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).

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 :)