ONE YEAR

sam, 

this past year has been the most amazing year of our lives. there have been hard days as your dad and i have both been learning how to be good parents, but we both agree that we wouldn't trade a thing for the blessing it is to be your parents. 

if i am being honest, i had been dreading your first birthday. this past month i could have (and did) cried at the drop of a hat thinking about you no longer being my baby boy. i would scroll through pictures of you every night when i got in bed and my heart would sink thinking about how quickly this year passed. i knew i would be a mess on your birthday so i just didn't want it to come. i wanted time to freeze so that you could be my baby forever. 

but then, as if on que, your little personality got 100 times stronger. i told your dad yesterday that the past two weeks of have seriously been the best with you. you have always been so charismatic but something in you has intensified recently. you will find me from across the house and trample me to give me the biggest, slobbery kisses over and over. you have started walking, you find everything hilarious, you have learned so many tricks to keep up laughing. i laugh out loud constantly at the things you do. you have just been SO affectionate recently and we are eating it up. when you lean in to kiss your dad or i you put your lips together and say "mmmmmmm".

it was like you picked just the perfect time to remind me that even though you aren't my little newborn anymore, there is SO MUCH MORE that we get to look forward to with you. i can honestly say that you as a one year old has been my absolute favorite stage. you are so full of life! you literally love everything and teach me daily to see the beauty in the small things. you make your dad and i happier than we ever thought possible and fill our days with joy and endless love. 

now onto all your fun new milestones! you are a walker!! obviously, you preferred method of transportation is still crawling. but if we stand you up you will walk from your dad to me and are so proud of yourself when you are done! the look of accomplishment on your face is just about the cutest thing i have ever seen. you took your first steps on september 2nd (labor day) and i think the most consecutive steps you have taken is 11. big boy!

you love to entertain everyone around you. when you know you have someones attention you will pull out all your best tricks to keep them entertained and laughing. you love to wave "hiiiii" and "byeeeee". you say "boo" when you are playing peek-a-boo and you say "yaaaay" to just about everything. ball, bath, toy, bottle, tickle, nose, saaaaa (sam), mom, mama, dada and daddy are some of the other words you can say. it amazes me everyday how much you have learned and how much you pick up on. you point to your belly when asked where you belly is and point to you nose when asked where your nose is. we are still working on eyes, ears and mouth but you are slowly picking up on those with each passing day.

you love to watch cartoons in moms bed in the morning while drinking your bottle. your favorites are sesame street, daniel tiger's neighborhood, and the lorax. watching you try to smile or laugh at your favorite parts of the show while still trying to drink your bottle is hysterical. 

we all joke that you are 100% boy! you love any kind of sports ball you can get your little paws on. and you actually have a really good throw. we got you a little tikes football and basketball for your birthday and they have been you absolute favorite toys to date. you could lay with dad all day and watch him throw a baseball in the air over and over. you LOVE TO PLAY CATCH! you and i will play catch for at least an hour every single morning and it never gets old to you. you also love anything with wheels. cars, trains, wagons, you name it. 
you have the biggest sweet tooth! you get this from you dad. you guys will share a bowl of ice cream on most nights and you will squeal and grunt until you get that next bits of ice cream in your mouth. we can't feed it to you fast enough. you can spot a dairy queen blizzard cup from a mile away. you love french toast, bananas, avocados, chicken, baked potatoes, crackers, cheese, and anything that is on our plate. seriously, the best way to get you to eat is to pretend like it's our food. 
i have to say that one of my absolute favorite things about you is how sweet and sensitive you are. don't get me wrong, you love your rough housing and love to wrestle with your dad but you also have this sweet, gentle and sensitive side to you. when anyone around you is sad you will cuddle and give kisses until everything is better again. it is the sweetest thing and melts my heart into a thousand pieces. 
your first birthday party was a blast! we were able to have both sides of the family there and based your party on the book "oh the places you'll go". it turned out so cute! you were pretty confused with all the attention you were getting but loved opening all your new toys! you were definitely spoiled. your dad and i now joke that you probably would have been happy just getting your little football and basketball because you now have those glued to your hands at all times. 
i still had a hard time and got a good cry in the night before your birthday as i rocked you to sleep. but i truly could not be more excited for this next chapter in your life. i can't wait to see you as a toddler and watch you grow and develop into a sweet little boy. we adore you, sam!

love, 
mom and dad

one year wellness check-up stats:
weight: 19 lbs 2 oz (15th%)
height: 29 3/4" (45th %)
head circumference: 50th% (for some reason they didn't write down the exact measurement)

family night

for family home evening we can almost always be found at the park. 

pizza, diet coke and letting sam roam around the grass is our thing. 

these are from a few weeks ago but i just love these pictures of our little family. 

sam was not into the swings at first but warmed up quickly!

11 months

where to even begin?

 i am trying to soak in every last day of your babyhood. 

the fact that in one short month you will be a toddler is so bittersweet for me. 

but this past month has been so perfect with you. if it is even possible, my love for you has multiplied times 100. 

i feel blessed each and every day that your dad and i get to be your parents. you are just the sweetest, most tender and perfect little boy. 

you are always doing something to make your dad and i laugh. and you are no doing things deliberately to get anyone to laugh. before you would do things without realizing it but it has been so fun to watch you figure out what makes people laugh and then intentionally work at getting laughs out of anyone you can. 

this past month you have grown especially close to your daddy. you two have the sweetest bond. 

you usually wake up about 20 minutes before he leaves for work and and cling tight to his legs as he gets ready. when it's time for him to go you wrap your arms so tightly around his neck and it is truly the sweetest thing. i usually have to take you off of him so he can leave and i think it breaks all three of our hearts. 

you have the sweetest ability to read the emotions of others so easily. and it is something that a lot of people notice. 

the other week at church you and i were walking the halls (a common occurrence these days) and you crawled right up to a little girl about your age who was crying and started to stroke her arm. and then my heart exploded. 

you are a smart boy. you stop what you are doing when we say no and you know to wait for when i am not watching to do something naughty. your recent favorite activity is unrolling all of our toiler paper and lifting the toilet seat and sticking your hands in. i have wanted to dunk you in a tub of sanitizer too many times recently. 

you have mastered the fake/courtesy laugh, love pizza, can play catch for hours, and stick out your tongue when you are in deep concentration. 

we love you, sammy boy. 

sam at 11 months:

- weights 19.2 lbs according to our scale at home. such a small fry. 

- wearing 6-12 month and 12-18 month clothes. 

- nick names: sammy boy, bubba, love bug, "slammin sammy say it aint sosa" by your uncles. 

- has 5 little chompers (two on the bottom and three on the top)

- loves avocado, pizza, cheese, applesauce, oatmeal, yogurt, and toast. 

- is so close to walking! you pull yourself up onto anything and everything and can cruise around while holding on to things. you have started to stand up and can balance on your own for about ten seconds. then you usually realize that you are not holding on to anything and quickly sit down. 

- sleeps in the craziest positions and most of the time you hold on to one of the slats on your crib while you sleep. my favorite is seeing you sleep with your little bum in the air. 

- hate getting your diaper changed and hate getting dressed. it's a daily struggle. 

- you have had a rough time with sleep this month. you sleep well at night but getting you into your crib is the hard part. you have become attached to having us rock you to sleep (our fault) and now you can be in the deepest sleep and when we transfer you to your crib you freak out. you would be cuddled all through the night and all throughout nap time if you could. we started a little bit of a bedtime bootcamp and things have actually been a lot better the past few nights. we place you in your crib and you wiggle and and talk to yourself for about five minutes and then pass out. yay!

- love to play catch. i am amazed at the things that you have learned and picked up in. your hand eye coordination is already so great and sometimes a flinch when you pick up an object because you can actually throw pretty hard. your dad is happy about that. you throw the ball to us and we roll it back to you. you could do that for hours. 

- you wave goodbye and hello, clap your hands when you accomplish something (you actually clap after every bite you take while eating), can imitate sounds, will point to you belly when we ask you where it is, can sign "more" when you want more, recently started fake laughing, and you are fascinated by anything with wheels. 

- church is a challenge right now. you don't usually want to be held but if we put you on the ground you will crawl all throughout the chapel. so your dad or i usually take turns letting you crawl out in the hall. 

- you say mama, daddy and tickle. and when prompted can say toy (doi), yay (yaaaaaaaaaaay) and hi. 

- sleeps from 8-7:30 and is still taking two naps a day (and only one a day every once in a while). 

- still has not figured out the sippy cup or how to really hold his bottle. your doctor said as long as you are feeding yourself finger foods than not holding your bottle is really just preference. you would rather just lay back and let your dad and i feed you. we are working on it. i neeeeed you to learn how to drink out of a sippy. 

- ticklish under your arms and on your back. 

- is sensitive to loud noises. 

- still loves to flirt with everyone while we are out and about.