Row-Wers


Sam loves flowers. He asks at least once a day to go see the flowers in our yard.  He points to the front door and says "row-wers" and then comes back inside yelling "row-wers" to whoever didn't go out with him.  He also has a ladybug ornament in the flower pots that sit outside the living room windows that he must say "Hi-ya" to at least once a day. 



Here we are in the backyard one morning (the only time we can stand to be outside), smelling the flowers in our garden, and then in Gram and Pops' backyard, smelling more flowers.  Both Pops and Daddy have a green thumb, so chances are Sam will successfully grow his own row-wers someday.


Blast From the Past

Pops went up in the attic. Now Sam's got a whole new world of toys, some that belonged to Mama long ago, and some that belonged to Uncle Andrew, who is slowly but surely learning to share his toys nicely with his nephew.  Everything's in such good shape - amazing after 30+ years!


He also has a new room - Pops moved his office upstairs and then he and Gram set up that room for Sam to have all to himself while he's at their house.  His crib and toys used to be in their bedroom.  Now he has his own "baby cave" and it has even more old toys, mostly Uncle Andrew's, and a they're right within his reach in a big closet with a cool sliding door.  He's already napped three times in his crib and has done lots of singing, dancing and reading in his room.  The video here was taken the day of the "big reveal".  Thanks Gram and Pops!


Sam's New Room from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

Happy Fourth of July!


Sam had an All-American Fourth of July. Gram, Pops and Uncle Andrew met Sam, Daddy and I in downtown McKinney for a picnic and a parade on the square.

Sam did great during the parade - he waved to the floats and even waved the flag Pops got for him. The motorcycles were a little loud and scary, so it was a good thing Gram was there. He shared an ice cream with Daddy and met a puppy named Zack.

The weather was a little warm and humid, but not bad for Texas in July. We had some cloud cover and a breeze and no rain!

Last year Sam was too little to enjoy the 4th, but he definitely had a good time today. Happy Birthday America!
Had to take his shirt off to eat strawberries...       Playing with the ball Uncle Andrew brought him



Dad bought Sam some ice cream to help him cool off, and we all know how Sam loves "sssk-eam"
                     The motorcycles were sooo loud!
This is how all our family photos would look if I were 6'3", but I'm up on a curb today!

Khaki, gray and black??  You guys!!

Zack the "bow-wow-wow-wow"

Happy Fourth of July 2010 from Sara Straka on Vimeo.






Flyboys

Sam's got the bug. "Airplane, airplane!" he calls whenever he sees one fly across the sky.  He spots them way before his dad and I do.  He always waves, too, and says, "bye-bye now".

Brian had the idea to take him to McKinney Airport to watch some planes take off and land.  Sam sure was captivated.  So was his daddy for that matter.  I love planes, too.  As long as I'm not in them and my feet are planted firmly on the ground...

To My Baby Daddy

You've been asking me to put this together for a while and I finally got it done, three months late, but better late than never! This goes from six months to The Birthday Party.  At the beginning of the video he seems so small and so much less....active.   I even added in your video-montage-song-request as the finale.

Anyway, a little something for you to watch when you're on the road and lonesome for the little turkey.

Happy Father's Day!

6-12 Month Montage from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

More Swimmin', More Picnicn'

We had a picnic on Memorial Day at a spot we'd picked out over three years ago.

We have lots of little parks in our neighborhood with benches and shade. We chose to picnic at the park that Gram and I drove by one day back when Brian and I were house-hunting and she said, "If you move here I want to take my grandbaby on a picnic right there" - so we did!






This was Sam's first time at our neighborhood pool and he had a great time. Gram put him on the side of the pool and he "jumped" to her on the count of three, he swam on his tummy with Pops, got a horsey-ride from Daddy, and bopped around the pool with Mama. I think his favorite part was the walk-through water fountain area. My favorite part was that Sam slept great that night!

Something to Do



Sam and I were looking for something to do. Even though it was a SUPER HOT day, we didn't want to just be inside, walking around a mall or grocery store. So we headed to Mama's old neighborhood where she lived back in the day when Sophie was her only baby! We enjoyed a (hot) walk, the pond, two fountains, some birds, an impromptu photo shoot, and then, of course, some yogurt. We also hopped on over to the bookstore and had a great time running amuck through the children's section. Sam even waddled smack-dab into a rack of books - the Klutz brand of books, no less! We were exhausted and sweaty by the time we got home, but we'd accomplished our goal - we'd found something to do!










A Picnic and a Dip



Sam had his first picnic last Sunday. Daddy found a nice Audubon park just a few minutes from Granny's house and it turned out to be a great place for a picnic. Sam sat at the picnic bench like a big boy and we all enjoyed a nice lunch. We blew lots of bubbles then took walk through the butterfly garden.

By the time we'd finished our walk we were all hot and sweaty, so we went back for a dip in Granny's pool! We weren't planning on swimming so Mama and Daddy had to borrow swimming suits and Sam just swam in his diaper. Boy did it get heavy! But Sam seemed to enjoy the water, for the most part.













A Picnic and a Dip from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

Summer's Here


Here in Texas, summer has arrived. And that means it's time for some backyard-swimmin'. Gram and Pops gave Sam his first swimming pool for his birthday. He took his first dip a couple of weeks ago. Right now it's more fun to hop in and out than it is to stay in for a nice long swim, but whatever gets that energy out works for me.

Farm Boy


We had a little taste of country-life last week.  Our animal-lover, Sam, had a blast!  We got to see, in person, many of the animals we've read and talked about at home like horses, goats and the best of all, a baby duck! Sam got to pet the fuzzy, downy duckling and just kept saying "duh! duh! duh!". We also took a hayride, planted some pumpkin seeds in real farm dirt, and fed baby goats.  Their chin whiskers sure do tickle!









Lunch on the Patio

Granny Nell came over for a Happy Birthday/Happy Mother's Day lunch a couple of weeks ago. We ate outside under what Daddy called our "Starbucks" umbrella. We all ate Mama's chicken salad, even Sam, and then enjoyed some ice cream, of course! Sam showed Granny how he helps mow the lawn and water our herbs, then we blew some bubbles which were so tiny and sticky that they stayed on the walls for days!









Sam's Other Playground


Sam's not afraid of anything. It's a little scary. He likes to play on our bed - I have to take him in there to play several times a day. In addition to attempting headstands, we always play his favorite game which is to "fall back", where he twists and falls face first on the bed, and once I see he hasn't flung himself off, I duck behind the footboard and hide. Then he finds me and we both squeal. Then he signs "more" and we do it all over again.  Such a daredevil.

Waddle, Waddle, Boom!

It all just clicked today. Looks like a giant melon and little feet can't hold this guy back any longer. All Sam's wanted to do the last couple of days is walk the front sidewalk and go up and down the front steps. Of course, he always had my finger and would hold on for dear life.

I think that was all just a warm-up for today. Because when he woke up from his nap we started to practice walking in the living room and when I let go, he just kept going. After several successful attempts, I figured it was time to set up the video camera. He did really good - I was most amazed at the fact he could stand up from the sitting position. That was new today, too!

I apologize for all the "whoopsie-daisies". If you watch the video more than once, put it on mute. Sam was really cranky today and I was worried a fall would send him into total melt-down. As annoying as it is, "whoopsie-daisy" makes him smile and distracts him from the fact that he just landed hard on his tush!

Now...will he do it again tomorrow, or will he decide this walkin' business is just too much work and go back to crawling to basketball and blankie? We'll just have to wait and see.

Regardless, it was a nice early Mother's Day present!


Look Who's Walkin' from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

Sam's Got Rhythm

This kid can keep a beat.

Last weekend, Sam and Gram and Pops and I went to the Denton Jazz Festival at Quakertown Park just off the square. We saw some bands, a clown making balloon animals, and a little train just for kids. Sam got a big balloon (two, actually) and we played on the swings at the playground in the park. The part Sam enjoyed the most was the preformance by the African Drumming and Dance group.

Sam ate during most of the performance, but he also danced. We get such a kick out of watching him. He really knows how to move for a 14-month-old. Gram commented the other day that he's the only baby she's ever known who can "shimmy" his shoulders. In this video he doing some kind of arm-thing. He's having a great time, that's for sure!

Little Eatin Little Dancin from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

World Balloon Convention


Lines at Six Flags? Crowds at Disneyland? Bring it on.

Brian and I took Sam to the World Balloon Convention in Dallas a couple weeks ago. I think the reason they call it the World Balloon Convention is because the entire world was there. The line was unbelievable, though it moved rather quickly. Sam was a trooper, especially considering he'd had a very small nap that day. It was an interesting event. Balloon sculptures of all kinds, everywhere you looked. It was a little hard to see the sculptures, especially for someone short like me, but I think Sam still enjoyed it. At first we thought we weren't going to make it through the whole show because Sam thought he got to take the balloons. Oops! It makes sense because most of his life people have brought him balloons to keep! But this little hiccup was soon over and we were able to walk him through the convention and enjoy the amazing balloon creations!







(giving the balloon a kiss)

The Park

You'd better not say "s-w-i-n-g-s" in front of Sam unless you're ready to go.
Now.
Right Now. We've had to start spelling things around our house, "swings" being number one.  Our little boy loves to go to the park!

Here we are at one by Gram and Pops' house. Sam loved the swings, of course, and the little baby slide. There were two little boys there his age that he didn't give much thought to. Then he saw a "big boy" (about eight-years-old) that was playing with a BALL. A real basketball on a real basketball court. Now that he payed attention to!

After watching basketball practice, we played with Sam's baby basketball, practiced walking, and kissed ladybugs. A busy park visit!