I set up this journal as an easy way to keep family and friends updated on all the amazing changes Sam is going through during this first year of his life. I will periodically post stories and photos here. If you would like to be notified of these updates, I encourage you to sign up for my mailing list, the form for which can be found below. Additionally, I’d like to point out a really neat feature of this journal: the comments form. By filling out the fields and pressing the “Post This Comment” button, you can share your thoughts with us. Hopefully I’ll write material that’s interesting enough to inspire you to try this out!

Well, that’s enough in the way of an introduction. It’s time for me to just dive right in and write about Sam, the star of this journal.

Here’s what a typical weekday looks like for the little guy:

At about six thirty in the morning, I dress him in a warm outfit, seat him in his carseat and rush out the door carrying him, his diaper bag and my briefcase. (Considering that he now weighs 17+ pounds, it’s no wonder I’ve pulled muscles in my back and neck multiple times.) I then drive him to the daycare center, where I leave him in the care of a sweet old Russian lady named Fira. She typically gives him his first bottle of the day shortly after we arrive. A couple hours later, she feeds him some rice cereal and pureed fruit or vegetables. He loves his food! His current favorites are apple sauce, peaches and squash. It’s really fun to feed him his solid foods. He squeals with excitement in between mouthfuls. All reports indicate that Sam enjoys being at daycare. He’s currently the youngest in the infant room. He likes to watch the older children play with their toys. They seem equally fascinated with him.

Sam’s daddy picks him up around three p.m. They hang out together until I show up at around 6 pm. Sam is usually pretty sleepy when I get home and is either napping or trying desperately to stay awake despite his tiredness. Robert and I play with him frequently during the evening. At around 9:30 or ten p.m., we try to get him to wind down by bathing him, putting him in his PJ’s, feeding him a bottle and reading him a story. For some reason, this “bedtime routine” hasn’t been working. Sam seems more wired late at night than at any other time of day. While we’re drooping with exhaustion, he wants to continue playing. Hopefully a solution will present itself soon!

Sam’s been entertaining us with some new tricks he learned. His Grandma Nelson taught him how to blow raspberries. He looooves to do that. He is also testing out his lung capacity. He found out that he can squeal/screetch really loudly and thinks that’s just delightful. The other funny thing he is doing is lifting both of his legs straight up into the air when he’s laying on his back and bringing them down with great force to create a loud thumping noise. Robert’s started to call him “Thumper.”

I redid Sammy’s Page today. I added new pictures and wrote a fairly long journal entry there. Go ahead and take a peek!

Sam and I were lucky enough to have lunch with Alicia and Ashleigh before they flew off to California. We were very excited about the meeting. Month after month we read about each other’s saga with pregnancy, childbirth and the joys of motherhood, so we felt as if we were acquainted. It seemed silly that we had never actually met since we live in the same town (not to mention the fact that the same doctor delivered our babies). Our excitement was also partially due to the fact that neither one of us had had a chance in recent weeks to go out and do something social. I don’t know about Alicia, but I wasn’t adequately prepared for how little free time and energy I would have after my baby was born. Now I treasure any little bit of ME time I can fit in.

It was neat to see baby Ashleigh. She’s so tiny and pretty. I can’t believe Sam was once as small as she is. Now he’s positively gargantuan. He’s growing out of everything so quickly. He’s also incredibly heavy. Both Robert and I have thrown out our backs by trying to pick him up. My little boy is growing up!

Tonight he did something particularly exciting for him and us. He held his bottle by himself throughout an entire feeding. We could tell that he was proud of his accomplishment because he started cooing and kicking crazily afterward. It was very cute