Sam at 3 years, 3 months

Sam is at an amazingly fun and frustrating stage right now.  Although Sam's body is identical to Brad's body (long and skinny string bean -- at 3 years he only weighs 28 pounds), his personality is strikingly similar to mine.  He is social and loves to strike up conversations with pretty much any person he sees.  People walking down the street, strangers in a store, people at the pool - it doesn't matter.  He goes up to them and says "hi my name is sam, what's your name? How do you spell your name?"  And this is accompanied by him extending his hand to shake their hand and saying "nice to meet you." He is left-handed, so he tries to shake hands with his left hand which throws people off a bit, but he is quite the social butterfly.

He gets very excited about small every day things.  Yesterday's conversation included an exaggerated "Mommy, I loooooooooove waffles" -- which he ate for lunch.

Sam can be quite dramatic at times (gee wonder where he gets that from).  When I drive the car through roundabouts to enter/exit the highway, he is convinced that he is going to fall out of the car and wants me to slow down (even though I'm only going 25 mph).

His stubborn streak is quite familiar and we frequently go head to head with our strong-mindedness and stubborn natures.  He is constantly testing limits and pushing to see exactly where the boundaries are.  I am convinced he is going to be a lawyer when he grows up because he is an excellent negotiator and knows how to manipulate situations masterfully.  Our current debate is that he tries to find ways daily to convince me that he "needs" to have popsicles for breakfast.  "Mommy, I am so very very hungry. I NEED to have a popsicle for breakfast."

His latest tactic is to tell me that he is scared of something in order to get out of doing something he doesn't want to do.  Yesterday, when I reminded him that he is not allowed to leave the dinner table without clearing his plate he informed me that he cannot clear his plate because he is scared of his plate (which is plastic -- and a chore he has been performing for 6 months now).  Nice try Sam -- now go clear your plate.

Like me, is quite impatient.  People tell me that this is part of being 3 years old, but I'm an adult and I'm still quite impatient!

He loves to play outdoors and is very skilled at riding his two-wheel bike with training wheels or zooming down the sidewalk on his scooter.  He LOVES to wear his helmet all day long.  He wears his helmet to walk the dog, eat lunch, play on the swings.  Our latest argument is that he is not allowed to wear the helmet to sleep -- I'm such an reasonable mommy.  These are the times when he tells me: "Mommy, you are very very mean to me.  I'm mad at you!"

He has endless energy and can play outdoors forever.  This summer we have been very busy building sandcastles in our sandbox, playing in the water table (although he has had some timeouts for dumping a bucket of water on Noah's head), exploring local water parks and spragyrounds, swimming at the pool, climbing in the castle in our backyard (our swingset which he calls his castle), playing in the plastic house in the yard where he "cooks" dinner for us, running through the sprinkler, trying out the slip n slide, and learning to play sports.  He is very athletic and coordinated -- he has mastered his wiffle ball tee ball set, is learning to kick the soccer ball into the goal, and has become quite proficient with the plastic golf set.

I'm continually amazed by how Sam notices EVERYTHING.  During this weekend's crazy derecho storms (winds of 80mph knocked out electricity to 1.5 million people in the DC area), many of the stop lights were out which Sam noticed each time.  We were driving on the parkway and a silver Nissan Murano was stopped in front of us.  Sam excitedly yelled "Is that Mimi??"  I was on the phone with Brad who informed me that yes, my mom drives a silver Nissan murano which she just bought a few months ago.  If you asked me (Or my mom!), we both would be able to pick out a silver small SUV and know that it is what her car looks like -- but there is no way I could identify a silver Nissan Murano and know that is what my mom drives.  Unbelievable.  Sam notices when someone gets new tires on their car.

His child care provider thinks that he will be the peacemaker when he grows up.  His empathy and concern for others is incredible.  When another kid is hurt or upset, he has to comfort them and tell them that "it's ok, I'm here, it's ok."

He is starting some pre-reading.  Since he was 2 years and 3 months, he has known all of the upper case letters of the alphabet.  He now knows all of the lower case, numbers, and shapes and is starting to put them together.  He loves to sing songs and regularly serenades us with "Welcome to Music" from his music class.

Life with Sam is never dull.  He is high-energy, high-fun, and full of love and sweetness.


 

Blogging = Capturing the Memories of My Kids' Childhood

Lately i have begun to realize that as much as I think I will remember every adorable thing my kids do, my memory fails me more times than I care to admit.  When I try to think back on what Sam was like at 15 months (Noah's current age), I am so grateful to have my blog and FB pictures/videos to help me remember.  So, that being said - I am committed to once again using this blog to capture the funny things that my kids do and say.

If you're not interested in hearing about the crazy antics that are daily occurrences in my house, feel free to stop reading.  But if you're looking for a good laugh about the hilarity that is my life -- I welcome you to join me as I increase the frequency of my blogs in an attempt to record the "I can't believe he did/said that" moments in the Geller-Cheney house.

Sam's new love for rocket ships

When Sam is interested in something new, we work hard to encourage his curiosity and seize the opportunity.  I make many mistakes as a mom, but last week I felt like I did a great job taking advantage of an opportunity and teaching Sam about an exciting new concept.

Last week, I did an entire lesson plan around rocket ships thanks to the space ship Discovery flying into DC to be housed at the Dulles Air and Space Museum.

On Tuesday morning we watched the news coverage on tv to see the rocket ship flying attached to the plane.

Then we left our house and saw the rocket ship fly RIGHT over our heads at a very low level! Sam said "THAT's AMAZING!"

On Wednesday morning we hunted in the toy box and found the toy rocket ship that Pa bought for Sam at the Smithsonian in December. We played pretend rocket ship games and the rocket ship was called the Discovery, just like the one in the sky!
















Later on Wednesday we watched YouTube videos of rocket ships taking off and Sam learned to count backwards from 10-1 and then yell BLAST OFF!

On Thursday we went to the library and checked out books about rocket ships and outer space.

We capped the week with a visit to the Dulles air and space museum with Uncle D to see the rocket ship in person! Sam was BEYOND excited.



As soon as Sam saw the rocket ship and took off RUNNING towards it!

Noah clapping his hands in joy

Of course we had to check out the helicopters too

Mommy & Uncle D

It was a VERY exciting week focused on rocket ships! Thank you space ship Discovery for the wonderful lessons about outer space. 

Remembering the Hilarious Story of Noah's Birth

Back due to popular demand, I am re-posting the hilarious sitcom-esque story of Noah's birth.  It was a comedy on all fronts and we barely got to the hospital in time!

You can read his very funny birth story here.

And here is my slideshow celebrating Noah's first year!


Untitled from rebecca geller on Vimeo.

Happy 1st Birthday to Noah!

I cannot believe Noah is 1 year old today!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

March 26, 2011

March 25, 2012

Here is the slideshow I created about Noah's 1st year! Personally, I can't watch it without crying.

Untitled from rebecca geller on Vimeo.

He is an amazing and happy little guy.  He loves his big brother Sam SO much -- they wrestle on the floor and Noah is a very resilient and tough boy.

Since he was 12 weeks old, Noah has slept about 11-12 hours/night.  He takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, which usually coincides with Sam's naptime too (yay).  At night/nap time we read several books, sing songs, cuddle, and then put him down in his crib wide awake.  He listens to his music, plays in his crib, and falls asleep completely on his own.  When he wakes up in the morning, he frequently plays happily in his crib for 30-45 minutes at a time.  

He began rolling over at 3 weeks old on a regular basis -- truly a genius baby.  

He sat up on his own at 4 months and 1 day.  He began babbling around 6-7 months.  He began pulling himself up on furniture and cruising at 7 months.  Noah started crawling at 9 months.  Right now Noah is standing on his own without holding onto anything for about 30 seconds at a time.  We expect he will probably start walking any day now.

He began drinking from a sippy cup at 6 months and weaned himself from a bottle at 10 months -- and only drinks from a cup now.  I just stopped nursing him and am very proud of reaching my goal of nursing Noah for 1 year! 

Noah loves to eat. He began eating baby food around 5 months and started on table food at 9 months. He now truly eats more than Sam.  He self-feeds in the high chair and eats pretty much whatever we put in front of him -- brussel sprouts, beans, broccoli, spinach, fish, spicy Indian food, -- you name, it he will eat it.  His favorite foods include strawberries, blueberries, meatballs, cheese, bananas, yogurt, hummus (which he loves to smash into his hair), turkey, and bread.  Despite the massive amounts of food he eats, he still only weighs 21 pounds which is about 40th percentile in weight charts -- probably because he is VERY active and never sits still! 

After a series of ear infections between December and March, his ears are finally doing better and we are postponing the tubes surgery.  He began saying "mama" around 8 months and "dada" at 10 months.

 He now says the letters a, b, d, e, g, h, i, m, s and the words ba ba, gaga, dada, mama.

Sweet baby sounds like this



He is pointing at things and asking questions in his babble.  His favorite sound is talking, singing, and he LOVES to laugh

He began waving at 9 months and loves to give "high 5" and stick out his tongue.  He has a new game of saying "ha ha" and trying to get someone to repeat it back to him -- he then laughs, and starts the "ha ha" game over and over again -- 50x in a row.

He loves music and has his own "singing voice". Here's a great video of him with Brad at music class at 2 months old



He is also starting to become very curious about the world around him.  He loves to splash in the dog's water bowl, the toilet bowl, and thinks that dog food is a delicious snack.  He likes to climb into the dishwasher and can climb up steps SO quickly!  Our house is once again very child proofed and Noah has already learned the meaning of the word "no."

It has truly been an extraordinary first year for Noah and we are so in love and SO proud of our amazing little boy.  I can only imagine what the next year will bring!

Happy birthday my sweet boy, I am so blessed to have you in my life.

Happy 3rd birthday to Sam!

I can't believe that Sam turns 3 today -- how did that happen?  It's hard to believe that 3 years ago I was in the hospital giving birth to a premature baby born 2 months early.  I was wrought with fear about what kind of disabilities and challenges my child would have due to his premature arrival.

Those fears have long been forgotten and we are incredibly grateful that Sam has blossomed into a smart, sweet, funny, energetic, highly verbal, social butterfly.

I know I'm not exactly objective but Sam is extremely verbal and bright.  By 2 years and 2 months, he could recognize all of the letters of the alphabet.  By 2 years and 4 months, he knew all of his numbers.  By 2 years and 6 months, he knew upper case and lower case letters.

He can count from 1-27 (although he sometimes skips numbers 16 or 21).  He can count from 1-10 in Spanish.  He knows how to spell his name and is beginning to learn to write the letters of the alphabet.  He knows all of his shapes and can draw a perfect triangle, circle, heart, square, and rectangle.  We spend a lot of time drawing with crayons and with chalk on the sidewalk.

He loves music and sings all day long.  Some of his favorites right now include John Jacob, Old McDonald, Rain Rain Go Away, Wheels on Bus, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle twinkle.

His imagination is truly developing and it is amazing to watch.  We frequently search our house for Swiper the Fox (from Dora) and play pretend games like "selling items in a store" or "chef in a restaurant. 

Here are some pictures, videos, and reflections on Sam's life as he turns 3: 

His boots are his favorite shoes and he asks to wear them all of the time - regardless of whether or not it is raining.  He manages to find all puddles to jump in and loves throwing rocks into the water. 

As seen in this picture, Sam is holding his precious "baby doll" in his arm.  Baby doll came to our family in March 2011, when baby Noah was born.  Sam calls his baby doll his own "baby noah."  Baby doll comes everywhere with us.  He puts baby doll down for a nap, baby doll has his own special blanket.  Sam pushes baby doll in the doll stroller.  He even breastfeeds babydoll and changes his diaper/clothes.  Babydoll wears Sam's old premie clothes!  Baby doll is a very important part of our house. 

He loves wearing his backpack and pretending like he is going to school.  We have a terrific creek by our house and we frequently walk there with the dog so the dog can go for a swim and Sam can throw rocks/sticks into the water -- one of his favorite activities.  He doesn't understand why we won't let him go swimming (when it is 40 degrees). 

Mr. Cool loves the beach and playing with the sand.  He also enjoys dressing up like the adults, wearing my sunglasses and my dad's watch. 

We have transitioned Sam from a crib to a toddler bed.  He never tried to escape but he was becoming too big for the pack n play so we needed to adjust him to a toddler bed.  The transition has been amazingly easy.  He regularly says "i'm ready for naptime, i'm going to go upstairs and put myself down for a nap" -- and he does exactly that!  If only potty training were this simple.  

He is quite a social butterfly and has a lot of friends.  We go to about 20-30 birthday parties/year! This was his first game of "pin the tail on the donkey"

He has learned to dress himself and regularly picks out his own outfits and puts on his clothes.  This frequently results in some very odd outfits, shirts on backwards, and shoes (boots) on the wrong feet (as seen in this picture).  But we like to encourage his independence. 

He LOVES playing with cards and trucks - and making up games to play -- as seen here with Uncle D. 

It is truly amazing to see him mimic our actions.  Here he is dressed in his bathrobe and slippers drinking his coffee on Sunday morning -- just like daddy.  

Cooking is one of his favorite activities.  He has a chef's hat and loves to help in the kitchen.  Sometimes his "help" is actually not so helpful but we try to make family meals together.  

He loves to line things up in a row and get them in order.  Not sure where he got this from since we're not exactly the most "orderly" of people! 

Arts & Crafts projects are favorite activities 

Sam is an amazing big brother (when he's not using Noah's head as a drum) and the boys play together beautifully, especially when they are happily digging in the sand. 

Although Sam has a clean bill of health, we go to the doctor more often than we would like due to past respiratory challenges (and another hospitalization in August 2011 -- we were there during the east coast earthquake).  Sam has become a terrific patient and likes to play doctor with buddy Quinn. 

He has such joy in his life and gets excited by almost everything -- here he is overjoyed by the Valentine's Day card from Mimi & Pa. 

Yes, they are pretty darn cute in matching new year's outfits from Mimi & Pa

Sam's mischevious side pops its lovely head from time to time -- like when he gets into mommy's makeup. 

He has a sweet tooth, especially for chocolate -- so proud to teach him how to eat Oreos! 

Both boys are quite musical and love singing, dancing, and making music. 

Playdoh fun with Mimi building a helicopter

We spend a LOT of time outside when it is above 40 degrees - the boys are so funny on the playground and beginning to truly play together. 

We read 5-10 books every day and the boys frequently enjoy reading books by themselves too.  This is part of our nightly routine when we read books, sing our prayers, and each say something we are thankful for. 

He LOVES his train table -- basically he loves anything with a wheel: car, truck, train, plane,  bus, etc 

Last year we installed a fabulous swingset and treehouse for the boys.  We love having picnics and playing in the backyard - Sam calls it his "castle". 

Mr Cool in his sunglasses, boots (even though it's not raining) and favorite wagon
(which is the wagon I used when I was a kid!).

We also love to sing songs and try to record videos as much as possible

Sam is very athletic and loves to swing at the gym



Sharing is a very hard concept, but the boys are teaching each other some important lessons about sharing


There is never a dull moment in our busy, crazy, fun, challenging, sweet, and hilarious life. Sam is a terrific little guy and we are so excited to see what it will be like having a 3 year old in our house. Happy birthday Sam!

Remembering March 21, 2009 -- one of the scariest days of my life

Every year when I wake up on March 21, I say a prayer and remember back to March 21, 2009 -- one of the scariest days of my life that truly ended in a miracle for my family.

It should have been a calm, lazy day -- I was 7 months pregnant with my first child.  My best friends were planning a baby shower for me  the following day.   I had seen my obstetrician 4 days earlier and things were going beautifully - the baby was developing normally,  I was healthy, and everything was great.

March 21, 2009 should have been a normal day during a very normal pregnancy, but it turned into a terrifying day that ended with me in pre-term labor at only 7 months pregnant.  March 21 began a three day marathon of trying to stave off pre-term labor and ended with me having a very tiny, premature baby born 2 months early.

Here is a blog post that I wrote on March 21, 2010 to tell the emotional birth story surrounding the premature birth of Samuel Dame Geller-Cheney.

http://rebeccageller.blogspot.com/2010/03/reflecting-back-on-sams-first-birthday.html

Although March 21 is always a tough day for me -- I just have to take one look at my amazing almost 3 year old and know that he is truly a miracle.  People are stunned to learn that Sam was born 2 months early.

He now speaks at a kindergarten level.  He is a social butterfly with many many friends.  He is an amazing big brother.  He understands EVERYTHING.  He is creative, loves to read, musical, determined, stubborn, funny, sweet, outdoorsy, and an overall exceptional little boy.  He is very tall, skinny, with endless energy -- and is healthy!

As always, I have to thank the amazing doctors and nurses at Sibley hospital who are truly miracle workers.  You will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Top 10 things I learned over President's Day Weekend

10.  Potty training is my least favorite parenting job.  After 3 very frustrating days, I officially hate it.

9.  Noah has discovered eating dog food and thinks it is delicious.  Awesome.

8.  Noah has also discovered that splashing in the dog's water bowl is "fun."

7.  I really hate de-cluttering and organizing closets, basement, junk drawers, etc.  I have many strengths in life, but cleaning and organizing is NOT one of them.

6. My almost 11 month old baby Noah has learned to climb the steps and climbed all 25 steps in one shot.  I fear that he is not really a baby any more but quickly becoming a toddler. Yikes!

5.  Did I mention how much I despise potty training?

4.  Mother Nature is teasing us with the dusting of snow this weekend and my kids aren't going to be able to actually play in snow at all this year!

3.  Waking Sam up to watch the snow fall and come outside to let the snow fall on his head was one of the best mommy decisions I have made in a while.  The snow began about 5 minutes after I put him to bed, so I woke him up so we could enjoy the snow together.

2.  Potty training really sucks.  Being an adult is hard sometimes.

1.  We are in desperate need of a vacation.  Good thing we have one coming up WITHOUT THE KIDS! It will be my first time away from Noah overnight.  I.AM.READY.

In addition to the frustrations of cleaning and potty training, we did have some sweet times at home with the boys.  It's not often that we basically stay home for 3 days in a row!  Here are some videos of Noah learning to conquer the steps and the boys being silly.

HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY!

2011 Memories: Video Slideshow of Geller-Cheney Family

Happy New Year! We hope that you enjoy this video slideshow that chronicles the many adventures of our family during 2011.  

You can watch the video HERE (dare you not to cry!) 

Overview of 2011

2011 has been another wonderful year in the Geller-Cheney home.  On March 26, 2011, we welcomed Noah Daniel Geller-Cheney into our family.  Over the past 9 months, we have fallen in love with Noah's sunny disposition, full belly laughs, adventurous nature, easygoing personality, and affinity for cuddling.  Noah adores his big brother Sam, despite Sam's sometimes not-so gentle hugs.  The boys frequently read books together, sing songs, attempt to share toys, and take turns waking us up early in the morning.

Sam has adjusted quite well to his role as big brother and is a wonderful helper, when he is not getting into mischief.  Sam will turn 3 in March and is full of personality.  He speaks in full sentences and is quite the social butterfly.  He loves his music class, swimming in the pool, cooking in his toy kitchen, dancing, riding his tricycle, painting on his easel, playing on our new swingset, jumping in puddles, and loves any toy that has a wheel (trucks, cars, buses, trains, etc).  Both Sam and Noah thoroughly enjoy harassing our wonderful dog Lucy, who is in denial that we have brought another child into our home, which is now completely full of toys!

With two young children, our travels have slowed significantly.  However, we have enjoyed trips this year to Kiawah Island, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Boston, Nashville, Chicago, and Lake Tahoe.  Brad continues to enjoy his job as the Director of Legislative Affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association.  Rebecca has left her law firm and launched her own consulting company to help small businesses develop (please visit her website www.silverbrooksolutions.com to learn more about her new business venture).  Between work, kids, and volunteering in the community, we lead a happy and busy life!

We hope that you have  a happy new year!