9 Months

Our little guy is now 9 months old!  He's on the move, so this is the best photo I could get.  We had his 9 month checkup yesterday, and Sam did great.  He endured a toe prick and 2 shots pretty bravely, and he greatly enjoyed sucking on one of his Band Aids for a while before Mom noticed.  (Oblivious Mom of the Year?)  He weighed in at 16 lbs. 15 oz, and he's 28 inches long.  Both his height and his head circumference are in the 50th percentile (woohoo!), and his weight is in the 10th.  He's a little anemic, so we're working on increasing his iron, and it's possible he's sensitive to dairy (just like his dad).  Other than those small issues, he's a wonderfully healthy boy!  Here are some highlights from the last month:

- We had a great visit with Grandma (Carol).  We're so happy she's willing to come visit from so far away!  We also had a wonderful time in the mountains with Honey and Poppy.  Sam loved being a mountain boy!

- Sam is on the move!  He has perfected his army crawl and has started rocking on his hands and knees.  With a LOT of encouragement, he can pull himself up on a chair or the couch, but it's not a regular thing yet. This week at Bible study, he went to the big kids' crawler nursery and did great!  His favorite "toys" are doors, Dad's briefcase, cords, and the blinds.

- He's more and more aware of things around him.  When he's going down for a nap or bedtime, he knows that he goes in his crib when Mom's song ends or when she says goodnight.  He also recognizes me when I come to get him from the nursery.

- He knows - recognizes - a few words and signs.  Some that I can remember now are eat, more, bath, come here and all done.  We're working on adding no to that list.

- We often hear him babbling babababa or mamamama, but they don't seem to mean anything yet.

- Sam is a great eater!  He eats 1/2 cup of rice cereal for breakfast, 1-2 jars of baby food at lunch, and 1-2 jars for supper.  He can easily feed himself Puffs or Cheerios, and he continues to love fruit.  Per our doctor's visit yesterday, he'll now be enjoying rice cereal twice a day; we'll see how well that goes...  We're still nursing 4 times a day, although his interest in it seems to waning a bit.

- He continues to be easy-going, happy, and a delight to his parents and grandparents.  We love you, buddy!

Mom's new favorite outfit

I love this plaid shirt and jeans!  

We Love Puffs

Just this week, Sam has figured out how to get puffs into his mouth.  We're still working on transferring that skill to other finger foods, but he's gotten pretty good at the puffs.  Here's one of his earlier successes:

Life lately...

Since getting back from Seattle, we've been busy doing regular life.  Sam has readjusted to life on the east coast, and we're enjoying the cooler weather that has come with the start of fall.  Here are a few photos of what's been going on lately...

Trying to figure out the sippy cup

Looking out the window

Playing with Joel's friend Bryan, who came to visit in September

Crawling out of his pants

 

Trying on his Halloween costume

Catching up on the Mecklenburg Bar news

One of the most fun things that's happened lately is that Carol came for the weekend. Sam was delighted to have Grandma here, and we enjoyed the extra help too.  We didn't take many photos of her time, but here are some good ones we do have:

Just a regular day

I want to be sure to document normal, everyday life as our family grows; this video is part of that.  YouTube wouldn't let me post it all at once, so it's in two parts.  Probably no one but the grandmas will want to watch it all (and even they might get bored), but it's part of our life now that I'd like to remember.  Come join me for lunch with our cute boy!  (Click on the links below.)

Part 1

Part 2

8 Months!

Sam is 8 months old and a greater delight to his parents every day.  He celebrated this month by:

- going on his first flight to see family in Seattle.  He was a trooper through layovers and delays, and he loved meeting all his West Coast family!

- eating!  He consistently downs at least 1 jar of food for lunch and 2 jars at dinner.  Mom also has to be ready with some quick finger food in case she's slow getting the spoon to his mouth between bites!

- asserting his will.  This month, we've seen Sam cry when he doesn't get what he wants.  He's pretty quickly distracted, but he's starting to make his wishes known.

- beginning to crawl.  He's not quite there, but he's learning that he can be mobile.  Today was the first day that he began to get into things that he shouldn't get into; these things are also known as things that Mom should have put away earlier!

- babbling.  We're hearing much more "ma-ma-ma-ma" and "ba-ba-ba-ba" these days.  He doesn't use them to mean anything - or anyone - in particular, but he loves to hear himself.

- going to the nursery.  Sam went to the church nursery for the first time last week, but he's been going to the nursery during Mom's Bible study for awhile now.  The nursery ladies continue to comment on how easygoing and laid back he is.  Last week when I picked him up, 3 other babies were screaming while Sam happily played on the floor.  We're thankful for his sweet disposition!

- loving the bath.  All we have to do is show Sam his little blue bathtub, and he gets excited.  When he's in the bath, he loves to gather all his bath toys and hold them at once.  Heaven help the mama who tries to take a toy away!  He still likes splashing and complains loudly when bathtime is over.

- having fun!  Sam continues to love jumping in his jumper and going outside.  We left the stroller at Honey and Poppy's by mistake, so walks have been a little more challenging (using the ErgoBaby), but he still loves every minute of it!  (It's probably just more challenging for whoever has the 16 pound baby strapped to them in 80-degree weather!)

Happy 8 months, little buddy!  We love you!

    

    

Sam's First Trip to the Pacific Northwest (Part 2)

After spending a fun week with Grandma and Grandpa, we went back to the airport for a quick flight to Boise.  Joel's friend Jim lives just outside Boise with his wife Cheryl and their three boys.  They were so kind to host us for a few days, and Sam had lots of fun watching Bryce, Grant, and Cody.  He definitely learned that life is louder when you have siblings!  Here are a few photos of our time there.

These were the only pictures we took of all four of them.  Obviously, they're not the best, but at least everyone's in the picture.  Thanks for having us, Jim and Cheryl!

After our time in Boise, we flew back to Greensboro by way of Chicago again.  This time, our flights didn't go quite as well.  Sam still did okay on the planes, but we got stuck in Chicago for an extra 6-7 hours, which was exhausting.  Sam slept a bit in my arms, but not nearly as much as he needed to, so he was pretty fried by the time we got back to Greensboro.  Poor Honey and Poppy (my parents) had to endure almost nonstop screaming all the way home from the airport.

The next day, Sam took a 4 hour nap (!) at my parents' house, and then we headed home.  It was a wonderful trip, but we were grateful to be home.  Thanks for having us, everyone!