Oh, So Sam

Well, Sam has his 9 month check up yesterday and was proclaimed healthy and strong! He is now 23lbs. and 31.5in. (that's in the 90th percentile for his weight and the 100th percentile for his height.) He's been growing like a weed! Here are some of the big things going on in Sammy's little world lately:

1. Sam is trying all kinds of new foods. This morning he ate half a pancake (yes, mommy puts a dab of syrup on it. duh. who likes dry pancakes!) and a slice of peach. He also loves bananas and teether biscuits--very, very messy.

2. He's not walking yet, but we give it a matter of mere weeks. He cruises along the furniture really quickly now and lets go to see how long he can balance all the time. Now he just has to get brave enough to take the first step.

3. He loves the bathroom. If the door is left open he bolts for it. He would love to spend hours in there playing in the toilet or tub or cupboards if mommy would let him.

4. Sam has the same LOVE for baths as his older brother. As soon as the bath water starts running he starts to almost shake from excitement. And oh the tears when the water is gone!

5. Sam already thinks brother is the best of the best. He watches Alex's every move and wants to be by him all the time--if only the feelings were mutual more of the time....:-)

6. From the majority of the pictures above you might think the child never wears clothes---of course he does, but he fights tooth and nail when you put them on him. And he LOVES it when he has no clothes on. He laughs and crawls around all excited! I'm worried that he may be my toddler who routinely strips and streaks....

7. He has started bee-boppin' to music. So cute.

8. Sam is cuddly. When I get him from his crib in the morning he buries his head in my shoulder and snuggles.

9. Sam plays by himself really well. One toy can entertain him for hours.

10. He is already as much "all boy" as his brother. For instance, if Ryan gets down on the floor to play or wrestle with Alex, Sam will jump right in. He crawls up on Ryan with no fear. He wants in on all the guy action. He also already knows that you are supposed to take toy cars and move them back and forth on the ground. It's All Boy at our house!

Alex's Antics

Here's a little update on the Alex boy. He is now 2 years and 4 months old. He is so tall that he is often mistaken for a 3 or 4 year old. Alwx is, how do I say this...a very passionate being! He is either very very happy or very sad. It's all black and white with Alex. He has a huge smile that reaches all the way to his dark eyes. He is a joy to our family and we are glad God gave him to us! Here are a few of the big things in the little man's life lately:

1. He just started using the potty and has had 4 successes already! With our crazy schedule we are taking a pretty relaxed approach, but so far so good! He wears pull-ups and especially loves the night-time ones with Woody and Buzz on them.

2. He knows the entire alphabet and the numbers 1-10 in and out of order. When we go to Walmart he spends most of the time pointing out letters and numbers and is now really into "reading" books again.

3. His favorite foods are tomato soup ("suuuu"), peas ("pea-a-peas"), french fries ("ffffriiiiies"), apples ("a-peeee"), peaches ("peacheeez"), and cheese puffs ("pufffffff").

4. He says many of his words like this: car- "car-a-car", or slide- "slide-a-slide"

5. He loves to show off how fast he can run and with run around the house yelling "go, go, go"

6. His new favorite movie is Polar Express, better known to him as "choo-choo" movie

7. He has a little Disney Cars cell phone on which he has entire conversations. He even takes pictures of himself by turning it around, pushing the button, and saying "cheese!"

8. He loves to color, paint, do stickers, use playdough, use glue, and anything else crafty he can get his hands on.

9. He loves all physical activity. He never stops running, climbing, jumping, playing, from the second he wakes up until the minute he goes to bed. oh, or talking either.

10. He is all boy all the time. Here is a story to illustrate: We were outside and there was a little bug on the arm of the swing. He is fascinated with bugs right now so he was watching it and pointing and telling me "bug-a-bug!" with his little voice that sounds so cute and sweet. I was enjoying the nice moment of the wonder of a sweet toddler when he pounded down on the bug with his fist and looked at me with this face of "well, he's a gonner." All Boy to the core.

Some People Say...

Some people tell me that Sam looks just like Alex. Others say they look nothing alike.
Personally I see a few similarities--enough that they definitely look like brothers, but they sure don't look exactly alike to me!

And I don't think Sam looks anything like Alex did at this age. Here are pics of both boys at 9 months old.
You can decide for yourself!


Sam, 9 months old

Alex, 9 months old

To Iowa and Back Again!

Last weekend my folks came to my house to stay with my boys overnight so that Ryan and I both could be at the teen all-night marathon our church hosted. (for pics of that follow the blog link to the left for Community Bible Youth) They stayed until early Monday morning and then Alex, Sam, and I went back to Iowa with them for a few days before the snow flies and it gets harder to travel. We have had a fun time shopping, playing outside, making Christmas decorations, visiting with Nate, Heather, and Cole, and hanging out together. In about 2 hours I will drive the boys back home--how time flies when you are having fun!

Carpooling

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Thanks to the Hermans!

When we were in Michigan a few weeks ago our friends the Hermans gave us a Cozy Coupe they had picked up at a garage sale but found they didn't really have space to keep. We were glad to have it! The boys both love it. And I get a kick out of the Hemi sticker!! I'm sure Alex really thinks that is true! Thankfully we have had some beautiful Indian Summer Days lately so that we could spend more outside time this fall. Here are a few pics from last week (I also have a funny video but can't get it to post. will try again later.) of the boys enjoying their new car!

Can somebody give a brother a boost over here?

Mom, can I borrow the keys?

Oh the Craziness of it All

This is Alex...just being Alex!

Sammy Silliness

The Dynamic (& sometimes Dangerous!) Diaper Duo!