Change

Well, It's been quite awhile, I know, since I've posted.  A lot has changed since then.  Travis is back, thank God!!  Sam started walking.  We sadly had a death in the family, William, you will be forever missed in the hearts of many.  Sam turned one.  And I'm out of a job as of next week.  Yes that is a scary thing to admit.  I'm going to be one of "those" people on unemployment.  It's taken me a lot to be able to even say it.  I feel like a burden now.  I'm working with someone and looking at job opportunities and possible school opportunities.  I guess we will just see where things land?  I'm hoping the one job opportunity goes through, it would be just a few blocks from where I live and where Sam goes for daycare!  So less gas, and from the sound of it, more money.  Let's hope!  

Sam started walking the night before we left for Mississippi for the funeral.  :o)  Made me smile.  I was really glad though, because I had been lecturing him for days telling him that while we were gone he was not allowed to start walking... he listened well!  LOL  The trip to Mississippi was a hard one, I wish it would have been for something happier.  Seeing Travis' sisters was nice, having the family together was wonderful, and the visit was too short.  I wish we could have taken Sam with us but 17 hours straight down and 16 hours back he would have been one cranky kid for DAYS.  Sam got in two more teeth while we were gone.  I still can't get a good picture of them yet... little stinker is good at hiding them when you have a camera! 

We had a practice round the night of his actual birthday where Michelle and I gave him some ice cream...

He is shy now around new people.  He puts his head on my shoulder when new people come up to us.  We decided for his birthday that we were only inviting people he had seen fairly recently so he wouldn't be too scared.  He LOVED having his friends over though (his cousins and one friend from daycare).  

  

I have some more random pictures to download on to here...

 This last one was the other day, after his first haircut.  He did amazingly well.  He just wanted to watch!  LOL  Tara did a wonderful job, especially with a one year old who wouldn't stop staring at her!  haha!!

He likes to dance now.  I think it's super cute!  :o)  Got a little booty dance going on!!  I can't find the video though!!  It's on my Facebook, but I can't find it on the computer!  Oh well! 

I guess we will leave this update at that!  Have a good rest of the day!!  I promise to update more often!!  LOL 

Are we there yet??

July 15th needs to hurry up and get here.  Yes, I'm whining again!  I can see the end, it's close... just not close enough.  It seems to get harder the longer this goes on.  I'm tired of saying goodbye every Sunday afternoon.  Though I will say Sunday, Fathers Day was a pretty good day.  Sam said Dada  :o)  I think that was a pretty good present in itself!  :o) 

Now he's been saying it this week asking for Travis.. makes me a bit sad because he's not here, but happy that he's asking for his daddy!  He's at Nana's today and tomorrow since Chris and Michelle are out of town. 

I'm pretty sure he's having fun though  :o)  LOL 

He's been getting very interested in books... he LOVES me to read "Green Eggs and Ham"  I don't know if it's because it has his name in it or what, but he smiles so big!! 

I know I keep saying it but he is so close to walking!! He's gaining more confidence in his ability to stand alone, which I never really thought about before, has to be kind of a scary thing!  Standing up all wobbly, wondering if you are going to fall.  He tends to do it more in the tub, which is frustrating because I want him to stand up on his own... just not IN THE TUB!!  Heart attack in the making!!  Speaking of baths, he likes to watch the water drain, finds it fascinating!  LOL, then when all of the water is gone... he does this bear crawl kinda monkey thing... hard to explain, HILARIOUS!! 

Sam has finally taken to his sippy cup!!!  It took awhile of trying over and over, he just wanted to chew on it, and I have a ton of different kinds!!  But finally we can start phasing out the bottle!!  He still LOVES drinking from a "real" glass though!  LOL. 

One last picture, I was going through clothes Meghann had sent me so I could pack up old clothes that don't fit and put clothes to grow into in his dresser... he decided he liked the box! 

I told Travis I had a package I was going to mail him :o) 

Just some new pictures :o)

Shades and a batman t-shirt... what else do I need??  LOL 

Rocking Horse = TONS of fun!



Caught!!  What am I going after? ....




Ahhh... my bottle, there it is!! 



Cottage cheese!!!  :o) 

Slacker much??

Ok, so I know it's been almost two months since I've posted anything.  It's been a BUSY two months!!  Travis is still gone, so it's all been pretty much up to me.  I don't even know where to start!!  I can't remember what all has happened in the last two months.  Sam has started saying mama on occasion as well as bye bye (his own version of course).  He still doesn't really see the point in clapping... he smiles when you do it for him, but looks at you like you are crazy when you tell him it's HIS turn. He's super close to walking on his own.  He's 10 months old today  :o)  He's getting so big.  This last couple weeks have been trying to say the least!!  I think he is getting his two top teeth.  I can't get a picture of the bottom two.. but believe me they are there!!  And they hurt when you go to check to see if the top two are coming in!!!  LOL 

I have no idea what he was doing here?? 



A little bit of naked time before a bath!  LOL


This week has been better for him though!  He's back to his happy self, smiling and "talking".  He's starting to realize when Travis is leaving.  He was really clingy with him this last weekend and when Travis was taking stuff out to his car he was trying to pull up on his shorts crying.  Travis would pick him up and he would cry into his shoulder.  Brought tears to my eyes.  This time can't go fast enough. 

I did get a dishwasher this last weekend though!!  :o)  One of my friends was getting rid of her portable (only two years old!), so I took it off her hands!!  Life is much easier with it!!  LOL  Funny, I had one throughout college, I had to buy my own house to be without one!!  ;o)  I'm ok with it though. 

There's too much to write I don't even know what else to say.  It's been a month since his check up but the Dr. said Sam is doing really well, though he made a comment about the not clapping thing, but as he left, Sam waved bye!  I'm like, Hello!!  What about that, screw clapping!!  Whatever, we try patty cake.  He'll take turns splashing when he's in the tub, LOL.  We both giggle, water gets everywhere.. I should learn to change out of my work clothes before giving him a bath, hasn't happened yet!  :o) 

At the Dr. office... I brought toys... he made his own fun. 

So yesterday I had to meet someone in Plainville for work and help them with their FAFSA.  I met them at the library.. they have a memorial there for my grandfather.  It's a globe that lights up.  Kind of cool, I took some pictures.  They had it up against a wall though, so that was a bit annoying!!  I finally said something to them about it, because I was getting weird looks taking pictures.  They turned it around, then some lady made a rude comment about it being "out dated" because some of the countries had changed names.  Ummm... yeah He died like 23 years ago.. yep, it's a MEMORIAL!!  WTH??  Anyways, my brother made a good point, if it's so outdated.. call us, we'll take it off your hands!! 



Globe, it won't let me add the picture of the name stamp.. along with some other pictures. 



Living for the weekend!



A smile to start off with  :o)  Or at least, it makes me smile.  This little man makes my heart melt.  Last night, after a truly crappy day.. he didn't want a bottle before bed, but wanted to cuddle.  He laid on my chest with droopy eyes staring at my face taking his little hand rubbing my cheek.  It's hard to want to do anything but lay there and cuddle! 

OK! I know, I shouldn't just live my life for the weekends... but I can't help it.  The dogs, Sam and I all miss Travis during the week!  How do I know.. the dog constantly run to the door at night waiting for him to come home.  Mia pouts on the chair till it's time to go to bed and Tink has started some unfavorable habits I won't share since he's left.  My house is NUTS!!  lol  I can tell Sam misses him because when he sees his picture he talks to it and tries to touch his face.  I tried to keep Sam up to see Travis last Friday before he went to bed... mistake on my part. He was so excited to see him, he was looking for him everywhere and did NOT want to go to bed!!  Lesson learned there!  Keep with the bed time! 

Mia has been pretty clingy and still really wants Sam to play with her.  The other night I was laying on Sam's floor reading a book as he would play/come sit by me and watch my mouth as I read.  Mia wanted him to play with her and he had no interest... so she tried to cuddle on my stomach, Sam wasn't having this either and started trying to crawl up there as well.  As I look over beside me this is what I see....

She went under his crib to pout but still had to be "seen" so someone would say something to her!  LOL

I got Sam some sunglasses so when he's outside it's not hurting his eyes.. what I learned from this shopping trip?  There were NO sunglasses for infant boys!  They had a whole rack of ones for girls.. none for boys.  These are 3yrs and up!  I was a bit peeved!!  But I guess we will make them work... if he decides to keep them on! LOL

Sam has been cruising around the furniture now for a few weeks.  Last weekend he decided he didn't need to hang on to anything and let go, SPLAT!  Right on his face on the wood floor!  This has happened one other time... I felt horrible.  Well the other day I went to pick him up after work and I guess he was outside for a bit and took a nose dive into a walkway.  Scraped his upper lip and had a bloody nose.  Poor kid!  Along with the rash from drool  that day he didn't look so hot! 

This was the best picture I could get.. he doesn't sit still too well now to get pictures!!  LOL

I have started loosening up a bit and have started letting him feed himself more.  I give him a spoon, a bowl with a little food in it and let him get messy as I feed him.  He seems to enjoy it and I know it's good for his self esteem.. it's just hard to let him get that messy knowing I have to clean it up and with limited time during the week..  it takes a lot of patience on my part! 

He has so much fun with his uncle Chris, my brother.  Babies love my brother in general but it's fun to see the attachment he has formed with another guy that's not his daddy  :o)   

Laughing with uncle Chris

Getting Big Too Fast!!

Time is going by too quickly! Not only is Sam growing and doing things faster than I ever realize he would, Travis leaves for the Academy in a week and a half.  I'm going to miss him like crazy.  We are trying to squeeze in time every minute we can with each of our schedules.  It's hard and takes some juggling, but we are making it work. 

Sam has decided that at most times now he wants to feed himself his bottle  :o)  Which actually gives me a little more freedom.  I have been trying to find a little bean bag chair or something to let him set in so I'm not always putting him in the highchair to drink a bottle.  He uses my niece Caitlin's old Dora chair at daycare and it seems to work well!  So far no luck, but I found a little fold out couch that might have to work!  I'm hoping with Travis leaving this will let both Sam sleep a little later in the mornings because I can give him a bottle while I get a few things done around the house and get ready... fingers crossed!  LOL

Trying out our big boy cup... not so sure about water though, especially if it's COLD!!

He started sticking out his tongue on Saturday night when I was feeding him.  I wasn't sure if he was trying to lick something off of his chin, or he was just trying to imitate something he had seen?  Needless to say, it was a little messy with food in his mouth! 

He has started pulling himself up in the last week or so as well!  At first he started just pulling himself up to standing grabbing on to my hands and he would stand on the floor holding onto the couch... but this past weekend, this is what I found...

Yeah, lowering the mattress was a MUST!!  :o)  He wants to stand all the time now.  I'm just waiting till we realize we can move around while standing... it's coming, and I'm guessing probably sooner than I'll be ready for!!  LOL 

I've always said Sam and our dog Mia share a very strong bond.  I said this even before he was born, Mia used to curl up with my tummy when I was pregnant.  He would kick and she would poke him back with her nose.  Now she tries to trade him toys, leaving one of hers in place of one of his and she likes to chew her raw hides next to him.  I watched one day, probably quite irresponsible of me, as she chewed on her bone and he took his little hand and took it away.  She didn't growl, bark or scratch at him.  Just slowly put her mouth on the end that he wasn't holding and gently took it away.  Then proceeded to curl back up next to him and commence chewing.   I was pretty proud, she could have acted any number of ways, but just sweetly took it back.  Now they have moved into him grabbing the bone, she licks his hand, he giggles and she "talks" to him.  It's adorable!  She loves her little boy!  Always has to check and see where he is at.. which sometimes is an annoyance at nap time!  LOL  She gets pouty when he's not there. 

We play a lot in his room, I will play with him on the floor, sometimes I put the gate up and let him explore his room on his own for a bit.  I like to turn on the radio just for some background noise, plus he likes to dance :o)  I used to be able to cuddle on the couch with him and read a book but now all he wants to do is go, go, go!  So I started just picking out a book and laying on his floor while he is playing and reading out loud.  He seemed to like this!  I made it through a couple pages and look over and he had crawled up to my face and was listening to me read and looking up at the pages.  Whatever it takes!! 

Such a happy little guy!

Sam got his new bath seat this week.  :o)  As you can see he LOVES it!  LOL  He likes to play with his blue rubber ducky now.  Splashing the water has always been fun, but now he can see the water and it's a whole new experience for him!  I think that was a good day for him, he got to spend the whole day with Nana and then bath time was a lot more fun!  He was not too thrilled about getting OUT of the tub that night, now he has to stomp his feet in the water till all of it is gone  LOL.  He's a silly little boy!  Such a happy kid though!  Always smiling. 



Just a random picture I took, I think this last weekend.  Ready for a nap!



He has started growling this week though??  Not sure where he got that?  He's been doing it to his toys.  And he's been extremely talkative this week too, he got kind of quiet for a couple weeks there... not sure why, but he's back to talking up a storm!  He now looks at me and gets this very serious look on his face, his arms and legs tense up and he shrieks at me.  Not sure if he's trying to tell me something serious or if I'm getting chewed out?!  LOL 

Last night before his bath we were playing on the floor in his room for a little bit.  He was sitting and holding on to my hands.  Before I knew it he was pulling on my hands and starting to stand up!  He made it all the way up and I cheered for him.  He immediately plopped back down and did it again!  :o)  Once more and then it was time for a bath! 

I haven't been too good this week about adjusting his bed time for the time change this weekend.  I had every intent to do it, but things happened and it just didn't work with time.  I hope this weekend isn't too hard of an adjustment to make!  Guess we will see! 

So in the mornings I normally get him up around 6 to have a bottle then put him back to bed so I can get ready and get him up again around 7:20 to go to daycare.   This morning I go into his room at 6 and he is UP.. on his hands and knees and ready to go.  Well... I guess he went and that's why he was up .. but that's another story.  Anyways, I fed him and put him back to bed.  He was still kind of awake when I laid him back down and just plays himself to sleep.  I go in to get him later and this is what I see :o) 

Out!  I feel so bad waking him back up when he's like this!  He smiles when you do, but I know he would LOVE the extra sleep just as much as I would!  Poor kiddo, Lets hope this weekend we can BOTH sleep in a little later!