Firsts

The last few days have been those of firsts.  I proudly watched my son try to drink cheese from a Chicago Blackhawks glass, I watched him let out little doggy lick his animal crackers (and them eat them himself) and I performed my first  heimlich maneuver.  Sammy was eating a cheese string as a snack as he has done many times before.  We were in the same room, but I was not paying attention to the cheese eating.  Sammy had been very still for (what seemed like) a few seconds, then he turned to me, his little face a funny colour and his eyes begging me for help.  It took a moment to register, then I saw him silently wretching and I knew he was choking.  He was not breathing.  I picked his little body up and pulled on his ribcage.  After a few times of trying, a small piece of cheese came flying out of his mouth and he gasped for air.  Not ten seconds later, Mike walked through the door to see me holding the boy, and the cheese on the floor.  I was fine for about ten minutes, then the severity of what just happened hit me like a fist.  I could not stop crying.  I am however (splitting the infinitive) pleased to tell that he was fine about 20 seconds later; chasing the dog and playing with his trains.  It is me that is scarred!

I will now backtrack a few days to less traumatic events.  Wednesday we travelled across the lake with the lovely Rebecca and her son Beau.  We met up with some friends on a farm to pet some animals and experience our first hay rids (sans the hay). 

Thursday was two rides on the Halloween train at the mall.  I honestley thought Sammy would be scared to ride the train without me, but all he needed was his flame-haired, up for anything friend Graham!  They have so much fun together!

Friday night was Boo at the Zoo. It is a local fundraiser held at Audubon Zoo and every little one dresses up in a costume to celebrate Halloween. Sammy had been sent a yukata from Japan, and so we paired it with a plastic sword and created our own little samuri warrior! As my good friend Rubi put it, "Way to embrace your Asian heritage Sammy!". He was the cutest little warrior I have ever seen, and way more convincing that Tom Cruise.

Saturday was the most fun of all!  We travelled about ninety minutes north of here to Folsom.  With our friends Amy, Sal and Lilly we saw a cow being milked, rode another (no hay) hayride, saw more pumpkins and just ran around in the hay.  I love seeing little ones be able to run freely, its even more idyllic when its through a corn field!

All in all, a very eventful and fun week (minus the choking).  I hope that these experiences stay with my boy for a long time and that he becomes a well-rounded person for them.  I think he is doing a great job so far, even with hay on his head.

Addiction

I think blogging might be addictive.

Sammy and I went to the zoo with our MMM group and had a wonderful time.  Sammy has a friend named Roman who he really loves.  He shows only a little interest when they are together, but when he leaves he says "Wo Wo" and puts up his hands as if to ask' "Where is he?".  It is very cute. 

I caught my child kissing two animals today.  I should preface this by saying kisses in our house are very rare.  Never when asked for, usually unexpected and always with teeth (a tongue too, if he really likes you).  My husband usually walks our dog as soon as he wakes up, but, given the night shift situation, Eddie has had to keep his legs crossed for a few more hours.  Eddie sleeps in our second bathroom with a baby gate blocking the doorway.  After our routine teeth brushing and me yelling for him not to splash in the toilet, we headed for our three stairs.  I realised that I had left the white noise machine on in Sammy's room so I quickly nipped in to switch it off to come out and find him kissing the dog.  Eddie has his two front paws up on the gate and my baby was kissing his face.  Disgusting you might think, I have not finished.

Apparently our zoo has a petting area.  For any of you who know my child, letting him loose on innocent animals seems a bit mean.  But, there were many other children in there and I felt that keeping him strapped in his pram while they all petted the cute animals was a bit meanspirited.  In an area full of sheep and goats, my son is the only one stood obsessing over the only ceiling fan in the vicinity, but a mean looking black goat quickly catches his attention.  He shows me the sign for dog and promptly chases after the unsuspecting goat.  After feebly trying to explain that it was not a dog, he continued his pursuit through the dirt.  I turned around briefly to speak to another Mum, only to catch my curly haired boy, mouth wide open headed for the caprine.  Before I could get any words out, my child kissed a goat. 

I do not believe that you ate a goldfish

Samuel keeps falling down.  Socks do not agree with him at all, but in fairness I think that resistance is a concept lost on a one year old.  I think he might have twisted his ankle at some point today as he cleverly signed to me that he had an 'ouchy' on his foot.  Sign language is a magical tool for babies, but when you can't do anything about what they communicate to you it seems to lose some of its sparkle.

Daddy came home looking a bit grey after a fourteen and a half hour nightshift and tried to smoosh three hours worth of playing into ten minutes before he promtly passed out.  Later in the afternoon we spent only about an hour together relaxing (whilst Sammy napped) but it was during this hour that the strangest conversation developed.  Mike and I were having our usual disagreement about whether 'Barefoot Contessa' is a good show (I think yes, he disagrees) and during a commercial break, there was an advert for 'Chopped', a programme I do not like.  For those who are not familiar, three mediocre chefs are given picnic baskets with secret ingredients inside and are asked to prepare a dish in twenty minutes.  It was clear that on the upcoming episode they were being asked to cook with something which was still living.  In the comfort of our living room, I asked, "Would you ever eat anything that was still alive?" to which he responded, "I already have".  The following is one of the strangest conversations I have ever had (and I taught teenagers!).

Me: Would you ever eat anything that was still alive?
Mike: I already have
Me: No you have not
Mike: Yes I have, I ate a goldfish
Me: What? You did not eat a goldfish
Mike: Yes I did, I drank one
Me: What??? You did not eat or drink a goldfish
Mike: I did! In college, for hockey
Me: Your hockey team made you eat a live goldfish, I don't believe you
Mike: Don't believe me then, we all had to do it
Me: Why would they make you eat (or drink) a goldfish? I don't understand American universities
Mike: I drank one through a beer bong
Me: If you drank a goldfish, I ate a cat
Mike: Now that's a lie, you did not eat a cat
Me: I ate a cat as much as you ate a goldfish
Mike: Don't believe me then, I don't care but I did eat one, it was small, but I did
Me: Okay

There were then only a few moments of silence before our child woke up and my husband had to leave for medical school.  Aren't the conversations that go on behind closed doors strange?

On a different note, my photography teacher saw the pictures I submitted for homework and told me I could sell them and make money.  That's always nice to hear.  Here is the one he liked the most.

First post!

It has taken Mike being on a night shift, and Sammy being in bed to allow me the time to finally pick up the laptop and type. Not being exactly sure of how a first post should go, allow me to tell you about my day. I was awoken by a not so small boy climbing over me to get at my water bottle. I am wise enough to screw the plastic lid onto my bottle, yesterday Mike was not, and so last night he slept in a rather large wet spot. After forcing my eyelids open with his chubby little fingers I relented and got up to make him the soggy cheerios that he so loves. I have to make them soggy and pour away the milk because he cannot be trusted with liquid if it is not in an closed container. I got some very funny looks from the boy as I dressed him in long pants, a jacket and full shoes. He spent a considerable amount of time looking at the tiny brown shoes and wondering where his toes had gone. Poor boy is going to be devastated when we go to England in a week and the temperature is less than 70 degrees!

We took Eddie for a long walk outside where I continued to have to tell him what everything was. "That's a tree", "that's a leaf" and "that's a swimming pool". It sounds like it should be easy to let a few questions slip through the cracks, but my son has the cutest way of looking up at me and asking, "Wha dat?" (A true New Orleanian). Following true to his birthplace, he watched the first three quarters of the Saints game with dedication before we headed out to allow Daddy some time to study.

A quick visit with Uncle Tony and Mimi Fay made him smile, but not as much as Mr. Dennis taking him to see eight chickens in a pen. He spent the rest of the evening making a strange purring sound, which only I know to be his impression of a fat brown chicken.

That brings me to now, sat on the sofa watching the Girls Next Door, eating Reese's Pieces whilst my husband deals with drama on the labour and delivey ward and my precious boy sleeps in the next room. I think Eddie and I will continue to sit here and watch trashy tv, whilst I should be cleaning the kitchen.