A Good Sport

Who says you can't use a dog for a pillow?

All Hallow's Eve

Wegmans was sponsoring a little "Fall Harvest Party" night for the kids on Monday, and the three of us went down. FYI, they were not allowed to call it "Halloween Party" for all the religious finatics that believe it's Satan's Holiday. Cracks me up. Anyhow, there was a really good turnout! Sam was getting a lot of attention, of course, as the Lil' Devil. But halfway thru the night (and we were actually shopping for groceries during!), we decided to see what Samson would look like if he were "Samantha." The results cracked us up BIGTIME!

Treehouse: (CHREE-haus) noun. A house in a tree.

Well here is the "final" (it's a never-ending work in progress) result of Ron's near-n-dear creation: his treehouse in our back yard. Now that the leaves are falling, the tree almost bear, the house has a less secretive and organic feel. IT'S OUT THERE now. I'm convinced by now that the cops aren't going to cite us or anything... they definitely KNOW it exists. I think Ron did a great job! It's pretty cool up there too, for sure!!!

Pot o' Gold?

While driving down 3rd Street on my way to a birthday celebration, i noticed the sky - very dark with sunshine everywhere. Time to look for a rainbow! Before my eyes is a FULL rainbow spanning the sky. I called Ron on my cell to let him know. The picture tells the rest!

BWAA-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!!!

DEVIL BOY SAYS:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Thank God for the Playroom!

Here are some shots of Sam in action in his playroom, a small room off our middle room on the first floor entirely dedicated to All Things Sam. So far, he loves it, and so do we. It makes for a safe play environment, he can scooch and crawl and stand and soon WALK in here virtually free of dog hair and "crappola" that inevitably floats around our floors. I'm looking forward to the day when he doesn't constantly put every dust bunny and crumb in his mouth, but i'm told that day is NOT around the corner. Until then, the playroom it is. Or rather, "The Kid Club of Sammy V" - as you can see, we have those foam floor letters, and Ron arranged them to say that. Very cool. I love hanging out with Sam in here. It's in this room that i'm watching his SKILLS ("Chicks dig guys with skills") develop. The one that really cracks me up is when he goes over to this little play table and intentionally spins a part to play the Alphabet Song, then looks to me with a great big grin. He definitely KNOWS this song, and seeing the recognition in his face is really fun.

My Husband

I just wanna tell you how awesome Ron is. I was "in a mood" today, starting early this morning, and had to work all day. I came home to the following sculpture, which warms my heart the more i look at it...

My Lil' Guy

What parent doesn't say this phrase A BILLION times in the span of their kids' lifetime:

"You are getting SO BIG!"

I must say this to Sam at least once daily, and I'm not "just sayin it." I truly mean it. There are some days that i have to be at work before Sam gets up, and then for some reason or another, i don't see him before he goes to bed, so i've gone a whole day without my "Samson Fix," and honestly (and this is weird to me), he looks OLDER the next day to me.

For example, today, when i came home from work, he had this little side-corner-grin thing going on. At first i thought it was from teething, but i had to chuckle when i asked Ron about it and he said, "babe... he's just testing out all the faces he can make." I'm sure Ron is 100% correct (eventhough Sam has had some tough times with the teething - he's up to EIGHT teeth!). The idea that Sam is TESTING OUT facial expressions thrills and fascinates me. Sam is doing things every day that I get to witness and soak in.

I love watching him use his fingers in such an INTRICATE way, eventhough his hands are so small. He quickly learned that a little yellow button on one of his toy trucks makes it beep. Sure enough, he 'commandos' over to it, pushes up to sit, and very precisely (and with great concentration, i might add) pushes that button. He often looks to me now for "approval" when he's mastered something or pushed a button to make a song play. Sam definitely knows the alphabet song - his eyes light up when i sing it (I also sign the letters as i sing). Sam knows what's coming when i grunt slowly "I'm - - gonna - - get - - cha." That means he's gonna be tickled and i LOVE that he knows that what i'm saying LEADS TO TICKLING!

Sam spends A LOT of time having entire conversations in "baby speak." Sounds, tones, gibberish and screeches all over the board, all while he's exploring and banging and smiling. So far, i have not heard any WORDS, but i am listening for them. Part of me THINKS he is saying "milk" when he says "mah" at supper time. It's pretty random and he's not pointing, but who knows.

Life is Grand with Sam. I love nothing more than being a mom to this awesome lil guy!!! (p.s. Ron is a phenomenal Dad too!)