A recent visit to Old MacDonald's

This establishment is right outside our neighborhood and is something we pass every time we return to our home. Since Samson has become big enough to venture throughout the gigantic playscape they have, we regularly hear his voice from the backseat saying, "Can we go play at Old MacDonald's today?"

Morning on Mustang Island

Sent from my iPhone

Thanks for your support!

Here's a free photo someone snapped for us after the 5K charity walk on Saturday. Samson was a big trouper and did not complain about spending an hour in the BOB while we trudged up the hill to the Capitol and then back down again to Auditorium Shores in 90% humidity and 90+ degree heat. He was just excited to marvel at all of the construction cranes and police vehicles downtown.

It felt wonderful to finally participate in this annual rite of passage for families with preemies. We walked with hundreds of other individuals and groups who raised money for March of Dimes, many of whom were carrying memorial messages about babies in their families who didn't survive -- a sobering reminder of how very fortunate we've been....

So far, we've collected $755 for the March of Dimes! If you've not yet sent in a donation, there's still time to help us reach our $1,000 goal. Please visit our walk team page at marchforbabies.org/SamsonsLeftyMama for more information. Any support that you can provide will be greatly appreciated and put to very good use helping babies like Samson once was.

Already Two and a Half?

Gosh, we had our heads down for what seemed like a minute and we're already into the middle of Samson's second year. Where did the time go?

Here are some recent big boy pics from one of those candid photo deals at school. If anyone wants to order them, go to iclicksmiles.com before 03/24/2009, and enter school "prodigy" and student "59179".


Life seems on fast forward since Mama went back to work outside the home in November. The weekday routine is something like this:

• wake up at 6a (or 5ish if Samson decides to be an early bird)
• set Samson up with a cereal bar & milk in front of Noggin so that Mama can take a shower; Daddy reads news on his phone and waits for his turn
  
• everyone gets ready for school & work, which generally includes chasing Samson around the house for every stage of the diaper-PJs-clothes-socks-shoes-hair transformation
• we all exit the house together, Mama to the car & office by 7:30, Daddy & Samson in the truck to school & work by 8
  
• Mama picks up Samson after 4:30
• supper & playtime from around 5:30-7:30
• Samson's bath at 7:30, in bed by 8:15
• Mama & Daddy unwind until nodding off by 10

Weekends are much the same, except Samson doesn't go to school, the grown-ups usually aren't at the office, and there is nap-time from noonish to 3ish. Friday evenings still usually mean dinner & playdate with the Turners. If we're lucky, PawPaw (& sometimes Grandma) may drive over from Houston for a visit on Saturday. Just about every other weekend, we also have cousin Emilie (& sometimes Tyler) come to hangout with Samson while Mama & Daddy have a date night. Throw in the random kid birthday party or trip out of town to visit relatives, and that's pretty much our life for the past 6 months.


In February, Samson started going to a new school that is much closer to where we live & work. Mama was nervous about how he'd handle the transition, but it was virtually seamless. He loves his new school, teachers, and friends, and most days, he is actually unhappy to leave when boring ol' Mama or Daddy come to take him home. Mama & Daddy love the new place, too, especially because Samson loves it, but also because:

• it's cut our daily drive-time down by 90 minutes, several toll roads, and otherwise needless excursions to Cedar Park
  
• we don't have to make lunch since they serve great meals, even offering a daily vegetarian option (due to lots of Hindus & Buddhists at school)
  
• the kid to teacher ratio is much lower than our other school
  
• most of the teachers & staff have worked there for more than 5 years and love working with these kids
  

Today, we're going to a toddler friend's 3rd b-day birthday at one of those bounce-house places, so Mama and Daddy will be sure to get a good workout chasing Samson around, preventing certain peril to life & limb. Samson has become quite the fearless jumper, something he tests many times each day on all the furniture he can manage to climb.

Two Sams in a Wagon

Trail of Lights 2008

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

Snowman

This afternoon in Park City...

Mr. Sandman

Mr. Sandman, originally uploaded by LeftyMama.

Mmm. Crunchy.

Samson had a big day of firsts on Sunday:

• first meal from the kid's menu
• first grilled cheese sandwich (thumbs up, he said)
• first taste of chocolate
• first taste of ice cream (it was the aforementioned chocolate; thumbs down, said he)
• first trips down the big kids' slide
  

And then there's the subject of this video. After the slide, Mama thought it might be okay to let him get onto the ground and check out some of the toys at his eye level. As usual when Samson hits the ground, he immediately had get his hands on it. This was a new sensation, the sand flowing between his fingers. But the inevitable end to any object in Samson's hand is....

Dad, did you say Cat 5 or Cat 6?

Dad, did you say Cat 5 or Cat 6?, originally uploaded by LeftyMama.

On a recent excursion to Fry's. Like father, like son.

No more pictures, please, Mother

Our little crawfish after an arduous day in front of the camera

Autumn Tradition

Young Love

Baby's First Rock Show

Samson braved the Austin City Limits Music Festival for a half-day at the beginning of the 3-day affair. It was hot, hot, hot, but the ACL people did a great job of creating a kid-friendly area complete with shade and a special stage with music just for tots. Luckily for Mama, Daddy and cousin Emilie helped wrangle Samson at home for most of the rest of the weekend so that Mama could keep her annual ACL attendance streak intact.

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.