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

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in the mountains this year!  Papaw, Jeff, Reba, and Jonathan joined us, my mom and dad and Matt and Mary Ann for a full house of fun.  We ate lots on Thursday - and then napped! - and on Friday went to pick out Christmas trees.  Sam did well for being in a new place.  He loved watching the ceiling fans, the fire, and the chiming clock.  He also enjoyed chasing the two dogs (Vanilla and Avett), who tried to get as far from him as possible.  We had a few issues with him waking up from naps because of all the noise, but once we put the pack-n-play in Mom and Dad's shower, he slept great.  Everyone was so helpful and always willing to hold him or feed him; I think he went into family withdrawal once we got home!  Here are a few photos from the weekend:

Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Matt

Thanksgiving dinner! (photo courtesy of Matt)

At the tree lot with Jonathan

Getting ready to pick out our tree

Looking....

We found it!  (photo courtesy of Mary Ann)

Sam was thrilled.

Trying out the tractor

Waiting for the trees to be tied on top of the cars

Waiting...

Cute aunt and uncle

Yep.  Still waiting.

With Uncle Matt

I shot a gun!

It was fun.  And I hit the target!

In all the shooting, someone (Jeff) shot out the cable for the satellite dish.  This is the men repairing it in the FREEZING cold on Friday night.

10 Months!

Sam is now 10 months old!  Here are a few of the things he's been up to this month:

-He understands what we say more and more.  Lately, he's learned clap, splash, downstairs, get down, and outside.  I'm sure there are some others too, but my brain can't think of them at the moment.

- He's getting better at feeding himself.  Recently, he's been eating scrambled egg, ground beef, cheese, and blueberries.  He continues to prefer fruit to other things and sweet puffs above all else.  He can now hold his sippy cup by himself and is pretty clear about letting us know when he wants a drink and when he's finished drinking.

- He's down to 3 nursings a day, which is both nice and sad.  He LOVES those 3, though, so we'll hold onto them for a little while longer.

- We have a music lover!  His current favorite toy is a music box that he can make play 7 different tunes.  He carries it around with him, and it's a great distraction when he's getting into something he shouldn't.  Honey recently played her dulcimer for him, and he loved it, sitting still for the whole song each time.  Anytime we're at home with talk radio on (which Mom loves), he perks up when a commercial jingle comes on.  The video below is of Sam (and Mom) dancing in the kitchen.

- This month, we've seen more of a preference for Mom.  Sam loves to play with Dad, but there are times when Mom is all he wants.  He's still pretty easy-going about letting us know what he wants, but he knows how to make his wishes clear.  He's also been a little more uneasy about staying in the nursery.  The ladies there still say he's easy and happy, but he definitely notices now when I come to get him.

- We're pretty sure we heard him say "mama" when we were hiking one Saturday.  We haven't heard it since, though.

- Sam has one tooth!  It's still pretty small, but it's broken through and didn't seem to bother him at all.  Hopefully they'll all be so easy...

Sam is still a delight to us, and we're so thankful for him.  We can't wait to see what the next month will hold!