Christmas morning treasures

Two Sams in a Wagon

Trail of Lights 2008

Birthday Gifts Keep On Giving

We had a laid-back 2nd birthday celebration for Samson at home back in early October, basically a toddler free-for-all in our big backyard with a bouncy house and lots of borrowed or Craigslist-found ride-on toys. Unlike the first year, we forgot to specify "no gifts, please," and our friends and family couldn't resist showering Samson with a gigantic mound of presents, most related to his favored theme of transportation.

Upon the advice of our more experienced parenting friends, we decided to stash the many gifts in the closet and parcel them out over time so as not to overwhelm Samson with too many new things and better allow him to enjoy each one on its own. This has worked out fabulously; 7 weeks later, we are still making our way to the bottom of the pile.

This morning's surprise is courtesy of the Turners. We just love the toys made by this British company, as they require no batteries, are totally friction-powered, have no annoying electronic sound effects, have a wide age-appropriate range of 1.5-5 years, and have minimal packaging to hack through & dispose of. The picture is from Mama's phone, so it's a little fuzzy. Still, you can see how much Samson is stretching out & morphing into a big boy:


Samson was due sometime between November 21st and 26th, so he's now officially 2 years old. His health and development are all on track, so we're actually no longer adjusting his age as is commonly done with preemies. This is one time that it feels pretty nice to graduate to "average."

Hello, again.

Dear readers, it's been too long since our last post. There's been too much activity and not enough time to write. We have lots of pics to share and stories to tell. More to come this weekend....

A quick update since our last entry: Samson's cut healed just fine. He has a barely noticeable scar that will probably disappear with time, but who can notice, since he's added several more scrapes since then?

Now at 25 1/2 months, our plump toddler has disappeared and in his place: a long, lean boy. We are amazed at how much older he seems in such a short amount of time.

Samson is talking up a storm, jabbering about something all the time; he loves to repeat the last phrase of whatever anyone has said to him. He has finally discovered the tremendous power of the word, "No," which he uses to answer almost any question, regardless of whether he actually agrees or disagrees with the proposition.

After several rounds of colds and assorted infections, everyone in the family is well. Additionally, we've adjusted almost effortlessly to our new routine since Mama returned to full time work outside the home.

We're all looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday when we'll be able to travel to Houston to spend time with Daddy's side of the family, including Cousin Bridget.

Ta-ta for now!

The Joker

Samson's school called on Tuesday afternoon to report that he had tripped and fallen, hitting his chin on a table and biting through his lip. Mama rushed to school to assess the damage and found Samson and three teachers with blood spattered shirts and shorts, yet Samson was as cheerful as ever. Since the deep cut went into the white part of his face (yikes!), stitches were in order. Off we went to our first visit to the ER across town at Dell Children's Medical Center.

Here Samson enjoys the waiting area, watching cars in the parking lot and the fish in the aquarium. Tough guy seemed completely oblivious to the gaping bloody gash on his face.


The staff and protocols at Dell Children's were as kid-friendly as could be, so we were as comfortable as possible given the circumstances. The wait in the general waiting area was no more than 10 minutes or so, then we were whisked into our private exam/procedure room, complete with cable TV on a flat screen. Samson was as cool as a clam while the kind doctor looked him over, peeking in ears, eyes, & nose, and then even touching all around the injury. A child-life specialist came in next to show us what would happen during the stitching, giving Samson the chance to see and touch many of the tools to be used and to see Mama & Daddy pretend to get operations.

Of course, no amount of tender preparation could head off the awful shrieks and tears once our poor little buddy was wrapped onto the papoose board and a giant needle was inserted into his upper gums to block the nerves on that side of the face. As Samson screamed, the child life specialist coached Mama on distracting him with some books, toys, and favorite songs. Three stitches were put in place and thankfully we were out of there within two hours of our arrival.

Here's the result. It's still a little swollen, but we expect the lip to heal up nicely and show very little scarring.

Beach Baby, Beach Baby

Splashing in PawPaw's Pool

Before heading out to our vacation at the coast, we stopped for an overnight visit at Grandma & PawPaw's big new house. Uncle Kevin and cousin Bridget joined us for a dip in the backyard pool.


As usual, Samson was fearless in the water, this time even jumping in from the side of the pool into Daddy's arms and begging to be tossed up into the air again and again. Looks like he's got Daddy's swimmer gene.

A little off the top

When you realize that your baby is veering dangerously into Cozmo Kramer territory...
It's probably time to admit that a haircut is in order. Now you might be tempted to go for the do-it-yourself trim and save a few bucks, but that hasn't worked so well in our family.

Exhibit A:

Bang Trim by PapPaw, Post 6 Pack of Schlitz, 1976

So this morning, Samson and Mama took a trip to KAOS, aka Kids Are Our Specialty, to see Miss Yvonne.

At first we tried sitting on one of the cool motorcycle chairs, but Samson decided he'd rather sit safely in Mama's lap and sip a juice box as the scissors clipped away. In less than 7 minutes, the new do was complete.

Afterwards, Samson was like, "Hey, nobody told me they had CAR chairs. I coulda sat in this CAR all day, man!" Sorry, SammyPie, but Mama figured Daddy wouldn't be too thrilled with you having your strength shorn away while perched atop Barbie's pink Jeep....

Before we left, Miss Yvonne gave us a lovely "1st Haircut" certificate, an envelope full of golden curls, and a first lollipop for the boy. Yummy cherry Dum-Dum!

Calm down, safety nuts. The choking hazard was removed &
seatbelts were buckled securely before the car was put into motion.

This is how I say "truck" and "kitty"

So, at this point, "truck" is a nasally "crnk" and "kitty" is "kee." Hey, we know what he's saying!

Samson's other vocabulary is really starting to pick-up now, and he understands even more words that he hasn't yet attempted to say. Along with his new verbal skills, he has also begun using his sign language much more. For example, he loves to say "mo" for "more" and at the same time (or whenever someone else says the word) do the hand motion for "more." Another communication game he loves is to point at Mama and say, "Mama!" and then point at himself and wait for Mama to say, "Samson!"

Here are some of his other favorite words of the past couple of weeks:

• Mmm! = yum
• Ahhh! = refreshing (after taking a swig of beverage)
  
• num-num = yum-yum
• brrr = cold
• haah = hot
• opp = up
• puh-zaa = pizza
• teess = teeth
  
• caa = car
• ba = ball
• haa = hat
• gah = goat (maybe this is a cross between "goat" and "baa")
• shish = fish (for fish and any cheese-flavored cracker regardless of shape)
  
• Hi! (to be said whenever passing anyone in public or upon seeing Mama after being out of sight for any length of time)
  

Ride 'em, cowboy!

Today outside the Babies R Us. Fifty cents buys thirty seconds of adventure.

Thank you, PawPaw & Grandma!

 

Samson could hardly wait for Daddy to get this machine assembled. Best early birthday present ever!

Clownface Grabbing Chicken

New Pics

Samson is getting more and more capable with his eating utensils. Of course, not everything makes it into the pie hole just yet.

PawPaw and Grandma came to town this weekend to visit. As usual, Samson was delighted to revel in hours of undivided attention from his two biggest fans.

And you may have noticed that Samson's hair is becoming especially fluffy. Soon we'll be heading for our first trip to the barber, but for now, we're enjoying these luscious curls.

He sleeps!

Though I hesitate to write about it for fear of a jinx, I simply must share with our readers the small triumph of Samson's sleeping through the night for FIVE STRAIGHT NIGHTS!!!!  

This is the best streak we've ever had (yes, all the way at 21 months -- that's right, people, Mama has not had a decent night's sleep for almost two years; no wonder she's a bit cranky).  Who knows why now is the time that Samson is sleeping better. We only hope that it continues....

Oh, and apologies for our pitiful record of blogging for the past couple of months. Life has become so busy with Samson going to school 3 days a week now (at least when he isn't sick) and Mama catching up on lots of household projects.  We've been taking pictures, but they just haven't made it on to the web recently. We'll do better this coming week, promise!

In other news, Samson had a full blown attack of the hives yesterday. Poor little guy was covered in welts and itching like crazy. Doc says it's a common occurrence at his age and we may never know exactly what (possibly even a virus) caused the allergic reaction. All we can do is give Benedryl every 6 hours for the weekend and then monitor to see if the hives return, administering more antihistamines as needed and keeping an eye out for anaphylaxis (which leads directly to the ER). Yikes! 

One might think that the Benedryl would help with our whole sleep situation, but not exactly. The stuff dries you out so much that you wake up with a terrible thirst. Last night, Samson made it until 4:30a and we couldn't bear to make him suffer by waiting it out to try to encourage him to go back to sleep. So, we may be getting up early for the next few days, but at least we'll be getting 6 or 7 hours of uninterrupted rest. Halleluiah!

Things that make me go, "Grrrrr!"

Lately Samson is becoming much more demonstrative about his frustrations in life. He has Mama's quick temper in a body spiked with Y chromosomes and testosterone, without the vocabulary to adequately express himself verbally. No surprise then that what would seem to be a minor inconvenience to people over 30 can flare into a major protest with little warning. Today's tantrum report:

9am............. Getting ready to go anywhere with a small child is always a big production. One must make sure that all necessary gear for the outing has been packed (at the very least, diapers & wipes, a full sippy cup, & an emergency snack), the child is reasonably presentable (cleanish clothing, fresh diaper, hair free of rats' nests, and face free of food, dirt, and mucus), and that you build in enough extra time for dilly-dallying. Samson's preferred dilly-dally activity these days is pretending to drive the car. Every time we go into the front yard, whether we plan to leave or not, he wants to get into the car, stand in the driver's seat, and try out all the buttons, mirrors, and moving parts. Once he has had his fill of "driving," he also must be allowed to climb down out of the front seat and climb up into his carseat in back. He does not appreciate being rushed, thank you very much, and if one should make that error, one will experience what Mama did this morning: a rigid body, resisting all attempts to place it into the carseat for buckling, emitting mournful wails and displaying a very frowny face. Realizing that we were in no real hurry this time, Mama put him down so that his dignity could be restored. He then happily got into his big boy seat, Mama buckled him in, and we were off.

10:15am...... After enduring two trips in the car, sharing a berry yogurt smoothie and a complimentary snack bar (thanks, Whole Foods Kids Club!), and having been a very good sport shopping for 60 minutes through two different grocery stores (HEB for staples, then Whole Foods for the fancy health foods and that hard-to-get Jaime's salsa), Samson finally loses his cool. The sight of stacks of Snapea Crisps cruelly displayed at floor level in the checkout lane turns him into a tearful, screaming banshee, kicking and contorting to escape the Ergo carrier to get down there and claim his treasure. Never mind that we had four bags of the stuff in our basket (Mama knows it's your favorite snack, boy!), he had to have it RIGHT NOW. Bless the quick-witted checker who whipped out some scissors and opened one of our bags. Crisis resolved. Samson did not let the precious things out of his grasp until we had made it home and half the bag was in his belly.

3pm......... Like most kids, Samson wants to do things for himself (see also: carseat story from 9am). His recent obsession with the contents and cool breeze emanating from the refrigerator means that every occasion the fridge must be opened turns into a 5 minute exercise for Samson to inventory the salad dressings in the door, attempt to remove the rice milk, and then finally agreeing to push the door shut. Heaven forbid that Mama should need to quickly place an item into the fridge and attempt to save energy by immediately closing the door herself. This afternoon, this slight was met with a tearful outburst of grievance, complete with stomping, moaning, furrowed brow, and throwing of various objects within easy grasp. All efforts by the offender to provide comfort to the offended were refused. Thankfully, this time there was no shoving.

6:30pm..... Another favorite activity that Samson enjoys several times each day is a visit to the family shoe bin in the corner of the den. He loves to pick out shoes to put on, either his own or the much too large pairs belonging to Mama and Daddy. Trouble is that he often gets so excited to put on "big people" shoes that he doesn't take any time to line them up in the right order and facing the same direction. When the backwards facing shoe refuses to stay on his foot, Samson's blood begins to boil and a pitiful yowl rises. If you weren't in the room to witness the scene, you'd fear that a bloody and life-threatening injury had just been sustained. The yowling continues until (a) Samson figures out how to get the shoes going the same way, (b) Mama relents and fixes the shoes to stop that awful racket, or (c) the boy abandons the shoe project for his greater passion of cat menacing.

Oh, my Samson. It might be a long row to hoe for you in learning the virtue of patience. Listen to Daddy on this one, m-kay?

Ouch!

Samson seems determined to live up to his name, fearlessly charging ahead into everything he does. So it's no surprise that he is already racking up quite a collection of bumps, bruises, and scrapes. Today included two incidents. Running full steam down the driveway turned into a face-plant into the rocks with gashes from forehead to cheek. And later in the day, scaling his foam chair from the back led to a lip busted on the corner of another piece of furniture.


On the bright side, we've learned that Totally Toddler Stain Remover works exceptionally well taking blood out of cotton.

Samson's Favorite Meal at 20 Months

Today marks the 4th day in a row that Samson has eaten chicken salad for either lunch or dinner. Funny, given that he has also refused the last four opportunities to eat breaded, fried chicken pieces (a previous favorite). Thought our readers might want to give our recipe a try and have a little bit of Samson with their next meal. Enjoy!

Samson's Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 12.5 oz can premium chunk chicken breast, drained & shredded (we use Costco's Kirkland brand; you could sub the same amount of rotisserie chicken, or freshly cooked, seasoned breast or tenders)
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
• 2 young green onions, finely chopped (you could substitute 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion like 1015, Vidalia, or Maui)
• 1/3 cup smoked almonds, crushed (put in quart ziploc bag & smash with rolling pin or wine bottle until desired texture)
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup mayo (to taste; we use canola mayo to eliminate saturated fat & cholesterol; you could sub Miracle Whip)
• optional: 1 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon (this adds a great extra note of flavor, but only if you can get fresh herbs)
  

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Best flavor develops after overnight stay in the fridge. Serve on fingers, crackers, in sandwiches, or as stuffing for celery or boats of baby zucchini or cucumber. For party sandwiches, remove crusts, cut into small shapes, coat edges with additional mayo, and roll in finely crushed, smoked almonds.

Lefty with a Spoon

Our readers may have begun to wonder why it is that 75% of our posts seem to involve food. It boils down to having a captive subject. When Samson is snug in the high chair, he has a hard time getting away from the camera. Thus, it seems that most of our photography sessions occur at mealtime. That, and during his twice daily trip to the crab sandbox in the front yard.

Here's our first video with the new camera, taken last weekend on Samson's 19th month b-day. He uses the spoon throughout this clip, but in the past week, he has preferred to alternate between the spoon in his left hand and the fingers on his right hand, so mealtimes are now often as messy as they were back when we first started solids! We're not sure which hand is dominant yet. Maybe he'll use them both, like Mama.

Lovin' the New Camera!

Say hello to the Canon PowerShot SD890 IS. New videos coming soon....

I helped myself, Mama

It seems that Samson was still hungry after supper, so he took it upon himself to retrieve the cereal box from the middle of the dining table, open it, unfurl the plastic bag inside, and start chompin'. Every day, his reach gets a little longer and everything becomes a little more accessible.

Did I mention I like straws?

Busy Boy

It's been another action-packed week in Samson's world.

We started out with another bout of cold-> croup-> ear infection, two drop-in visits to our new favorite doctor's office, and two courses of medicine to somehow sneak into Samson's mouth twice a day. (Along with wildly resisting every attempt to change his diaper, Samson now has determined that anything delivered via oral syringe, no matter how fruity and delicious, must be poison to be refused at all costs. Half the stuff winds up on his face, neck, shirt, hair, or the floor. Argh.) Thankfully, he was feeling good enough last night to sleep from bedtime till morning (7:30p-6a) and even go to school today.

Meanwhile, Daddy was off to California most of the week doing cool nerdy stuff, advancing his career and bringing home the bacon. We celebrated his return on Thursday by taking an evening trip to our new favorite area park, which features a world of water fowl, a huge pond, and a gorgeous tree-lined trail. Samson likes the ducks, but most of his attention goes to figuring out how to escape from his parents long enough to get himself into the pond. We must get working on those swimming lessons post haste.


Speaking of physical feats, Samson has become quite the climber and acrobat lately. There is no piece of household furniture he has not scaled and dismounted, often head-first (though with no concussions as of yet). The window seat in the den, the sofas and chairs, the master bed, and several other surfaces that were not intended for use as a pedestal or diving board. To Mama's horror, he even found a way to climb up into the flimsy IKEA swivel desk chair and stand, smiling with pride as she came around the corner into the kitchen. Yikes!

Other fun stuff:

• kicking the red bouncy ball around the yard, preparing for his peewee soccer days
• playing the hula hoop game where someone rolls the hula hoop on the ground and Samson laughs maniacally when it circles to a stop; he then pushes the "roller" toward the hoop to signal he is ready for another round
• showing a desire to organize things by independently finding a container and putting all of his letter & animal magnets inside; finding all of his wooden shape sorter table blocks & putting them into an empty wagon under the table; putting away all his bath toys when he's ready to exit the tub
  
• understanding lots of words, babbling constantly, and saying a few words consistently: "ca" = cat or car; "da" = Daddy; "ma" = Mama; "ja" = Jennifer (our wonderful sitter); when asked to bring Mama a diaper from the green basket, he goes straight there and returns with the requested item
• insisting on feeding himself with his spoon
  
• new mastery of the straw and juicebox, quite a relief for Mama since Samson had so far refused to drink anything but rice milk & yogurt drinks from his Born Free sippy cup

Also, after 5 failed attempts, we finally found a comfortable pair of ridiculously expensive Jumping Jacks shoes to fit Samson's chubby Flintstone feet (see the first picture above) in size Toddler 5.5 Double Wide. Thank you, Zappos! Contributions to the Samson Shoe Fund are much appreciated ;o)

Sandman, Part 2

Yesterday in the front yard

Fun Weekend Report

Samson was a very busy boy this weekend, what with Friday dinner with the Turners, PawPaw's visit, Lily's 3rd birthday party, and playing with his new water-play castle.

Unfortunately, we have no video and few pics of all the cuteness displayed over this time, as Mama's spilled coffee has killed our family historian, the Canon SD630 (Lesson learned: if you get your digi-camera wet, never, NEVER turn it on until it is completely dry inside. Dry it out by opening all the compartments, removing the battery & memory card, and placing in a container of super absorbent material like silica packets or rice. No guarantee, but it might bring the camera a few more months of service. More on this here). We captured a few shots with our old standby, the Canon S410, but the video function on that one went caput long ago. And, it costs almost as much to attempt to repair these digital wonders as it does to just buy a better new one with several improvements for the amateur photog. Guess we're gonna have a drawer designated as the dead digital camera crypt.... But Mama digresses. You're here for the pics, so here you go:

Not sitting on my bottom like I'm supposed to do in the wagon

Clap-clap-clapping with PawPaw

At 3 years of age, Lily slays the giant piggy

Soon to be soaking wet from head to toe

We Heart Uncle M

Mama's eldest brother came to visit this afternoon as part of his annual trek through the states from the secret foreign country where he lives (Uncle M is a bit paranoid about revealing any info about himself online; ironic for a published author, don'cha think?).
Samson quickly determined that Uncle M would make a fine playmate and they shared lots of giggles, tickles, and a few turns doing "The Samson" (that's his trademarked new dance move).

We all enjoyed the visit. Come back when you can, Uncle M.

Eighteen Months

Today marks Samson's year and a half, and boy, has he become especially cute. It seems that all sorts of circuits in his brain have connected at once, the result being many new and often comical behaviors. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to catch many of these on camera, but here's a brief description of a few:

1. The moonwalk. Samson finds it hilarious to walk several steps away and then slowly shuffle backwards into Mama's arms for a "surprise" hug. He will do this about 50 times before he gets bored.

2. Downnnn...up! Daddy has for months played a game in which he stands holding Samson and suddenly bends his knees. As he alternatingly sinks down and then pops back up, he says, "Downnnnn...up! Up-down. Downnnn...up! Up-down." Last week, Samson gleefully showed us that he has his own version of this game, where he holds onto a piece of furniture and squats down, then quickly pops up to a stand and then back down again. He grins like a maniac while Mama and Daddy chant, "Downnnnn...up! Up-down."

3. Wheels. Samson is obsessed with all things wheeled. He can be entertained for quite some time just comparing the rate of spin among the 4 wheels of an upside down Tonka truck. Whenever we go outside, he must hurry to investigate the tires on any vehicle, wagon, or wheelbarrow. Rides in the Radio Flyer or a shopping cart inevitably lead to Samson leaning over the edge of his seat to observe the wheels as they turn round. And of course, the "Wheels on the Bus" is a daily ditty.

4. Look what I can do with this pink thing! A recent discovery for Samson is the myriad of movements and sounds one can accomplish with one's tongue. He loves to smack, click, flatten, twist, stick out, and otherwise contort his tongue.

5. Dancing machine. This past week, Samson has begun humming to himself and doing a little booty-shaking, head-bobbing jig. Mama and Daddy then get very excited and join in for a family dance off, creating a shocking display that should never be revealed in public. The things we do for our child!

6. Fangs. All four canine teeth are erupting this month, so Samson has four little sharp spikes in the corners of his smile. He's chewing a lot on his fingers and crunchy foods to help those little boogers break through.

7. Security blocks. Samson spends much of the day and evening with one or both fists tightly grasping a wooden block that he carries around where ever he goes. His favorite is a yellow cylinder, but he'll carry a red one or a randomly colored cube if it's all that's accessible.

8. Peekaboo, anytime, anywhere. For Samson, any time is the right time for a round of peekaboo: around the corner or beneath the chair from Mama's computer desk; under the newspaper on Sunday morning; behind the wash cloth at bath time; over the kitchen island; in the car's rear view mirror; etc. He never tires of this game.

9. Inside joke. Samson is enjoying more time at independent play in the house and we often overhear him giggling about something that has amused him. Who knows what he is thinking, but that little laugh just melts Mama every time.

10. Fried taters. Never refused, in any format. Skinny, fat, crinkled, battered, tots, sweet potato, hot or cold: it's all good with Samson.

Eggs and a Dirty Rabbit

Oddly, given that we're not a particularly churchy family, it appears that Easter has become the source of our first bona fide family tradition for Samson. For the second year, we took a trip to IKEA for photos with the Easter bunny, and earlier in the day, Samson collected eggs in the yard.

Mama hid several hollow plastic eggs and a few dyed boiled eggs along the path Samson usually takes when he goes into the yard: up the back steps, into the grass toward the pool steps, around the house into the front yard, and to the swing. At first, he wasn't that interested in the eggs, but then he realized that the hollow ones rattled when he picked them up, so he could shake-shake-shake like with his musical shakers. Inside were either Matchbox cars (Samson is newly obsessed with all things wheeled) or coins. Unfortunately, the excitement of the plastic eggs made the silent boiled eggs seem boring in comparison, so these were quickly discarded.
((check back here later for video of Samson testing the eggs))

After the egg hunt, the cold windy weather pushed us back inside for some traditional Easter treats. Here Samson tastes his first Peep:

















Then it was time for lunch and a nap, with the outing to IKEA waiting for the afternoon.

As you'll recall, last year's photo session with the Swedish Easter bunny did not result in a very good photo. The amateur photogs were more intent on featuring the IKEA products than the children and the guy in the bunny suit was less than enthusiastic in engaging with the kids. This year, the set-up looked better and the process seemed improved, even if the bunny had a curious brown stain on his head. We waited for a few minutes in line and then it was our turn. Samson seemed fine until we close to the bunny's sofa and he realized that Mama intended to leave him there (if only for a minute). Samson was not in favor of this plan.


Needless to say, we didn't get our free portrait this year. Oh, well... we'll try again in 2009.

The Croup

The recently experienced parents in our readership probably knew that the next post to follow the "Samson has started school" post would of course be the "We're all sick as dogs" post. And here it is.

Samson came home from school on Wednesday feeling pretty grumpy. Thursday he was obviously miserable and the runny nose had begun. About 2 hours after his bedtime that night, Mama heard a strange dog barking outside, only it sounded like it was almost in the house. Then she realized that the sound was coming from the baby monitor and Samson's room. Uh oh.

Luckily, several friends had recently been through "the croup" (That's what my country-folk parents called it, so that's what I'm calling it, too. Don't hold it against my boy, okay? --Mama), so we knew to bundle up Samson and take him into the cool night air to stop the attack.

As our doctor predicted, we had 3 rough (and sleepless) nights of barking coughs and high fevers, but Samson began to rally on Sunday. Now he's down to goopy eyes and nose, plus painful swollen tonsils and sore throat, but he's sleeping better and back in his crib again. If he continues on this textbook course, he should be ready to come out of quarantine in a couple of days.

Also of no surprise to our fellow parents, Daddy and Mama quickly picked up the bug, too, so between the three of us, we've pretty much covered the house with mountains of wadded up tissue. Based on our high rate of consumption, we advise our readers to buy some stock in Puffs, Mucinex, Advil, and Thera-flu.

On a bright note, all the misery of this illness pushed Samson to finally utter his first understandable spoken word, which he now repeats endlessly whenever he wants to be cuddled, "Mamamamamamamamama-mama-mama.... Mama-mama-mama-ma.... Mama. Mama. Mama."

Off to School

Samson had his second day of preschool this morning. Here's a photo the campus director sent home to assure Mama that the AM parting tears were dry:

After searching high and low to find a daycare that Mama could feel good about, we settled on a wonderful place called the Goddard School. On the con side, it's 12 miles away on the opposite side of town from where we'd like to be driving in the morning. But the plusses are too many to list here, chief among them a caring, professional staff of educated and experienced teachers in every class from infant to kindergarten.

Samson started on Friday in the Starfish class for 12 to 18 month old toddlers, but the staff recommended that he move up to the Angelfish class for 18 to 24 month-olds, as "he's too advanced to be in the early toddler class." Needless to say, Mama and Daddy are giddy over that quote. Our little man is growing up so fast!

The Angelfish class has 2 other boys and 4 little girls, for a total of 7 toddlers under the care of Ms. Desiree and her assistant, Ms. Angela (in the picture above). Samson attends for a half-day on M-W-F at this point, but will probably move into full-time by the end of the summer when Mama goes back to her career outside of parenting.

I Heart PawPaw

Samson woke up from his nap on Saturday to find that his favorite visitor had arrived for a playdate. First things first, though -- hugs and grins.

Running boy

Running boy, originally uploaded by LeftyMama.

After walking for just a few weeks, Samson wants to go faster. He let loose in the backyard this afternoon and giggled as Daddy chased.

Bookworm

Samson has a stack of 10 or so books that he "reads" at bedtime and whenever he is playing in his room. Where's Spot and Dear Zoo are finished on the floor as he tears through The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Bookworm, originally uploaded by LeftyMama.

Excellent table manners

Vote for Samson!

At the prompting of two different relatives, we've entered Samson's picture in a "beautiful baby" contest. Yep, it feels a little bit smarmy, but the grand prize is $125K for college. Please vote early and often on February 11th!

We're Walking, We're Walking

For months now, Samson has been doing what the child development people call "cruising," meaning that he could pull himself up and walk upright while holding onto furniture and other objects for stability. For weeks recently, he would also take a couple of unassisted steps to get across a gap with no handy supports, say from the edge of the sofa to the adjacent chair. And for the past few days, he finally began making use of the fleet of ride-on/push toys around the house to go mobile for a few yards, although as soon as the toy met an obstacle, Samson was back down on all fours for scurrying to his final destination.

We had accepted that he might be on the back end of the curve for walking, given that he's a boy (they usually develop later), and a preemie (which often results in delayed milestones through age 2, sometimes forever).

Samson, however, decided that today was a fine day to go ahead and get around like the big boys.


Seeing the other walking toddlers at his buddy Rowan's party yesterday may have given him a push. More likely, he realized that there is a whole new world of breakable stuff at the 2-3 foot level and it's easier to survey and plot a plan of attack when standing on two feet.

Oh, yes, and Samson is itching to start making his own blog posts. Here's the first installment:

#E@ fq `AXw w