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Sunday, November 3, 2013

pumpkin patching

i wanted to take sam to the pumpkin patch SO bad last year. but he was so little, and flu season was in full swing so i opted out. however, this year we had the perfect opportunity. he is a little older and was really able to enjoy going. 
sam LOVED the pumpkins. we kept one in the wagon with him the whole time and he was fascinated by it. he loved looking at the rows upon rows up bright orange pumpkins. but i am pretty sure his favorite part was making friends with other pumpkin patch goers. 



















13 months

i told ben the other day that if there is one stage of sam's life that i want to be able to remember clear as day in 20 years, this would be it. 
my love for this boy is beyond words. he is our whole world and we can't even remember what life was like before him. 
this past month has been full of adventure with sam. he is curious, happy and so entertaining!
he loves to walk on his own now (which breaks my heart and makes me so proud at the same time). if we are anywhere where he could be walking instead, then that is what he wants to do! he loves to push the cart at the grocery store and roam the toy aisle at target. it is so fun to see what peaks his interest...he runs straight past anything that looks semi-girly and heads straight for building blocks or trucks. he is still quite the charmer! and i would be lying if i said i didn't love the amount of people that stop and tell me what a happy, beautiful little boy i have. 
sammy is truly the most affectionate little boy. ben and i don't even have to ask him to give us kisses. he will walk up to one of us and just start planting them on us one after another. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT! we will be mid-conversation with someone and sam will grab our cheeks and just start kissing us. i hope he is always this affectionate. he isn't that much of a snuggler right now (unless he is watching cartoons or i am rocking him to sleep) but his kisses make up for it. 
i am in awe of the relationship that ben and sam have. i absolutely love watching those two together. to say sam LOVES his dad would be an understatement. his favorite time of the day is when ben gets home. he could sit with ben and play catch for hours. in the occasion that sam is already up for the day before ben has left for work, he stands right next to him (holding on to ben's leg) while he gets ready. the mom in me immediately wants to get out the camera and start snapping away, but i have to force myself not to just so i can sit back and watch these sweet moments between my boys. saturday's are our favorite day of the week. we both get ben to ourselves all day and sam takes full advantage, he is glued to ben while we are usually out and about running errands. it is truly hard for me to even find the right words to express how much i love watching these two together. 
sam loves to read! my favorite part of the day is going in to get him from his crib in the morning. he grins from ear to ear when he see's me. i pick him up, he cuddles into me neck for a second, then immediately pops his head up, points to his bookshelf and yells "booooook" until i grab him a book and read it to him. i love getting several books down for him to play with and then watching him flip through each book on his own while babbling to himself. he could easily do this for an hour on his own and be entertained. i hope he will always be my little bookwork. his favorite book is "brown bear, brown bear". i could probably recite that book to you in my sleep. 
it fascinates me to watch sam's vocabulary grow by the day. he loves to say "mama" and "dada". however, if he wants something or is angry it's "moooom" or "daaad" which is think is hilarious. his current favorite words are "ball" (surprise, surprise), "baba", "no",  "hiiii",  "byeeee", "dank doo" (thank you) and "uh oh". we are seriously kicking ourselves that he ever taught him to say no. he knows how to use that word and while is hilarious it can also be frustrating. but i love listening to him chatter all day long. he definitely has A LOT to say. 
sam's current favorite foods are apples, bananas, avocados, quesadillas, peas, graham crackers, and chicken. he has finally mastered the sippy and it has changed my world! took him long enough. he now won't even let us try to hold his bottle or sippy. it's like he became independent overnight. it's sad but i can't complain. it is so nice to be able to hand him his sippy while we are in the car. 
we have gone to one long nap a day. overall, i actually like this better. it gives me more freedom while we are out and about not to have to rush home for a nap. and he actually seems to be a lot happier with this setup. sam pretty much got on this new schedule on his own. i could tell that he was struggling with an afternoon nap so i just followed his sleep queues and eventually realized that a long nap about mid afternoon was his thing. so we went with it! now that he just takes one nap he usually goes down for bed around 7.
we love our sammy boy! this stage is the absolute best. i want to remember every little detail about my little jelly bean right now. we can't wait for the holidays this year! sam is at the perfect age to enjoy all the holiday festivities!