International Baby

At the end of September, Sam got to go to Santiago, Chile with Mom and Dad and visit his aunts, uncles and cousins down there. He fared very well on the plane ride and enjoyed meeting new people. He got to hone his skill of sitting up while there and saw a horse close up for the first time. In the middle of November, Sam got to go to Paris, France with Mom and Dad and visit aunts, uncles and cousins there too! By this trip he was loving solid foods so he ate baguettes (great for teething), crepes and even a little foie gras. He met family on his Mom's side as well as his Dad's cousins and their kids who visited from England. Then it was back home for a quiet Thanksgiving with family in San Diego.

I love pasta!

Thanksgiving with the mommies

Tough travelling

Aunt Karen!

Bouncy boys

Sam and Uncle Rick

Great grandma and Sam

Sam works out on yoga ball in innovative baby training program.

Reclin-o-luggage

Travelling in style

Sam is lounging as he gets wheeled around the airport.

Overwhelmed...

...with Love. This post has been binging around in my head for several days as I enjoy being home and raising Sam. I know it echoes sentiments that Dave feels as well. There are a dozen times a day that I look at Sam or think about Sam and am just overwhelmed by my love for him. He's a sweet, loving, happy, curious, independent, observant, funny, good-natured and adorable little angel and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to be his parents. And yes, even at 3:30am when he cries or at dinner when he doesn't want his veggies, I feel the same. What an incredible and rewarding journey we are on as parents.
-Christine

Chowing 2

Chowing on a tortilla

Hey, I know you

Sam has started to crawl towards us when we beckon and enjoys chasing us around the coffee table or other corners. This is the rewarding side of getting up at midnight and 4am to feed him. :)

He's also started to enjoy foods and has added to his repertoire: oatmeal, tofu, yogurt, cottage cheese, fish, cantaloupe, grapes, rice, beans, avocado, turkey and butternut squash. He's pulling up to standing on everything and has started to learn to bend his knees to make the way back down a little easier.
-Christine

Are you eating my nose?

For a week or so now, Sam has been seeming to try to eat my nose while I hold him or when he crawls up to me. He comes at me with mouth open and slobbery and generally aims for my nose or other parts of my face. I was relating this to Dave and wondered why Sam was trying to eat my nose. It was only days later that I realized, hey, maybe he's trying to give me a kiss like I give to him, he's just not very good at it. We'll see if it morphs into a real kiss, but until then, I guess I get to have a wet nose.
-Christine

Tooth ho!

We had our first sighting of Sam's first tooth yesterday. He's been teething a lot the last week and finally a little sharp white nub has surfaced. We anticipate it will turn into a tooth, but for now it's just a nub. He seems happier already. One down, nineteen to go...
-Christine

Drinking from a cup

Sam isn't a big fan of bottles or sippy cups, but he sure likes to drink out of cups normally!

Fun kid

Sam is such a fun kid to around - we feel so blessed every day by being able to see him grow and discover the world.

Climbing!

As Sam and I clean up our old rental today, he kept working his way towards the stairs. When I finally finished vacuuming downstairs, I decided to see what Sam would do when he got to the stairs. He had climbed up boxes before, but had never had an entire staircase in front of him. Unassisted, he climbed up stair after stair, not looking back until he had climbed 4 steps. I went and got mom, and and with her as the goal at the top, he climbed the entire staircase, using the carpet shag as hand holds going up. Now all he has to do is figure out how to safely go down stairs...

Egg on his face

Sam ate egg yolk for the first time this morning and also fed himself for the first time today. He's been interested in exploring with his index finger lately - everything gets touched by that finger first. He did the same with the egg but also managed to get it stuck to another part of his hand and bring it to his mouth. Very exciting. He's on the road to self-sufficiency already!

-Christine

Home Sweet Home

Sam slept in his room in our real house for the first time last night. Ah, home sweet home. He's been having fun exploring the new house and discovering how hardwood floors work.

Bombs away

For the last couple of weeks Sam has been enjoying pulling up on various objects to get into the standing position. One of his favorite objects is a free-standing plastic file box of mine that's about a foot high - perfect for him. He's in the process of figuring out how to get down once he's gotten up. Yesterday I saw him stand and look at his hands on the box, then look at his toy on the ground and back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. I could see his brain whirring and the moment that he thought, "Well, bomb's away!" and he let go with both hands and headed face first to the ground and landed on his hands and knees. Today he added the beginning of bending his knees to make it less of a free fall. It's amazing to watch all this unfold...

Bigger than a shoebox

Climb to the highest heights

Sam helps unpack the microwave

Sam's new favorite thing

That's why little frisbees are made!

That's why little frisbees are made!

Alice's biggest fan!