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 :)