Samuel and Molly

2011-08-21T11:31:00.001-07:00

2011-01-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

Im so slack at updating this blog lately. I just seem to have no time. There is ALWAYS something to do. Anyway, Mollys laugh is so funny, this video doesn't even capture it in all it's crazy glory but it does give you a vague idea.

Molly is now 9months old! (where has the time gone?!) and she weighed in at 17lbs 13oz on her 9 month 'birthday'. She 'cruises' and speed crawls really well now, she still sleeps well and is an all round happy baby.

As for Sam his speech is coming on in leaps and bounds now. He has begun singing nursery rhymes which is very sweet and has an amazing ability to turn off and on his American and English accents. Its actually quite fascinating how he does it. He has even made up 'half and half' words. For example in English it would be 'ladyBIRD' in American it's 'ladyBUG' Sam has created his own multi-accent word of 'ladyBERG' hahaha!!

2010-12-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

Molly has taken off with her physical skills (I always think of Napoleon Dynamite when I talk about 'skills' haha) she is crawling - both belly off the floor and a very fast 'army crawl'. She sits well with no support and can go from sitting to crawling and visa versa. She is finally enjoying her food. We're still doing the 'baby led weaning' thing. Last night she fed herself shepherds pie - her 1st taste of meat and she seems to love it. She has the amazing ability to fart like a grown man and has some pretty good burps to match!! She is 16lbs 9oz (as of last week) so still a tiny dot compared to her brother at the same age.

We have babbling too!! finally!! her favourite is 'babababa' but there is also the predictable 'dadada' and 'mamama' which, although I like to think are aimed at her us- her parents, im pretty sure it's just a noise at this point!

As for Samuel, my dear sweet Samuel. Well, he is a horrendous ball of two-year-old pent up frustration for the most part. He hates socks, shoes, using the potty, eating vegetables, going to bed, when Molly touches his toys. Just about everything sends him into a tantrum - yay! However, he still of course has his sweet moments. His speech is coming along really well and he is now using personal pronouns. My aim is to get him to recognise all letters and numbers 1-10 and colours by April. I think he'll do it. He is already almost there. He has me in fits of laughter with the things his little brain comes out with. All those neurons joining and strengthening makes for some comical outbursts. Every time Molly makes a bee-line for 'his' toys he will scream 'mummy, quick...pick her up...oh noooo! no molly! please....DONT LICK IT' hahaha...he will also sit at the table at dinner time and say 'so...ummm...shall I call Sam?' I say 'yes, why not' and he will call 'Saaaaaaammm' and then say 'oh...he's right here' hahaha...silly boy!

This video is a bit pointless as you cant really see. But he insits on wearing the lower half of his Halloween costume (some dragon legs with dragon feet) at ANY opportunity!

2010-11-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

This video was taken about 10 days ago, just when Molly had begun to try and get up on all fours. She is now MUCH better at this and does it several times a day. Almost exactly on the same time scale as her brother. He got up on all fours 8 days after he turned 6 months. Molly was 4 days after. We still haven't got to actual crawling yet, but she seems to enjoy 'rocking' back and fourth.

As for other news: Im offering solids at least once a day. She still isnt terribly interested although she will usually 'gum' something each day. Last night she had toast with yogurt (yes, lovely combination I know!) and she gummed the toast to death haha!

Here's Molly this morning being her usual jolly self! she has settled into a great routine now. Wakes at 6:30am and then plays with Sam on the floor until around 7am when she has her milk, at around 8am she will nap for 45minutes. More Milk at approx. 10:30ish and then there is another nap around 11am - this nap is the best of all as Sam goes to bed at this time too and they both usually sleep for 2-3hrs!! NICE! At 3pm she will have another bottle and another nap at around 3:30-4ish for half an hour or so. Then its another bottle at 6pm and at 6:30-7ish she is down for the night! easy peasy!

2010-10-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

In no particular order here's some excitement from the last few weeks: We 'started' baby led weaning. Molly is 24 weeks...so, I suppose it's maybe 6 months..or not, I don't know how you're 'supposed' to count it. Anyway, absolutely NO food has made it down Mollys gullet yet. She likes to squish the heavily over priced organic avocado in her little fists, and smear it all over the table. She has shown little to no interest in ingesting any. To me this is a sign that she probably isn't ready for solid food yet and i'm not surprised. That's fine, and one of the many benefits of baby-led weaning - SHE will decide when to eat. SHE will decide when her instincts are telling her she needs more than breastmilk. We are one of the only cultures that see it as a good idea to strap a baby to a chair and force pureed 'diet' foods into its mouth, when the babies natural instincts kick in and the food gets thrust back out, it's scraped off and forced back in. Babies are not in charge of what, when and how much they eat. Baby led weaning gives the control back to the child and that in turn has many benefits. When I think of all the time and effort I spent making purees for Sam and how I would have to feed him before I could enjoy my (then cold) meal it just makes so much sense to me to allow Molly to eat at her own pace, and eat 'real' delicious foods instead of pureed carrots etc (bllergh). She will be able to enjoy meal times with us, watch us eat and learn while I enjoy my HOT food!

We took Sam to the Children's museum in Phoenix, he LOVED it. He is such a clever little boy - but then I'm his mother, of course im going to say that haha. He already knows 3/4 of the letters of the alphabet, some names, some sounds and some both. He talks up a storm now and copies EVERYTHING Bryan says. I cant actually write on here what profanity left his mouth this afternoon...but lets just say it wasn't particularly pleasant and Bryan got told off!!

Miss Molly Mookins got her English passport! meaning she is now officially a 'dual citizen' like Sam. She wont be able to be deported when we go home haha...and no, I seriously wouldn't put anything past the government of either country. I can seriously see them trying to deport a baby!! What a wondrous thing it is for my children to own two of the most valued passports in the world. It will mean, when they are grown up they can live and/or work ANYWHERE in the whole of Europe or the US. There are not many people than can do that with out mounds of paperwork and visa applications. I would assume it will make them valuable employees of any large businesses that require travel between such countries as they will save everyone lots of time and money not needing any travel paperwork!

Just a photo of my beautiful girl. She is such a sweet girl. Almost NEVER cries. Im so glad we have her, she is already Sams best friend and the 1st thing he asks about when he wakes up. I hope they will be close when they grow up.Bryans dad left last week after joining us for a week in sunny Tucson. Unfortunately Bryan had to work for much of it but we were able to get out and have fun at the weekend with a trip to Mt Lemmon and Sabino Canyon. I wouldn't wish the horrors of Tucson on anyone but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed his time with us.

2010-09-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

I think I have the only baby that doesn't coo or babble, but growls. Please excuse my un made-up face, my spots and exposed bra strap (I was at home all day - you're lucky im even out of my PJ's!!) and admire my beautiful baby girls delicious growls. Its funny to think that one day she will have a sweet, girlie voice.

How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get s

2010-09-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

What a busy month. On Friday we got back from spending a month in England. It was SO wonderful. The children really get so very much from being there. There is space to run around and you don't boil to death, there are enough people to lavish them with the attention they deserve, there are animals and trees and most importantly for Sam there are hundreds of his beloved 'Choo-choo's'. Sam spent a great deal of time with my dad in the meadow watching the trains go by and playing with Lola. It makes me realize how truly limited their life is here in Az. Its too hot to go out, there is barely anything to do and no family around. I really hate this place for them.

That brings me to my next point. Bryan has got an assignment for an unaccompanied tour of Korea for a year. For that year, the children and I will go back to England where im sure they will flourish and I will get to have a life and family to talk to. To compensate for a year away from family the airforce allow you *some* say in what base you go to afterwards. We have picked Germany as our number one spot and I really, really hope we get it. However, we all know how the airforce likes to do as they please, so we can only hope.

As for milestones, Sam is almost potty trained. We haven't dared to leave the house nappy-less yet, but the time is close. He has zero accidents during the day at home although he is still in a nappy at nap time and bedtime. Molly is growing slowly but surely, she is finally just over 14lbs and will turn 5 months old next week. She can roll both ways and has been doing so since the 25th August, she is much more steady with her head control and can do baby push-ups while on her tummy. We will introduce solid foods in October when she hits 6months. We will be doing baby-led weaning and I cant wait. I'm hoping it will help her to gain a little more weight as Ive been researching some baby-friendly calorific foods like avocado, sweet potato, bananas etc etc all of which she should be able to feed herself.

2010-08-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

Thought id show a video of Molly's newest trick (she's been doing it for around 3 weeks now) - She can roll front to back. No indication of rolling the other way though, just yet. Almost time for our trip back to England. I cannot wait. I have compiled a list of what I will need in my 'carry-on' for Molly alone and it's A LOT! there will definitely be no room for anything I need! Can't wait to introduce my darling girl to the rest of her family and I can't wait for them all to see how much Sam has grown in 15 months (10 cm to be exact lol)

2010-07-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about our up and coming trip home to England and wondering if Sam would remember my dad as the last time he saw him he was just 15months old. Lately Sam has enjoyed looking at photos, namely our wedding photos and I was shocked to hear him say 'oh look, there he is' and I said 'who?' and he said 'Granan' meaning 'grandad'. He was pointing at my dad. I got him on film telling me who 'granan' is. He also thinks the picture of Dustin is 'Sam' haha!

2010-07-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ive been trying to teach Sam his letters, he is getting there. He wasn't in the most co-operative of moods this morning but you can see that he knows some. He is almost able to sing the alphabet too.

2010-06-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

What a truly amazing day! Bryan has had issues at work, Sam has been hideous-firstly he drew with pen all over the front door AND the wall. Then he poo'd and wiped it all over his toys AND the wall, then he bit the top off of a pen filling his mouth with ink (thankfully they are kids 'non toxic' pens, but still!) Molly has been fussy all day and feeding every hour and a half and not sleeping at all. The house is a wreck and Ive felt like driving off hahahaha JOY

2010-06-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Molly was 8 weeks old this week, she weighs 10lbs 3oz (tiny little thing) she eats around 3oz of breastmilk every 3 hours and her feeds takes forever as she likes to have half, then pause for some burping and a little break then 10 or so minutes later she will take a little more, then we have to have another break! VERY different from her brother who was packing on the pounds at this age and would drink as much as I let him haha!

Bryan is TDY to Alaska at the moment, he has been gone for 2 weeks and we have another week left. There have been some stressful moments, like when I was feeding Molly and Sam decided it would be a wonderful idea to stuff toilet paper down the toilet and flush it 6 times resulting in toilet water an inch deep over the bathroom floor. I really enjoyed putting my hand down the toilet 1st thing in the morning, its a real recipe for a great day let me tell you! Other than that though, we're plodding along. I for one, cannot WAIT for Bryan to get home. It will be nice to be able to go for a wee without taking 2 children, it will be lovely not to have to plan showers strategically around when both children are napping (a rare event in itself) and then rush like crazy in case one wakes up

2010-06-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here is Molly in her pretty purple nappy that Auntie Karla got for her! She loves her baby gym but can only go under when Sam is in bed having his nap as he thinks that he has to be under there with her...and even ON her if at all possible! Daddy left today for a few weeks to go and play war games for work..booo!! will I survive 3 weeks without him?! I think so!

2010-05-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

Sam loves his baby sister. When she cries he lovingly tries to shove a juice cup in her face. He diligently prods at her face pointing out her 'eye's' and tries to get his pudgy fingers in her little mouth to assess her biting abilities.

The differences between Molly and Sam is astounding. It's hard to believe they come from the same genetic stock. Sam was a content baby, he loved to eat and piled on the pounds quickly. He was happy to sit in his bouncer and didn't care who held him. Molly on the other hand is fussy, she makes each feed a trial and will frequently only settle if she is being held by me or in the sling...on ME! She is much more 'delicate' and ...well, girlie haha!

Generally things are going well, she is drinking expressed Mummy milk during the day and 'on tap' mummy milk at night. Its just what works for us. She will drink around 2oz every 3ish hours and likes to be carried or sleep on my chest the rest of the time. The nights are not too bad, she only wakes a few times and thankfully Sam is sleeping through!

2010-05-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

Molly is the queen of fussiness. She cries a lot more than Sam ever did. Our evenings are usually spent pacing the floor with her or trying to work out what the problem is. This week Bryan goes back to work (well, tonight) and the AirForce-being the lovely things that they are have decided to put him on the night shift (12hrs) -just what we need after me having major abdominal surgery and a new born...grrr!! so I will be pacing alone for the next week at least-JOY!!

2010-05-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

Molly had her '2 week well baby check' today and she is over her birth weight WOOHOO!! I had been wondering if she was breastfeeding enough and/or for long enough and it would seem she has. Her weight today was 7lbs 12.3oz! She is growing well too and has grown half an inch in length in the last 2 weeks. Of course her head is on the 98%tile which I would expect as she seems to have inherited the 'giant headed gene' from my side of the family! Sam has it too!

Here is a video of her when she was just a few hours old, thought I would post it now, even though its 'outdated' as when ever I have a moment to take another video of her lately, she's asleep!!

As for Sam, he is coping a little better this week. Less tantrums and crying and more 'normal' Samuel behaviour. He has developed a HUGE fondness for the word 'NO!' which is now his standard answer to absolutely everything, even if he wants to say 'yes'. He spends much of his time in his playroom (actually a cupboard!) which is where he is in this photo-with his beloved 'choo-choo's' and 'diggers'. Also, as you can see on the floor-he has developed a love of 'money'. He tips out his money box and fills his pockets with the coins.

New Arrival

2010-04-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time, a busy month...life changing even!

Around the time of my last Blog entry we discovered that our second baby was in the breech presentation. All my stress and effort went into trying to get the baby to turn so we could have another wonderful, med-free delivery. It was not to be, even after spending hundreds on acupuncturists, chiropractors etc etc baby Brown number 2 decided that 'head up' was the way to be. At 37 weeks an ultrasound scan reveled that the cord was wrapped twice around the baby's neck and therefore poor baby just couldn't turn.

On the 21st of April we had a scheduled cesarean section and Molly Cate Brown was born. She weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 19.5 inches long. A HUGE, HUGE surprise as my 'motherly intuition' has told me I was having another boy-obviously my 'intuition centre' in my brain is broken! I was beyond thrilled though. A big boy and now a baby girl. We have the 'perfect family'. The cesarean went amazingly well. Our wishes were respected and Molly was placed 'skin-to-skin' within minutes, we also received no hassle after declining the Erythromycin eye ointment and the hepatitis B vaccination. We also refused the 'hospital policy' of 2hours 'compulsory nursery time' and the 'compulsory infant sponge bath' and none of this was met with any disapproval. We got the obligatory 'contaminated baby' sign on her isolette due to the lack of bathing, but that was good as everyone who touched her wore gloves!! Molly was jaundiced within a day or so of her arrival. This was no surprise as her big brother had been too. But here in America it seems like it was much more of a big deal. Where as with Sam I was told 'just feed him and put him in the sun' Mollys jaundice was met with blood tests and eventually phototherapy during our last night at the hospital. She HATED wearing the little sunglasses and that night was truely miserable. Bryan and I were both deliriously tired and poor Molly didnt want to sleep at all. It all paid off though and Mollys bilirubin levels decreased enough that we were allowed home after 3days.

Since being at home things have been a little insane. Sam is struggling to accept he is no longer the only child in the house and has been rather naughty since Molly came home. He loves 'baby Molly' but hates just about everything else-including me most of the time.

Molly sleeps well, and eats pretty well although breastfeeding is still a struggle but we're managing.

2010-03-04T06:48:00.000-08:00

Just Sam at dinner time being a bit chatty. Ive been trying to catch him singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' but when ever he sees the camera he stops. His version is so funny and starts with 'Winkle Winkle...'

We went to Disneyland last weekend and had a wonderful time, the early rain made it so it was empty and we didn't have to wait to ride on anything. I wont post pictures on here though as you've all probably seen them on Facebook.

2010-02-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

Today is Sams second birthday. We had a big party planned and had invited lots of guests. Sam woke up early and we opened presents and cards. When he went down for a nap Bryan and I spent almost 3 hours blowing up balloons, preparing food, decorating, cleaning. Everything was ready-all that was left was to cook the pizza and ice the cakes. The house looked great, everything 'Thomas the Tank Engine' themed. Party bags were ready to give out and Bryan even got a dozen helium filled balloons as a center piece for the table!

THEN...Sam woke up, he felt hot-not great news. I hoped he was just hot from being asleep under the covers THEN came the dreaded sound....a puking toddler. He vomited all over his bedroom floor! We only had 45 minutes before guests were due to arrive *****!!!! We had to make a decision. I decided that I wouldn't be happy if someone didn't tell me and had Sam over to a party and he got ill, so to do that to others seemed just wrong. We called all of guests and told them. So, a lovely party turned into...a not so lovely party. We tried to have fun still, Sam had a birthday cake and we sang to him, he even ate some so he cant be THAT ill.

I think we made the right decision though, one of my friends that was due to come just had a baby two days ago and I'd feel absolutely awful if the baby got what Sam has.

Anyway, here is my little man on the 21st Feb 2010, 21st Feb 2009 and 21st Feb 2008 ♥

2010-02-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

Here is Sam at the ball park with his friends, you will notice (if you look carefully!) that Sam has a ball down his shirt. He is obsessed with making 'boobies' with anything vaguely ball shaped that will fit down his shirt-I wonder where he got that idea?!?!

Our new pushchair/buggy/stroller (what ever you wish to call it!) arrived today. Its a 'Phil and Teds' double buggy, while the new baby is an infant it will be in this set up-with Sam in front and baby lying flat behind him. As the new addition to the Brown family gets older he/she will go in the seat Sam is in-but It will be moved to behind the main seat (hope that makes sense). In other words, Sam will ALWAYS be in front as he is the bigger child, at 1st it will be in the attachment (as shown) and then he will move to the main seat and the attachment will go behind haha...that sounds complicated-but it's really not. Its so easy to push. Its a 'jogging buggy' so I can go jogging with both children to lose my 'baby pudge' ...but I HIGHLY doubt any jogging will occur, probably just our bi-weekly visits to Starbucks for cake and coffee hahaha.

2010-01-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

We've been looking after Nellies dog while she has been away this week and Sam has loved every second. I know he'd love it if we got a dog (and Bryan would too) im the only one that knows it would be a bad idea!

2010-01-21T17:35:00.000-08:00

Sam has a vocabulary of over 200 words now. He can make me understand what he wants 90% of the time. I try and catch his words on camera, but of course as soon as the camera goes on his interest in talking is over. The latest valuable addition to his repertoire of words is...'BOOBIES'. Three guesses who taught him that one!! He now finds hilarious to say 'mummy, boobies please'

2010-01-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

Today Sam wouldn't go down for his usual nap. Infact, he some how opened his 'child proof' baby gate and appeared downstairs. This is a disaster for Sam who usually likes and NEEDS his sleep. He very often sleeps for 3hours during the day. So, its almost 4pm here now and we are both suffering. Sam is acting like the world is coming to an end and I have had enough. Bryan has escaped to work (lucky him) so im willing the time away until I can put him down for the night (around 6:15pm is probably the earliest). The count down is on...just over 2hours of hell to go wooohooo!!!

2009-12-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

Auntie Jane got Sam an egg cup for Christmas. I thought Sam might be more likely to eat some breakfast (he rarely does) if it was in the 'fun' cup. So I put some yogurt in there. The video shows what happened.

Here is another video from Christmas day of Sam playing on his new 'piano' that my dad and Jo got him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtnRm143fW0

2009-12-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas '09

Although this Christmas was a little 'odd' as we had no family close by, just the three of us, we had a lovely day and Sam was totally spoiled. This will be the last Christmas for us as a family of 3 as next year the new baby will be here and Sam will have some competition!! He got lots of nice presents-mainly along the theme of trains and cars. He also got lots of books, DVD's, a 'garage' for his cars and and trainset and trainset table for his trains. He got the Peppa Pig characters, a 'piano' he can walk along and it plays the keys that he stands on, he got bath toys and chocolate..the list goes on. He was very lucky.

We had Christmas dinner at Nellies house which was nice for Sam as he was able to play with Lily and Michael. It was a very early bedtime as he hadnt had his normal mid-day sleep and was VERY emotional at the end of the day...infact the word 'hysterical' might be a better description of his state at 5pm.

2009-12-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

Another mealtime related video. Here is Sam this morning having toast with a tractor. I tried to take it from him and he got very cross. He is really coming along with his words, I have no idea how many he actually knows but it must be over 50. He can also recognise and knows the 'sound' of letters 's', 'a', 't' & 'm'. He learns a few more each week.

2009-12-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

Sam is still at the (developmental?) stage where he believes that if he closes his eyes, we can't see him. We often have to play this game for ages as he thinks that he disappears and reappears over and over again. I suppose we don't help matters by going along with it! Here he is last night at dinner time. I just managed to catch the end of his 'game' on camera.

2009-12-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Just another typical breakfast in the Brown household. Sam detests ANYTHING I give him and 99.9% of the time we have tears. I never force him to eat, or make a huge issue-but I have begun making him at least sit there until I'm finished. Who would have known that French Toast, syrup and strawberries could cause such trauma to my wonderful little bundle of joy!

2009-11-29T19:09:00.000-08:00

Sams new hair cut...what can I say!? Bryan and I regret it. I loved his floppy locks, they made him look so sweet and baby-ish. Now he looks like a big boy/thug. Hopefully it wont take long to grow out. I want him to have his gorgeous flop-mop back for his Christmas photos. Obviously he is still my sweet, gorgeous boy but we do miss the hair-very much. Sam has been a very whiny boy today-I think he misses his hair too. (Nothing at all to do with the fact that we dragged him 'round Ikea and then had a 2 hr drive home ;) )

Here he is 'before' covered in baked beans!

2009-11-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

here is my cheeky monkey doing *some* talking. My mind went blank when I tried to think of what words he can say! But anyway, here he is saying just a few from his collection.

2009-11-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

Baby Sam and Grandad in June 2008 Our dear Grandad 14th March 1922-13th November 2009

How sad we are to lose our lovely Grandad and to be so far away that we couldn't say 'goodbye'.

2009-10-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

Sam has recently begun to HATE it when I try and feed him. Therefore his morning yogurt is now self-fed. It's interesting. He does manage to get 90% of it into his mouth but today he decided it would be more fun to tip the rest of it onto his table! He also LOVES blueberries- hence the purple face, hands, arms, vest and everything else! You will hear that he says 'too' this is Sam language for 'poo'. He now tells me when he has done a 'too' in his nappy (lovely!!) he obviously thinks that his poo bears a passing resemblance to yogurt-interesting!

Musical Samuel

2009-10-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Sam has an 'amazing' harmonica playing talent. Up until today he had no idea how to make it make a musical sound. Today he discovered how to blow into it. He was very pleased with himself. Excuse the messy living room that was in fact tidy until Sam wakes up and decided to dump out the toy box and pull all of the DVD's off of the shelf.

2009-09-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

Here is my happy little boy who found it hilarious everytime Mummy 'kissed' the 'drumstick'!

What a slacker I've been!! SO much has been going on. We spent 2 weeks with Bryans family up in Ohio, which was beyond wonderful! Sam had the time of his life. He got to play in grass and see flowers and trees instead of stupid cactus. He got to see Grandma Cindis cows everyday and LOVED every second of it!

Then as soon as we got back we got the keys to our new house, and it was time to move (poor Bryan moved almost everything alone! it was a tough day!!) and then clean the old house, which took ages and because I had to do it during the day poor, poor Samuel had to be with me. An empty house and Mummy trying to get things done did not make for a happy boy! He had a very boring few days-poor child!

I'm trying to make it up to him though. Today I took him to 'Toddler Gym' which he absolutely LOVED. Tomorrow is playgroup and hopefully the weekend is the Pumpkin Patch -photos to follow!

Where's Daa Da?

2009-08-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

Every evening Sam is so excited for Daddy to get home. We sometimes (like today) go outside to wait, every car that goes past Sam gets so excited.

Sam has a couple of new words recently: tree and hot. He seems to think anything plant-like is a 'tree' and almost anything is 'hot' (even if it's actually cold).

2009-08-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

Apparently Sam was hungry! This is his latest trick, to get himself into his highchair! (I have just realised that on 90% of my posts Sam isn't fully clothed...I do get my child dressed-I promise haha)

Blueberry boy!

2009-08-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the blueberry boy! He LOVES his blueberries! but as you can see, they do tend to make a big mess! We are dummy (binkie, paci -whatever lol) weaning at the moment, he no longer has it at all during the day. It stays in the bedroom, he has it for bed and naps and that is all. He was beginning to 'talk through his nose' as the the dummy was ALWAYS in his mouth, so we decided it was time for it to go! He will have it for sleeping for a few more months and then will have a ceremonious dummy burning in the back garden!

My perfect little man

2009-08-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

Samuel on a hot August morning with his snacks. How perfect.

2009-07-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is how bored Sam and I get!! Its too hot to go to the park or go for a walk, so each afternoon I strip Sam down to his birthday suit and he plays with the hose. Today we spiced it up a little, I made a bowl of cherry flavoured Jelly!! At first he had no idea what it was, then he realised he could eat it, then he wanted to stick his head in it (obviously!!) It was funny to watch! Afterwards I hosed him down as he was a huge, sticky mess!!

daaaada

2009-07-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

'Think about the carelessly discarded yesterdays-life moves on, kids grow up and if you don't know this already, believe me, it happens faster than you can ever imagine.' I Often nearly decline to play with my son, there is frequently something 'better' to do, jobs to be done, emails to check, friends to talk to but I need to remember, never again will he be 17 months and 1 day old so id better catch these moments while I can.

'Remember your sense of humor and, relish the toddler years, because like fingerprints on the wall, they will be gone before you know it'

2009-07-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well, sorry for the long absence. We went to California - Catalina Island (it was beautiful!!) and our camera broke. So for the last two weeks we have been camera-less. We did get our money back and have a spangly new one. I thought id better post a video of Mr. Samuel. So here he is, not really up to anything exciting. I was trying to catch him pointing to the animals and making their associated sounds (he knows: cat, dog, tiger, snake and cow) but of course, would he do it for the camera?? that would be a resounding NO! grrr!!

2009-06-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Sam LOVES these building blocks that grandma Cindi got him. He plays with them daily (usually multiple times) and three guesses who gets to pick them up each time!! He has recently worked out how they click together and loves building really high towers. I caught him doing it today, he has no help from me so I was pretty impressed with my little smarty pants.

2009-06-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

Sam can use a fork, he has tried for months to use a spoon and while he is sometimes successful he finds a fork much easier to use!

2009-06-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here is Samuel 'dancing' with the Easter Rabbit that Grandpa Brown sent a few months ago. I keep it on the top shelf out of his reach as I'm pretty sure he'd destroy it if he had unfettered access to it. So when I do let him play with it he thinks it absolutely marvelous!

'more' Daddy

2009-06-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here is Sam playing with Daddy and quite clearly signing 'more' (http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/m/more.htm) He is doing so well with his signing and can make signs for 'more', 'byebye', 'please' 'food' and we are working on 'drink'. If you listen carefully he can also say 'more' (he can also say: 'uh oh' 'Daddy' 'Hello' 'bye' 'cat' 'meow' and 'woof')

2009-06-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

What can I say? My child is weird (he takes after his father in that respect) Here he is with a back massager in his mouth!?

Today Daddy looked after Sam for the afternoon while I went bowling with the girls, I came home to find Daddy in his boxers and Sam in the bath and toys all over the floor. Sam was as high as a kite and after his bath decided to spin around in circles (while Daddy danced-should have caught this sight on video really!!) I was also informed by Bryan that Sam had eaten 6, yes...6 fishfingers (fishsticks for the USA family ;)) and peas ....thats more than an adult portion!!

We've gone 'cloth'

2009-06-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here is Samuel today, minus clothes (its is 94 F!) although he IS in his wonderful, new-ish cloth nappy. I decided to make a concerted effort to cloth nappy Sam after I read about the hideous chemicals found in 'normal' nappies, and of course, to save some $$ and the environment! I have worked out that it will only take 4 months of using these cloth nappies to end up saving money. That is taking into account the cost of the new cloth ones AND the detergent etc used to clean them! I wish we would have made the decision to cloth nappy Sam much earlier, it really is SOOOO easy and they are so soft and look so sweet!! The next 'Brown baby' will be cloth nappied from birth :) Sam has all different colours! We LOVE them :)

Sam wants to dance!!

2009-05-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

So me and sophie go to a 50's joint and sam absolutly loved the music so much that he just could not stop his version of dancing it was a blast.

2009-05-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

England

Here is the update: we got back late on Thursday night, I was totally exhausted Sam on the other hand was not. The flight hadn't been as easy on the way back as it was a daytime flight and so Sam didn't sleep much at all. I cant complain too much though as he was still generally a good boy, even through our 4 our layover in Dallas. I have tried to add pictures here that are not on Facebook as I know people look at that too. The top one is of Sam and Nana at Great Grannies house. The whole family was so pleased to see us.
Grass!!! I never thought, as we broke through the clouds above London that I would be so, so grateful to see green fields and grass. I felt like I should kiss the ground or something as we got off the plane. Here is Grandad and Sam busily getting the bird food ready.

Sam actually got to wear a coat! Here is Az its shorts and t-shirts for 98% of the year, but in England we got to wrap up warm...it was lovely!

Sam and Grandad 'woof' during one of their many playing sessions.

At a play centre ....(yes centre spelt properly!!!) where Sam got to play on tractors and scoot around in cars. They also had a really good indoor soft play area that Sam loved, they were closing just after we took this picture and Sam wouldnt get out! He didn't want to leave at all!!

2009-05-11T02:54:00.000-07:00

As everyone that reads this probably knows, Sam and I have been in England since the 23rd of April (hence the lack of posts) we are still here and have another 10 days left (yipee!!) We are having a wonderful and it's SO good to be home and not be suffering from the insane temperatures of Arizona. We have been so busy. Sam and I have been to 2 zoos, the seaside, out for meals, to Saffron Walden and Cambridge, to see various friends and family and next week we are hopefully going to London to the zoo and the aquarium! Sam was only 4 and a half months old when we were last here, so for everyone that hasn't seen him since then the change is amazing-he is no longer a baby but a running around VERY naughty toddler!

The picture above is one my mum took of Samuel and I in the Bluebells in the wood up near Littlebury-very beautiful! I will be posting a giant update with many, many pictures when we return to the US of A :)

2009-04-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Here is Sam this morning (early) 'reading' his book. He wasn't being very co-operative as he KNOWS what sound cats make (you can hear him 'woofing'!) he can (if you catch him at the right time) point to 'the fish' 'the cat' and 'the dog' he also can tell you that cats 'meeeow' and dogs 'woof' although he also thinks horses and ducks 'woof' too haha!! The trouble is catching all that on film as you never quite know when he is going to try and be co-operative! He loves books, I frequently think 'its too quiet-where is Sam?' and he is sitting on his bedroom floor 'reading' one of his books. ♥

Man Bag

2009-04-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

Sam 'acquired' a bag during our time in San Diego. We noticed that he had the bag while we were browsing over some delicious chocolates in this shop. Neither Bryan or I had any idea where it had come from and therefore couldn't return it. He is strangely attached to it though. Not the most masculine toy he has but never mind-he loves it! I have actually taken it away and put it aside for our 15hour flight to England next week as I know it will keep him entertained!

2009-04-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

-Sam this morning. He hasn't been well lately. He had a vomiting thing for a couple of days but seems better now, just not much appetite yet.

Yesterday he decided it would be fun to put cereal and my bracelets in the toilet! So that was lovely! He can be a real tinker but he is so wonderful too. Everyday he amazes me!

2009-04-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here is Sams understated dancing to the Madagascar 'Move it' song. Sorry its a sideways video, im not sure how to change it.

We've had an uneventful weekend (again) thanks to the AirForce putting Bryan on nightshift. He sleeps all day so its just Sam and I being bored-we're both going insane today!

Lunch outside

2009-04-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

It's so warm here already (we've reached up to 96 F so far this year) it's been in the 75-80 F region for the last few days and its the perfect weather for playing outside. Sam and I have been doing 'gardening'. We have lilies and snapdragons growing and we also planted some bulbs a few weeks ago and we have some sunflower seedlings too. I'm trying in vein to teach Sam not to pull the plants up and shove them in his mouth (as he did the other day with one of the sunflower seedlings!!) He loves to 'water' things (that is -play with the hose and try and drink from it!).

Here he is yesterday-having his lunch of cous-cous, cheese, tomato and avocado while sitting outside in his highchair (cuts down on the mess inside!!). Cous-cous is one of his favourite things to eat!!

pegs

2009-03-31T16:20:00.000-07:00

I know this video isn't very exciting, but I was impressed that Sam had the co-ordination to put the peg carefully in the hole. He had been doing it for a few minutes so by the time I grabbed the camera he wasn't that interested anymore, but I did manage to catch him doing one at least. He has had this toy since Christmas but I put it away as he seemed too young for it then.

Pooool

2009-03-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

Its SO hot here, Sams favourite thing to do is play outside-especially in the paddling pool. The water was so cold his teeth were chattering but he didnt want to get out! Lately he has mastered the use of a spoon and says something that resembles 'hello'.

2009-03-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

It been a busy two weeks. Sam and I were in Las Vegas with Nellie and her children. We had a lovely time and Sam enjoyed himself very much. The top picture shows Sam after a painting session, during which he decided that purple paint was for eating. He didn't just lick it, he decided to try and bite mouthfuls of paint from the pot!!

We visited lots and lots of Casinos! This is Sam at Caesars Palace Casino, they have HUGE fish tanks with pretty fish inside, Sam was fascinated. He watched them for a long time often pointing with both pointy fingers haha

Here is Sam and Michael. We tried everything to keep them occupied at home as they both rather enjoyed dipping their hands into the dogs water bowl and Sam also decided just to tip all of the water out! He is such a little monkey!!

yummy

2009-03-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

So Sam and I are in Las Vegas having a great time. I will post the pictures on the trip on Sunday when I return, but for now however, is a video of Sam getting SO messy with some chocolate pudding!!

2009-02-21T19:37:00.000-08:00

wow, it's hard to believe a whole year has flown by since I had Sam. How many changes have taken place in that year. The 'Browns' have: had a baby, moved 3 times, lived in two countries....so much has changed. This time last year I was probably laying in bed feeling like id been hit by a bus staring at a crinkly, tiny Samuel in the cold of an English February. Today I'm staring at a chubby, walking little eating machine who is into absolutely EVERYTHING in the heat of the Arizona spring. So, Sam had a party. A low key affair with a few friends and some nibbles. Sam was so excited that mummy had blown up lots of balloons that he promptly threw up down his new 'First Birthday' vest-lovely! He ingested too much sugar but loved every second of it!

February 21st 2008

February 21st 2009

2009-02-14T10:59:00.000-08:00

Here is Sam today in the garden. He loves the tap and the hose and would play with it for hours. When I took him inside he cried for ages! He also said his 1st word today-'poo' what a good 1st word haha

2009-02-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

Sam walks EVERYWHERE now. He walks more than he crawls. It's still somewhat wobbly but getting better daily! He can really pick up speed now too, and almost run!

The list of naughty adventures grows daily too, he has, in the last few days: jammed a DVD into the back of the DVD player (Bryan had to remove the top of the DVD player to get it out) Pulled my fake plants apart and shoved some of them into his mouth (he cried when I removed them!!) Got into the cupboard in the kitchen and tried to hide amongst the cans...I'm sure there is more but it's late and my brain function is slowing (Sam has slept from 7:15-10:36pm so far!!!!!!!)

2009-02-04T13:05:00.000-08:00

New teeth need new toothbrushes. Sam's tooth appeared on Sunday and yesterday we went out to get him his very first toothbrush and some baby-toothpaste. He didn't object too much, I think he just thought it was a new toy to suck on!

2009-02-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

This is the next thing in a long line of naughty tricks! I just managed to get the camera going as he lifted his leg.

2009-01-30T06:15:00.000-08:00

Sleepy Sam. Here he is just now (yes, he's STILL asleep!!) in our bed (as usual). Last night wasn't good, he woke at 8:30 and would NOT go back to sleep so ended up coming to bed with us at 10pm! Of course as soon as he got in bed with us he falls asleep within half and hour!

He is doing really well with getting rid of bottles, I want him to have no more bottles after his 1st birthday for a number of reasons, but mainly because I don't want to be lugging bottles etc to Las Vegas next month...yes...Sam and I are going to be spending 2 weeks in Vegas doing some gambling ;-) and then a month later we're off to England for a month. I will be travelling on my own with Sam so I need to be as lightly packed as possible...that means NO bottles. So, he now has 1 bottle a day (at bedtime) all the rest of his milk/water intake is from a cup now! What a big boy!!

walking

2009-01-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

So finally, a month after his 1st steps I managed to catch him on video doing some walking! He can walk much further than this now, but at least I am able to finally post a video of some steps!

He does seem like he is drunk while he walks haha...hopefully that weird wobbly walk wont last for long!

2009-01-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

The naughtiness continues. It's exhausting! As well as climbing ON tables he can now get into his new toy box. I also caught him desperately trying to get onto the sofa yesterday! I need another set of eyes!

Naughty, naughty Samuel!!

2009-01-22T16:57:00.000-08:00

Sam has now discovered the joys of climbing. He decided, this morning, that he would climb up onto the table to smack Daddy's laptop!! Now that he has done it once, it's all he wants to do!!

He has been VERY naughty the last couple of days and has been terrible with his sleeping (or lack of!) last night he was up to 11pm and amongst other things: pushed the Wii off of the TV stand, used the Wii sensor to smack the TV, opened the oven to pull out crusty burnt pieces and eat them! (yuck!!) and pull apart the fridge! This is all when Im trying my best to get things done, like wash bottles, empty the dishwasher etc etc I neeeeeed Bryan to be put onto day shift before I have some kind of mental breakdown haha!!

poot poot

2009-01-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

Here is Sam in the car that Grandma Cindi got him for Christmas. He's a pro at going backwards, but hasn't quite mastered the going forwards thing yet!!

While he has no words yet, he is becoming quite the master at animal sounds. He can 'moo' like a cow, roar like a lion, hiss like a snake and make a noise like a monkey (its what we spend our days doing haha)

The sleeping issue is also generally improving, he slept for 10 hours in his cot- a definite first!! a very welcomed by Bryan and I. Just a few more like that and I may be able to make it through a day without constantly yawning!!

Bust some moves

2009-01-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

He is Sam showing his best dance moves (note the pointy fingers haha). It doesn't quite capture how wonderful they really are, but you can get the gist. He LOVES any music, the CD playing is a mix of Nursery Rhymes that he got for Christmas.

2009-01-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Its back down to Earth with a bump for Sam and I. Suddenly the house seems so quiet, since my mum, Steve and Harriet went back home things have been very different for little Sam. He has no one to play with while I do things like make dinner, wash bottles or express breast milk (yes...Im STILL doing it!!! haha) and this has made him quite frustrated. All day long today when ever I have tried to do anything he has been whiny and has taken to hanging onto my leg! Anyway, im sure he'll get back in the swing of mummy being his only entertainer soon!!

Here he is at dinner time today having his 1st drink from a 'real' cup. He managed it really well. Yes, he got a little wet down the front, but generally he did very well and some definitely went 'down' I had to include the second one as it shows his lovely chubby legs ♥

so much news

2009-01-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

Wow! It was almost impossible to pick some photos to go on here. We've been SO busy. I have been too busy to update the blog but I am going to try now! We've been to Toombstone (twice) The Grand Canyon (see below) to malls and parks and San Xavier Mission Church (that's where the photo above was taken and also where Sam decided to take his 1st steps!!!) We went to Sabino Canyon (beautiful) and Reid Park zoo, the botanical gardens and Mt Lemmon, Colossal Caves and Trail Dust Town. We ate at SO many restaurants and saw so many sights.

Sam has been such a wonderful, happy little boy on all of our trips. He has put up with below freezing temps and a warm 75degrees. He has not grumbled when being wheeled around shops and sat quietly in restaurant high chairs. I couldn't ask for a more co-operative, adaptable baby.

As I said Nana, Steve and Harriet were able to witness his real 1st steps which was lovely for them. They also got to see 1st hand Sams insatiable appetite, for a child under 1 he eats more than you could imagine. Last night it was 3 fish fingers, 1 baked potato (yes...a WHOLE one -minus the skin) and some veggies. He then had some rice pudding for dessert!!! Just 1 and a half hours later he had 4.5oz of breastmilk! He is over 24lbs now and LOVES his food!!

The pictures below shows Sam on his very 1st Christmas day. He was very spoiled and got lots of new toys.

At Old Tucson Studios

2008-12-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

We have been very busy, On Friday we went to a park (Agua Caliente) a very pretty park with palm trees, streams and ponds. Sam loved looking at the ducks! Yesterday (in the rain) we went to 4Th Avenue and to San Xavier Church on the reservation down the road. Today we braved the cold (4degrees C-VERY cold for Tucson) to go to the Old Tucson Studios. They have filmed lots of Weston's here. Sam was wrapped up nice and warm and loved watching the gun fights. Here he is chewing on his biscuit ♥

Samuel's First Winter's Snow

2008-12-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Not sure if you can find him but somewhere is a little baby sleeping in this photo. He was so impressed with the snow he passed out. Here is just one of the photo's we took of the grand canyon. It was nothing like I thought it would be like I mean who knew that it snows at the grand canyon?

Sam forgot he was human for a minute and tried to fit in with his new friend the Snow Man LOL. He spent a minute or two talking in Snowman language none of us understood of course but his friend seems to understand.

Sorry been Busy

2008-12-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry Sophie's family arrived the other day so we have been busy settling them in and sight seeing so we haven't posted in a while so I am going to post a few pictures of the highlights tonight.

We were heading down to Tombstone, AZ and stopped so nana fag could well none other then smoke a cigarette

Sophie feed sam 2 jars of baby food and samuel was still hungry so she bought rice krispy's in a desperate move which made an awful mess I must say

He is grandpa Bin-Bin guess he forgot he is british cause he went all out acting western today LOL

This is Samuel after his First Jar of food he loves food I mean he LOVES FOOD!!!

walkies

2008-12-11T18:54:00.000-08:00

Here is Sam with his new toy (again) He loves 'walking around' and usually just crashes into a wall.

He is finally over his cold, which is good news for everyone, especially Sam and I since lucky Daddy gets to sleep in the spare room as he works nights. So there were a few days last week that resulted in less than an adequate amount of sleep for me, and poor Sam was just miserable with his stuffed up nose and cough!

For good measure there is also a photo of Sam and I from this afternoon, you may notice he has some crusty sweet potato on his face...it's his ultimate favourite food!

Sam luv's wrapping paper

2008-12-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

Today in the mail Samuel received a new toy while I was putting it together Samuel was more then happy just playing with the box it came in. Then shed a quick tear or two when I changed the box for the toy. lol thats our Samuel

Samuel playing with walker

2008-12-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

Sam received a new push/ride chair from Grandpa B and family he hasn't yet mastered the turns but is improving his walking skills none the less

a beautiful climber

2008-12-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

Sam just gets into more things by the day! Here he is trying (and succeeding) to get to the CD player on the table. The bean bag is there to prevent him from going under the table to get to the wires, however it just serves as a 'beanbag-ladder' to enable him to climb to where he wants to go. I weighed him yesterday and he is now 22lbs and 3oz!!

Real men play with doll houses

2008-12-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

Here is Samuel and his bestest friend Micheal, they play together almost everyday. Here they are this morning enjoying Lily's new dolls house. They LOVED it and 'played' for quite a while. I think these might make quite good bribery photos when the boys are in their 'teens heehee!!

2008-12-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

So Sam has discovered the wonders of toilet paper. Every bathtime its a battle to keep him away now he knows how wonderful it is.

The tree is up!!

2008-11-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

This is the earliest our tree has ever been put up, but it seems a lot of people here put up decorations as soon as Thanksgiving is over (so we did too) It also makes it feel like it's almost time for my mummy, Harriet and Steve to get here! We just got a small tree as we only have a shed...i mean, small house. I think it's pretty though. Sam doesnt seem too bothered by it so far, I thought he'd want to grab it as soon as he could get his grubby hands on it, but so far so good.

As you can see Sam is still all about Daddy, he LOVES his Daddy SO much and loves his rough play!

On a side (funny) note...yesterday Sam was very quiet in the bathroom (we let him go in there ...or at least USED to, as there are no nasty chemicals or anything and he likes to stand up at the bath and look in!) well, Bryan peeked around the corner to see the reason for the quietness and Sam had both hands splashing in the toilet bowl ahahaha!! How gross! obviously we wahsed them off with soap ASAP. Needless to say, that was Sams last bathroom playtime!

Santa Claus is coming to town!!

2008-11-26T18:56:00.000-08:00

Grandad and Nana Jo sent Sam a box today and inside was.....A SANTA OUTFIT Sam was SO excited (ok....mummy was so excited!!) and he tried it on straight away!! here he is modelling it.

The 'going to bed' thing isn't much improved today, Sam has a residual cough left over from his weekend cold and I think that is what keeps waking him up. At least Daddy is home tonight so I'm not losing my mind like last night haha!!

Can I catch water?

2008-11-25T20:38:00.000-08:00

Sam is amazed by running water, he tried to 'catch' it at every bath time! Sam and I have evenings all alone now as Bryan has swapped shifts, its hard to do it all alone every night, if I'm feeding him and need something i would usually call for Bryan to bring it, but now I just have to stop, take Sam and go and get it! Its especially hard on nights like tonight when Sam took two hours to go down and screamed in my ear as i desperately tried to watch season 5 of 'House' (one of my only self indulgent pleasures) and then proceeded to wake 5 more times in the one and a half hours that followed! He is now screaming and squirming on my lap....how we need Daddy right now! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

9 months!

2008-11-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

Here is Samuel. He is 9 months old now!! (as of Thursday!) This is him today having a snack as I cooked. He hasn't been feeling too well since last night, I think he has a slight cold, so, to entertain him I gave him some snacky food to eat as I cooked some yummy cauliflower cheese. He ate his way through some grated cheese (or course!! that's his favourite) some cottage cheese and some mashed sweet potato. This is all before dinner! As you can see, much of it ends up on him rather than in him! I have to take him outside after every meal to shake the cheese off of his clothes! haha

For dinner he will be having some chicken and cauliflower cheese!! I am still making 99% of his baby food as it works out much cheaper AND I know what is going into his precious little body!

He is standing

2008-11-20T13:05:00.000-08:00

He has started standing alone and every day it's getting for longer and longer periods of time!! He makes me so worried when we does it in the bath I have to stand there ready, incase he slips! I cant believe he will be 9 months old tomorrow. This year has just flown by! He is such a joy and makes me smile everyday with his funny ways.

oh no!!

2008-11-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

Sam has found out how exciting the kitchen cupboards are. I took this sequence today, he didnt realise that I was behind him and just went about his business. What a naughty boy!!

Sam is starting to stand up for himself

2008-11-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

This afternoon just to show us that he is still a baby and silly as ever he tried his best to get as much food as he could on his face and everywhere near to him so we took some pictures of that too.

Also today when I was on the computer checking my emails and such things. Samuel being himself was crawling to the comp. chair and crawling up and about 10 or so times he used the chair or the bean bag to get himself up and was STANDING with no support we think it won't be long before his first steps are coming (hoping before family comes for holidays)

clap-clap

2008-11-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

Samuels latest trick is clapping, he thinks its terribly clever. Catching him on video was tricky as he is usually more interested in the camera than actually doing anything worth filming, but here I managed to catch a few seconds. Excuse my hideous voice, it was early and I was trying to excite him into doing it!

The sleeping is getting somewhat better, on Friday night Daddy babysat while mummy went out and he woke at 10pm for an hour (poor Daddy!!) but then slept until 4:30am (which is VERY good for Sam) and then last night he was awake at 11:30pm (for quite a long time) but slept until 6:30am!! Admittedly it was in our bed, but we'll do anything to get some sleep in this house!

Samuel and Mummy

2008-11-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

These photos were taken last weekend when we decided to drive to 'Agua Caliente', a park not too far from here. It was lovely, there were three lakes (admittedly 2 were dried up haha) and little streams and ducks. FINALLY the temperature here in Southern Arizona has become more bearable. We can actually leave the house without gallons of water and without the worry of Sam over-heating. Its been in the 70's lately!! I decided to add the top picture as it shows what a big boy Sam is (last week he weighed in at his WIC appointment at 21lbs 14oz and 29.5inches long!!) Everyone asks me 'How old is you baby?' and their mouths drop open when I tell them he isn't even 9 months yet haha!!

Bathtime

2008-11-06T06:46:00.000-08:00

Here is Sam last night, so happy in the bath. He enjoys his daily bathtime and last night he was especially happy! He will probably hate me when he is older for posting these!!

Sams new bed!!

2008-11-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

Sam has been getting way too big for his 'co-sleeper' bed so we ordered him a new 'big boy cot'. Bryan and I put it together yesterday without the usual 'construction argument' that usually occurs when we put furniture together haha! Sam actually slept much better last night from 7pm-4am and then up for a while (ok, a LONG time) and back to sleep until 7:10am. Hopefully this wasn't a coincidence.

Mr Frog

2008-10-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

Daddy bought Sam some new Froggy pyjamas! We're off Trick or Treating tonight so I will get some photos of that later :-)

It's Halloween

2008-10-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

Today it was the Halloween party at Playgroup. Sam was in his monster outfit and we met all our friends at the park. Here he is with his best friend Michael (the monkey). We are so lucky to have found Sam a friend that is roughly his age. Michael and Sam have so much fun together (while Nellie and I chat!!) they steal each others dummies and Michael loves to lick on Sams head.

Tonight is our 1st night of implementing the 'No Cry Sleep Solution' book. In an effort to get Sam to sleep through the night I have read this book and we're all ready to put things into action. We'll see how it goes. Im probably in for a rough night (Daddy will be in the spare room!!) woohoo!!

Sam's learning to eat food

2008-10-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

We arn't quite sure if he is learning to eat or just making fun of me and sophie going from my sense of humor I am going to pick making fun...

Sam dances in the Rain

2008-10-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Once he stopped being so overwhelmed by the rain he started playing in it forever!!!

Sam's first shower video

2008-10-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well Sam sat there for a while confused about what and where this rain was coming from so Bryan decided to get the camera to show his family just how confused he was (Take advantage of a baby)

Big Samuel loves his old chair

2008-10-19T10:01:00.001-07:00

For those of you that seen him in this chair as an infant I had to put him in it now to see how chubby monkey would look so here is a picture of my imagination

Jim-Jams

2008-10-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

Sam wore 'proper' pyjamas for the 1st time today. It was VERY exciting. They are the ones Grandma Cindi got for him when he was tiny. They are actually for an 18month old, but he is a big boy so they fit perfectly. Lets hope he actually sleeps in them, instead of giving me the night from hell like last night (awake from 10pm-1:30am) that was NOT very fun. In fact, I could have cried with tiredness!!

Bathtime

2008-10-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

Our new routine includes a nightly lavender bath in an effort to get Sam to sleep through the night (fat chance of that gaaaaaaaah!!) he LOVES to pull him self up and stare at the water running, it's so sweet. Im sure it does help a little bit, he goes to bed without a fuss at 7pm and sleeps through usually until 2am when he wants milk and then he'll usually sleep until 5am ish...so not too bad I suppose....except for the fact that after the 2am feed he stays in bed with us and takes up all the space so I cant really get any more sleep! - we NEED a bigger bed (or a child that sleeps though-that will probably be cheaper haha)