Merry Christmas!

With Love Blue Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

A Special Message to our Family in Germany

If you are having difficulty seeing the video, double click on the video box once it starts buffering and view it through YouTube. :)

First Trip to the Zoo

We took a day trip to the Riverbanks Zoo today. I think Sam liked watching the animals, but he is a little young to really know. Although we brought the stroller, he had no interest in riding the stroller. So, while we pushed the empty stroller, Sam enjoyed walking...



and riding the merry-go-round.



















The best part of the day was the car racing video game at Fuddruckers. He loved it and we didn't even have to put any money in the game!





Sam thought the chocolate malts were delicious.














Ready for more!

The Ball Boy

I have heard friends say that boys and girls play differently, but I can't really say I know first hand how girls play. One thing that I do know is that Sam likes all the typical "boy" games and toys (chase, balls, cars, trucks, making funny sounds, etc.). I wonder if the things he likes now are any indication of what he will be interested in as he grows older.

Anyway, the boy LOVES to play with balls. Any kind of ball will do-- footballs, baseballs, tennis balls, basketballs, small bouncy balls, big bouncy balls, even my excersise ball!

He likes to throw the ball, chase after it, pick it up,
and throw it again, chase it, pick it up,
and throw it again, chase it, pick it up.... and again and again and again!

This little game will keep him occupied for quite a long time.

The cutest thing about his obession with balls is that he also sleeps with them and I often find him holding onto a ball like it's his baby. I took these pictures this morning to give you an idea.

School Spirit Week

This is Spirit Week at Sam's school.

Monday was Pajama Day--easy :)

Tuesday was Tacky Day--camo pants, rainbow stripped shirt, Halloween striped socks, orange jacket. Sorry I didn't take a picture...but I think the reason Sam was so grumpy yesterday morning was because he didn't like looking so Tacky :) haha.

Today was FANtastic Fan Day. We were supposed to dress Sam in the colors of his favorite team. Thanks to Grandma-Great, Sam has the most adorable little Wisconsin sweater and it finally fits him! Doesn't he look like a little Glee Club Member? Not from the racy tv show--but the goodie goodie type :)

Halloween

Sam's daycare had a Halloween Parade yesterday. I went to the school excited to see him wearing is cute little monkey costume and he was so happy to see me....



In fact, he was so happy to see me that he no longer wanted anything to do with the food, toys, children, or teachers at daycare --much less the Halloween Parade. So, instead of our big boy walking in the Halloween Parade like I knew he would do and couldn't wait to see, this is what we saw during the parade...


... a sweet little boy who just wanted his Mama.

15 month check up...

The big news lately is that Sam is walking! Everyday he gets a little more confident as he walks. It started about a month ago with a couple of steps here and there and has progressed to the way he is crawling some and walking some depending on how fast he wants to get where he's going. He's faster in the crawl :) His walk is still unsteady, but every step is taken with great care.

He now eats pretty much anything. His favorites are zucchini, grapes, blueberries, rice cereal, oatmeal, bread, and yogurt. I think he would eat purple grapes all day long if I let him :) I love that fruit is still an acceptable "desert food" for him -- I wish I could say the same for me!

Signing has become a great form of communication for Sam; he doesn't usually say words to communicate, yet. He can say Mama, Dada, "dis" (I think it means "this" when he points to something he wants), and a few choice animal sounds. Every morning he points to the cow on the yogurt container and says "moo". I think it is so cute...and it amazes me that he can recognize the small cow image on the YoBaby container!

His stats have remained consistent with his earlier doctor visits--approximately 75th percentile in height (31.75 inches) and 25th percentile in weight (22.03 pounds).

I started this post about a week and a half ago and I've already seen changes in him that I want to include in the blog, but I realize that I'll never update the blog unless I just do it now (even though I feel like it is incomplete). Large chunks of time don't fall in my lap as often as they used to! I write a few sentences here and there until I think it's ready to post and lately it just isn't getting done! He is changing so fast that I can hardly keep up!

The video below is my first attempt at piecing clips together using iMovie. I wanted to show Sam's progression from his funny little crawl to his clumsy walk. He also enjoys throwing the ball and he has finally figured out how to throw it forward instead of backwards--which you will see in the video clip. It's about a minute and a half. Let me know if you are not able to see the video on your computer. There were so many different options for saving the video and I wasn't sure which one to choose, so I may be able to save it in a different way if you can't see it (and you want to).

The Ups and Downs of Daycare

We are back in the FULL swing of things now! I am back at work now and Sam is getting his first daycare experience. Last year, we were so lucky to have my mom around to watch Sam when I went back to work. We are so indebted and grateful for her love and the sacrifices she and Dad made in offering to care for Sam during his first year. We discussed ahead of time, however, that mom was only going to be able to do this for us for Sam's first year. Mom thought it might get a little more difficult to keep up with Sam once he started moving around--she was right :) He is a mover! Thank you so much Mom and Dad.

He has been enrolled in daycare for about 5 weeks now, and in that amount of time Sam has acquired more bugs than I could imagine! He's had pink eye, a cold, an ear infection, a nasty stomach bug, and even a bite on the arm! Every week-except for one- there has been some kind of new illness. Poor thing. I keep telling myself and hoping that he will grow stronger and have a better immune system once he gets through his first year at daycare.

On to the upside of day care...

We went from the first few weeks when Sam cried each and every morning when I dropped him off--to now when (most of the time if he's not sick) he actually seems happy to see his teacher. He actually reaches out to her in the morning when we arrive now! This makes me feel SOOOOO much better about leaving him and going on to work.

They are helping Sam transition into eating table food. When I learned that Sam would be sitting in room full of 16 one-year-olds at lunch with the expectation that he FEED HIMSELF, I was shocked. I didn't even know that this was normal. I was still feeding Sam baby food when he started daycare. Note there were actually two issues: Sam still ate pureed baby food and he didn't feed himself. It wasn't until after week four, that Sam started eating the regular table food that all the other kids ate. Even then, they sometimes have to sprinkle a little of his favorite baby rice on top to coerce him to eat it. They still have to feed him if it requires a spoon, but he does feed himself if the food pieces are big enough to pick up with his hands. We have seen so much progress in this department!

I love that he has a structured day. His teachers post their lesson plans each week and there is usually a theme, such as counting, apples, beaches, back to school, etc. There are 4 teachers and 16 children in the room when everyone is there. I think the 4th teacher rotates depending on the numbers in each classroom. His teachers say that he is now coming out of his shell and clapping and dancing during circle time and playing with all the toys (he still loves the cars and trucks). He freely explores the classroom--albeit he is still on his hands and knees! I really thought he would be walking by now, but he is still thoroughly content with crawling and has no interest in walking. They go outside everyday unless the weather is bad and he loves to play on the playground. Their playground has so many more options for children his age than the playground near our home. They also do an arts and craft everyday. I love that I can hang his beautiful paintings on the fridge already!



I like to call it school-not daycare :) I feel that it is preparing him for "big boy school" more than I could do by myself. As much as I would love to stay home with him everyday and as much as I miss him while I'm at work, I do think he is in good hands and he is getting opportunities to explore and socialize that I wouldn't be able to provide otherwise. We are adjusting well (I think) and it works for our family for the time being. :)

Big Trip to Germany!

The thought of taking an active 11 month old little boy on an 8 hour trans-Atlantic flight to Germany to visit our dear family made me nervous. I went over my list a hundred times the week before our flight. How in the world do you pack and prepare for a trip with a young child? I didn't really know what to expect. How would Sam act on the long flight? It wasn't his first flight; we flew to Wisconsin last April. However, the flight to Wisconsin wasn't exactly easy and it was small potatoes compared to a flight to Germany!

We flew from Charlotte, NC directly to Munich Germany on July 2. It was a full flight and a huge plane (the bathrooms were downstairs!). I wondered if the other passengers saw us in the airport and hoped we weren't on their plane. We made Sam walk as much as we could before boarding the plane hoping to wear him out so that he would sleep well on the flight. We were really lucky, Sam slept most of the flight in his bassinet (which I am so thankful that they had on the plane---I highly recommend Lufthansia!!) In fact we had to wake Sam up at the end of the flight because he was still sound asleep and the flight attendants needed to put the bassinet away before landing.



We were so happy to arrive in Munich,Germany and be greeted by Amy. She even had a Mickey Mouse balloon for Sam. It was a beautiful blue sky day in Bavaria. The air was free of all the heavy humidity that we left in Georgia. This is a great time of year to visit Germany. We soon arrived in Isen, where Amy and Peter live. It's a beautiful small village outside of Munich. We couldn't wait to get there to finally meet our new niece, Lilly and see Cooper.

We enjoyed spending time with Amy, Peter, Cooper, and Lilly. We hoped that we could be more help to Amy than work for Amy during this visit. With a newborn baby and an active 3 1/2 year old, Amy sure has her hands full at home---without the addition of guests with a baby, too!

We took a few excursions ...

seeing the animals at the Poing Petting Zoo...


hiking...


eventually the hiking wore our little guy out...


sightseeing in Munich...


Alan even participated in a German Triathlon...


All in all, I think our favorite moments were spent at Amy and Peter's lovely home. We ate together and played together trying not to waste a moment of time with each other. We miss getting to see them as often as we could when they lived in the US.

The boys loved playing in the back yard...

Swimming in the pool...


playing with trucks with no inhibitions! :)


and reading books.


We will always remember Sam's first birthday celebration in Germany. Amy and I made a cake and we enjoyed singing to Sam and eating birthday cake that evening in the back yard. Here are some pictures we took just before Sam dug into his birthday cake.




And here is the birthday boy examining his first piece of cake...he wasn't so sure about it!



But, he loved the clapping and singing that went along with it :)



Thank you Amy, Peter, Cooper and Lilly for having us in your home. We loved the time we spent together with you and will cherish the memories!

Summertime Fun

It always takes me some time to get adjusted to summer. I know that my friends and family who have "real jobs" that don't get summers off are probably rolling their eyes right now. Seriously, as a teacher, you go-go-go all school year night and day with work. Then summer hits and all the school work suddenly comes to a hault. That is the point when I find myself not knowing what to do with all the spare time. I take some time to be lazy... but that really does get old quick. I like to have a purpose each day. Anyway, this is how summer has always been for me. The first week or two are a little akward as I figure out what to do to keep myself busy, and then I figure it out and before I know it summer is almost over.

This year has been a little different considering I now have a busy baby boy to take care of each day. When summer arrived, I started out not knowing what to do with him all day long. I felt frazzled at the end of the day, but I really didn't do any work other than take care of Sam. I was surprised how difficult it was to do simple chores--like laundry, cleaning, and cooking--while caring for an 11 month old little boy. I wondered how my friends and family who stay home with their children do it. I craved interaction with adults and even a little time to myself to read or exercise and I wasn't getting anything done around the house. If anything, we were making a bigger mess of the house being home all day!

We are now a good month into summer break, and I finally feel like I've got a good routine that works for Sam and me. It's taken some trial and error to figure out the best time to eat, sleep, and play. It's not the perfect schedule...I call it the flexible schedule (that's the media specialist coming out in me). Give or take 30 minutes, we get up around 7:00 am and get ready to exercise. I usually jog or walk with Sam in the stroller. We get home around 9:00 and eat breakfast and Sam takes his morning nap usually between 9:30 am - 10:30 am. When he wakes up, we play for a while and then eat lunch around noon. After lunch, we head out of the house for a while. Sometimes we go to the swimming pool, the grocery store, or run errands. After our outing, Sam is usually ready for his afternoon nap around 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm. When he wakes up from his afternoon nap, Sam plays inside and we get ready for dinner. Sam usually eats dinner around 6:00 pm and we start getting him ready for bedtime at 7:30 pm. None of these events on our schedule happen at the exact time I've described here, but this is a sketch of what our routine looks like for the most part. In fact, Sam has even skipped entire naps at times. This schedule gives me something to aim for each day. It feels good to have a semi-routine so I can attempt to plan around his naps and feedings.

On Friday mornings, I take Sam to a Kindermusik class downtown. We go at 11:00 am on Fridays, so it forces me to make sure we get an early start on the day so he will have time for a good nap before Kindermusik class. The class is called "Sign and Sing". I'd like to teach Sam some basic baby signs so that he can start communicating what he wants before he is able to talk. He has made some progress, but at this point, I think the classes were more for my benefit than his. It helps me to see the baby signs and learn ways to teach them to Sam. Who knows if we'll be successful, but I figure it can't hurt to try to learn the basics--such as eat, drink, more, all done, hello, bye, sleep, etc. So far, Sam can do the sign for "more" and wave hello and bye-bye, but he doesn't seem to understand the meaning yet. He will do the sign for "more" almost any time just to get a rise out of me (I get excited when he does it). He often waves hello or bye-bye...but sometimes when I ask him to wave bye-bye to someone who is leaving he just stares at us. He may even wave after the person is out of sight. Who knows what goes through that little head of his.

Kindermusik has also been a great opportunity for Sam to interact and see other children close to his age. He likes to watch the other children at first and then he will eventually warm up enough to crawl up to them--especially if they are playing with a certain toy or instrument that he wants. I quickly observed the huge differences between girls and boys in this class. We sit in a circle and all the little girls sat nicely in thier mommy's laps, while the boys could hardly wait to dig in to the toy boxes and were crawling and running around the room almost constantly during the class.

I'll try to post some pictures soon!

10 months old!

Our little man is already over 10 months old. I haven't been keeping up with the blog lately just because life has been so busy at work and at home we are trying to savor every moment with Sam. Time has never flewn by as quickly as the past 10 months. It already seems that Sam is no longer a "baby"...but really looks like a little boy already. He is changing so much every day and I'm going to do my best to catch up since I last updated the blog.

Probably the biggest news is that Sam is crawling and cruising furniture now. He has the cutest crawl that reminds me of a hobbling tripod--he keeps his left leg straight like he wants to walk with it and keeps his right leg bent---this results in quite a funny method of getting around. He's mastering his craft more and more each day, though. I'm trying to get some video of his crawl, but he is so camera-happy that every time I get the video camera out to tape it he stops and smiles for the camera. He knows just what to do when he sees a camera pointed at him--but that makes it difficult to get those adorable candid shots.

Sam actually started cruising the furniture before he crawled. I think he prefers walking around over crawling, but he still needs to hold on to something in order to walk around. He does laps around the coffee table in the family room each day. It's great to see him enjoying his exercise time! He loves going around and around over and over again. Of course he's had a few falls, but for the most part he gets right back up on his feet as soon as he can.

It amazes me how quickly he is learning new skills and developing. Last Saturday morning, Alan went to his crib and was surprised to see Sam sitting up in his crib! This was the first time he pulled himself up from a sleeping position to sitting on his own. If that skill impressed us like it did, you can imagine how surprised we were at the very next nap time that same day when we walked in his room to be greeted by Sam STANDING in his crib! Two milestones in 4 hours! :)

Sam has found a few ways to communicate with us already. He waves bye-bye, claps, says "woof", "momma", and "dada" (even if he doesn't actually know what those words mean yet). I actually think, "woof" was his first word :) He greets Buddy and Bailey with with a soft "woof" when they walk in the room. I think he is trying to get their attention when he says it. He loves those dogs.

At his 9 month appointment, he was 18.7 pounds and 28.5 inches tall. This placed him around the 60th% percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight, if I remember correctly. I'm surprised that his weight is so low on the growth charts because he has chubby cheeks, chunky thighs, and a big belly. He doesn't look like a skinny baby...but the numbers seemed small.

Two little teeth have poked their way through his lower gums. I'm sorry I can't remember exactly when they arrived...I hope that doesn't make me a bad mom. I know it was a very busy time when they appeared in his mouth. I just woke up one morning and looked at him and when he smiled there were two little white slivers on his lower gum! It was sometime right before his 9 month appointment. He didn't really act differently when they were coming in. I think he always acts like he is teething, though---drooling contstantly and chewing on things all the time. I've been expecting teeth to come in since January!

I'll close this post with a little video of Sam crawling. There is a cute close up at the end of the clip--hope you enjoy it :)

Playing at the Pool

Here are a few pictures of Sam at the swimming pool. He loves getting in the water and splashing around. He likes to walk around the edge of the baby pool and watch all the other children play. In the big pool, he kicks his feet up and likes to float while one of us holds him and moves him through the water. It is a refreshing way to spend the warm afternoons here in Augusta!

My First Mother's Day

You wouldn't guess it by the tardiness of my post, but this is now one of my favorite days of the year. I'm finally sitting down to reflect on my first Mother's Day and what it means to me and it is 3 weeks past due! I can't believe that I actually thought I was busy before having a child...what I wouldn't do for some of that spare time now! One thing that I do remember about my first Mother's Day (3 weeks ago) is that Alan made sure that I didn't have to lift a finger all day :) Thank you, Alan.

I feel so blessed to be the mother of such a wonderful little boy. Motherhood has changed my perspective on almost every aspect of my life. All of the sudden, I think about the things I do and the way I live my life through the eyes of this little child who can't even talk to me yet. I want to be the best parent, role model, and teacher I can be for him - in our family, my work, our home, and as we play. It has also made me appreciate my parent's love for me more than I ever did before. I didn't realize the depth and strength a parent's love for their child could be until we had a child of our own.

These are some of the things that make it so fun to be Sam's mom.

I love ...

...how Sam stops crying when I hold him (usually).

...watching his face light up when his Papa plays with him. Alan knows how to make him laugh.

...being able to nurse him...any time of day--even in the middle of the night.

...the way he smiles with his two little teeth showing on the bottom.

...the way he sticks his tongue out the side of his mouth when he is playing.

...the way he feels so soft and smells so good after his bath.

...watching him figure things out on his own.

...watching him learn new skills.

...how he watches people.

...how he starts clapping when I say "Good boy, Sam!" or when he hears a crowd errupt in applause --and it doesn't matter if the applause is on tv or at a live baseball game.

...the way he waves at himself with both hands when we say "bye-bye".

...the way he hugs and bumps his mouth on my shoulder...it probably just feels good on his teeth, but I like to pretend he is giving a hug and kiss.

...the sound of his voice when he says "momma".

...hearing him play with his voice and the vibrations of the stroller when we are on a bumpy path.

...the way he says "woof" when he is trying to get Buddy's attention.

There are so many things I love about Sam and being his mom...these are just a few ;) Thank you Alan and Sam for making my first Mother's Day so wonderful. I love you both!

Sam is Driving!

Look at this big boy! Things have been so busy the past few weeks (renting the house for Master's Week, flying to Wisconsin, taxes, busy time of year at work, etc...) and they continue to be for the next week, but I wanted to post this cute picture that mom took today. Sam is now 9 months old and much has happened since my last post. I'll write an update once life settles down a little.

Eight Months Old

Where has all the time gone? I can hardly believe Sam is 8 months old already. He's quickly stretching out his footed outfits and onesies, many of his pants look like long shorts, and his long-sleeved shirts only reach his forearm. So, it's time to bring out the next size already. I never imagined that a son of ours would be so long! Alan and I aren't exactly the tallest people in the world. Sam wears 12 - 18 month clothes already! Maybe the manufacturers of baby clothes exaggerate their sizes to make parents feel good? What do you think?

At this point, many of my friends who have babies that are about Sam's age are all buzzing about how their little ones are rolling over and crawling by now--not Sam, though. Honestly, I'm not trying to rush it because I love that I can put him down on the blanket and let him play without worrying that he is going to go anywhere. Sam's tolerance of tummy time is improving so I know he's making progress towards crawling, but he's just not that intersted in going anywhere. We haven't exactly baby-proofed our house yet :)

Sam loves to sit up, jump in his jumper (or in your lap!), stand up while holding on to something, and play with anything he can get his hands on. He loves to put things in his mouth, but we still don't see any signs of teeth yet. He likes to be heard at times. Sometimes he even gets so loud that we have to leave the room if we want to carry on a conversation on the telephone. Baby babble, spitting motor sounds, and loud high pitched squeals are some of the fun sounds that he makes.

"He's clapping! He's clapping!", were the words mom exclaimed into my phone yesterday as I was grocery shopping. She then sent the picture below; I love that you can send pictures via cell phones! It made me feel a little better about not being there the first time he clapped.



It may seem silly that we are making a big fuss about clapping--is it considered a milestone? Probably not, but we've been trying to teach him to clap for at least a month now. Here is some video of Sam's new skill. I took it last night right before bedtime.

Sam's First 5K

It was a cool morning with beautiful blue skies--the perfect morning for a run. Thankfully, I had pre-registered for the Heart and Sole 5K the night before the race because I was running late for the race (are you surprised?). I couldn't find my exercise partner at the beginning of the race so we just went straight to the back with all the other baby joggers and started out with a jog. About 5 minutes into the race, I hear someone call out my name---thinking it was my friend Michelle who I was supposed to meet at the start of the race---I turned to find Farrior, my dear Phi Mu little sister from Mercer. Donning a pretty pink hat, she was running in her first 5K race! Later during the race, Farrior and Tabitha (another sorority sister that I haven't seen in years) jogged past me and I didn't get to see them again until the finish line. They drove all the way from Macon to run in honor of their friend who put on the race to benefit the MCG's Children's Medical Center Heart Program in Augusta. What a fun surprise it was to bump into them!

I think Sam enjoyed watching all the people, but sometimes it's hard to tell when he's in the baby jogger. He gets an uninterested look on his face when I strap him in. He doesn't cry, though, so I guess he's okay with it. I was a little worried about taking him because the race fell right at his usual nap-time, but he was a trouper and stayed awake during the whole experience only to crash as soon as I put him in the car to go home. Doesn't he look tired? Do you see the look of boredom in his eyes?

A Day at the Park

One of the things that I love most about our new home is its proximity to the Augusta Canal and park. Now that we are getting a little more settled in, we've been able to get away for a few jaunts to the park with Sam. I love being able to strap Sam in the baby jogger and roll right out of the driveway; I don't have to pack the stroller and baby into and out of the car to drive to the canal anymore! Maybe that means I'll be more diligent about exercising with Sam?? I hope so. I can't say that I've been dedicated lately, but at least I've made progress by getting out three times in the last week. I took this picture of him last weekend in the baby swing. Notice the smile on his lips and the fear in his eyes. It was so cute how he was a little scared (I know that sounds bad that I thought it was cute), but when the ticklish feeling in his stomach hit him he couldn't resist the laugh. I took some video of this, but for some reason I can't get it to work on the blog. I'll keep trying, though! I think I got it to work this time....check it out :)

Snow in Augusta!

It's been a couple of weeks since the big snow, but I wanted to get a picture up of our new home after the beautiful snow. Notice the next post is called "A Day in the Park." Only in Georgia do we experience snow one weekend and 68 degrees the next! I love it :)

We are moving...

"Have you moved yet?"
This has been the question of the day for about 3 months now at work. Every Monday, I'd get to work and my friends would ask this question and then as the weeks went by they just stopped asking. Apparently, it isn't normal to buy a house in Mid-November and wait almost 3 months to move. Well, I'm happy to say we have finally moved into the new house! I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Papa's Piece of Heaven

It was Papa's turn to enjoy holding sleeping Sam last night :)

Haircuts

Sam is about 6 1/2 months old and he's had a few haircuts already, but the one we gave him last night has been the most noticeable. He still has that cute little mohawk! I guess he's got it thicker in the places where is Papa has it thinnest. I wonder if the first hair to come in is the first hair to fall out when you get older :)

At first he was a little afraid of the trimmers, but after a few seconds he actually started smiling because I think it was tickling his head. I loved holding him tight as Alan carefully moved the trimmer over his head. He would snuggle up close to me and smile. It was so sweet.

A Little Piece of Heaven

Alan took this picture yesterday while we were watching football and relaxing at my parents' house. Sam fell asleep on my chest and I was in heaven. I want to bottle up these sweet moments and remember them forever.

Six Months Already???

Wow, the past 6 months have flown by. It seems like just yesterday when I was home with Sam on maternity leave. Now I'm back to work, Sam is growing out of his 6-9 month clothes (I just bought a pack of 12 month onsies!!), he's eating some solid food (but not much), holding on when you hold him, sitting up (with a little help), laughing, talking baby talk, and carefully watching the world around him. I remember my friend telling me that 6 month olds are a favorite age for her (she's a pediatrician) and I can see why. He's so much fun now that he likes to interact with us so much more.

We had his 6 month well-baby check up yesterday and learned that he is still growing tall and lean. He now stretches out to 27 inches and is in the 75th percentile for height. He weighs 15 pounds and is in the 25th percentile for weight. His doctor noted that she thought it was cute that despite his long and lean measurements for his height and weight---he's still managed to grow a double chin and some chubby cheeks!

The only thing Sam is not doing that he's supposed to be doing is rolling over. Basically, we think this is the result of being a well-loved and snuggled little boy who gets held by his adoring family --maybe a little too much? But, we are working on it. He really doesn't like to be on his stomach. This is why he doesn't choose to roll over from his back to his belly on purpose. So, the picture at the top of this post is a fun shot of him during his belly-time. He tolerates belly-time much longer when I let him lean on the Bobbi pillow (We love that thing!!) and when he has one of his favorite toys to play with (either the colorful stackable rings from Aunt Amy and Uncle Peter -- or just a simple TV remote control).

Going back to work...

It is the last day of Christmas vacation and I am trying to avoid thinking about the reality that the days of sleeping in until 7:15 am and spending every waking moment with my adorable little boy are soon to be over. I feel like he has grown so much in the last two weeks.

He is now eating a few bites of baby food each day. I even made some freshly cooked and blended carrots for him. He seems to like the fresh food the best. This year, we went to a NYE party and I struggled to think about and talk about subjects other than Sam. I had an interesting conversation with a speech therapist and learned that many children who eat fresh fruits and veggies as babies tend to be better eaters when they make the transition to real food--mainly becuase baby food that is made fresh tends to taste more like the food that the child will eventually be eating. So, I am on a mission to keep giving Sam fresh food. I hope I can keep it up!

Sam has also discovered his hands and feet. He will hold his hand out in front of him, open and close his fist, and just stare at it in awe. Check out the video posted previously to see how much he likes his feet! He loves to pull his legs straight up in the air when getting his diaper changed or laying on his back (unless he's asleep). I wonder if this is a habit that he formed in the womb while he was sitting in the breach position.

While I was home for vacation, one of my goals was to try to get a regular napping schedule down pat. I learned that it is more difficult for me to put myself on a schedule than it is to put Sam on a schedule. He's getting there! When I have to wake him up in the morning, he always opens his eyes and then smiles. It doesn't work so well when he wakes me up in the morning, though!



He still likes to stick his tongue out of the side of his mouth. So CUTE!


He still likes to chew and suck on his blankies...maybe a sign of teeth in the near future??

If sucking his thumb is a bad habit...

...then sucking his toes can't be good! But, it is cute. Check out this video of Sam's latest trick.