Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend to celebrate Sam's first Easter. Saturday we had BEAUTIFUL weather (I might have a small sunburn to prove it), so after morning nap we took Sam on his first bike ride! I got my bike as a gift for my 25th birthday - it arrived at our home about 6 days before we found out I was pregnant. I rode it regularly until I was about 6 months. Chris got his bike for his 26th birthday, about 3 weeks before Sam was born. So he and I had never actually been on a bike ride together! We needed to fix that! I got a front mounted bike seat from another mom in the neighborhood, and all three of us really loved our first family ride - many happy sounds coming from my squirms, and many smiles from those we encountered on the trail. We are fortunate to have a wonderful new bike trail in our neighborhood and we can now get all the way downtown on our bikes! We're looking forward to many more rides this summer.

After a wonderful church service in the morning, we had a relaxing afternoon while Sam napped. In the late afternoon we had some friends come over for Easter dinner. They have two sweet daughters, 14 months and 3 years, that our little man had a great time trying to keep up with. He found them so entertaining that he didn't even notice that mommy and daddy were busy having adult conversations!












And finally, this morning after I finished brushing my teeth I realized that it was quiet in my house...too quiet. I went to look for Sam, and found him standing at our little end table. My mind quickly thought through what I could have left there that would be intriguing him so much when it hit me: the black jelly beans. My little man had eaten 3 of the 5 discarded jelly beans that Chris and I refused to eat. I didn't think he'd be able chew them, let alone like the taste. Live and learn!

Uncle Geo's Baseball Game

Last weekend Sam and I traveled up to Ohio to visit with my family and celebrate Uncle George. George, my sister's husband, played baseball for Miami University in college and he was honored as the team's honorary captain for the season at their Military Appreciation Day. Fortunately they were able to fit the celebration into the early part of the season, as Captain George is set to deploy to Afghanistan at the end of April. Chris had to stay home to study for a test he has to take this month, but Sam and I spent a wonderful 5 days in Ohio.

The trip marked several milestones for Sam: First hotel stay, first baseball game, first REAL snowfall (yes it was the end of March, but its Ohio!), first introduction to Tori Minder. We were fortunate that some of the Ferguson crew was able to join us for the game on Saturday! Oh, and Sam and my parents' cat Dan got along surprisingly well. They had a very healthy respect for each other! I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story:

Grandpa took Sam out in the snow for a few minutes...in Daddy's snowsuit!

George throwing out the first pitch:
Sam and Hayden Minder got along pretty well:
We had an open seat next to us on the way home and Sam napped almost the entire flight in it. I even got to read a magazine!

11 Months

Can you believe that the next time I write an update like this it will be for Sam's first birthday? I cannot. Not even a little bit. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Squirmy had a very good 11th month of life. He's a very happy baby, most of the time. He's had some off times, but we're thinking those have mostly been due to the two front teeth that keep threatening to make their way into his mouth - up and down they go, bringing a low grade fever with them as they do. Hopefully they'll pop in for good any day now! He also seems to have highs and lows when it comes to eating - some weeks he eats a ton, others hardly anything at all. I'm trying to be better about not stressing on the weeks he doesn't want to eat, because it all seems to even out in the end. Separation anxiety is a continuing struggle for us.

As far as accomplishments for the month, standing independently is the biggest. He can do it on his own, and sometimes even chooses to, but for the most part he still doesn't prefer it. His balance is incredible, and any adult would be thrilled to stay in the kind of squats that he has mastered for as long as he does. He loves to practice walking, he just won't do it by himself.

Also of note: last week we began the slow process of weaning. He got his first bottle of cow's milk right before our trip to Ohio to test the waters and make sure I didn't need to bring a pump with me. He took it just fine, and I almost cried because my baby boy doesn't need me anymore. As sad as I am to say it, hopefully he's completely weaned by his first birthday.

And that brings us to our monthly lists:
Likes:
-Playing Outside
-Opening and Closing Doors (bring on the childproofing!)
-Putting various items into various containers (sometimes this means a toy into your cereal bowl if you aren't watching!)
-Looking out the sunroof in the car
-Dogs and Cats
-Playing Peek-A-Boo

Dislikes:
-Teething
-Being made to stand on his own when he's not in the mood
-Waking up in unfamiliar places
-Mommy and Daddy leaving him anywhere with anyone

**Sorry if the picture quality is poor, it was taken on a phone but I love it and wanted to include it!

A Little Tired

Yesterday afternoon Sam and I were spending some time in his room. I was in the chair on the computer, he was playing well by himself on the floor. I noticed him just kinda rolling around a bit, not even trying to come get the computer - a very rare occurrence, but I took advantage of my few moments. Two minutes later I look over and find this:

Baby boy had found lovie and paci and put himself to sleep on the floor. He didn't even wake up when I scooped him up into his crib. Poor guy!

What Beautiful Eyes!

As a mom of an adorable little man you get used to strangers talking to you about, and cooing directly to, your baby. Many of the comments we get, I'd say at least once a week, are about Sam's eyes. Usually something like "What bright blue eyes!" or "What beautiful eyes!" or something of the like. I hear it so frequently that I realized recently that I was kinda shoving it off with, "Oh yeah, we get that a lot." I've tried to be better about being thankful for these comments over the past few weeks, because its a very kind compliment and should be appropriately appreciated.

This past week we were complimented on his eyes no fewer than 4 times. I mentioned it to Chris last night and he said, "Yeah I used to get that all the time, too." Really? I mean I've always thought he had great eyes, but I didn't realize I wasn't the only one!

Truth be told I've always been attracted to a man's eyes. God really knew what he was doing by giving me TWO men in my life with great eyes :-)

Children's Museum

This morning our playgroup went to the Children's Museum of Houston. To say that Sam LOVE IT would be an understatement. We spent the morning in the Tot Spot, an area specially designed for children under 3. It was really great to be, along with one other mom and baby, the first ones in the area right at opening this morning.

Sam hit the ground "running" and didn't stop. Seriously, he didn't stop moving for an hour and a half. He opened and closed doors, pushed cars on a track, crawled over squishy mounds, had a tea party, went down a slide, etc. And he didn't stop smiling and giggling the entire time. Even a complete stranger commented on the fact that he'd been smiling the entire time.

We had so much fun that we bought a membership on the way out. I figure it'll be a nice escape from the miserable heat this summer. We didn't get a chance to look around at the "big kid" part of the museum, but I don't think we're quite ready for it yet anyhow. Maybe next time, when its not spring break week, we can check it out!

**Sorry I didn't have my camera! I'll try to take pictures next time.

If A Tree Falls In The Woods...

Oh but ours didn't fall in the woods, and I could definitely hear it! Unfortunately, our huge old ash tree in the front yard was eaten by carpenter ants last summer. The damage had weakened the tree to the point that we feared serious damage to our house if we were to get hit with another hurricane. So we had it cut down before the next storm season is upon us.

Sam was very interested in all the loud noise outside, so we pulled up a chair and let him work on his lunch while they began.

Then later we did some swinging while we watched. It was really pretty cool to watch it all come down. The stump grinder was an awesome machine, but I couldn't get a picture because the wood chips were flying everywhere!












And 5 hours later, our house was a lot more visible from the street. I'm pretty sure we're going to miss the extra shade when we get our first summer electric bill, but it had to be done. Now...what to do with that big empty spot?!