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When Sam was very young (his first month or two), he was a cranky baby. He enjoyed screaming, I think, and would do so frequently, and extendedly. As new parents, Julie and I were often both exhausted and at wit's end -- I'm sure that those two things were related -- so we came up with a little sanity-saver for the times when Sam was driving us mental. Doctor Snorffles was born.
Doctor Snorffles was Sam's evil alter-ego. When we'd reached the end of our ropes and he was still screaming, or not sleeping, or peeing on us AGAIN, we'd look at each other and say, "It's Doctor Snorffles!" It was just silly enough to keep us laughing... and keep us from killing our only child.
I'm hope Sam will fully appreciate that one day; that his parents' sanity hung off a silly nickname.
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Before Sam was born, we'd heard a lot of stories of babies peeing on parents, especially boy babies. I think we won this one; the first time Sam peed as we were taking his diaper off, he only got himself. In the face. (We haven't told him that yet; we're saving it for the wedding.)
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Julie and I are both big proponents of baby sign language. We think that it helped Sam immensely in terms of a) being able to communicate, and b) avoiding a lot of the frustration that little ones can feel because they can't communicate. He started signing at about 10 months -- and he hasn't stopped talking since.
One day at the park, a dog licked him on the leg. He was so excited! When we got home, he eagerly told both Mama and I (who had both been with him) about the dog (*pant, pant*) that licked his leg (points to leg). He told his Aunt Jenny. He told us again. He told virtually everybody he met. For months.
Tannie commented on it the next time we went back home, saying that he'd been telling that story for months. Julie answered, "Of course he has. It's the only story he has to tell."
How things have changed.
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