Smiling Sam

Sam first smiled at 5 weeks (the day before Mother's Day) but this weekend he focused on his mobile and cracked himself up! It was so fun to watch. Click here for more pictures of Sam at Play.

While Sam is learning how to make sense of the world Mommy and Daddy are learning a few new tricks of their own...We're learning how to take turns eating dinner and how to cut up each other's food so whoever is "baby-holding" can nibble and bounce and pat at the same time. We're learning how to keep ourselves from getting showered while diaper changing (Dan however did get it in the mouth once) and how to get by on almost no sleep...but mostly we're getting to know Sam and what he likes and doesn't like. He likes to be swaddled but with his hands and arms free. He even sleeps with his arms above his head, like his Daddy. He wants to be moving ALL the time. Stop moving while holding him in the early evening hours and he howls in protest. He's a huge fan of the bath (or the shower), his own tongue, and his swing and vibrating chair. (See bathtime pics). He doesn't mind when Molly licks his feet (which she does often) but when she licks his face--not so much. He is now sleeping for 5-6 hours at night (yea!). But the best part is that he's sleeping in his cradle instead of in bed with us...a HUGE accomplishment.

Sam must go through 100 emotions in a minute because his face is constantly changing expressions. He goes from confused to happy to worried to bored in a split second, each emotion with its owned defined "look." The photos to the right are all of Same at one month, before smiling was one of his "looks." Watching him is constant entertainment for both of us. In fact, he has so many different expressions, we created an expressions set just to show some of them.

I Heart Mommy--Sarah's first Mother's Day

I Heart Mommy, originally uploaded by Dan and Sarah.

Sam ( 5 weeks in this picture) loves his mommy! We had a great family outing on Mother's Day and went for a 5-mile walk through Manassas Battlefield National Park in Virginia. It was a gorgeous day. click here to see a few pictures from the day.

Rip Sam Wrinkle

Wrinkles, originally uploaded by Dan and Sarah.

Sounds like Rip Van Winkle... get it?

Last night, Sam slept 5 hours straight - a new record for him. The next challenge will be getting him to do that in his cradle rather that on daddy's chest on the sofa in the TV room. As much as daddy loves TV, he misses sleeping with mommy in bed.

I stole this picture of Sam a few days ago while Sarah was sleeping and Sam, just waking up in her lap, beginning to stir. I picked him up quickly so Sarah wouldn't be disturbed (any extra few minutes is gold to her by now), to let her sleep while I put Sam down on the bed and snapped away while he was happy. You'd never know by his look on his face here here that he's just a few moments away from making it very clear that he's done with the picture-taking and ready for breakfast - NOW! I like how the wrinkles of his back seem to cross over to his forehead; the lines complement each other. It could also just be that I'm getting way too into the artistic interpretation of these pictures?

Sam's First Date

Sam has been busy this past week. He keeps his mother awake feeding for hours on end every night, but no bother - he has places to go and people to see.

Debby and Larry came to visit the other day, as did Ben and Daniela, and Aunt Claudia was down from New York to spend some quality time with him.

Most exciting, though, was Sam's first date with his betrothed, Shalvah.



Shalvah was born a week after Sam to our good friends Ned and Nahanni (and of course she also has a website, here). Despite the fact that she's only 2/3 of Sam's age (or was this past weekend), she dwarfs him! Sam's a sucker for her adorable squishy fat cheeks and her gorgeous complexion. It seems she doesn't suffer from the neonatal acne that Sam has been battling. He was, however, comforted by the fact that Shalvah must also have been nervous for their date. This was plainly evidenced by the fact that while Sam, reminiscent of that Wonder Years episode where Fred Savage has to meet the cute girl with a huge zit on his face, did have a few pimples, Shalvah peed through all her clothes and showed up for their first date practically naked!

Anyway, Sam and Shalvah met at the park to have dinner and hang out together. They had a great time, as did their parents. Click here to see more pictures of their first date.

Happy Birthday Dad!