Saturday, October 10, 2009

Duuunnnhh....DUUUhhhhn....DUHNN-DUUHHHHHN!! HE WALKS!

Yes, yes, it's the big news. He's ACTUALLY toddling about. As I have been saying, all in his own good time. I think we should all just prepare ourselves for this behavior FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. Here are some of our latest adventures.
10.04.2009
At the playground




He loves the slide. Ambivalent to outright nervous about the swings.
And, as you can see ever so slightly in the pictures, going to the playground with the kids is, apparently, a Dad activity. Nary a fellow mom to be seen. I think that, and the camera, marked us as newbies.


And then, there was the sandbox...






The Moms and Boys went to the Woodland Park Zoo about two weeks back. The new penguin exhibit is super cool. Elijah and Zack had mixed feelings about the bubble windows, but Sam nearly jumped out of my arms to get in.
So, swings: 0,
bubble windows with penguins zooming at your head: 10.


He also continues to like the dishwasher.



10.09.09
We are simple, simple people. We think this is HIGH-larious. Sam has loved the feather dusters for a while, but on this night he toddled into the kitchen, with both of them, while smacking his lips (another new trick). Charlie hadn't seen the duster walk before and in the midst of his hysterical laughter, he insisted we film. Glad we did.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Salsa and Shoes

One thing we know: Sam loves shoes. We're working on where his feet are. Considering how obsessed he was with his feet at one point, you'd think this would be easy. Oh no. He does know where his head is-- almost to the exclusion of everything else. As in, "Sam, do you want more?" Answer, hand on head and a look of pleased expectation. So, much as in many Asian languages where one character means many different things depending on inflection, so with pointing to the head. At any rate, here is some evidence of Sam's continuing affection for footwear. Lately, the foyer is his favorite place.
I just realized, this shows him mid-crouch. He's getting pretty good at standing without aid. Again, still disinterested in walking. But, like everything else and Sam, he will get to it when he damn well pleases.

What prompted my, well, prompt posting tonight was dinner. We had salmon tacos for dinner, but our bbq is slow and babies MUST EAT AT 6:00!! (And, I don't think it's great to waste salmon on someone who might not eat it-- when I will) I prepped Sam's dinner with black beans instead. He had what we had-- some queso fresca, a little lime juice on the beans (and lime slice on plate), some tortilla and then a bananna. First, he went at the beans with giddy abandon. I swear, this kid is a vegetarian. Which is weird, considering the avalanche of red meat I consumed while pregnant. Or, maybe not so weird...
Anyhow, he can try anything we're eating that I haven't plated for him-- within reason. He was interested in the chips and salsa, so a chip in salsa for him. Chip-- not so interesting. Salsa however, is another story. I swear, he consumed about 1/4 cup of salsa. Yes, it was mild salsa, but it was still pretty flavorful. As I said to Charlie, he may hate it tomorrow, but it did my Mexican food loving heart proud.
Very serious about dinner.
And covered in salsa.
You can kind of see dinner-- the weird pile of reddishness in the lower right corner of his plate is the mix of tortilla pieces and salsa he as hoovering up (his version of chips and salsa.)

SO HAPPY ABOUT SALSA!!
Charlie is putting him to bed now--and it's not quite 8 pm. He's down to one nap a day, usually at 1:00 pm and then for 90 minutes to 2 hours. It's wonderful. He goes to sleep early, wakes up around 8:00 am and it's almost like having a normal life. He's fantastic and we're so grateful for it.
Plus, we went to Kindermusik and Gymboree this week-- signing up for both-- and this means I've ensured at least two days a week of flat-out exhaustion. SCORE. However...he learned how to climb a ladder at Gymboree (luckily climbing down off of something rather than UP something, so that's a plus) and in Kindermusik, I discovered that my kid's personality is such that he's patently uninterested in what everyone else is doing. You can see him pause, evaluate and decide, "Hey, that's what all the chumps are doing. NOT ME." And then he very purposefully and politely wanders off. I sense that formal education may be a challenge for him. I feel his pain.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Some Early September Moments

This is a happy boy.


Seriously, I did not put him there. He went of his own accord.

Packing and unpacking the Legos.
Build with them? No. Organize them? Oh Yes.


With the banjo

A rare Mama sighting.

Sam, talking to toy cars. Bear with me-- the video goes from the wrong angle to the correct one, midway.


And then, there is always the cat.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

I Blame the Great Cat Wall

Yeah, I'm not even going to attempt to justify my lack of postings. So much so, I'm just going to inundate you all with photos. That said, and explanation: the Great Cat Wall is my name for the slab of plywood that Charlie bolted up between our kitchen and library. It has a hole in it for the cats-- their food is in the library now as SOMEONE thinks he's a cat. Sam enjoys looking through the hole after the cats go through, or looking over the wall and pointing emphatically at the cat food.
Sometime in July-- EVERYONE takes a bath.
7.09

8.09

The Phone is the best toy.

Grandad visiting 8.5.09



Whenever he gets serious, he looks like an adult. Freaky.
Yeah, I just looked up at a noise one day and Sam's pointing to this sight.
I have no idea how he levered himself up there.

More Grandad!




Auntie Caitlyn was right (as she so often is)-- Richard Scarry's BIGGEST WORD BOOK is a huge hit. I think Sam likes it best because he can climb onto it.


He looks like a freakin' teenager.

Our friends David and Lora came to dinner. Lora picked up a book and Sam was right there. He LOVES the books. Don't know why...


Last weekend, 8.22-23.09 at Lopez Island, WA. The ECS/MT company overnight at the O'Neill Cabin. Erin (Tim the Boss Man's daughter) was great fun for Sam.
So was Finnegan, the yorkshire terrier.
The Dad High Chair

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Slew Slain, or The Perils of Too Much Travel

This is what I know: when you have a small child, you will spend more time traveling with, preparing to travel with, thinking about traveling with and finishing traveling with said child than doing anything else in younnr entire life. My friend Jeanmarie likes to say that we live in CA, and just visit Seattle. Which makes our apartment a crazy expensive vacation rental, but at least it's full of stuff we like. I offer this observation as an explanation for the radio silence.
To address some common questions: No, he's not walking yet and no, he doesn't seem interested which is fine by us. I don't think it means he's not going to go to college. Yes, he continues to eat with giddy abandon-- including avocado. He's moved on to chicken and occasional shots of ground beef. Cheese is still preferred. Still has only 7 teeth (4 on top, 3 lower-- a fact which never ceases to amuse me) but has grown considerably. I would post his data from the one year exam, but I think it's outdated now. He's a nice, round 25 lbs, but I swear he's grown an inch in the past week. Enjoy these pictures-- from here on out, he looks like a little boy.

Dylan, Sam and Ryan examining Sam's new noisy toy.
6.26.09

Ryan and Mike (I suspect photographed by Dylan, but who knows)

Auntie Cait and Uncle Mike (photo by Ryan/Dylan)
I know, I know-- these are not pictures of Sam. But these are the wonderful and long suffering folks who hosted us and Sam's birthday in Clovis.


Grandad Jim, holding Sam who is looking at Great Grandpa Fred


Grandad and Sam making noise on Dodi's floor (Great Grandma Dolores).

July 14, 2009 video of Mama making Sam laugh. Yes, I'm making bizzare noises, but I love the little bugger.