Birthday Party!

Yesterday our family gathered to celebrate our little one's first birthday.  Joel's mom was here, along with my parents, aunt and uncle, and grandfather with a friend.  It was so much fun to have everyone with us, and Sam seemed to have lots of fun too.  He was interested in every present we opened, but I think his favorites were the tool bench from my parents, the puppy book from our sweet neighbor, and his colorful birthday cards.  He wanted to read every book he got, and he immediately turned the recorder from my grandfather into a hammer - which broke it pretty quickly.  The candle made him cry - both when we lit it and when we blew it out, so we're not sure what the problem was.  He liked his cupcake, but LOVED the cheese and strawberries he had for dinner.

The best part of the party - for us, anyway - was seeing his first steps.  They're still tentative, and he falls a lot, but it was fun to let him walk from person to person, and it made him so proud.  It was a wonderful thing to have so much of our family there to share this milestone with us.  We can't wait to see him get better and better at walking.  

We had such a fun day.  Happy 1st birthday, buddy!

Birthday Boy

Our sweet Sam turned one year old on Friday!  I know it's a cliche, but I can't believe how fast his first year went.  I think back to a year ago - to the 36 hours of labor, nights of no sleep, and nursing 12 hours a day - and while I'm thankful those things are over, I'm sad to say goodbye to my little baby.  I cry every time he gets a birthday card, yet I rejoice to see all that he's learning to do for himself.  What a privilege it is to spend every day watching him grow up.  I'm thankful beyond words for this precious gift God has entrusted to us.

We spent Sam's birthday doing a few special things.  We opened presents in the morning before Daddy left. Then Sam and I met him for lunch in his birthday shirt.  Later Daddy came home from work early to do birthday cake (thanks to my dear friend, Yvonne) and candle.  Surprisingly, Sam loved the candle so much that he cried when we blew it out.  We ended up lighting it several times because he enjoyed it so much.  On the whole, it was a fun day, but Sam probably had no idea it was different from any other.  His mom and dad, however, thoroughly enjoyed celebrating their precious little boy.

Highlights from this month:

- Sam had his first stomach virus.  It was a doozy and made me thankful for my mom cleaning up after me when I was sick.  Sam was kind enough to share his germs with both his parents, so we're all thankful for a return to good health.  I loved the extra cuddles I got while he was sick, though.

- We went down to 1 nursing a day - which will probably not last much longer.  I'm pretty sure my milk supply is quickly dwindling.  Sam has gotten used to whole cow's milk, though, and loves his afternoon bottle.

- Sam continues to eat well.  Usually it's baby cereal and eggs or fruit for breakfast, baby food with some finger foods for lunch and something similar for dinner.  He will usually choose fruit over almost anything else, but he's becoming a meat lover too.  We'll have to work to get those veggies down.

- He has started signing more and more.  The sign we see most often is still more, but we've also seen please, all done, and even bath lately.  He also has certain sounds that we know mean specific things.  For example, he barks like a dog anytime he sees - or remembers seeing - a dog.  According to him, every other animal growls like a bear.  He also has a sound for the washing machine or a truck.

- Sam continues to be a wonderful sleeper.  He usually sleeps 12-13 hours at night, which is such a blessing! His morning nap is usually an hour to an hour and a half, and his afternoon nap is generally around 2 hours.

- He's still not walking on his own, but he loves to practice by walking with us or his push toy.  We'll see if this next month brings us a walker...

- He now has 2 teeth (!) and perhaps a little more hair.  Because he's so small and bald, people always think he's younger than he is.  They're amazed at how alert and happy he is - and we think he's pretty great too - but I think it's mostly because they're comparing him to babies half his age.

We loved celebrating this birthday, little buddy, and we can't wait to party with you for many years to come. Happy 12 months!

My favorite church outfit

His feet don't quite reach the floor, but he loves to be pushed on his tricycle.

Checking out a birthday gift

Birthday lunch with Daddy

I love his concentrating mouth!

Playing in his crib

Lately, Sam hasn't wanted to get out of his crib after naptime.  Today I made a video of the two of us playing after his afternoon nap.  Click on the link below to see it.

After nap fun!

Christmas

Sam's first Christmas was lots of fun.  Although we had hoped to be with family in Seattle, it was nice to wake up in our own beds on Christmas morning.  We opened presents and ate breakfast together - Sam had more to open than Joel and I combined! - and then went out to Matthews for Christmas with my family.  It's such a blessing that they're so close!  We had a wonderful meal and opened lots of fun gifts.  We gave my grandfather an iPad, which was pretty exciting.  Sam even managed a nap in the pack-n-play while we were there.  After Christmas, my mom came to stay for a few days while Joel had to go back to work.  It wasn't the Christmas we were expecting, but we're thankful for the fun we had together.  LOTS of pictures and video to share...

Videos

Christmas morning

Sam and his tricycle

Singing snowmen

11 Months!

Sam just turned 11 months old!  It's hard to believe his birthday is just around the corner, but he seems to be growing and learning by leaps and bounds these days.  A few highlights from the last month:

- Nursing - He's down to only morning and evening.  He has also started taking a bottle of whole milk in the afternoons after his nap.  It took a little while to figure out that he wants it WARM, but he seems to like it now that we're on the same page.  

- Signing - Sam consistently signs more and has recently added please and milk, but those are more rare.  He also waves hello and goodbye - which is super cute.

- Babbling - He babbles almost constantly and acts like he's really talking to us.  Most of the time we have no idea what he's talking about, but it's fun to hear him try to communicate.  There are a few times that we've been able to tell what he's saying - words like dada, Christmas tree, and Jesus - but most of the time, it's not understandable.

- Eating - This boy can eat!  He tolerates hot cereal for breakfast, but he loves scrambled egg that he can pick up himself.  He has started feeding himself more, but it's still hard to get enough food in him that way to satisfy him.  His favorite thing is to stuff piece after piece of food in his mouth and continually sign for more.  He still loves fruit above all else, but meat is definitely his second favorite.  He also loves cheese and yogurt.

- Teeth - Sam still only has 1, but there seems to be another on the way.  We'll keep you posted.

- Crawling - He's crawling everywhere!  His latest trick is crawling up the stairs.  He's pretty quick, and he doesn't yet know how to go down the stairs, so we're having to watch him pretty closely.  We're working on teaching him how to go down, but he's only minimally interested.  He loves to walk holding our fingers, but doesn't seem to want to do it on his own yet.

It's so much fun to see Sam learning new words and concepts - more everyday!  He is a delight, and we love seeing who he's becoming!  Happy 11 months, Sam!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!  I had hoped to have this posted earlier, but sometimes life gets in the way of blogging.  Joel's mom sent a cute Little People nativity scene for Sam to play with before Christmas, and he has thoroughly enjoyed it.  For the most part, he throws and chews on the people, but we're hoping a bit of the story has also sunk in.  We've certainly had fun trying to teach him who everyone is.  Click on the link below to see Sam playing with his nativity scene for the first time.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

 http://youtu.be/CHGlFr8QH28