THE GREEN(wald) HOUSE … (growing rosemary & raising a little wolf)

Aah - another month already! Sammy just turned 4 months, and Rosie is 3 days shy of 28 months. This past month was a busy one. We went on a trip to Florida to visit my family and help out with the new
Joyful Yoga studio opening. After that - we had a fun halloween, and Joe’s 39th birthday (on the same day!)

As you can see - for Halloween Rosie was a ladybug (or leggybug as she says) and Sammy was a bee. Joe was also a bee and I was a butterfly. I am a halloween nerd and I love to dress up every year and I prefer to have costumes that all coordinate. Rosie had such a fun time trick-or-treating. She was so cute saying “trick or treat” and she always remembered to say “thank you” sometimes reversing the order of the two.

We went to Aunt P’s house to trick-or-treat with Marisa, Noah, Cory and Ari - and I made cupcakes for Joe’s birthday that we ate afterward. Rosie and I only lasted a couple blocks, then it started to sprinkle a little, so we headed back. But that was plenty of candy for her (translation, ME) anyway (I am still eating it). Rosie was allowed one piece of candy after we got back with her stash. Then, when we got home, the candy was magically replaced with raisins and granola bars. She also got a few non-candy items from some houses - small things of bubbles and play-dough and stickers which I really appreciated and wish more parents would do.

Florida was a lot of fun too. It was Sam’s first trip to the beach.


He didn’t like the cold ocean though - I put his toes in and he started crying - he didn’t like GiGi and Papa’s pool either. I think it was just the temperature he objected to, because he loves the water when we take a bath.

It was great for Rosie and Sam to hang out with GiGi and Papa. And Rosie loved playing with cousin Ella every day.


We also got to see Auntie Em & Uncle Gregg; Aunt Jackie; Aunt Rochelle, Uncle Steve and cousin Stephen; Aunt Renee, Uncle Ryan, cousins Kylie and twins Joey and Anthony, and the other Uncle Ryan for a few minutes. And Great-ma and Uncle BJ too. Whew! It almost took our whole week down there just to coordinate visits with everyone.

Papa and his namesake grandson - Sam and Sammy - so sweet…

Rosie and Ella are such good friends - they took baths together…

And played on the swing in the back lanai at GiGi’s after swimming in the pool…

And they were the cool kids in the back of Uncle Ryan’s car we borrowed - watching Charlie & Lola and Callliou on the DVD player…

Rosie is a great little swimmer - still only needing her arm swimmies and a little supervision to be able to swim on her own…

She loved playing in the sand and collecting seashells. She got a little too agressive trying to swim by herself (without her swimmies) in the ocean and a big wave took her under and scared her. After that she was much more careful, and that made it much easier for me to relax and enjoy the sunshine without hovering on the edge of my lounge chair as she fearlessly ran towards the ocean.

We carved 2 pumpkins for Halloween - Rosie thought the inside of the pumpkins was “yucky” - but she liked it when I took the pumpkin seeds and roasted them for her… Daddy carved her a ghost that said “boo” and I carved her a silly face.

Potty learning is still the same - sometimes she wants to go on the big potty or her “special own” little potty - but sometimes not. She was quite proud of this poo on the potty (as was her daddy). We are taking it nice and slow…

Sam has been growing so fast. He is just shy of 20 lbs (19lbs 13.5 o z - clothed) and he is wearing the same size diapers as Rosie and is in 12 months clothes already! He can now sit up for several seconds before eventually leaning and falling over to the side.

He is such a smiley, happy baby - always cooing and laughing. He has been loving trying out his voice - going from a high pitched squeal to a lower gurgle. He usually does these voice exercises at around 6am - not great timing for mommy and daddy…
It is funny how he is so different from how Rosie was at this age. Rosie was much more intense, crying a lot, she would not let anyone else hold her except Joe and I. I think this probably had something to do with the fact that I was more intense as a first time mother, and really didn’t want her out of my immediate care. Now, I am a much more mellow mother, sharing Sam with almost everyone “Sure, you can hold the baby - what’s your name again” …

Sam’s new favorite thing is jumping in his jumparoo. I can’t believe he already knows how to jump and he loves it - he will jump non-stop for over 1/2 hour sometimes! Though this usually tires him out pretty fast and if I am not paying attention - I will look over and find a sleeping baby in the jumparoo (not a proud parenting moment). He also tries to stand up when I am holding him now - he is really trying to use his legs a lot. He is also starting to control his hands better and can actually grab toys now and get them into his mouth to chew on. Speaking of chewing, he is chewing on his hands all the time and drooling a lot. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some teeth pop through soon. He also found his thumb, and when he is not chewing in his fists, he will sometimes settle for sucking on his thumb…

Joe loves having another male in the house to watch college football with. Sammy will stare at the TV and it really seems like he is watching it sometimes…Though I have to make sure there are no kids in the room if Michigan dare have a bad game - or else Rosie would learn some new swear words…

Sammy usually naps on the couch downstairs during the day - but I am going to have to find a new place for him as he has squirmed his way off the couch on a couple occasions. It is always a frightening sound - the “thud” then “waaaa” of a crying baby as he wakes himself up by falling off the couch (again, not my proudest moment as a mother). Even when I put him in the corner of the couch and surround him with pillows, he somehow squirms his way over almost 2 feet to the edge of the couch and eventually off if I dont catch him in time… Luckily he is a strong, sturdy babe and the fall only scared him. As soon as I picked him up and cuddled him for a minute, he started smiling and I knew everything was ok…

Everytime I turn around, I feel that Rosie is so much older. She is definitely no longer a toddler, she is a true kid now. She learned to ride Ella’s scooter when we were in Florida, and she thought it was great fun.

She has the vocabulary and the intonation of a 12 year old already, and says some things that I could do without. She has started saying “don’t tell me no” when I tell her “no” to something (which is a phrase she picked up from me, as I tell her that when she is being bratty and telling me “no”.

For the most part though, she is very polite and courteous, always offering to share her food or drink, saying “would you like a sip?” , “would you like a little taste?” or “would you like a bite?” She is a little too adamant in her desire to share, because even if you say “no, thank you” she will force whatever item of food or drink she is offering into your mouth, like it or not.

She always cracks me up in the morning when we allow her a few episodes of one of her favorite programs we have TiVo’d (her current faves being Oswald, Wilbur, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Maisy, and Super Why) - the TiVo automatically records new episodes and every day Rosie gets excited and sucks in her breath and says “we got a new one!” in a deep, almost mysterious voice.

I am so blessed and can’t believe how lucky I am to have such amazing children.