First Mini Vacation

We have a BIG vacation coming up very soon and have been a little anxious about how Samuel would travel.  So, we decided to take a mini vacation last weekend.  We drove up to the Northern Lakeshore to see a new part of the state for us.  Oh my goodness, it's beautiful up there!  But, that's beside the point because you really just want Samuel stories :)

Samuel and Mike picked me up at work and we headed off on a 2.5 hour drive up north.  Samuel did great for most of the trip up.  After arriving, he did a little bit of playing and checking out his surroundings and he seemed happy and excited to be in a new place.  He spent most of that night in the king bed with us because the travel bed didn't work out so well...too small and too little padding.

The next morning was completely foggy and cool, so a bad day to visit the beach.  Instead, we wandered down to the pool for Samuel's first swim.  It was a little surprising to him that the biggest bath tub he'd ever seen was so cold!

After a swim, we went downtown to do a little shopping.  After a delicious lunch, it was naptime for the little fellow, so we packed him up in the car and drove through some of the towns up to the Big Bridge.  Here, we stopped at the beach (although still cold) and put the munchkin's feet in the sand and water.  He thought it was hilarious.  He kept giggling about the cold waves hitting his feet. 

Sunday morning, we gave Samuel a little time to play and then headed down to one of the local rocky shorelines.  Again, Samuel got to put his feet in the water, and giggled some more.  And that was that, a simple vacation, but generally a nice time.

Lessons learned: All things take more time with a baby.  Baby's schedule comes first.  We must allow time for naps, play, and bedtime.  The travel bed won't cut it for our long vacation.  Pampers for two days make our son's bottom very red.  G-diapers are not an acceptable vacation alternative to cloth diapers for our needs.  Dining out with a baby who is too big for infant carriers and too small to sit up by himself is a challenge (but not impossible - hooray for booster seats!).

While Samuel (and Mike and I) had a nice time, this is how Samuel felt about all of Mommy's pictures by the end of the trip ;)

Mobility is in the Forecast

Samuel learned to roll from back to front a couple weeks ago.  Apparently, he did it several times at daycare and kept getting mad because he ended up on his stomach - in tummy time position.  That's my boy...  I didn't quite believe it at first, but then he showed us later that evening and spent most of his night rolling from his back to his side (apparently he's figured out that stopping on his side is more comfortable than going all the way to his stomach).
In the last few weeks, we have observed that Samuel LOVES to be outside.  The one trick that's guaranteed to calm him down when he's really fussy is to step outdoors and let the warm fresh air run across his face.  While outdoors the other day, we introduced him to bubbles and he found them very thought provoking.  No, he didn't giggle.  He studied them.  Any guess where he gets that tendency???  What a funny kid...

Here are a few snapshots I've taken recently.

Cousin Kyla!

Last Saturday, Samuel got to see his "big" cousin, Kyla.  She is about three months older than him...and not much bigger...  They had so much fun together.  They (Kyla) rolled around on the floor, and they both reached out to get each other, and Kyla sucked on Samuel's pacifier and his thumb.  It was really cute. 

Playroom!

We live in a cool, 1950s ranch home that we love.  Ever since we moved in, though, we have had a few things we wanted to change.  One change we've been wanting to make involves the dining room in the house.  This room sits at the front of the the house and is almost completely closed off from the rest of the house, aside from a doorway entry from the front hallway and the kitchen.  It isn't in our natural path and we don't have a need for a formal dining room at this time, so we've hardly used the room since we bought the house.  It backs up to our living room and we have wanted to connect the two rooms from the start.  So, this weekend, Mike and my dad tackled the project.  We won't be using the dining room for dining, but rather for a toy room.  It's a natural place for Samuel to hang out as he gets a little older and a convenient place for us to put all his toys :)  The project isn't quite done, as finishing work always takes time, but they made huge strides this weekend.  Here are some before and "almost after" pictures.

I will post a few after pics when it's all finished.