HOPEY!!!

Ron's sister Hope and her boyfriend Sebastien (sorry, no pic of him this go-round... Hope, send me one and i'll post it!) came to visit for 5 days last week. It was awesome, as always, seeing her, and even more awesome meeting her "beau." We all had a good time, and one day, the entire family (including Shirley) got up to Ithaca to hang out, give Seb the tour, that sorta thing. At the end of the journey, we stopped at one of the small parks that lets you walk near the falls.
Sam seemed to enjoy everything, especially after I fed him! Too bad it wasn't warmer, i would have walked into the water and seen what he thought of it. It was a nice day.

Hope and Sebastien left on a bus on Thursday and Hope accidentally left her purse on the bus. While you might first think "OH NO!," the good news is they tracked the purse very fast and it was found and kept. The problem, of which i won't waste the space, your time, or my energy typing, is, GETTING THE PURSE BACK TO EITHER HOPE OR ME. There were many many many many many 'miscommunications' between the bus company dispatcher (named RON) and myself and Hope. They promised several times to put the purse on the next bus to Corning for me to pick up and it never happened. Then they were going to drop it off at the bus 'station' in Corning (read: a very small decrepit hardware store, run by a 100 yr old man and his 82 yr old son (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but GO SEE THEM!)). That never happened. FINALLY, just today, i physically obtained the purse from the Elmira station, after a week of running around and being told one thing vs. another. In fact, i thought i was going to wring the old lady's neck after the first thing she said was, "oh... YOU'RE the girl who keeps saying she'll be at the Corning station then never shows up." *FUMING* Don't mess with me old lady and JUST GIMME THE PURSE!

Purse is en route to Hope, and with any luck, will actually GET TO HER tomorrow, as my $18 Overnight promised...

Call me "Stands with Feet"

Sam scooched over to me and slowly but surely pulled himself up into a standing position! Good Lord. Here comes trouble now! I predict he is walking by his first birthday, Christmas at the latest. I could be wrong, but that's the feel i'm getting now. He's funny - he grunts and sticks his tongue out when he's really working on something challenging him. THAT'S MY BOY!!!

The Next Larry Bird?

[Well, not that Larry Bird is the best LOOKING person, but i'm mostly referring to his "vertically gifted" attributes.]

Sam had his 9 mo. check up today. He's 31 inches long (that's 5 inches short of THREE FEET! Hehe... I like to think of it that way) and weighs 21 lbs. Doc says he looks good, is right on course, and by his stats, just might turn out to be a big boy! Ron and i think its funny to imagine he'll end up 6 foot 3 and towering over us. I would just love it! Wouldn't it be funnier if he was all pumped out and athletic to REALLY live up to his moniker! ;-) We'll just have to keep his hair long, i suppose.



The above picture: This is how Sam celebrated the two hepatitus (sp) shots he received this morning. He's wearing a "frog skin cap" (read: little blankie with a stuffed froggie on one corner) and a bull ring (read: colorful ring toy with a big rubber ball on it). I can't wait to see if he's the joker of the family, constantly cracking us up (not that Ron and i don't do a pretty good job!). He's already comical at 9 mos. old, that's for sure!

Telford Family Vacation

Well, its been just about a month - long overdue for an entry here. We went to Maine for a week and had a GREAT time. So did Sam, experiencing both lake and ocean water (he prefers lake - like his mom!).

Right now, Samson is cutting five teeth at once (is that a record, or the norm?). I call him Chompers. He'll be nine months old in a week. He's standing very strong and scooching around. Will he walk by Christmas? Watch out world!

Enjoy the photos!

More Baby Milestones

Three more things to show Samson is growing up: 1) First ride in the front of the shopping cart (so cute, lookin all around!), 2) First (and subsequent) successful "i finally get it!" sips from the sippy cup and 3) First "scooch" forward by tucking his legs under his belly and pushing forward! I was starting to think that he might not figure out crawling the just dive into WALKING. More pics forthcoming (I can't find the disc i just made...)

Sugar Boogar*

*Thank you Natalie, for coining this nickname!

Here's Mommy and Sam, just hanging out and bein' cool! Too bad the stinkin' date is in his MOUTH!

Regis-n-Kelly

Well, i'm finally here with an update and a couple photos. The gals and i (from left: me, Christa, Pam and Amanda) had a BLAST in the Big Apple, eventhough we were only there for less than 24 hrs. We got there around 5 on Tuesday evening and settled into our room in the heart of Hell's Kitchen (nicer than the name denotes - very cultural!). We found a cute little Italian restaurant where we enjoyed some really good food (I had a $10 glass of Sangria!) and the ambience - SO EASY to people-watch. After that, we wandered around Times Square among a TON of people! That area never shuts down. We walked into a few shops and just soaked it all in. We woke bright and early the following morning to go to the R-n-K studio. There wasn't even clammering for the bathroom! :-) We walked about 15 blocks and proceeded to stand in line (outside, then inside) for 2.5 hrs. Soon enough, we were inside the studio - it was much smaller than we all thought. Not only does the camera add 10 lbs, but apparently, it adds FOOTAGE as well. Both Reg and Kelly were there that day (no subs) and the guests were Neil Patrick Harris (aka Doogie Houser), some dude from some soap (sorry guys) and some dude from Men's Health Magazine to highlight Father's Day gadgets. Not only did I NOT get to dance in the "Trivia a-Go Go" booth (sniffle), but none of us won anything from the phone-in viewer picking our number. We could have won 100 lbs of Lobster (or something like that!). I should also add here that the President came on t.v. and was on for 45 minutes out of the hour in our area. My folks in VA get the show an hour later, however, and they said they didn't see any of us on t.v. We were homeward bound by 2pm and home by 7, thanks to some SUPERIOR driving by Christa, who is immune from speeding tickets (ha). Let's do it all again soon ladies!!!

"I'm outta CONTROL!"

Next Wednesday, The Girls from work and i are driving to NYC to be in the "Regis and Kelly" audience! Back in Feb., for the helluvit, we wrote for free tickets, and lo and behold, we got them! We're gonna drive out on Tues, spend the night, go to the taping the next morning (its done about an hour before airing, so it IS "Live") and then head back. I'm kinda looking forward to it! I'll be sure to post pics and a synopsis when we return!

Toofer One

Sam is cutting his two bottom teeth at the same time. For the most part, he's pretty chill about it, but from time to time, i can tell the lil guy is in pain.

One time was last night. He woke at 11, so sleepy, but with his whole fist in his mouth. I changed him (he turned purple crying during that!), swaddled him loosely, and slow-danced with him in my arms, showing him stuff around the bedroom, including a metal wire star we having hanging by fishing line that he loves to watch when i twirl it. Between the cuddling and star-twirling, that's all he needed. Soon he was smiling at his daddy and i was able to put him back to bed. I can only imagine what it feels like to cut a tooth. Well actually, i sorta know - i've cut a wisdom tooth before. That's pretty sore.

"Mama... OOooOOOOoooOOOOO" *

Samson Vonnegut said "Mama!"

And for about 2 whole days, that's all he said. In a ton of variations... soft, **LOUD**, repetitively (mamamamamamamamamama) and the like. I am teaching him "Dada," but secretively give him high 5s when Ron isn't looking, and slip the $20 i promised him into his diaper rim. ;-)

* This post's title credits go to classic Queen: "Bohemian Rhapsody."