a week later

i've noticed that my posts have been pretty sam-heavy lately. that's probably because not much of note has been going on that's not sam related. he's still changing daily. sucking his fingers, examining his feet, flipping onto his belly. i'm sort of missing his "little blob" stage. he was so tiny, swaddled in his blankets and tucked into his bouncy-seat. so cute, so new, so scary. but it's also so exciting to see all the new things he can do and all the things he's discovering. and of course, he's still so cute.

last week was my last full week of work and i'm absolutely looking forward to enjoying more time soaking up all the adventures with sam. i feel like i've missed out while i was at work the last two and a half months, so i'm making a point of making sure that when the next two and a half months (and more) are gone, i won't feel that way again.

playtime

sammy is really starting to get the hang of playing with toys. he can almost be distracted from the fact that he's on his tummy. almost.

cereal saturday

sammy isn't big enough for pizza yet, so he had cereal on saturday instead. his first bowl of cereal. i'm not sure how much actually made it to his tummy, but he was sure excited about eating from a spoon like the big people do, and he said it wasn't being shoveled in fast enough.
mmmmm.... yummy...

like father, like son

my silly boys on father's day. look at those blue eyes and pink tongues. what more could a girl want?

new news is good news

it's official! as of july 1st, i will only be working two days a week at the office, which means many more hours with this little angel. hoo-rah!

this is basically a cost cutting measure for the company. we were all facing cut-backs, but in my situation, it's not such a bad thing. my income will be cut in half, and i'll still have to do some daycare time (two longer days), but i'll also get a bunch more time home with sam. so come july, you will probably get much more information than you ever wanted about his daytime antics. beware!

happy hair

this is my 200th post, so to celebrate, sammy is sporting his happy hair.

i tried to take a picture, but it looks a lot happier in person. and it sorta gives him a bit of a kewpie vibe. not in that weird, creepy way though. it's more of an extremely cute and adorable way.

more sammy stats - 4 months

sam's official stats from the doctor:

15lbs 7oz - 60th percentile for weight

25.25in - 62nd percentile for height

all healthy and good. okayed for cereal.

bonus: cried only 15 seconds after his second shot. awesome!

huzzah!

i really love baking. over the weekend i made one casserole, one batch of mixed berry muffins, one loaf of sourdough bread, and one loaf of marjorie's whole wheat bread. and they were all yummy (if i do say so myself). there's just something about baking, especially baking bread, that gives me warm fuzzies. besides, it makes the house smell sooooooooo good.

saturday brunch

we had a great time with visitors this past saturday morning. a yummy brunch potluck that was topped off by cake and ice cream. it was a lot of fun. i've never hosted a brunch before, but i think it went pretty well. i don't think i could ever get too many chances to visit. and even though he took a bit of a nap during the festivities, i think sam had a good time too. thanks everyone for coming over and bringing wonderful, yummy goodies!

a few highlights: here's a photo of two birthday girls and their cake (with sammy overseeing the activities)...

and abby being entertaining...

traveling daddy - day four

dear daddy--
today was lots of fun. mom got to work from home, so my job was to entertain her. while she sat at the computer, i read... and hung out on the couch and napped (you can see my hair in this photo!)...

and played on the floor while i told her all kinds of stuff.

i'm not sure she understood all my stories, but she took breaks so we could eat and play silly games. there was a lot of laughing today. and i managed to have both the bouncy-chair covers go into the laundry. luckily, we were able to have lots of fun and find places to play without them.

i'm feeling pretty tired. mom says it's almost bedtime anyway. we're nearly finished with the first story in the big book, but maybe tomorrow you can start reading me a new one.

i'm glad you'll be home tomorrow. i miss you lots.

love -- sammy

traveling dad - day three

dear daddy--
was super good today. ate breakfast like a champ. waited patiently while mom packed the car and didn't whine when i was strapped into my carseat. came home wearing the same outfit i wore this morning. teased mom by not practicing rolling over. laughed at her silly faces. waited patiently while she had dinner and talked on the phone. went to bed like a little angel-baby. haven't pooped yet. am saving BIG mess for mommy later. don't tell. it's going to be a surprise.

be good and don't put beans up your nose.

love -- sammy

4 months old

sammy officially turns 4 months old today. he really seems to be finding his own voice. usually with loud screams (mostly happy ones, thank goodness) and lots of laughing. i love hearing his laugh. so cute! sam can anticipate a "getcha" and a tickling coming, and he'll laugh as soon as he sees the tickle fingers moving his way.

he also does a lot of observing--hands, feet, lights, ceiling fans, and food (usually mom or dad's dinners) are all of great interest. he especially enjoys having people talk to him and will flash his "little sunshine" smile at just about anyone who tells him how cute or good or wonderful he is. this is probably why i get so many smiles. i tell him these things all the time.

happy fourth monthaversary sammy! i love you to bits!

ps - his four month doctor visit is monday, so stay tuned for his stats!

traveling dad - day two

dear daddy--
not much to report. had a good morning. ate so much breakfast i nearly fell asleep. had fun playing in the basement after dinner until bedtime. fell asleep while mommy was reading. woke up for a snack a little later. it was a good day.
can't wait for you to come home.
love -- sammy

traveling dad - day one

dear daddy --
had a good day today. came home with one wet outfit and one poopy outfit and someone else's pants on. laughed at mom when she tried to tickle me, when she put bottles in the fridge, and when she tried to feed me. wet another outfit. wet mom's outfit. got a new outfit. decided to test my lung capacity by yelling when i was happy. thought that went well so decided to yell when i needed to burp. it didn't help, so decided to try the combo of squirming and yelling. ate until i fell asleep. decided to give mom a break and stay asleep for my diaper change and being put to bed.
i might try that yelling thing again later when i've rested up. mom seemed to think it was exciting.
i miss you.
love -- sammy

yum yum yum yummy

about a month ago i was really hungry for sourdough bread, so i pulled out my recipe and made some starter. every week since then we've been having sourdough pizza crust or a nice loaf of homemade sourdough bread. i meant to take a photo of the baked loaf, but it pretty much disappeared before i got the chance. it was yum yum yummy.

peepy sleeple

i finally did it. i fell asleep on the train and missed my stop. twice. in the same day. i knew it was bound to happen eventually. and so it did. yesterday. oops.
sammy had a rough night thursday night. lots of tossing and turning and wiggling and not wanting to be put down, which resulted in two very tired parents and one cutie of a boy who woke up just as happy and smiley and giggly as ever. his parents...not so much. we were terribly glad that it was friday and that we could sleep in this morning. we almost made it until 7. mike is still in bed now (lucky duck), but sam is wide awake and telling me that he'd like a little breakfast. it's a good thing he's so cute.

work stuff

i'm in the midst of working on six book projects for this fall. it's keeping me pretty busy at work. but i still wish i was spending my days with this lovely, little fellow.
with any luck, i'll find out soon about my new schedule and it will include more time at home with my blue-eyed boy.

artists

over the past few weeks we've received several pieces of artwork from our nieces and nephews. they're quite the creative bunch. i'm wishing we had a larger fridge.

many thanks to the artists!

ready to stroll

sammy had his first real stroll in the stroller on sunday afternoon. it was weird not to have him strapped to my front-side. instead of peeking under a hat to see if he was nodding off, i had to peer around his little canopy. i still think i like the carrier better, but it was fun for his dad to be the motor on this little drive (and pop a few wheelies for good measure).