Snow Day

Sam woke up to a pretty view this morning. We have about three inches on the ground as of this posting, big white flakes falling from the sky, and another couple of inches are expected before the end of the day. Quite a bit for North Texas. Looks like it's going to be a stay-in-our-jammies and snuggle-with-our-blankies sort-of day!

Happy Birthday Pops

Happy Birthday, Pops! We celebrated Pops' 60th birthday this past Saturday. We went out to eat and then back to Gram and Pops' house for cake and ice cream. Sam was a good little boy and we had lots of fun.
licking the sugar packets





eating at the restaurant

laughing with food in our mouths



playing toys with Pops after dinner




Uncle Andrew

 

Hugs for Gram
Hugs for Pops (Sam is very into hugging right now)


presents for Pops

The Latest Face

Sam is a man of many faces. Another mom at the library yesterday noticed this right away. "My, he has so many expressions!" she said.

Mm-hmmm.

This scowl is a relatively new face. We see it many times a day; when he sits on a toy, when we're feeding him food too slowly for his liking, when we say "no-no" for any reason...you get the idea.

It didn't occur to me that this scowl was inherited from one of us, until I saw this picture in my baby album the other day:




Ahh...that's where he gets it.

Today You Are 11 Months


Dear Samuel, This time last year I was exhausted, not sleeping through the night and my back hurt like the dickens because you were so heavy. Here we are, one year later and nothing's changed! Except now I'm worn out because we play so hard, and I'm up at night because you want to cuddle, and my back aches because of all the fun games we play. I like that much better!

The last few weeks have been quite eventful for you, Baby Sam. This past month you:

started "reading" books on your own; you're so cute flipping through the pages, even if sometimes you read the book backwards
celebrated your first Christmas and New Year's Day
spent two very special days with your Uncle Randy
drove your stroller-car through Stonebriar Mall - beep beep!
saw snow for the first time on Christmas Eve and again a couple days later
grew out of your infant seat and are now enjoying a roomy toddler car seat (still backwards, though)
got your first haircut from Momma - I just trimmed the back a little
officially started crawling, all over the house, on New Year's Eve
pulled up on Daddy's leg a couple of days after crawling
discovered how fun it is to toss things over the side of your crib, your
high-chair, and the grocery cart
started cruising up and down the couch
learned to say "Mmmmmmm" when Moose A. Moose comes on the TV screen
stood up in your crib for the first time
figured out all by yourself to point to your feet when Mommy asks you, "Sam, where do your socks go?"
got your second tooth - bottom front, next to the first tooth
said what Mommy's going to count as your first word - while at CostCo you looked at Gram's jacket, pointed to one of the buttons and said "buh" - so smart!
started scowling, a face you make when you bump your head or have to do something that you don't want to do
enjoyed cuddling on the couch in the morning with Daddy, watching Jack's Big Music Show
started taking a bath in the big-boy bath tub, with all your toys, too!
learned how to sigh a big, long sigh after Mommy sighs a big long sigh
started pointing to Mommy's teeth, in addition to her nose, when she asks you where they are
ate spaghetti for the first time - yum!
continued charming the pants off of everyone who meets you!

The picture I got of you in your chair was the only good one out of about 20. The rest of them looked like the one below - blurry, with you trying to escape the chair and pull things off your table. This picture pretty much sums up this month - constant motion and curiosity - and you're not even walking yet!
 


But that's okay buddy. You're a bundle of fun. I expect next month to be eventful as well and we'll celebrate the end of the month with a special Balloon Party, just for you!

Love you bud,
Mommy

We Have This Game


I'm starting to wonder if Sam's going to be a bit of a daredevil. Every morning, after breakfast, he and I play this game: Sam gets on the couch, crawls to the center, lays down, rolls off the couch, I catch him and hilarious squealing and cackling ensues. We do this over and over and over.

And half the time I forget what he's up to when he starts crawling up on the couch - I'll help him up thinking he just wants to play with the pillow that has the button on it, and then before I know it, he's rolling at me, eyes wide, mouth open, ready for some sort of pint-sized adreneline-rush. Daddy snapped these pictures of our wild-man the other morning. Oh little Sam, what do you have in store for us?

Big Strides






Sam's accomplished a lot of firsts this week. He pulled up on Daddy's pant leg last weekend and a few days later pulled up to the couch and cruised to the other side. Then a couple of days after that he pulled up in his play pen and crib, all before lunchtime! And today, we (finally) have the second tooth. He's my busy guy!



Pulling up in the pack-and-play for the first time.



Waving bye-bye to Mommy.  Photo by Daddy.



Pulling up in the crib, first time.









And because this poor girl never gets her picture taken, ever since we brought HIM home...

Your Two Cents



Several of you have asked ...for instructions on how to leave a comment. It's as easy as 1-2-3.  Here you go:

1. At the bottom of the entry, there is a box that says "Post a Comment". Type your message.

2. Now, tell us who you are - Click on the drop-down box called "Comment As" and choose "Name/URL".

3. In the box that comes up, enter your name. Unless you have your own website, you don't have a URL. Leave the URL part blank. Click "continue".

You're done! Don't worry if you don't see your message right away - it gets emailed to me first and then I send it to the blog.  Just choose your words carefully - you wouldn't want to put your foot in your mouth! 

Can't wait to hear from you!

Big Boy Bath


Sam's graduated. He now gets to take Big Boy Baths.  Brian did a great job fixing the tub in the hall bath (the hot water hadn't worked since we moved in) and just in time, too, because Sam was about to bust out of his blue baby bathtub, seen here (so tiny!).

He had so much fun playing with all the new bath toys he got for Christmas.  He stayed in for over an hour - I think he used every inch of that tub.  I snapped some pictures while Sam played, and got one pic of the consequences of staying in the tub for a long time. Enjoy








!

Happy New Year





Happy New Year everyone!

Sam had a great first day of 2010 - Gram and Pops came over for dessert and coffee to help us complete our New Year's Day celebration.
They brought gifts for Sam...of course they did, right? Because it's been, what, less than a week since they last gave him presents. Somebody's getting spoiled - it's peach puffs, cheesy snacks and best of all, another BALLOON!  Food and balloons - no better way for Sam to start off the new year!











Happy New Year!
Love,
The Strakas

Christmas, Part II of II



We didn't have to dream of a White Christmas - we had a real one.  Because of that, we ended up spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Gram and Pops house. It was just too icy and windy to drive home. 

Sam had lots of fun opening presents on Christmas Eve, and we all enjoyed a cozy dinner of mushroom-crab soup, salad and bread.  Sam slept really well in Gram and Pops' crib...Sophie kept us up throughout the night, but we kind of expected that. 

Christmas morning we had a nice breakfast looking out on the snow, then spent the rest of the day hanging around, watching TV and eating snacks.  With hardly any room left in our tummies, we finished the holiday off with a ham and sweet potato dinner!

Enjoy the pictures and video of our little guy's First Christmas! 

















































































Christmas with Gram and Pops 2009 from Sara Straka on Vimeo.


Today You Are 10 Months


Dear Samuel, Oh my! You are now in the double digits! This year is flying by, but what a month you had!  This past month you:

tried beef - you liked it at first, now not so much
pulled up to your knees at the couch
put up Christmas decorations with Mommy
started throwing things; you weren't mad, just having fun!
waved bye-bye for the first time
visited North Park Center to look at the lights and decorations
figured out how to really splash in the tub
celebrated your first Thanksgiving
had your nine-month appointment - we learned you're going to be a slender guy like Daddy
took a few real crawls here and there
got really good at standing (with help)
learned the word nose!!
visited Santa for the first time - he loved you extra-special
tried and loved finger food; puffs and Mommy's Gourmet Toast Sticks
went Christmas shopping with Mommy

and best of all....you met Papa and Grandma!

You make the holidays so much fun.  Can't wait for Christmas this week!

Love,
Mommy

Christmas, Part I of II



We had a very nice Christmas celebration at Granny Nell's house last night. We had a nice steak dinner, opened presents, and played with Baby Sam. He got lots of neat presents; I'd tell you what his favorite one is if I knew - I think they're all his favorite! If I had to pick, I'd say the Noisy Car book (it makes noise) and the Gymboree musical instruments. Those were cool!

Sam did really good, considering he can't take a nap there.  After our dinner he took a quick snooze on Daddy's lap, but woke up again in time for a little more playtime with Granny.

 











Christmas with Nell and Vic 2009 from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

Just in Time



These moose jammies from Great-Great Aunt Carol came just in time. Sam was busting out of his ducky jammies.

(note: My child does have sheets. On this particular day, both sets were in the washer/dryer, I'm sure you can guess why.  And he normally doesn't sleep with a crib full of wooden blocks and fuzzy critters, but for some reason we just needed them that day)





Look at those moose ears!  Speaking of jammies and cute things to put on baby feet, check out Sam's snowmen.  They were a gift, along with a fleece Santa blanket, from one of Gram's collegues.  Just wook at those widdle baby swippers!

Christmas Shopping

We did a little Christmas shopping this weekend. Christmas window shopping, that is. I took Sam to NorthPark Center this weekend and we invited Gram and Pops to join us.  NorthPark is a very well-known shopping center, the oldest and largest in Dallas.  It has fountains and sculptures and the kinds of shops you usually only see in fancy magazine ads! Gram and Pops brought me here to see the Christmas decorations, from the time I was a tiny baby, so it was nice to be able to bring Sam as well. While some things have changed, there was a lot that felt very much the same!




Pops, Sam and Gram in front of one of the many Christmas trees placed throughout Northpark.


 Sam was ooohing over these guys:



They are mechanical, and I remember coming to Northpark to see them when I was very small.


 He really, really liked the moving sculpture.  Such a guy.


Whose presents are these, flying overhead?


 Why, it's Santa Claus and his reindeer!  Santa and his crew are made of very old nuts, shellacked marshmallows and other petrified bits.  We know they are at least thirty-something years old...


 Rudolph, with your nose so bright!


There were no penguins, as there were when Momma was a little girl, but they did have ducks and turtles.  That's two of the three WonderPets!




 It was love-at-first-sight for the salesgirl at the Nasher Sculpture Center Shop, so she had to find lots of fun toys to make Sam laugh.


Because our timing was a little off, we didn't make any of the puppet shows like we'd planned. But that was okay.  Sam enjoyed a snack in front of the gingerbread house and met a couple of babies while we listened to the Plano Civic Chorale sing Christmas carols.

There were lots of fun things to touch, too, like these very soft cactus forests. 




They looked like little Christmas trees, and we felt like GIANTS!


But the best thing about the day was that Mommy's sweater had buttons.  Go figure.

We'll be back next year, for sure, although we might try for a weekday instead of a Saturday afternoon!  And next year we'll make the puppet shows and, if he wants to, we'll take Sam to the Miniature Train Show.  Can't wait!

Santa Kisses



We visited Santa today. Sam did great.  Not only was he the most handsome little guy, he was very brave.  Santa's helper gave us a suggestion they find to be helpful with the little ones:  don't let Sam see Santa while we're waiting, then back him up and plop him on The Big Guy's lap.  That's just what we did and it worked!  We didn't get a smile out of him, but we didn't get tears either.  And Sam got a bonus - kisses from Santa!  While I worked with one of the helpers to pick out the best photo, Santa gave Samuel lots of little smooches on his chubby cheeks.  It didn't seem to bother him, although, he still hadn't looked behind him to see whose lap he was sitting on. 

I wonder what he asked for for Christmas...Toys?  Things to hammer?  Food?  Yeah, probably food.