Can you believe it? A year has gone by since Chris and I first greeted our son.
Sammy ~ four days old
Sammy is one year old!
Can it really only have been a year ago that we held Samuel for the first time? He's grown so fast and it seems like he's always been here. He is so much in our hearts, it's hard to believe he's only turning one today. That is until you here his silly sweet jargon and his insistent, "Yom yom yom!" as you make his meals. (In fact as I type this, Sam is in his highchair yelling, "Ahhhh!" and pointing at things around the room. "Hey, Mom, pay attention to me while I eat my snack.) Yes, our Sammy is a toddler now.
It's such a fun time. Sammy is learning new things everyday. This week we watched him figure out that his "O" in his alphabet puzzle matches his circle block and he carried them around for an hour as he played with other toys. His favorite shape right now is the circle. But alas, the "O" has gone missing and so he has settled for the "Q", but as soon as that "O" pops up, he'll drop that "Q" like a piece of broccoli.
He has a big red car that he loves for us to push him around in. He recently learned how to get in and out of it all by himself. Such a big boy!
Our new family tradition is to get our tree and decorate it the night before Sammy's birthday, just like mama did the night before he was born. So Sammy woke up to discover a decorated Christmas tree with birthday balloons around the bottom of it. He loves to check out all the ornaments he can reach!
We were sure to have some party hats for our birthday boy! While Sammy thought the party hats were awesome, Hagrid was not so keen on them. But look how cute they are!
Sammy enjoyed some blueberry pancakes with maple syrup and some turkey bacon for his birthday breakfast. Now that's happy birthday boy.
Later in the day, Sammy was watching his Papa through the window. Papa was out front raking in the yard, so we decided to go out and join him. Sammy loves inspecting the leaf piles!
It is such a joy to be Sammy's mama and papa. He's a curious explorer and we love introducing him to new things. He has a determination about him that makes us laugh and keeps us on our toes. Our lives are richer because of him!
We celebrated Sammy's birthday early with our Fort Worth family (though I am just now posting about it). The whole gang was there, even Sammy's Mimi was there (having flown in early just to see him eat his first cake). We had a blast watching him figure out wrapping paper and gift bags with tissue paper. I mean this was a pretty good gift all on it's own. Sam would pull off a tiny chunk of paper and show it all around to us and we would all cheer. He soon realized the bigger the rip the louder we cheered and clapped for him.
How do I do this?
Starting to figure it out with Papa's help
Tissue paper is fun!
Sammy also loved his party balloons!
Gifts and balloons for the birthday boy
Playing with his balloon
Look, Mama! Balloons!
Sammy discovered a love for cake at his first birthday party. I made his cake and it was pretty fun. It was a layered cake with lemon curd between the layers and cream cheese frosting with some blackberry jelly mixed in... sound delish right? Well it was!
Here I am wearing Grandpa Bill's apron while frosting the smash cake.
Aunt June is testing the frosting to be sure it is acceptable. Pass!
Decorating the cake.
The big cake (for those who know, I am no Kristie Camet - if you want to see pretty cakes check out her blog)
Sammy's smash cake
Sammy is all about that candle
And now what you've all been waiting for, the boy in action! Here are the parts to Sammy's first discovery of cake:
Part one: frosting
Part two: cake
Part three: smashing good time!
Part four: clean up
We had so much fun celebrating Sammy together! He is a joy and a blessing to our family.
This post has no pictures and you'll thank me when you know what it's about. Tonight I experienced the worst poop incident EVER! At least I'm laughing now. It's not as bad as you might imagine, but it was bad. It began in the kitchen. I was putting the dishes away and planning to make Sammy's dinner and the little tike would not stop trying to climb into the dishwasher, so it was exersaucer time. He usually plays in it and squawks at me as I putter around the kitchen.
So there I was puttering away - dishes put away and turning my mind to baby food when I smell it. And I noticed that Sammy's squawking was a bit different than normal. "Sammy, do you have a poopy diaper?"
Have you ever zoomed in on a object and it seems nothing else is in sight? That's what happened to me. As soon as I asked this question, I noticed Sammy's foot. The one he was picking up and putting down and picking up and putting down... in... "Is that poop!?" On your foot, and all over the bottom of your exersaucer? Oh, dear Lord, how am I gonna get this poop mess cleaned up?
I had to pick Sam up, but how was I going to get him cleaned off without getting poop all over me and the house. (Yeah, now I'm thinking paper towels - lots of them may have done the trick, but I panicked people, I panicked!)
So I picked Sam up and held him out and made a run for the bathroom. Immediate crying ensued. He must have sensed my panic - or maybe it was my determined efforts to not let his poop foot or butt touch me. Then I met my first obstacle - the baby/dog gate! "Ahh! It's closed!"
Must.open. Must not put poopy baby on the floor. Must not let poopy baby touch me. Must not let poopy baby touch gate. Must not drop poopy baby. Somehow I managed to angle my poopy child so his poop side was pointed away from me while holding him with one hand and opening the gate with the other hand... And I'm through! Yes!
All I could think of then was the diaper sprayer in our bathroom. (Yes, we cloth diaper and have a diaper sprayer for spraying poop off of diapers into the toilet.) Normally, this is only used on diapers, but there has been a containment breach people, so it's got to be used on my son to get this mess under control.
Sammy went into the bath tub and the sprayer came out. I started spraying off Sammy's foot and the tears that had started to subside suddenly begin to come out in wails. I on the other hand was trying to not laugh hysterically (for those who know me well... I find poop funny - gross, but funny). My poor child was feeling traumatized and I could hardly keep from laughing as I pull off his diaper and sprayed his butt and legs and toes off.
I left the dirty diaper and poop residue in the bathtub to deal with later and rushed a dripping Sammy into his changing table to make sure all the poop is off. I wipe him down with a couple of cloth wipes - there was still a little bit of poop to clean off his bottom, but it was no longer everywhere. Woo! My mind started to slow down and I started to think more clearly. "Okay, Sammy - let's give you a bath now!"
Since Sammy's no longer poopy, I give him a cuddle and take him to play in the bathtub. I used A LOT of soap on this boy and and cleaned between ALL of his toes. Sam loves his baths and soon he was laughing and splashing with delight. The poop ordeal was over - for him.
After his bath, Sammy got to eat his dinner. But first I put the poopy exersaucer outside and brought the dog in (thank the Lord Hagrid was outside when this was all happening - as it was he sniffed all around looking for the poop when I brought him in).
Chris got home and we put Sammy to bed in a nice clean diaper. Then I went and cleaned off the poopy diaper and scrubbed out the bathtub with every kind of cleaner we have. Chris went out and sprayed off the exersaucer and washed it with soap. Ah, Sammy - sleep well our son.
As a friend once said, when we smell poop, we never find rainbows and unicorns in our kids' diapers. I can confirm, there was only poop - lots of it. I wish is was rainbows and unicorns... trying not to think of the Skittles motto... too late!
The last month as been a full one! Sammy is learning so much and he's fast. He crawls, he pulls up, and he is beginning to take some cruising steps along the couch or pushing a laundry basket with papa. It's hard to believe that Sam just turned nine months old and is already 3/4 of a year old. He is beginning to look more like a toddler and less like a baby. Sigh.
Yet how can one regret this? Each new thing Sam learns is so much fun and I am amazed again and again at the simple joys in life. "Look, Al, he's stood with no hands!" Celebration! We stand with no hands all the time and take it for granted, right? But our son does this and it's cause for celebration.
Sam is using his own special jargon and rambles on when he things no one is listening (introvert in the making?). He tells us jokes and laughs a funny little laugh. He's learned to say "Ha" when talking to our dog Hagrid. He's learned how to say "no-no" and thinks the pieces of grass Hagrid brings in on his fur coat and drops on the floor for Sammy to eat are called "no-nos." He loves to growl - it's his pirate and tiger sound and he does it for many different reasons: to entertain us (yes, he likes to make us laugh now!), as a victory cry, in frustration of being offered asparagus instead of pears for dinner, just for the fun of making the sound, and of course in response to our pirate and tiger promptings.
He often mimics us too and I've heard copycat forms of "diaper, bathroom, all done, hello" but no mama or papa yet. When I ask him if he can say mama or papa, he grins or laughs at me like I've just told the best joke - so I think he knows how to say them and can't be bothered with it while he's busy learning so many new things.
Hide and seek (aka "where's mama (et. al.)") is one of Sam's favorite games. We hide under a blanket and ask "where's mama/papa?" and Sam pulls the blanket off. We put the blanket on Sam and ask, "where's Sammy?" and he pull the blanket off of himself. This is done with much praise and celebration of such brilliance. He now will crawl to find us behind furniture and we love it. Most recently, Sam has learned to love "I'm gonna getcha!" We crawl after him saying this and he crawls as fast as he can laughing so hard he stumbles has he crawls. This is my favorite new game with Sam. I laugh just as hard as I chase him - watching him look excitedly around trying to find the best escape route, watching him stop and sit up and look back to see if I'm still after him and then squealing with delight when he sees I'm still coming to get him and taking off as fast as he can again. Oh, how much fun we have!
This fun makes up for the fussy eater. We are introducing new foods and you guessed it, not popular, especially if it isn't fruit. He has realized he can protest to eating veggies or beans or whatever it is he isn't satisfied with and that sometimes this will get him fruit or something he likes better (don't worry, something he likes is always included in each meal). But this mama has caught on I am not giving up on veggies - sorry Sam - you were born into a veggie eating/loving family. Don't worry, he usually decides to like them somewhere between the fifth and tenth try - which is apparently normal. So it is good that we have so much fun together to remind us that it isn't all a struggle over veggies.
Sam is also learning a lot about how to take toys out of boxes and drawers and off of shelves. He's dumping things - "out" is a lot of fun these days, "in" is sorta boring. So I put thing back in the box, on the shelf, in the drawer while he watches waiting to take it all out again. We talk about "in" verses "out" when we play - okay, I talk about it and Sammy just plays.
Sammy loves his papa time! Papa wrestles him, chases him, tickles him - they have a blast together. He really loves the weekends when we're all home together. They laugh a lot together and tell each other secret jokes. Yep, I'm pretty sure Sam has discovered that papa is the truly funny one in the family. I mean, I'm funny, but Chris is great at telling jokes that cross over into baby language. Don't get me wrong, Chris is busy changing diapers, feeding Sam, putting him to bed too, it's just that I do it more, since I'm home with Sam.
Chris is the BEST papa and husband - he sees a need and he meets it. If Sammy has decided to be stubborn about something during the week, by the end of the weekend it is usually not an issue anymore. Why? Because papa steps in and lovingly corrects him. Seriously! I may be at my wits end and Chris steps up to the plate and figures out how to lovingly communicate to Sammy that this behavior isn't an option (i.e. The week Sammy decided to start screaming over every diaper change - papa changed every diaper that weekend. He just laughed and told Sam he had to get his diaper changed. Then they played together and that was that. By the end of the weekend - no more screaming for diaper changes.) I love my husband!
Chris is also awesome at teaching Sammy new games and encouraging him to learn how to use his body. He is currently the one really working on walking with Sammy. Umm, yeah! This mama is okay with waiting another month or so before this active boy walks... I already chase him and the dog around "all the time." Ha! I'm sure it will come before I'm ready, but I'll love it when it does.
Oh, and did I mention Sam now has seven teeth? Here's a blurry picture of this active boy with his three bottom teeth. He has four on the top. He sprouted the top for and one of the bottom teeth all at once about two weeks ago. Poor baby! That could also be part of the protest with eating... but he's still a smiling boy despite all those new teeth!
So you see, we've been busy playing, learning new games, learning new concepts, learning to like new foods and be patient with each other. We love this boy!
Hi family and friends! I'm blogging. Yeah, yeah, yeah... it's the new thing. Well, I'm really doing this so my mom in Colorado and my family and friends in Cali can get a bit more of an update on Sammy. Yep, my goal is to tell more stories and post longer videos and more pictures for those who just can't get enough. It is also better for those family and friends who are still not on Facebook... what? Yep, they exist people. ;0)
I'm also going to be posting about fun with family and friends here in Texas, any creative inspirations, improvements to our home, etc, etc. My life as I'm living it. Sometimes it seems to crawl by in slow motion and other times it seems to take off at warp speed.
Right now is one of those warp speed times. Can I really have a seven and a half month old who is crawling? Together, Sammy and Hagrid (our dog) keep me on my toes. Robert, the cat, is still hiding in the guest bedroom. Recluse. Actually he still hasn't gotten used to having siblings. He's an old man though, so we have to make allowances.
And to start things off, here is a longer video of Sammy playing:
Let's live life together and see what adventures we find along the way!
