Sam has glasses

We have been having very nice weather this January in St. Louis. This past weekend we had highs in the 60s all weekend and plenty of sunshine. On Saturday we went to the mall to take Sam to try on some glasses. Sam failed his kindergarten assessment test for vision and when we took him for his 4 year checkup the nurse also noticed some concerns and suggested for him to see an ophthalmologist.  Aaron ended up taking Sam to the eye doctor last week and he indeed needed glasses.  He has a little bit of astigmatism just like his mother and grandpa Fernando and for that matter all his cousins in Brasil also wear glasses.

We like going to the mall to get glasses because we usually receive very good customer service and prices.  Aaron even got some prescription sunglasses while we were there. Sam looks so cute with his new glasses and so natural like he has always worn them.   Everyone has been saying how he looks so intelligent and grown up.

The funny thing about this whole experience was when Aaron took Noah back to Miss Maria on Monday.  He pretended he couldn't see anything and kept saying that “I need glasses". He even told Miss Maria that his whole family now wears glasses so he needs some too! That reminded me that I also exaggerated to my eye doctor when I was a kid to wear glasses myself and I don’t think I ever told my mom!  Well, I hope Noah doesn't have to wear them for a while and has Aaron’s good eyes.

Sam's first glasses at 5 years old

Noah turned 4!

Noah turned 4 – December 25, 2014 

In just the blink of an eye, my baby Noah just turned 4. No more pull-ups at night, no more sippy cups.  In his words “I am now a little guy”. The doctor told him that he now needs to try new foods and he is taking that seriously. Noah is our Christmas baby and he is such a joy. He is so funny and out of this world. He loves dinosaurs, sea creatures and animals. His favorite TV shows are nature programs on the BBC. He is always so happy, from early AM to late PM.   We are not sure if he really sleeps at night?

Noah on his 4th birthday

Noah had a serious conversation with Aaron the other day and told him “Dad, I want to have my own friends, not just Sam’s friends or family cousins”.   So, we figured it is time for him to start preschool.  After the 5 years that my babies have been at Miss Maria (our awesome babysitter), we will now register Noah for preschool.  I just can’t believe I don’t have any more babies, no more diapers at my house…it is bitter sweet.  I love their new phases and their personalities developing…and the fact that we can just get in the car and go.  As a mom, they will be forever my babies even when they have some beard on them.

They boys did great at Christmas mass (Noah fell asleep!)

Leaving food for the reindeer

Cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer

Christmas was very exciting this year and the kids were totally into.  We went to mass on Christmas Eve and set out cookies for Santa.  The kids were very excited.  Sam woke up in the middle of the night a couple of time and so did Noah.   Not sure how are we going to do next year?

The boys did great at Christmas mass (Noah feel asleep!)

Food for the reindeer

Cookies and milk for Santa

The next day, they were so EXCITED to see what Santa has brought.  I captured an awesome video of them, that I am trying to upload it (TBD). Their excitement was definitely very contagious and priceless.  We are trying not to spoil them too much with gifts, figured just a few things would be just fine and they were so happy.

Still dark outside, just about 6 AM.

Family Dinner

Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Meghan came to join the fun. Aaron made an awesome dinner including Bacalhau (cod fish, a portuguese dish), homemade mac and cheese, lots of cheese selection, Christmas potato, ham.....we had food all day long!

We finished the day singing Happy Birthday to my Noah and had some Dino cupcakes.  Noah was so happy.  Sam was already taking a nap by this time, the day was just too much for him.  Sam woke up later the day to join the fun again, when we opened Noah's birthday present.

Noah got some cool drums from his parents for his big day!

Merry Christmas 2014!

Mother's day 2014

We had a whole weekend of celebrating mother's day this year.   It started on the Friday before.  They had mom and son breakfast at Sam's preschool.   Sam already woke up super excited.  We were one of the first ones to arrive.   They put little flowers and table clothes on the little tables.   We sat down and had our breakfast together along with his friend Levi and his mom.   I loved my card, it was so adorable and so true.  Not sure where he got the "work" from, maybe because I like to go work out?  I am for sure no workaholic!  I loved that I was 25 and never forget!  I also got a cute handmade card by Noah with his fingerprints.

At Sam's preschool for Mom and son breakfast

Sam's mothe's day card

On Saturday, we had to go shopping for Aaron, he needed some clothes for the trip and I got a pedicure.   We just stayed home and barbecued.   They boys are so much fun now that we can actually enjoy to stay home.  

On Sunday, I woke up with flowers and cards from the boys.   We headed to Square One Brewery for brunch and sat outside in the patio, it was amazing.   I had a couple of mimosas and Aaron had  a  bloody Mary.   The buffet food was amazing with so much variety.  Not the typical buffet food, but the extra stuff (like salmon, shrimp, bruschetta, awesome French cheese.....).  After brunch we hung out at the Lafayette park for a while before heading to the mall to pick up my awesome bracelet I had eye balled for a while.   Sam, also made me an very cute mother's day bracelet.  He took his job very serious when making it.

Sam making my mother's bracelet

at Square one brewery with my favorites

Very good buffet food

It was a very good weekend. I miss my mom too, but she is always in our hearts.

My mom and I

My mother's bracelet from my boys

Turning 5 is awesome! Part II

The following saturday after Sam's birthday was his birthday party.  Grandma and Grandpa arrived early on saturday and gave Sam his birthday present, a big boy bike!  He was so excited and went for a ride around the block.  He did pretty good for his first real bike.

Sam got a big boy bike

Sam asked for his party to be at Chuck E Cheese and to have a Lego themed party this year.   We invited his friends from school, family and a few Brazilian friends.  We had 17 kids coming to his party!   Aunt Meghan made a Lego Cake that was awesome and grandma made the goodie bags, everything was LEGO customized, so cute.   The kids had a lot of fun.  The party was a success and Sam was a happy boy.

Lego cake made by aunt Meghan

Goodie bags made by Grandma

 

 

Inside the goodie bags

The kids played for an hour, than they all sat down to have pizza, lemonade and cake.  Chuck E Cheese showed up for his show, sang happy birthday and Sam went along with everything.  It is a work out for the parents, but the kids have a lot of fun!

Corey and Aunt Meghan holding Noah

Ticket master!

Dancing with Chuck E Cheese!

Having cake with grandma and grandpa

Sam and his friends (Daniel, Lilly and Kubi)

Sam hanging out with Sathvik from Pre-K

We were all exhausted by the time we got home, but very happy how everything turn out.  It was nice having a party somewhere else and have everything taken care. We got home and Sam opened his presents.  We have lots of LEGO to build, a very happy 5 years old boy!

The family at Sam's birthday party.

Turning 5 is awesome!

I have so many posts to post…but time is slipping away from me and I need to go back to the blog and register all the milestones that have happened.  I might have some old posts popping up...some trips, especial birthdays...but I will go back to those sometime soon.

Sam just turned 5 on April 17, 2014.    My big boy is now 5 years old.    Where did the time go???   We have no idea.   Sam was very excited about his birthday this year.  He now knows dates on the calendar, so he knew it was coming up and was counting all the days.   He got up with a big smile on his face saying “I am 5!” over and over.    We sang happy birthday in both languages and headed to school, I took some Ninja Turtle cupcakes.  He was a happy boy.  Noah cried after we sang to Sam because he wants to be 5 too.

This was my facebook and Instagram post:

Sam is 5 today! The boy who loves to learn, that can build anything out of paper, my little engineer. Happy Birthday to my little man! Sam esta fazendo 5 aninhos hoje, um menino de ouro que adora aprender e construir coisas de papel, um pequeno engenheiro. Parabéns meu filho, te amo!

Edit: He loves Shaun White too!

 At lunch time I picked him up for his 5 year old checkup.   That is the only time they had since I called so late, so he had to get some shots on his birthday which was not fun.  He was ok with taking the shots, but afterwards his arm was swollen and he was in a little bit of pain.  Note to self: Don’t schedule appointment on actual birthdays.  He also failed on his vision test, so we will need to schedule an ophthalmologist this summer to maybe get glasses?  I started using glasses at 7 years old, but I thought 5 was too young.  We will see. 

After school he opened some packages from grandma and grandpa and had some exciting phone calls from vovo.

On Saturday, we are having his birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.   The party will require a whole new post.

Sam is in preschool

We decided to enroll Sam to preschool for their summer camp in July.   That way he could still spend some time with his friend Kubi before Kubi would start Kindergarten.  Kubi was Sam's friend from home daycare but he is a year older than Sam.   The first week Sam did great, he was so excited to start the new school.   The second week was hard, he cried every day before school.   He didn't want to go to school at all.  It was very hard to get him out of the car and I had to do constantly some magic.  The daycare ladies worked with me and just tried to take him back to the class very quick.  It was almost 3 weeks of crying and fits before school.  I talked to Kubi's mom and she said it was normal and also took Kubi about 3 weeks to adapt.  Sometime in the forth week, he started to love school again and was excited to go to school every single morning.  They do ice cream and sprinkler fun on fridays and we just really like his school.

Sam first day at Hope Montessori preschool summer camp 7/8/13

Gavin went to pick him up

On August 8th, he was transferred to a new classroom and he is now an officially Pre-K.   He was so excited to have his cubby and to start the curriculum year.  They now have field trips on the bus which Sam can't wait to ride on it.  He is now a very happy preschooler!

First Day of Pre-K