Sledding in Austin, TX

It happened again.

We had enough snow on the ground in Austin to not only make a quite respectable snow man,

... and snow angels,

...but also to try out sledding for the first time on the side of the hill that covers our underground home. Here's Samson's 3rd run.

After that, the neighbor kids came over to join the fun and we whooped it up until the sun came out about 11 am. Cocoa on the back porch rounded out a quite lovely morning.

Two Sams in a Wagon

Trail of Lights 2008

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

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.

Cake

So much fun at the party! Thanks to everyone for showing up and sharing Samson's special milestone. More pics to come....

Young Love

Busy Bee

Given that his birthday is just three weeks away and his genes include a double shot of procrastinator, Samson has decided that now would be a great time to start doing lots of behaviors and skills that we've been waiting a few months to see. In the past week, he's begun to

• crawl and pull up,
  
• use a sippy cup to drink a substantial amount of fluid,
  
• insist on feeding himself at all meals,
  
• babble all sorts of new syllables, and
• snuggle when being held or holding a furry object (alive or stuffed).

While we're elated to see so much progress, there is a down side. Samson's knees are raw with rug burn from the new wool area rug in the den and his newfound fearlessness at diving to reach for something has resulted in several near collisions between his head and the concrete floor. He has also become much more whiny than ever before, with severe separation anxiety and more difficulty with going to sleep. He pretty much shrieks whenever Mama leaves his field of view, although he usually recovers quickly once his attention is diverted to something awesome, like Rice Chex or kitties. We know that this is all normal, but we'll be glad when the drama subsides a bit.

Mealtimes are a whole new level of procedure with the additional work of cleaning up a sticky boy and everything in the general highchair vicinity at least 3-5 times a day, plus the buying and preparing of something fresh, nutritious, safe, soft, and cut into tiny cubes for ease of pincer grasp. The jars were so much more convenient! On the fun side, we've been able to try a lot of new "real" foods lately, even having Samson's first Luby's meal entirely from items off the steam table (cornbread - the winner by far, green beans, mashed potatoes, peaches, and bananas; he vetoed the halibut). Current faves at home include sweet potato cubes and bits of watermelon.

Last weekend, Samson attended two birthday parties and got to hang out with lots of new friends. Here he is showing off his army crawl to Julia and company:





















We've also continued to enjoy our twice-weekly "Mamas & Boys" strolls with the Zavalas. Here's a great shot of Hayden and Samson plotting their escape:





















This coming weekend we'll be heading to Austin Kiddie Limits (and ACL Fest for the grown-ups), and thank goodness, the forecast is for cooler, possibly wet weather. Mama is so excited to take Samson to his first concert! We may have given him the procrastination genes, but we've also passed on our love of music, too, and we're gonna make sure he's exposed to every genre.

A New Friend

Today Samson met a new friend for the first time, one of the babies who were in utero at the post-c-section baby shower. Rowan was born on January 1st (almost 9 months ago) and he is already a pudgy little dynamo! Mama was fascinated see him zoom around the room, crawling and cruising -- we're not yet accustomed to speedy babes at our house. Both boys played with the basket of whiffle balls and then we all moved over to Rowan's toy chest for more fun with exciting new objects.



Though the boys seemed to have fun, their interactions were few and brief; that makes sense, as babies this age don't really know yet how to play with other babies. They enjoyed each other's company for almost two hours before it was time to head home for the afternoon nap.

Good to see you, Haney Family!

Happenings of late

Last weekend, PawPaw came to town to help Daddy clear limbs and brush from the yard and later babysit with Samson so Mama and Daddy could go out on a DATE. This was only the 2nd time Mama and Daddy had been out without Samson since he came home from the hospital. Now that Samson has become such a great sleeper, it was an easy gig for PawPaw, who snoozed on the recliner watching The Godfather for the n-th time while Samson was dreaming in his crib.

Samson and Mama got to spend some time with the rest of the Central Texas Waltons on Sunday. Uncle Loyd, "Aunt Jane, and cousins Janice (pictured) and Amanda were great hosts and Samson put each of them to work as his personal bounce machines. He especially liked rolling around on the Pergo floor, which allowed much more safe freedom of movement than he gets at home on our concrete and stone floors.

Monday evening, Samson started showing signs of a cold, including a terrible runny nose which he refused to let be cleaned. Mama had to accept that all her shirts will now have a snot trail in addition to the regurgitated milk and food puree already in effect.

As his did with his first cold back in December, Samson recovered rather quickly, getting just about back to normal within 3 days. Unfortunately, the virus hit Daddy like a Mack truck, and he (who never gets sick) was out of commission for 24 hours, even missing work (which he never does, at least not for illness). Somehow, Mama has managed to dodge this bullet so far....

Hey, Baby. Come 'ere and let me show you my four teeth!"
Tomorrow is Friday, and if it's like most Fridays, that means Tex-Mex with the Turners! Daddy and Mama get to enjoy ritas with Samantha's parents while the babies enjoy neon lights and hustling action at the chip station.

Houston, we have a tooth!

Samson traveled to H-town this weekend to visit with friends and family and attend his first wedding reception.

The trip got off to a fine start with a peaceful (no kidding) 3 hour car ride in which Samson remained in the carseat the entire time (a first). The family checked into the swanky hotel at the Galleria and Samson was instantly mesmermized by the birds' eye view from our 14th floor windowseat.


This doubled as our changing table for the weekend, and Samson took advantage of the great natural lighting to pose for the camera as he attempted to set the world record for number of one's own digits to be put into one's own mouth.


Friday afternoon, we tried out the rooftop swimming pool. Samson enjoyed the water, but it was still a little too chilly to stay for long; there will be plenty of time for splashing at home this summer. Later that evening, we had dinner with Uncle Kevin, Aunt Kiki, and Cousin Bridget.


On Saturday, the family had a fancy room service breakfast and then got gussied up for the afternoon wedding. Though the wedding coordinator at the event hall was obviously nervous about a baby being present (attempting to steer us to the free childcare room - umm, no thanks), Samson was a perfect gentleman and never made a peep. Daddy's old buddies from high school were impressed by the quality of his reproductive output and everyone wanted to make Samson giggle.


Later, Daddy went to have some guy time while Mama and Samson retired to the hotel. When Samson began gnawing on Mama's finger as he is often fond of doing, Mama noticed something new. Ouch! Something sharp... a fang! After the past 4 months of gumming everything he can fit into his gob, Samson's efforts have paid off and a tooth has finally emerged. It won't be long before he'll be eating enchiladas with Daddy.

Sunday morning was for packing up for the ride home and meeting Grandma and PawPaw for breakfast. A fitting end to the adventure, Samson went down for his morning nap as we left Houston and happily slept all the way back to Austin in his carseat. Our baby is growing up!

Baby Samantha has arrived.

We heard some wonderful news yesterday. Our friends Ang and Scott just added a new baby girl to their family. Welcome to the world, Samantha!

Samson is looking forward to lots of adventures with his new girlfriend, and Mama and Daddy are excited to share the newborn experience with our closest pals.

Congrats, Turners!

Visiting the B's

Weston's dad shot some great photos of Samson today while we visited with Weston's mom. Lucky Samson is going to inherit all of Weston's sweet baby boy clothes. Thanks, Boriches!

Baby's First Christmas Ornaments

Samson is excited to check out his very own tree decorations. The Santa suit at the top was a gift from his buddy Weston and the teddy bear at the bottom came from Deb and Peter in Kansas City. Thanks and happy holidays, friends!

Now we're mommies.

Horseshoe Lounge, 1999(?)









Ang's Baby Shower, 12/2006

Party Animal

Samson impressed everyone with his stamina on Saturday by staying content and fuss-free for an amazing 4 whole hours while we attended Angela & Scott's baby shower. We weren't sure how he'd react to the situation, but to our relief, he pretty much napped in Mama's sling the whole time except during our two trips to the upstairs nursery for his feedings.

What a confidence booster for Mama & Daddy! Now we're thinking we might venture out in public more often for something more fun than doctor's visits. It would certainly help Mama's mental health to get dressed and leave the house from time-to-time, rejoining the "real" world.

This picture shows Mama & Samson with his pal Annabelle, her Aunt Kelsey, and Mama Jen. The Webb girls have each had new babies in the past year and they shared lots of encouraging tales of their experiences with colicky newborns and baby blues. The common theme we kept hearing throughout the party was, "Yes, this time is absolutely soul-crushing, but it goes by quickly and your life will become more manageable soon. Hang in there!"

And then there was that one lady, I'm guessing she was in her mid-fifties, who talked about how her 4 kids (all full term and formula fed, of course) all slept through the night as soon as they came home from the hospital, and babies who don't sleep just need to get some solid food in their bellies. Um, thanks for sharing....

Thanksgiving

Just a quick post to say: don't worry! We haven't been online in a while; too busy to type. Samson is doing great, up to 7 lbs now. He has passed his first 2 pediatrician visits with flying colors and just had his follow-up opthamology visit yesterday with no evidence of retinopathy. Yay!

We've got lots of pics to post, but just haven't had time to get them off the camera and onto the computer. This weekend, we hope...

Tomorrow, some wonderful friends will be coming by to drop-off some home-cooked Thanksgiving food for our first family holiday together. Our list of blessings is long this year, but we are most thankful for the people in our lives who have helped us during these past two long months:

• the midwife who sent us to the hospital when things didn't seem quite right;
• the doctor who read Mama's symptoms correctly and ordered the right tests to determine the source of the problem;
• the NICU staff who gave Samson the best care possible for the first 42 days of his life outside the womb;
• the loved ones who have brought an endless supply of food, baby gear, and comforting sentiments;
• the lactation consultant who saved Mama's boobs and showed us a light at the end of the "triple-feeding" tunnel
• the Daddy who has been Mama's constant support, cheerleader, and partner, and who skillfully does everything for Samson that Mama does (except for the breastfeeding);
• the Mama who never gave up on making "bestmilk" for Samson, even through spending 8 hours a day hooked up to a pump or doing the work to prepare and clean-up afterwards, and enduring repeated failed attempts to relieve the daily excruciating pain until the proper meds were prescribed to cure the bacterial mastitis; and, of course
  
• the Baby who has added an indescribable intensity to our lives, opening our hearts to possibilities that we never contemplated before, and already teaching us too many lessons to recount here.
  

What are you thankful for this year?

It Takes a Village

We have a most wonderful group of friends. They gave us a party to welcome Samson into the world and remind us of the community that will support us through this rough patch and the peaks and valleys to come. Here are some of the scenes from the day:

Best cake ever


Some of Mama's side of the family















A fraction of the loot


Beaumont Aunties J, M, & K