Tuesday, December 12, 2006

The Sam Update - Three Months Old*

We've had a great month.  Over Thanksgiving we attended the wedding of our dear friends Keith and Pari in Playa del Carmen which is just south of Cancun.  It was a beautiful and touching ceremony and the location and weather were perfect.  We saw a lot of old friends and met some new ones.  Samantha had a blast, and so did we!  We took her everywhere:  on 2 boat rides, to the beach, to the wedding and reception, and even to the after-party at the hotel bar.  She is a lot more aware of the world now, and she skipped most of her naps in order to observe her surroundings.  The final picture of the trip shows her asleep on the airplane tray table - she was exhausted. 

 

Sam is such a joy.  She is just starting to grab things now.  A few days ago she started putting those things in her mouth, which, for some reason, we find incredibly cute (that probably won't last long!)  But the best thing of all is that she has started giggling.  Her first laugh was at Adam chasing our dog, Toby, around the house when he got home from work - it was so appropriate because that makes me laugh every time too.  Her second laugh happened when we were looking in the mirror together.  First she looked at herself in the mirror, then up at me in the mirror.  I was talking to her, so she looked towards my voice at the real me and started cracking up.  I guess two mommies is pretty funny to a 3 month old. 

 

We'll be in St. Louis for Christmas with Adam's parents this year.  We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

 

*Disclaimer:  The Sam Update began as a series of e-mails sent to family and friends starting when Sam was less than a month old.  To keep the chronology I've faked the dates here on the blog to reflect when the updates were actually written.  They were really added to the blog in May, 2008, with just a bit of editing.  All subsequent entries will be posted directly to the blog.

Friday, November 3, 2006

The Sam Update - Two Months Old*

Sam turned two months old yesterday, Nov. 2.  She weighs 9 pounds 3 ounces now which is still small but she is catching up with the average.  She is smiling at us which is the best thing ever.  She loves kisses and makes the cutest cooing sounds when we play with her.  Today she reached out for something, which is something she has been working towards for a while.  She still doesn't really grab things yet, but we can see that is coming soon.

 

The three of us are doing great.  Samantha is healthy and growing like crazy.  Her doctor thinks she might have acid reflux so we're putting her on Zantac.  She's already a pretty easy baby so if this makes her cry even less we'll have an angel.  Last night she slept for over 7 hours straight.

 

Recently, we took her on a quick trip to Tucson, Arizona where Adam had a work event.  She was a wonderful traveler - even the pressure changes of take off and landing didn't faze her.  When we took off, I thought about what a wonderful world she has been born into, where humans can fly and other such "magic" thanks to the power of the human mind.  The "first flight" certificate the airline gave her actually captured the significance of the event, certifying that she "did leave the surface of the earth on this day in a heavier than air machine." 

 

I thought the trip would be exhausting and it was, but it actually felt like a vacation - we all had a lot of fun.  This month, we're off to Cancun, Mexico for our good friends' wedding.  We have other trips planned for February and May that revolve around Adam's work.

 

It's snowing here in Michigan right now.  We had our first snow on October 12 so it's going to be a long winter.  I go back to school (just one class) in January and graduate in May.  Samantha will be 8 months old by then - hard to imagine! 

*Disclaimer:  The Sam Update began as a series of e-mails sent to family and friends starting when Sam was less than a month old.  To keep the chronology I've faked the dates here on the blog to reflect when the updates were actually written.  They were really added to the blog in May, 2008, with just a bit of editing.  All subsequent entries will be posted directly to the blog.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The Sam Update - One Month Old*

Samantha is now 3 weeks and 3 days old.  She seems to be growing really fast now - I can't wait to find out how much she weighs at her one month checkup on Friday.  Adam and I have developed a pretty good system for sharing the work of taking care of her.  We're working on getting her on a schedule but she's not quite there yet.  It might help if Adam and I were on a schedule ourselves! 

 

We've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks.  We took Sam on her first walk in the stroller with our dog, Toby, and she met a few of the neighbors.  We've had visits from my aunt and cousin and family, and from Adam's sister and aunt.  This past weekend we took Sam on her first real outing to have dinner with my parents at their RV at Moon Lake campground where they are staying.  It was nice to get out of the house and we got to hear all about their trip to Alaska and to see all the photos.

 

Next I have to work up the courage to take her out in the car by myself.  Once I'm comfortable with that, I hope to be able to take her on errands like to the grocery store or post office.  Being house-bound is no fun at all.  I think it will also be easier once she is big enough to be carried in the Baby Bjorn.  I want to start walking regularly again before the weather gets too cold.  I miss my walks with Toby and I think it will be fun to walk with him and Sam, but I probably won't get much of a chance to do that until next spring.  Summer is long gone here in Michigan, and fall only lasts about a month and then it will be unbearably cold until April.  If you live where it is warm, my advice is to never move!  During the winter, I might take Sam to the mall for walks - too bad no dogs allowed there.

 

Samantha is just getting cuter and sweeter by the day.  Her eyes are open much more often now, and I can see the curiosity behind them when she looks around.  She loves the black and white patterns I printed off the internet for her and will stare at them until she falls asleep.  She seems to be trying to grasp at things with her hands and she can roll over and hold her head up a bit.  I thought she would just be a blob for at least 3 months, but there are already all these exciting changes in her, and it helps me to fully realize how wonderful it is going to be to watch her grow up.

*Disclaimer:
The Sam Update began as a series of e-mails sent to family and friends starting when Sam was less than a month old.  To keep the chronology I've faked the dates here on the blog to reflect when the updates were actually written.  They were really added to the blog in May, 2008, with just a bit of editing.  All subsequent entries will be posted directly to the blog.