Brrrr

It's DANG COLD round these heah pahts! Supposed to go into the single digits tonight with negative wind chills. S'bout time Old Man Winter make an appearance. Next week should be in the 70s, as it's been goin'.

Ron and Sam are doing "guy time" together and I'm almost ANSY with the feeling of "what should I do with myself?!" I mean, there's plenty to do, but to be alone is almost euphoric, in a way. This is kind of fun!

So here i am, updating the blog.


Here's Sam with Gramma Samson's latest creation, the Ear Flap Wonder! I love it cuz it fits his head well, is made of VERY soft wool, and he doesn't tug on it cuz it doesn't fall over his eyes (all the hats i find for him are either way too small, or a little big because they are made for older kids). Way to go GRAMMA!


Here is Sam at his first hockey game! I'll admit, i was hesitant in going because I would have to bring Sam with me, but it all worked out really well and he was GREAT! He petered out around the beginning of the third period, but I was totally fine with that. He got into clapping (at the right and wrong times!), as well as peole watching. I can't wait to bring him when he GETS IT!


Here is Sam with his first "knobby" puzzle. I've been looking for one of these for a while now because i've noticed that he seems to like puzzles. Putting things in and out of 'designated areas.' He mostly crawls around his playroom with a piece in his mouth, but when i sit there with him, he does a pretty good job getting the lion or tiger or ELEPHANT (O my!) in the right space. And if he doesn't, i clap happily with that too!


And finally... well... here's my dad paying homage to Sam a few posts ago. :-)

PBS and Snooooozzzzzzes...

Today, for the first time since regularly breastfeeding Sam (which was more than 6 mos. ago), I took a nap with him.

What a joy!

Of course, first i had to "run him down" a little. Just cuz he was yawning here and there and rubbing his eyes doesn't do it anymore. He had to watch a little Super Grover on Sesame Street, drink a whole sippy of juice, grab clumps of fur out of Zap, play with a beaded bracelet i've never worn, and all in all, run out of steam.

But once he did........ there can't be anything closer to the sheer and utter calmness and love i feel when i'm lying next to my baby, listening to his breathing, watching his little face twitch into a random smirk or smile, feeling his body get warmer. I snuggled into him and relaxed, as though there were no laundry build-up in the basement, no overdue (or DUE) bills, no couch cushions to re-cover because of our crazy dogs.

Just me and Sam. Ah.

Oh yeah... and then 2 hours later, i find him half giggling, half whining in this position in his playpen. He looks BROKEN! I want to say he is just a 'bendy baby,' but he was clearly stuck. Of course i had to take a picture of it before helping him!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's Sam, all full of vim and vigor before...

... he conks out on daddy's lap right before bedtime.

Christmas at Ellie's

On December 27th, Ron, Sam and I drove to New Hartford, NY where Ron's sister Ellie lives. There we had Christmas No. 2 with her family as well as Kim's (Ron's other sister). Shirley joined in the festivities as well! All five grandchildren together! Unfortunately, Ron's third and youngest sister Hope was unable to be with us as she is in South Africa. Sam fit into the Kid Crowd JUST GREAT! I can't wait to see him in action NEXT Christmas - he'll give all those kids a run for their money then!

Long Overdue Updates!

Nov. 19? Obviously, we haven't been keeping up-to-date on this. Here's a quick rundown of the past month-and-a-half:

Sam is almost walking; if he's got a wall or table to stabalize him, he can scoot along pretty well. He's not talking, but his sounds are increasingly complex and variant.

Chris's cousin Kathie and her family traveled down from Maine around the 9th for four or five days. They shacked up here at our house, so things were cozy but a lot of fun. Tia (10) and Tanner (6) really got a kick out of Samson. We ventured to Hammondsport one night for their holiday celebration and on the day before they left, Tia and Tanner blew their own Christmas ornaments at a local hands-on glass shop. They really enjoyed that too!

Our Christmas and New Year's celebrations were tamed by Montezuma's Revenge (aka, The Stomach Bug): Christmas for Chris and I; New Year's Eve for Sam. Last night, when we finally got Samson back in bed after waking up sick, Christine and I did get to enjoy a bottle of Rosa Regale (a delicious rasberry champagne) and some of those chocolate-covered Virginia Peanuts that Wegmans sells. Yum. Incidentally, the cork of the Rosa Regale ricocheted off the ceiling and hit Chris in the head. Very Funny!
(Oops.)

Other stuff happened, but I think I'll just let the pictures talk for themselves. The hiking club has been in full effect, so pictures can also be seen over at that site: http://corninghikingclub.blogspot.com


c%^)-~

P.S.- Ron was excited to see this address posted in the Cazenovia Connexus. If you're an old friend from Caz, please be sure to leave a comment! Shout-Outs to Adam Pause who is living what sure looks like the sweet life in Colorado and playing with his band, The Dust Farmers.

Elmo Vonnegut

This is a plastic hollow piece from one of Sam's puzzles.
I haven't laffed this hard in a while!

Walmart Portrait Studios

So Mom (aka, Samson's Gramma Samson - ha!) agreed to treat us to some formal portraits of Sam for his first birthday slash Christmas 2006. I thought what the hey, this could be fun. In doing minor research online, Walmart seemed to be the cheapest (duh!) without having to pay sitting fees and a bunch of "hidden fees." I've walked by their studio before as well as seen the results from friends', and it all seemed pretty good, so we went for it today.

At first the lady said she was booked every 10 min til close and today was the last day for "The Big Deal." Turns out you only saved $4 from their regular DEAL price. The point is, i wanted to get this done - the holidays are FAST APPROACHING! For the heck of it, i checked back in 30 min and she got us in "next" (read: 30-40 min later - sigh).

Anyhoo - - I get Samson in, all gussied up in 'formal garb,' and he proceeds to make ONLY "squishy face." Lemme explain, since for some reason i can't seem to get a PHOTO of this face. Take your lips and make an exaggerated pucker, like your going to kiss Gramma when you're 5 yrs old. Then make a deep frown and look out from under your eyebrows, all while huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf.

Minus the huffing/puffing, he was performing ONLY this face during the whole sitting.

Soon enough, i said, "ya know what?... if you have to take a pic of that face, then do it, cuz this is Sam now. As in, now in his LIFE." I was starting to think a smile was impossible.

Turns out it was. But squishy face went away long enough to have Mona-Lisa-Smile face and Crazy-Let's-Throw-This-Fake-Gift-Box-Around face. I picked two out of those choices. Lil pissant.

I'll be sure to post the results, due 12/7.

... and finally the Birthday CELEBRATION!

We had cake for Samson last night. This was his first real exposure to blatant sugar. He's had a taste of pudding here, a donut piece there. But never a

whole cake with icing set in front of him. He was a little cautious at first and I had to actually dip his fingers into the icing to get the ball rolling, but i didn't

force him. Then he figured it out. The first little finger went very

slowly into the mouth, and the whole process was very meticulous and wary. Soon enough, though, each icing-laced finger was going into his eager mouth! He never really got to the cake part. Lucky for us, Sam had his very own lil cake [thanks Wegmans, for the deal]! He was eating cake around 8:15, an hour past his usual bedtime, but he stuck it out and had a good time. So did we!

Happy Birthday, Bubba.
We love you SO MUCH!!!

Samson Vonnegut's FIRST Birthday

Sam's first birthday was - - well - - rather uneventful. Mommy had to go to work, and then so did Daddy! We did sing him Happy Birthday in the morning during his breakfast and he looked back and forth at us like we were nuts. Just the way we like it. I even threw in a little dance, which i think i got a smile for.

Here is Ron reading to Sam in his playroom. Sam is starting to take an active interest in books now. He no longer sets out to just eat them and throw them. There is one little book called "Good Night" featuring none other than Quacky Duck. In Quacky's second pre-bedtime adventure (the first being tidying up his toys), he takes a SPLISHY-SPLASH BATH, and everytime i get to this page, Sam laughs and points to Quacky's pink sponge.

Maybe Sam would like a pink bath sponge for Christmas.

Yes, i said Christmas, not The Holidays.

Heiney Ho!

Sam's favorite sleeping position is with his butt in the air and his arms under his belly (a lot of the time - at least the times i notice). Here he is sleeping like this in his playpen. Lil bugger conked out on me 5 min before we were supposed to go to Gramma and Grandpa Samson's yesterday.