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."