Sam's 2nd Birthday

This year Sam had a Bob the Builder themed birthday party. Sam loves Bob and Wendy... and it is actually nice that he likes something that Josh wasn't really that into.

This is the cake... Sam thought it was fantastic, though he did run off with Wendy just before the party started!

Here is our traditional family birthday photo...

A photo of Sam opening one of his presents. He actually wasn't very interested in presents at all, until the end of the party, when he finally got the hang of it!

And this is a photo of Sam's new Firetruck bed (with Bob the Builder doona cover)

Lactose intolerancce? Nope Gluten Intolerance? Nope

Ever since my birthday, Sam has had runny poos. Sometimes his nappies were really bad, and sometimes they seemed to get a bit better... but they were never 'normal'. After five days I took him to the doctor. He was able to give some good advice around gastro and some misconceptions. For instance, the latest research (which this doctor was involved with at the Royal Children's Hospital) shows that you do not need to restrict foods. It is a common misconception that you shouldn't have any dairy products if you have diahorea. The study found that it didn't make any difference. The main thing was to keep up the fluids to prevent dehydration. He said to come back if it continued more than ten days. So we returned the next week - but saw a different doctor. He said that it is common for the diahorea to continue for 3 weeks, and since Sam was not showing any other signs of illness, not to worry. He did order a stool sample just to rule out any bugs or lactose intolerance (a test for reducing sugars). Now that was fun!!! The results came back clear, and the doctor (a different one again) said that it was just taking a long time for Sam to get better, and it could take MONTHS!!!! So we continue changing these horrible nappies, once, twice, sometimes three times a day.

We finally got to see our normal doctor, and she suggested lactose intolerance. So we eliminated all lactose from his diet for a month. There was no change at all. Back to the doctor and now they suggest glutten intolerance, so a blood test and THREE stool samples and three weeks later and the results have come back negative. So we are back where we started. Next step is an appointment with a paedeatrician, which has been booked in for October. The referal letter says it all "...he is obviously a bright, happy and healthy child. ? any need for further investigation."

Toilet training

It has been a while since Sam has had a 'first'. Though we do get excited everytime he says another word for the first time. Last night (well it was actually 9th July - I am late posting this!) was a momentous occasion... his first wee on the toilet!!! It was probably just a fluke, but he watched Josh go to the toilet before their shower, so I thought I would try him on the toilet as well. About 5 seconds after sitting down, he did it!!! I was shocked and excited, and we had to run down and tell everyone and give him some lollies as a reward. Now we just need to stop him pooing in the bath and shower!

Since July Sam has been going to the toilet at least once a day. Usually just before the shower, but also first thing in the morning, and even if we are down the shops.

I love this self-toilet training!

A sunny winter day

There were ten in the bed...

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Ten o'clock

When I am home from work, Kel gets to sleep in. But when it hits 10:00am that is when we rush into the bedroom to wake him up... because it's Milo time! Every morning at 10am we sit down and Kel has his coffee and me and the boys have a Milo, or Quick. Lately when I have been at work I haven't had time to scratch myself, let alone make myself a Milo, so I really enjoy
it when I am at home... plus it never tastes as nice when I make it myself!
On Monday I was getting ready for work, and the boys woke up, so I got their breakfast ready, and then had my breakfast and then I was running late for work. Sam was still eating his cereal in the highchair, so I told Josh to go and wake Dad. At about 8:30am I got a phone call from Kel asking why I hadn't woken him up. Turns out that Sam had been sitting in the highchair for an hour and a half in front of the tv! It was only toward the end that he started yelling out, as if to say "Oi! Get me out of this chair!". Kel had assumed that I was sick and stayed home from work. When he got up he was very surprised to see just Josh and Sam in the kitchen. He asked Josh "Where's Mum?". He replied "Just at work". When Kel asked him why he didn't wake him up he replied "Coz it's not ten o'clock yet".

The Escape Artist

[this is one of those old posts that have been sitting on my laptop for ages...)

Kel and Mark were over last night for our regular Tuesday night dinner. I put the boys to bed and we were in the lounge room deciding who was going to drive to Macca's for dessert. Then along walks Sam. "Who got him out of his cot?" It turned out that nobody had. So I put him back into his cot (which had the side up) and watched through a crack in the door. Straight
away he flipped one leg over the railing, then the other. He held on to the side and dropped gently down onto the floor! I could hardly believe it. His brother had tried to escape when he was younger... using a slightly different approach. Here is the result. Needless to say we quickly did what I had been meaning to do for ages now, and lowered the base of the cot.
Sam was having a ball jumping on the mattress and running around while we got busy with the Alan keys! He wasn't very happy when we put him back to bed... and going by the way he was lying in the bed, when we checked on him later, it looked like he kept trying to get out until he fell into an exhausted heap!

Sam's Word Count

For a while now we have been worrying that Sam hasn't started talking yet. He makes lots of gestures, and understands everything we say, but he just won't talk.

Today I sat down and wrote a list of the words he says. It was surprising. He says a lot more than I thought. Though probably only me or Kel could understand some of them.

1. Hello
2. Ta
3. Up (but he misses off the p)
4. Yum
5. Yuck
6. Mum
7. Dad
8. Ayyyy (as in when you do a thumbs up sign, Fonzie style)
9. Nan
10. Yeah (almost whispered)
11. Hot
12. Cheese