to admit, it was one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever tasted. I will be using that recipe again. In fact, Ryan was figuring out whose birthday comes next so we could have it again.

The out of towners had to leave shortly after dessert so they could get back in decent time. Jess and Ryan stayed around for awhile to visit, sample DDR and watch the latest Fantastic 4 movie.

So, like my title says, we had a lot to be thankful for. I always love getting together with family and friends to celebrate. We’ve had a wonderful year with lots to celebrate. I am grateful to God for everything he has blessed us with.