Happy Halloween - I'm 10 months!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween - Sam enjoyed his first one even if we did make him wear his costume 4 different times :) He got to go to his first Halloween party on Thursday night and then to the Dispatch for trick or treating on Friday and down to Grandma & Grandpa Goble's for Halloween dinner on Saturday night.

Sam is now mobile and working on upward! He's crawling around after all the things he wants - especially cords and DVDs on the shelf. He's so cute when he looks around like he knows he shouldn't be doing something but trying it anyway. He's pulling up to stand by anything, whether it's stable or not, and he can even manage to stand for a 1/2 second or so on his own.

He has 8 teeth, four on top and four on the bottom and is a big fan of animal crackers and any other food he can chew on. Favorite words continue to be "mama" and "dada" but I think most days they're pretty interchangable for just about anything he wants. He loves giving kisses and is getting into his "I'm cute when I'm shy" phase when he meets new people.

We're all getting ready for deer hunting around here, Matt's leaving for ND on Friday and Sam and I will be heading up to the Goble deer slaying grounds so we wish everyone good luck with hunting!

9 Months!!

Sam is 9 months old!! Where has the time gone? He is getting such a little personality to him, just like a little man :) He's scooting all over on his tummy, especially backward. He can get up on all fours and rock foward, but can't quite get the knees and feet to work together - but he's a great little yogi, he can do some fabulous plank poses and downward facing dog!! We spent much of the month of September cutting new teeth and now he has seven teeth - four on top and three on the bottom. His poor little mouth was quite sore for a while. Sam had his 9 month check-up this week and he's still a tall skinny pinhead! He's 29" long and 18 lbs 6 oz - still the 75% for height, 25% for weight and 10% for head size. The doctor said that everything looked good and he's doing just great. Today he had his InfantSee evaluation with the eye doctor and he couldn't find any indication of any issues from his stroke. He is a little bit farsighted which is normal for babies his age, and given his genetics, he has a 75% chance of being nearsighted. We're all gearing up for fall and enjoying cheering for the Vikings and the Twins. This weekend will even bring the first hint of getting ready for deer hunting, although it will be a few years before Same takes part in that!

Sam thinks that Matt's new beard is really ticklish on the feet!!

Almost Crawling!

I can't believe it's been a month since I last updated - this summer has just flown by like wildfire, how can it be Labor Day already?!

Sam is doing fabulous - he has such a fun personality it makes every day just a joy. He loves his bouncy (thanks cousin Julia for borrowing it to us!) and he can make that thing just go crazy! He'll jump and jump until it's really going, then he lifts his legs up so he can "ride" the final bounces - so cute!

His newest thing just this week is that he is starting to figure out he can move around. He's got the crawling backwards down, and today he was up on his hands and knees and using the couch to push forward. It won't be long and he'll be motoring all over the place - HELP!! I guess that means we'll have to figure out what needs to be babyproofed around here.

He got a new tooth a couple weeks ago, so now he has three - two on the bottom and one on top, makes for such a cute smile :) He's also started clapping his hands when he is excited and he loves to give kisses. Like Marcus at daycare says, "he kisses like a dog" all slobbery, but they're great kisses!

I've been trying to get a couple of candid snapshots of him, but he's such a ham that every time he hears the camera turn on, he starts getting all excited and clapping and posing - huge smiles, guess I can't complain about that!

Sam got to spend his first weekend away from Mommy & Daddy when he stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Goble while we went camping and it sounds like everyone did great, although with both Sam and Julia in the tub, Grandma might need a shop-vac to suck up all the splashed water! Bathtime continues to be a favorite thing for Sam - he loves to splash and bounce his toys in the water. Fun times!

Still Growing!

I can't believe Sam is 7 months old already - it seems like just yesterday when he was a tiny little guy who slept most of the day. Now he's a little man with such an awesome personality and so fun to be with!! He has the best laugh and silly little things just make him full-out chuckle - it's great! He continues to be a great eater, I haven't found anything yet that he doesn't like, especially with the veggies, he scarfs them all up.

Monday he started a new daycare. Amber is having twin boys in November and in the interest of keeping the little dudes safe in her belly for several more weeks, Sam is now going to Jen's house along with Rylie and Jesse. He really likes it there too and is having a great time.

Sam's newest thing is "giving kisses". He grabs your face and pulls your cheek in as he sticks out his tongue and gives you a "kiss". So cute! IF you ask for kisses he'll do it over and over again.

We all had a great time at Michael and Erin's wedding last weekend and he was a great little guy both at the rehearsal dinner Friday night and at the wedding and reception on Saturday. He flirted and posed for many pictures and was such a good boy.

Summer Fun & Camping!

I can't believe that Sam is going to be 7 months old next week - where has the time gone?!? He is getting to be so big and his personality is so fun, every day is just a fabulous time. At his six-month check-up he was 27 1/2" long and 16 lbs, so still long and skinny, he did great with his shots too.
He can sit up all on his own and loves playing with his toys - especially things that he can chew on and that make noise. He's eating cereal and veggies like a champ and we're getting ready to start fruit this week too. So far, sweet potatoes are a favorite, but after a few days of only wanting those, he's back to eating just about anything you give him. He's also started drinking water from his sippy cup and he's catching on really quick with that too.
He's not quite rolling over all on his own yet, but still needs a little help. Once he gets over, he's actually pushing himself up on his hands and knees and has also been scooting himself backward a little bit too. I know it's only a matter of time before he's mobile all over the place!
Sam went on his first camping trip this past weekend, and while the weather felt more like a fall trip than summer, he still had a good time. He loves being outside and on the swings, so it was a lot of fun. He's trying to work a couple of more teeth through, so sleep has been a bit disrupted lately, but hopefully they will come in soon.
Hope everyone is having a great summer - even if it is flying by!!

4th of July Fun!!

Happy 4th everyone! We had a fabulous 4th of July complete with family, friends, parades, food and fun and Sam enjoyed every minute of it! He even got to be in his very first parade as his daycare provider, Amber, was named the daycare provider of the year and had a float in the parade. Mom pushed the stroller and Sam napped through almost the whole parade route then woke up in time to enjoy the last few floats that went by. We had a picnic at our house with family and friends and it was a lot of fun. Rylie and Julia did some swimming in the pool and Sam and Jesse enjoyed the toys and exersaucer in the outdoors.

Sam loves the outdoors - we usually take at least one stroller walk a day and now we are stopping at the park and playing in the baby swing too - he likes to ride in the swing a lot. Grandpa Goble just finished building a big swing set for all the grandkids and it is awesome! Sam got to swing on there for the first time last weekend and really liked it.

He's got two bottom teeth and chews on everything he can get his hands on - including fingers :) He loves vegetables so far and is doing a really good job of eating cereal with veggies. So far we've had sweet potatoes, squash and carrots, and we'll be starting green veggies sometime this week.

His biggest new accomplishment is that he can sit up all by himself. He's so proud of himself when he's sitting and gets the biggest smiles on his face. The PT brought the little wooden table for him to use and he loves sitting there banging his toys on the table, just like a little judge!

We have our six-month check-up next week so we'll see how he's doing. Have a great week everyone!

Summer Fun!

Summer is finally here and we are loving it! Sam loves being outside, swinging on the swings or taking walks. He is getting such a cute personality - he is a big flirt and smiles at everyone who talks to him. It is so fun to hear him discovering his voice, he "talks" all the time and laughs and giggles at things. Every day brings another delight for him, it's just a fabulous thing to see!

Sam finally got to meet Auntie Cristy, Uncle Jack and cousins Lexie and Ally a couple of weeks ago when they visited from Arizona. He spent Thursday afternoon with Auntie Cristy and they are now fast friends! He loves playing with Lexie and Ally and Lexie has promised to help babysit next year when they come to visit!

Last week I had a conference in Grand Rapids for four days so Sam came with me along with Veronic to serve as a babysitter. It worked out really great, and they had a really good time together. Even though the weather didn't cooperate too much, we still got some walks in and they had a great time playing together.

This past weekend was Matt's family reunion and Sam made some new friends. He got to spend a lot of time outside and played with the cousins. He also spent some time with grandma while Mom & Dad when fishing in the evening.

Just within the past week, Sam has been really doing well at sleeping through the night, now going to bed between 8 and 9 and not waking up until 6 or 7 for a feeding. It's still really weird and I still wake up around 2 or 3 expecting him to be awake! Sometimes he'll get a little restless during the night, but he calms really quickly and goes back to sleep. It's awesome!

The other big news this past week is the presence of two new teeth! The first one came through on Wednesday afternoon while we were in Grand Rapids, and the second just made it's way through yesterday at Grandma Erickson's - which explained the no napping and crankiness at bath time :)

It's such a fun time in Sam's life - we can't get enough of him!