First Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It wasn't hard to remember what we are thankful for this year. Seven years we have waited for moments like this. Seven long years that have shaped us. Seven years that deepens the gratitude.
I was also very aware of my dad's absence. I often am. And especially now. He would be leading the charge on remembering the past year, marking it and celebrating it.

Here are a few pictures. Samuel had his very own charger (something I know the name for after my Pier 1 days). He loved all the food on the table. He tried sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots, cornbread and green beans.

Samuel's First Bump

Sunday night Samuel had his first fall that left a mark behind. He has been pulling himself up on everything. I was right there, but before I knew it he moved to grasp something less stable, did this amazing twist and went head first into the bottom of the iron stair railing. (We were downstairs, he wasn't in any danger of the stairs. Funny, my thoughts as I start typing are "will someone think I'm a bad mom....")
So yes, he chose the hardest thing in the room to test out his head strength.

He cried so hard. And cried and cried. There was a knot right away and looked like it would be a bad bruise. After about 5 min of crying he was comforted and went off to play again. He seemed himself the rest of the night- eating just fine, splashing in the bathtub, etc. If only mom could bounce back that quickly. (Fortunately my internet searches comforted me- that doesn't always happen)

Monday morning I was expecting a big bruise. But it was all gone. No swelling, no bump, no bruises. And Monday morning he was right back to standing up everywhere. I wonder if he noticed that I am a little closer by now.....

I'll handle this.....

Samuel seems to be saying, "Mom, do you see that dadada (as he somewhat says) has fallen asleep? I had to finish the bottle all by myself."

Great Great Aunt Mary

Here is Samuel showing off one of the several bibs that Great Great Aunt Mary made for him!!

Crawling Crawling

Wow, who knew how much crawling would change life? (Well, I suppose lots of you out there knew it would)
Samuel had been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking for a while. And then on Oct 31st he took his first few crawls. Rob and I were both eating breakfast and were so excited we screamed. Really loud. So loud that Samuel stopped dead in his tracks, probably wondering what did I do wrong. No more crawls after that!
Now, the last week or so he is just cruising around (and around and around). He looks like he has been crawling all of his life.
And now, crawling doesn't seem to be enough. He has begun to pull himself up on things. Problem with that is that he hasn't figured out a way to gracefully get back down.
We knew we had some things to baby proof- but Samuel is now showing how many other things we need to protect him from. A friend yesterday said that the best way to baby proof a house is to put a baby in the house. That's for sure!!

At the Water

Here are some pictures we took last week in Edmonds. (It is the town we lived in when we first moved to WA). This is the Puget Sound, at the Ferry Dock. Samuel loved looking at the water and tentatively played with the sand. Somehow he knew this stuff didn't go into his mouth.

Three Shots in Seattle

Did any of you hear a cry, a scream around 3pm PST?
That would have been Samuel having three shots at his first doctors appt in Seattle.
Thankfully the crying only lasted about 2 min and the shots were quickly forgotton as he played with his image in the big mirror by the exam table.

Is it always that hard to listen to your baby cry?

Oh, and he weighed 18.5 lbs and was 27.5 inches long.

Squash

Sweater

Samuel is wearing the sweater that our friend Kathleen made for him. (She is an amazing knitter) It looks so adorable on him- I love the colors.