All I want for Christmas...

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. We've been busy with Christmas coming (tomorrow!) not to mention chasing the little man around. And cleaning everything up.

The other day we had Spaghettios for lunch. He insists on eating his food with a utensil in hand. He might not use it, but he has to have it. Most of the time, he has to have 2 or 3.


A week ago he woke up and we were at Miss Amy's house when I noticed his eye. It was goopy and crusty but not pink. He'd had a runny nose for a little over a week but I thought it was closely related to the 2 front teeth he has coming in, just in time for Christmas. But the eye thing had me a little concerned. The Dr. wanted to see him so later that morning we went to visit the pediatrician. Turns out Samuel has an ear infection in both ears! Yuck! For 13 months we have avoided any ear infection that Kevin and I seemed to get so frequently when we were his age. But we can avoid it no longer. One lesson I have learned from this latest round of antibiotics: The strawberry flavoring is Samuel's favorite so far. He's not into the bubble gum flavor.

This evening we decided to take Samuel to see Santa and have his picture taken with the man in red. As it turns out, Bass Pro Shop was hosting the big guy and giving away free pictures with him. I was a bit fearful of the potential disaster this was going to be, seeing so many photos recently of children Samuel's age crying through the whole experience. But, as stated so many times before, we have a trooper on our hands. He was a great little guy, smiling and even waving goodbye!
While we were at the store, we thought we could play a little...





A little random, but this is video of Samuel eating lemons for the first time.



Last week we were blessed with some early Christmas blessings when my dad came for a week. While he was here he offered to help make my house more of a home (thank you!) and he had some help in the process. What a good helper! And what a fabulous red wall! Thanks so much grand-dad!

Laughing and playing with Grand-dad. There are some of the sweetest sounds in this video! And it's cute how he tries to copy what he sees.



And, the most requested video of late: a longer video of Samuel walking.


Have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Casualties

As of Tuesday, December 17, there have been casualties of the Christmas variety in our house:

1 Baby's 1st Christmas hand-painted glass ornament

1 Christmas Tree

I have to go buy some super glue to try to repair the ornament. And our Christmas tree will probably be leaning against the wall until after Christmas when trees are marked down. Imagine, Christmas morning with a leaning Christmas tree!

Note: Invest in a gate to protect the Christmas tree and its shiny ornaments. And, even if you do put the "touchable" ornaments on the bottom for little hands to play with, those same little hands like to pull and will pull a tree down. This pulling down of the big Christmas tree makes all breakable ornaments up higher on the tree just further from the floor and quite unsteady.

What you've been waiting for

Buckle your seat belts. It's going to be a wild ride.



Another, just for fun. Down the stairs!

It's a Boy!

Samuel is expecting a cousin in mid-April and we are delighted it's going to be a boy! Samuel can't wait to perfect his new tricks like spitting and throwing food so he can teach to his cousin. Congrats Morgan and Andy. We are all excited and know you are too.

We (sans Kevin) had the pleasure to go to Maryland for Thanksgiving. Some things just aren't right and Thanksgiving isn't "Thanksgiving" unless it's at my parent's home. It was nice to get to visit with my brother, sister-in-law, and my grandparents for a few days. Samuel was spoiled, it doesn't take long for these things to happen. It was very cold (to me). I knew it was chilly when stepping off the plane, I could see my breath.

The trip there was bearable since the flight was barely half-full. The worst thing that happened: Samuel knocked his applesauce onto the floor, including enzymes, which splattered up and onto the bag belonging to the guy sitting next to us. And on his pants too. So embarrassing. The flight back, Samuel fell asleep in the airport and stayed knocked out for MOST of the flight. The last 45 minutes he woke up and realized he needed to make up for lost time. He wanted to crawl down the aisle, which was not acceptable. When that couldn't happen, he screamed, became a noodle, and tried to get down. By COMPARISON, he was excellent. By my standards, he's had better days.

..and he's off!

Samuel is getting brave! He's walking with one hand on the couch or the other day he was walking while holding on to my hand. Some people are encouraging Samuel to just get up and walk. These are not people who live in this house or would otherwise have to chase Samuel around the house/church/grocery store/neighborhood..whatever place would apply. But he has been standing up while leaning against the couch, face out, and it really won't be too much longer.


Last week I accidentally erased the video of him walking with his tractor. I was able to get new video of that yesterday and am posting it before I erase it this time! This is 2 minutes of him going back and forth with his tractor. He will do this for a lot longer than 2 minutes. He goes and when he can't go straight anymore, he walks to the other side and goes backward. Back and forth, back and forth.



Last time I wrote about when I dropped Samuel at Miss Amy's, I said he couldn't have cared less that I was leaving. This past Friday I dropped him off and he actually waved to me as I was walking out the door. Next week I am expecting him to get out of the car and carry his own stuff in and say, "Please mom, you don't have to come in." And then the week after that he will be driving himself there.

He's mad because I won't let him have the camera. I should just give it to him and let him finish destroying it. The buttons have somehow gotten sticky and now I have a rough time turning the silly thing on. Thankfully, Costco has some on sale now...

Still mad...If you read lips, you may be able to tell he is saying something like "nooooooo" or whining something similar.


We are getting ready to go to Maryland for Thanksgiving! Samuel and I are very excited to see all the family that will be there. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of Samuel bundled up for the cold. That will be fun!

I just realized that he's wearing the same thing in all these pictures. It's not because he doesn't have clothes to wear, but they were all taken Saturday morning, just before breakfast. We really do change his clothes.

Signing out...

Year in review-Thanksgiving

It's hard to believe it's been a year. For over a year now, Samuel has had enzymes with every meal. That's a lot of pills! He's had vitamins everyday. He's had breathing treatments most of those days. He's such a trooper, but to him, he doesn't know that other kids don't do that. He's been really getting into his breathing treatments. He knows he can't win the fight anymore so he enjoys the silly songs we sing for him. When he sees the mask, he actually puts it up to his face for a few seconds. How fabulous!

In the past year, Samuel has had it pretty easy, considering what we are up against. He's only struggled with pneumonia once and the constant battle hasn't been anything more than keeping his weight up. He hasn't had one hospital visit or long stay at the emergency room or clinic. All in all, we've been very blessed. He is a very happy boy who loves just that: being a boy. He likes to get dirty, be in control and not sleep. He really enjoys getting into news things (i.e. trouble) and climbing the stairs to go back down them. When I look at him sleeping in his bed, it's amazing how big he is getting! I am so blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

So, what's Samuel been up to? Well, some people would like you to think he was the one who coordinated the jail break yesterday, but he told me he was trying to stop it. Miss Amy had the windows open and turned the corner to see one and a half kids out the window with Samuel holding on to the legs of the one who was on his way out. Like I said, he told me he was trying to pull him back in, but you can believe who you would like.

The high chair must be a comfortable place. When he can't even stay awake for some chicken nuggets then he must be extremely worn out.




The other day I had some great video of Samuel scooting around with his tractor. Then I went to a baby shower and was deleting old pictures and deleted the video without uploading it first! So, I have to record him doing that again soon and get it up. He looks like a little old man walking along. It's great!

We had Samuel's first year portraits taken. They turned out great! Here are just a few:



He likes high hair, just like his mommy! :)


The first pose in this collection (above)...can you see the mischief in his eyes?


We love Samuel!

A Year Ago, Today...

On this day, one year ago, Samuel had his sweat test. I was a nervous new mom and Samuel was a sweet little, itty-bitty, baby.