Reach little arm!

Sam is still working on walking. He's bravely stretching from the coffee table to the couches.

Artistic Swinging

Jesse and Sam take two walks a day; one in the morning, one in the afternoon. During one of the walks, they usually stop at the grocery store and pick up a few items while the ladies that work at the store fawn over Sam. On the other walk of the day, they stop at the park and swing.

Shark eats Monster

Happy Halloween!

Sam was not wholly thrilled to rock a too-tight shark costume for his second Halloween. Mama probably shouldn't have bought his costume 2 months early.

The excitement was overwhelming as we strolled around the neighborhood with our favorite girlfriend Reece, aka Zebra.

About 10 minutes into our stroll, Sam let us know that the velcro under his chin was scraping away his skin. Not his best wordrobe experience. We put the shark hood back, put the monster hat on, and voilà, new costume: Shark eats Monster.

I wouldn't call this "restful" behavior

Just in time for Halloween, Sam has discovered a new trick at bedtime, performed in the pitch dark for extra style points:

1 year old

Dear Sam,

It has been one year since we had the extraordinary experience of meeting you. It's hard to believe how little we knew you then and how much we think we know you now. Which I realize will be nothing compared to a year from now-- or 5 or 10 or 20. But I can now imagine how fast those years will come.

Whooowee did this year fly. Time flies when you're hanging out with an awesome baby. Isn't that how the saying goes?

At any rate, you have been an awesomely consistent person so far. From the beginning, you have been mellow, kind, happy, thoughtful, observant... with a touch of feistiness which your Dad says comes from your Mama. You are what they call a 'textbook' baby. You hit milestones when you 'should' and you follow all the 'easy baby' rules. And we are eternally grateful.

A year ago you were tiny and sleepy and had very few, persistent needs. We watched you, day after day, turn into a strong, independent, curious and happy (dare I say) BOY. A boy that we adore. You continue to light up the faces and dispositions of almost everyone who crosses your path. You make it so easy.

Except when you don't. Which is pretty infrequent, but I must mention it so you don't get a big head from all of these positive adjectives I'm piling up here. You do have a knack for whining when you're tired or tired of something. And if the Whining Warning doesn't cause the problem to be resolved, wenching your body back or away or somewhere difficult soon follows, which can do wonders for our blood pressure.

Let's work on not doing that.

Overall.....overall this year with you has easily been one of the most rewarding and happy of our lives. Thank you for making us a family and for being you. Here's to many, many more.

We love you today,
Mama and Dad

Welcome home

Tonight my son hugged me. It's the only way to describe what he did. I got home from work and peeked down the hall into the kitchen. He was sitting on the floor, playing with a speck of something, too engrossed to notice me. So I said, 'Hello?'.

Sam's head whipped up and he spotted his Mama. He turned on a dime and crawled down the hall towards me.

Did I mention he's crawling? I didn't? Well, he is and he's patiently showing us new things every day that need to be moved out of his reach. And every day he's gaining speed. You can hear the progression with the ever accelerating 'patpatpatpatpat' of his hands on our hardwood floors.

Anyway, he quickly navigated through the maze of toys in the hall where I waited for him. I scooped him up and carried him into the kitchen, covering him in kisses. Then. THEN. He opened his arms straight out from his sides, put his little hands around my arms, leaned in and squeezed.

Now, THAT is how to welcome a girl home.

Preparing for Sleep

This is the very first post dedicated exclusively to what Sam Said today. Here is a little clip of him sitting in his crib preparing to go to sleep.

Wait..... what was that he said? The part before the screeching?