Snow!

Samuel went out to play in the snow for the first time this season.  He wasn't quite sure what to think of it.  We only lasted a few minutes - apparently Samuel isn't so fond of the cold snow yet.

For fun, here is Samuel's first ever playtime in the snow.

Followed by his second ever playtime in the snow, just this week...

Santa Claus!

We visited Santa today at the Santa House!  Samuel loved Santa!  See for yourself.

11 Months!

At 11 months of age, Mr. Samuel is one busy little boy!  In constant motion, he is crawling all over the house and taking a few steps at a time.  His favorite activity is pulling items off the furniture and dropping them on the ground.  He also very much enjoys pushing chairs around the kitchen.  He likes everything about books, from reading to pulling them all off the bookshelf into a big mess on the floor.  He LOVES to turn the pages of the books!  He has learned to wave hello and goodbye and he has learned how to give hugs.  Baby hugs just warm Mike's and my hearts!  We took him out today to take some 11 month/holiday pictures and I love how some of them turned out!

Clearly this little man knows how to have fun in life!

The Miracles of Baby Pain Killers

Samuel was pretty sick last week, with a high fever and an ear infection.  We rarely resort to medications unless he is feeling really rotten, but about once a day while he was sick, we broke down and gave him baby acetaminophen.  One night, we did so right before bed thinking it would make him sleep better.  It backfired...he woke up 45 minutes later ready to PLAY!  Here's our sick little stinker playing at 9:45pm.  Funny kid...

Awaiting Christmas

As we prepare for this Christmas, we celebrate Advent and all the sights and smells of the season.  Although it is quite cold outside, I think it's all warm and cozy inside.  Samuel is enjoying his first ever Christmas season and is busy exploring all the things that go along with the season.  He likes to check out the tree and it's lights and ornaments.  He likes to touch and pull on wrapping paper on gifts under the tree.  He listens to lots of Christmas music (whether he likes it or not), and he even occasionally plays with his Little People Nativity.  He has seen big snowfalls and has really enjoyed watching Daddy snow-blow the driveway.

Here's a glimpse into our Christmas season.

Waiting for Santa to arrive and light up our Courthouse

Visit to see Santa coming soon...

1st Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Samuel's First Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa M, Uncle Dan, and cousins James and Kyla.  Samuel liked his big boy turkey dinner a lot and had lots of fun playing with Kyla.  The adults had fun, too.

10 Months and Couting

We reached the 10 month mark two weeks ago and once again, I played around with the fancy camera and took some pictures to mark his development.  At 10 months, Samuel is beginning to stand without assistance and take tiny steps between the couch and ottoman.  He has been trying to say "All Done" when he makes the baby sign for "all done."  It sounds like "ah duh."  He now has 7 teeth and seems to be working very hard on another (possibly a molar) for the last several days.  Lately, he's been less interested in his toys and more interested in everything on top of tables and inside baskets.  He's been doing a sufficient job of making a mess of everything in the house!  He's eating more and more table food by the day and self-feeds about 70% of the time.  Mostly, he's just exploring the world and having fun!  What a great kid!

This month, I took pictures of him playing with a high chair tray that had about 1/2 inch of water, playing in the kitchen, and in the bathtub.