One Year Photos

Even though he was very antsy, our awesome photographer got some great shots of our little man.  Check them out on her blog.

http://kristareneephotography.blogspot.com/2011/01/samuel-1-year.html

Mullet? I think not.

Twice in two weeks, people commented on Samuel's "mullet."  Mike and I thought those were two comments too many and decided that it was time for Samuel's first haircut, even though the hair on the top of his head still hasn't grown in fully.  Here's the before and after (just of the back - we only took care of the mullet).

Nice, clean cut looking little man :)

The Boy Has Expensive Taste

Samuel has been car shopping with us recently, and we've noticed a trend...

The disturbing part is that he keeps picking cars with no room for a carseat...what is he trying to tell us? 

Comings and Goings of 2011

We have welcomed 2011 into our lives.  It has been a difficult start to the year, but things seem to be smoothing out.  During the first week of the new year, Mike and I were consumed with taking care of Samuel's first bout with the stomach flu (which lasted 5 days, with me being sick 2 of them).  During that same week, Mike had a car accident in a snowstorm and the car was totalled (but we are grateful that he was not injured!).  We've also identified a possible allergic reaction that Samuel has been experiencing and may have to pursue it further if it happens more often or the symptoms get worse.

But, things have been turning up since that first week.  On Samuel's actual birthday, we had a mini celebration with our friends at church (and enjoyed more birthday cake!) and the following weekend, Samuel and Daddy had a guys' weekend while I relaxed at a quilting retreat :)  We have started Samuel's first swimming class and he likes about 50% of the activities at it.  We also have successfully weaned Samuel to cow's milk 100% of the time.  We took Samuel to the doctor for his one year check up yesterday and the doctor thinks Samuel is a very healthy little boy.  Samuel thinks the doctor does a lot of funny checks on him and giggles when the doctor looks in his ears :)

Here are a few snapshots of our past few weeks.

All that stuff they say about baby's and boxes?

Yeah...it's all true...

Mike's car...

My Quilt (and my friend Kristen's)

Samuel proving that he can hold his own bottle now

Chasing ducks - our favorite part of swimming class!

Giving back the ducks means more ducks get thrown back in the water

Happy Swimming!

Grandpa T

Samuel got a very special birthday present this year.  Grandpa T came to visit and celebrate Samuel's birthday with us!  We hadn't gotten to see him since July, so it was a great time for all of us.  We had a family birthday party, went to the Nature Center, had lunch with other Purdue alumni and watched a ball game, and probably most special, Samuel and Grandpa got to read together before bedtime each night.

Watching woodpeckers at the bird feeders

 Three Generations

 "I love it when the windows are at my height!"

 Trying to run to the next cool thing to explore

(to say he LOVED the Nature Center would be an understatement)

 Nothing beats reading my favorite book with Grandpa T!

Thanks for helping make Samuel's first birthday so special.  We miss you already!

It's so much fun to be one!

 

Christmas Morning

A little late posting these, but things have been overly crazy since Christmas.  Christmas morning, we had high hopes that Samuel would be super excited about his presents.  His response wasn't exactly what we thought it would be...

 We started the morning out opening his stocking from Santa.  

 

It was filled with fun toys and books...

And all he cared about was his new toothbrush...

 

After the stocking, we tried opening one present, and he had his first meltdown.  He was completely overwhelmed and exhausted, so we had to put him down for a nap.  After his nap, we got back into present opening.  He got lots of great new toys, but his new music toys were the favorite of the morning.

After a little playtime, we realized that we were going to need to do a little rearranging in the playroom for all the new toys.  So, we started to move things around...which led to the second meltdown...and the second naptime.  After naptime, he explored boxes and rode in the new Cozy Coupe. 

We got to visit on Skype with lots of relatives and Samuel showed off his brand, new, shiny walking skills to his Grandma and Grandpa M and Grandma T.  We ended our Christmas with dinner with friends.  It was a very enjoyable evening, and all in all a great day, with great memories - including the meltdowns :P