Birthday Boy!!

Just ask Sam who gets to have a birthday and he'll be quick to tell you "HAM!!" We have a little trouble saying our "s" sounds, but that's about all he can't say. I can't believe he is 2 years old already - how can it be possible that my baby is getting so grown up?!? Last year at this time, he couldn't walk or talk and was really still a baby. Now, he runs everywhere, never stops talking (kinda like his daddy) and has turned into a little boy!

He loved Christmas - did really well not touching the "pretty tree", but loved to look at it and stand by it. "Jingle Bells" was a favorite tune as evidenced by the video below, in fact he sometimes sings it in his sleep! He loved looking at the nativity scene and pointing out the "kings, donkey, sheep, cow, mommy, daddy and baby Je-us". He got a little kid sized table and chairs from Santa and that's one of his favorite things - he loves to sit at the table and play with puzzles, play-doh or have a snack. So cute!

Every day we have to look at the "no" (snow) outside and he gets really excited when he gets to put on his snowpants and play outside.

Of course, with getting older he's really able to find more mischief too! For a kid whose constantly talking or singing, silence from him is usally an indication that he's doing something he shouldn't. You'll notice the whole roll of TP that found it's way to the bathroom floor with a couple of towels this morning - courtesy of a little "helper"!

Fabulous Fall!

What beautiful weather we've been having! Sam can't get enough of playing outside and most nights when it's time to come in for bath and bedtime, he lets the whole neighborhood know that he's not ready to come in. He's loving playing in the leaves, walking down to the park, and as always - the slide! He's getting to be a very independent boy, he always wants to "do it myself". Unfortunately, his patience isn't always cooperative with his independence :) He's saying more and more words every day and even starting to make a few sentences. He loves going to daycare and seeing "Ry Ry" and "Buddy" (Jesse) and all his friends. He got a chance to see a firetruck at daycare and he's been practicing his "stop, drop and roll" ever since!

Summer Fun!

We've had such a fun summer! We got to do some camping, and Sam really had a great time playing with the cousins in the pool, chasing bubbles and just playing around. We've had a fun time going to the park on a regular basis and playing in our swing set here at home. Labor Day weekend we had the annual Thesing Family campout and there were a lot of kids for Sam to play with and he had a really fun time playing kickball, going on the slide, and playing with everyone. Last week he had a check-up with his neurologist and she was very pleased with his development. In fact, he's doing so well, that she doesn't feel that she needs to see him again! He still has a small head, which could mean that his brain is a little smaller, but he is either meeting or exceeding all his developmental goals, so she is not concerned. Such wonderful news! Sam's vocabulary grows almost on a daily basis. He says several words that are understandable and can repeat many more when asked. It's so fun to hear him learning to vocalize - while he may not have all the words for "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", he's got the tune down and loves to sing!

Happy Summer!

How fast does the time fly by?? We are having a great summer and can't believe it's already August! Sam is growing more and more every day and it seems like each day brings a new word to his vocabulary and more fun and mischief all the time :) He's really a jabbering all the time and there's even 8-10 words that we can make out and understand. He loves playing outside - thanks Uncle Joey for helping Daddy build a new swing set and he's got a couple of slides he loves to play on. Just look at his tan lines and you'll know how much time he's spending outside!

Swimming is another fun pastime and he loves to get wet and splash around. We had a fabulous time camping with the Gobles at the annual camping trip and I think between playing in the pool and chasing around bubbles, all the kids had a great time.

Sam's had a chance to go boating quite a few times this summer and really loves it - it's been such a fun summer!!

Walking Man!

Hello everyone - can you say first day of spring?! We are so excited for the snow melt and warm weather, we can't wait to play outside more! Sam started walking a couple of weeks ago and hasn't looked back yet. He's doing really well, actually pretty steady for walking for only such a short time. He'll still crawl if he wants to get somewhere really fast, but he's starting to pick up speed on his walking too. He always look so proud of himself when he's walking, just a real ham! With the warm weather, we've made several walks to the park to hit the swings in the last week. We've also taken the opportunity to play out in the yard and Sam just loves being outside. We got to go sledding at Uncle Joe & Aunt Brenda's house with the cousins a few weeks ago before the snow went away and he really enjoyed that. As you can see, he's been cheering for Daddy's alma mater when the Sioux are playing hockey the last two weekends, so Dad's been pretty excited about that. Sam loves to "help" empty and load the dishwasher, open and close the doors and fold the laundry. Amazing how long it can take to fold a load of laundry when you have to do it three times :)

Vacation!!

Hey everyone - hope you are all doing well. We just got back this week from a fun week in sunny Arizona! Even though the weather was a little cooler when we were there, we still have a great time gettign to see family and being outside. Sam was a great traveler - had his first plane rides and did awesome! We left Monday in a bad icy snow storm and barely made it to the airport in time for our flight. As we were walking into the concourse they called our final boarding call so we had to run a bit to make the plane :) As we were taking off, Sam fell asleep and got a good nap in on the way there. He slept the whole way on the flight home too - Mom's arms were a little tired by the end of that flight!

Sam finally got to meet his Uncle Dan and had fun playing with his cousins too. Walks in the stroller every day and a couple days in the pool made him super happy. I think there was one time when we were walking that he looked up at me like he was saying, "Mom, we're walking outside!!"

We had a great time visiting with everyone and we even got to see our first rugby match thanks to Chris' team having a game on Saturday.

Sam isn't quite walking yet, but he can stand on his own and walks behind stuff and along the furniture so it won't be long I'm sure. He can show everyone that he is "sooo big" and can say "dog", "ball" and "baby" (Matt taught him the baby from South Park) and he will tell you that the sheep says "baa". Of course he says the cow says "baa" too :) He loves to play catch with the ball and he is still eating like a each meal is his last meal. He loves going swimming and bath time usually ends up with more water out of the tub than in it when he's done splashing.

He's been really very healthy this winter which we are very thankful for. Hopefully spring will get here soon and we can spend more time outside!

New Year - new age!

Wow - time really does fly when you're having fun! I can't believe it's been so long since I updated the blog, but things have been going great. Sam is a happy 1 year old now and getting to be such a big boy! We had a great holiday season and he really enjoyed Christmas - more from the standpoint of lots of paper to play with than anything else :)

He got to spend the night before his birthday at Grandma and Grandpa Goble's since Matt and I won tickets to the Wild game that night. And for his birthday - he got a visit to Urgent Care and the croup :( He's doing much better now, just a bit of a cough left - but otherwise pretty happy.

He and Jesse had a fun birthday party and they both got a chance to have their cake and eat it too - although I think the majority of it was spread all over their faces!

New things that Sam has mastered lately include going up the stairs - he's a champ at it, but hasn't quite got the hang of coming down yet. He is also standing up by everything and will stand on his own for a couple seconds before he realizes it and sits down. He can now ride his push bike from one end of the room to the other and can get off the bike by himself too. I know it's only a matter of time before he starts walking. He loves bathtime - splashing all over in the tub - but he hates getting out and cries every time. He's a really good eater and can really put away the food - especially fruit and veggies. Yesterday we "shared" a banana and I only got one bite! Currently - he has 10 teeth and is about to get two more - all his top teeth will be in shortly. He's also very into giving hugs and sloppy kisses :)

We're looking forward to an upcoming trip to Arizona to visit the Erickson relatives and to let Sam meet his Uncle Dan for the first time. The warmer weather will be a nice change too!