Bathtime Fun

All of the sudden, Sam LOVES his bath. I tell you though, he is earning the name Squirmy! Bathing him is absolutely a two person job for the time being, for safety reasons. We cannot stop him from pulling up on the side of the tub, crawling back and forth, or sliding down the slopped wall, so someone needs to hold him while the other one washes him.

He got tons of tub toys from his grandma for Christmas, and he enjoys chasing those as they float around - especially the ones that light up! He has also taken to splashing. Now, while this does get mom and dad quite wet, this habit has actually had one very positive outcome: he no longer minds getting water in his face! This has really eased the process of washing his hair, and made it less of a panic moment if he dips his face while crawling.
We're spending more time in the bathtub these days!

A Few Quick Updates

1. After 2.5 months of army crawling on his belly, Sam is adapting to a "normal" crawl style on his hands and knees. He was spending a great deal of time on his knees to be able pull up, so I guess he finally figured it was worth it to just stay there. If he's really in a rush though, its still back to his belly.

2. He's getting really good at finger foods, especially when they're real "table foods" as opposed to some type of baby food. Yesterday he LOVED his cinnamon bread and whole blueberries.

3. He's cruising around every piece of furniture, large toy, or human body he can grab on to. He manages to get around the entire room by moving strategically between items.

Baby's First Christmas

And we now have three ornaments to prove it! Maybe four...I think I lost count.

Chris and I have been rotating holidays between Ohio and Florida since we got engaged. This year it was Christmas in Florida, so we packed up and headed east for nine days. I won't try to bore you with the entire itinerary, but I will hit some highlights of the trip.

1. We got to meet Zachary Andrew Harshman, 2-month-old son of Chris's cousin, college roommate, and best man. Zack was born about 4 days after we left Florida in October. He's adorable and well-behaved, and will probably pass up Sam in size in the next 2-3 months. (Trying to get a picture of a baby is difficult. Trying to get a picture of 2 babies is nearly impossible.)

2. We got to visit with "My Becky," not to be confused with Becky Hunniford, who was my college roommate. She was in town visiting people as well, so it was a wonderful treat to eat lunch, shop, and talk with her for an afternoon.

3. We watched the sunset on the beach one evening. I think we picked the coldest day of our trip to do it.

4. Christmas! Sam looked studly on Christmas Eve, and got to show it off by in service with Mommy and Daddy after he decided he DID NOT like the nursery at Grandma's Church. He did, however, like all of the candles during Silent Night!

For all of the time he spends trying to get to, tear apart, and eat paper while at home, Sam was relatively uninterested in doing anything with the wrapping paper on Christmas morning. So we helped him open all of his many gifts and showed him how to play with them. After each demonstration he promptly put everything we handed to him into his mouth. Perhaps my favorite moment from the gift opening on Sam's First Christmas was when we unwrapped his new lovie - another elephant just like his favorite one at home. The thing was all tied up in ribbon but that didn't matter to him - he lunged and grabbed for that thing like he might never see one again, pulled it right up to his face, and began sucking on the elephants nose. Good shopping Mommy!Sam talked A LOT while we were gone, introducing words like Ub Dub, Blah Blah, and Da Da. Must be a Florida thing though, cause he's back to grunting and ngeee exclusively since we got home. Grandpa Hunniford was also able to get him started on the assisted walking while we were there. That he has kept up though (refer to previous post).

All in all, we had a wonderful first season with our Squirmy. He saw Christmas lights, ate a Christmas cookie, heard lots of carols, met Santa, dressed the part, etc. I can't wait for many more to share with my little man!

Why Would I Sit...

When I can stand? That's Sam's new mantra. He is pulling up on everything. He is climbing all over me when I'm on the floor with him. And when he stands at a toy or table, he's constantly looking around for something else to grab so that he can move around the room. The child is desperate to walk. Its a little exhausting in that I can't turn my back for two seconds, but so much fun to watch. Or it was. Until I heard him fussing for a bit of time after I put him down for a nap. I went in to check on him and was greeted by this:And I was greeted by the same standing boy the next two times I tried to put him down for a nap. The standing in the crib would be fine, if he would just lie back down when he was worn out and ready to sleep. But the child hasn't figured out how to sit back down yet. We still had his crib on the highest, "I'm a new baby and can't move" setting. So, yesterday afternoon I lowered his crib mattress to the middle "I can move around but I'm not dangerous yet" setting, thinking my problem had been solved. And 10 minutes after I put him down for his morning nap this morning, I found him standing once again.

Hmph. My life is about to get more complicated.

Happy Thanksgiving!

**Sorry for the delay in this post - I didn't really have any of the pictures from the trip 't on our camera, so I was waiting until I received them. I've decided to go ahead and post without pictures. I'll add some to the web album later.**

Just before Sam's 7 month birthday he made it to his 4th state (and third timezone) as we traveled to San Diego, California to my sister's house for Thanksgiving. We actually stayed at their home on the Marine Base Camp Pendleton. Our family has come to describe their neighborhood on base as something akin to The Wonder Years or the 1950's, with neighbors stopping by unannounced, impromptu block parties, and the safety and security of knowing all your neighbors. We even used the out-of-town neighbor's oven to cook some of our side dishes for the big meal. Its a very nice place to live.

Sam had a difficult time with the time change, starting with the fact that he only got 6 hours of sleep our first night there due to our travels. We kept him on Central Time, but that meant we woke up at 5am, at lunch at 10am and was down for the night at 6pm. So it was hard for him to keep up with all the activities, but he still managed to entertain the fam.

On Thanksgiving we all got an early start by participating in the Oceanside Turkey Trot - a 5k run/walk. It was cold that morning! And Sam decided he didn't like the view from the jogging stroller my sister had borrowed for us, so Grandma and Mom got to take turns holding him for the last 2.5 miles of the 3.1 mile race. Needless to say, she and I walked it. The race ended along the beach, and gave us a great excuse to eat whatever we wanted for the rest of the day (as if we weren't going to anyways!).

I'm pretty sure Chris's favorite part of the trip was the boys' outing to the gun range. My brother-in-law (Captain George Stegmiller, USMC) took them all to fire a few of his guns. Apparently my husband is a good shot! I think Sam's favorite part was when Grandpa gave him his first french fry. Its a good shape for holding and gnawing on, but I'm pretty sure its not on any list of suggested first baby foods. Oh well.

It was a great trip and wonderful chance to see my whole side of the family. We realized that, due to deployment and shifting holiday schedules, Chris and I hadn't seen George since their wedding over 2 years ago. And Kristen and George hadn't yet met Sam, so this was literally the first time that our whole family was together. Thanks for hosting, Stegmillers!