Last night Samuel woke up twice, once at about 1 am and then at 4 am.  We let him cry it out.  He didn't cry for too long, which was nice of him.  Hopefully tonight he will be better, but we are not going in to deal with him.  He needs to sleep and so do we.  

I am almost 100% sure that Samuel is right handed.  He has been using a fork and spoon to eat now and he picks it up only with his right hand.  Sometimes he will switch it over to his left, but he consistently uses his right hand.  

I think tomorrow will be my last day to breastfeed Samuel.  For the last month I have only been breastfeeding him in the morning.  Since we have been gone almost the entire month of March, I figured that he had enough change going on and I didn't want to deal with trying to stop.  However, I am pretty much done.  I just have a feeling that he would never quit.  

So Megan asked about our trip to Europe.  We are leaving the end of April.  We are not taking Samuel.  He is staying with my parents for a week.  Dave's Great Aunt and Uncle are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in the Netherlands and they are having a big party.  So we are going for the party and will spend a few days in the Netherlands with Dave's family.  Then we are going to spend a few days in Paris, then take an overnight train to Rome.  I think we are spending two or three days in Rome.  We are so excited.  That is another reason why I have to quit breastfeeding ASAP.  I would like to have as much time as possible before we go, not breastfeeding.  

I better go, I have a child that just wiped oatmeal all over his face and hair.  I think he wants my attention.  

Highs and Lows

This weekend was full of highs and lows.  Mostly highs until last night.  

We went to Michigan on Saturday morning to surprise Dave's dad because Dave's mom had planned a surprise retirement party for him.  The flight was great.  Samuel slept almost the entire time.  We got into Michigan about an hour after the party started and I am pretty sure he was surprised to see us.  We also saw family from Canada: Aunt Irene, Uncle Butch and Uncle Joe. It was so nice.  It was a very short visit because we left on Sunday morning around 9:30.  

The flight again was perfect.  Samuel slept the entire time, we got home, ate a late lunch and relaxed for the evening.  

I don't know if the traveling bothers Samuel or what, but he had some serious digestive issues.  Samuel has never really had a diaper rash before.  His bottom will get red sometimes, but never too bad.  Last night it was terrible.  It was actually pretty disgusting and we felt terrible when we had to change his diaper.  We gave him a bath last night and this morning it looks much better.  

I think that Samuel is trying to fight off the cold that both Dave and I had.  He was coughing a lot last night and his nose was full of snot.  He could barely breathe.  He woke up last night at 10 pm, 2 am, 4 am and then he woke up at 7.  It was terrible.  I know he isn't feeling well, but I think he will be crying a little bit tonight.  I just can't handle the 3 times waking up in the middle of the night and neither can Dave.  We just can't function.  

I made a menu for the week last night. Samuel and I are about to head to the grocery store before his first nap.  

We aren't traveling at all for the next 3 weeks.  Thank goodness.  I am sick of flying and packing.  However, the end of April, Dave and I leave for Europe.  We can't wait!!!!!!!!

Better

I feel much better today.  I still have a cough and stuffed up nose, but I don't feel like I am in a fog.  My head has cleared up.  However, I have a terrible attitude today.  I have reached my patience limit with Samuel.  I don't want to have to deal with him at all.  One week and one day of spending all my time with him and I am burnt out.  

He looks so freaking cute and looks up at me and smiles and I feel bad that I just want to walk away.  A nap can't come any sooner.  

I have a meeting today from 10 to at least 12 and I have to bring him with me.  That means I will be running around chasing Samuel and trying to concentrate on the meeting.  So much fun.  

Last night the Parents as Teachers (PAT) lady came by.  I had been thinking that Samuel was saying "Thank you" but I am the only one who has heard it, so I thought it could be possible that I was making it up in my mind.  However, the PAT lady was here and Samuel brought me one of his toys and I said thank you to him and he said thank you back.  I looked at her and he said he definitely said it.  Hip Hip Hooray!  I wasn't making it up.  I can tell his vocabulary is really increasing.  He understands everything.  The PAT lady asked him to get things for her in his toy box, things that I have never asked him to get and he went right over and brought them to her.  I was pretty impressed.  

It looks like it is going to rain, which isn't helping my disposition.  Would it be bad if I just locked myself in my room and let Samuel and George free in the house?  I am seriously considering it.  

Thank goodness it is Friday.

I'm sick. Not in the mood to do anything.  

I am going to sit and stare into space while Samuel is sleeping.

Need Sleep

It has been a very crazy few days.  On Sunday we were coming home from Las Vegas.  Our flight was supposed to leave at 11:35 am, we didn't get on the plane until a little after 1 pm.  We sat on the plane and on the runway until a little after 2 pm.  The plane was super hot, it was waaay past Samuel's nap time and the flight was completely full.  We thought that we were going to be leaving Vegas at 11:35 (1:35 our time) and then arriving in St. Louis around 5 pm, so the whole trip was only going to last about 4 hours.  Well, the whole trip lasted about 8 hours.  We didn't get into St. Louis until 7 pm.  Here was the problem...I only brought 4 diapers in the diaper bag.  Normally Samuel only poops 2 times a day.  For some reason on Sunday he decided to poop 4 times.  It was miserable.  We ran out of diapers.  I had to put one of his burp clothes in his diaper, then it busted out all over.  It was absolutely disgusting. Dave and I both had to change him in the plane bathroom, which is totally not suitable.  It was miserable.  

When we got home on Sunday night, Dave said he wasn't feeling great.  When he woke up in the morning he asked me to feel his head and it was burning hot.  He has had a fever off and on since Monday morning.  Now he has a sore throat.  I am trying to fight off a cold myself.

Then on Monday afternoon my mom called me and said that they were heading to Kansas City because the doctor didn't think that my grandmother (Bube) was going to make it through the night.  My brother, Samuel and I started driving around 7:45 pm to get there.  We got in around 11:30 pm.  Bube was completely out of it and didn't recognize us at all.  She made it through the night and when we went to the hospital this morning she was sitting up, lucid and recognized everyone.  The doctor said that he thought she was stable, so we headed back to St. Louis.  

Then tonight I had a meeting at Woman's Place from 5:30 to 7:30.  I am so exhausted now.  I needed some time to wind down before going to bed.  It has been a crazy week and it is only Tuesday night.  

I am going to finish watching a little bit of The Biggest Loser and then I am going to bed.

We've got a dancer

The family is in Vegas and we are having a blast.  Samuel and I are staying with my friend Kate and her baby Anabelle.  Dave is with some of his friends at a golf tournament.  

Samuel has adjusted completely to the time change.  It hasn't effected him at all.  I can't believe it.  He slept on the plane over here and then woke up when we got off the plane.  I think he thought that the plane ride was nap time.  When I put him to bed the first night he slept until about 6:45 am West Coast time.  He has been on his exact schedule all weekend.  It is pretty nice.

I will post pictures later, but for now:

Kate has a Flip video camera and we were at lunch today and Samuel started dancing when he heard the Jordin Sparks song, "One Step at a Time".  I look like shit, so please close your eyes when I enter the video.  

I am getting one of these video cameras.  They are so easy.

Happy Birthday Brody!

Samuel's I guess 3rd cousin is 1 today. My cousin, Nicki's son is exactly 2 weeks younger then Samuel.  Happy Birthday to Brody!

Questions

So I am wondering if a one year old can already be entering his terrible twos?  Samuel is throwing fits, screaming if he doesn't get his way, arching his back when I pick him up and tell him no, running away from me when I tell him no, testing every boundary and I guess I could continue with the list.  I am just going to continue to do what I have been doing.  It isn't like I am going to stop disciplining him.  I don't think he would cooperate with time-out yet.  

Oh well.  He just has so much energy.  I turn my back for a second and he is all the way up the stairs.  He is getting really fast and is starting to run.  If he knows he shouldn't be doing something and I start to walk over to him, he takes off running in the other direction.  It is frustrating, but I can't help but laugh at the same time.  

I am planning on going for a run this afternoon.  That will get us out of the house and keep us busy.  

Have a great Thursday.

Picture of the day.  He looks so cute.

Yesterday Samuel and I were so busy all day.  He didn't take a morning nap because we didn't have time.  

I had a doctor's appointment at 8:30 am, then he had Stay and Play at 9:30 am, we stayed until 11, then I fed him lunch.  While I was feeding him he was falling asleep, so I took him upstairs, changed his diaper and he was out at 11:30.  He slept until 1:15, then we went directly to the park until about 2:45.  We came home, Samuel and I had a snack, then at 3:45 we left to go to the gym because Dave and I were doing a workout class.  After the gym, we drove home, ate dinner, took a bath and went to bed.  I am tired just talking about my day yesterday.  

When we were at the park, I learned that Samuel loves to eat sand.  It was so gross.  The more I told him not to eat it, the bigger hand fulls of sand he put into his mouth.  He was so dirty after the park.  It was fun to see him running around and exploring on his own.  

I am off to do a few more things while he is sleeping.

Pictures from Kansas City

Bube, Zayde and all their kids:

Bube, Zayde and all the great-grandkids:

Bube, Zayde and all the grandkids:

The happy couple:

Savta, Papa and Samuel

My mom, Bube and me

So I couldn't help myself.  These are the funniest pictures.  I don't know why Samuel liked to pull my mom and Bube's hair, but these pictures are hilarious, at least to me:

Busy and Exhausted

We had a busy week last week and weekend.  

This past weekend we went to Kansas City for my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary.  We had an early dinner at my Uncle Izzy and Aunt Kay's house to celebrate.  The entire family was together, which hasn't happened in a long time.  It was so nice to be there and be able to celebrate.  I just wish they were going to be around for so much longer.  It isn't fair that Samuel isn't going to be able to really know them.  That makes me sad.  

Okay, so on a happier note, it is beautiful around here.  I think it is going to be 70 today and I can't wait to go on a long walk when Dave gets home from work.  

I was just enjoying being able to relax and now Samuel just woke up from his nap.  He is back to sleeping better at night.  On Friday night, Dave and I decided we weren't going to deal with him in the middle of the night so we let him cry for about 45 minutes.  I ignored the "Ma-Ma" coming from his room and let him cry.  That was the best thing we could have done.  He hasn't woken up now in the middle of the night since Saturday.  It has only been 2 days, but so what.  I have been sleeping straight through the night too.  

Last thought for the day.  This morning on the Today show there was a segment about weather it was just as good to bottle feed your baby as it is to breastfeed your baby.  The problem was that wasn't really what the segment was about at all.  The woman they interviewed wrote an article about why women shouldn't feel guilty if they bottle feed.  Then they proceeded to tell us how she is currently breastfeeding her baby, "because she likes it".  So stupid.  Anyway, it really irritates me when there could be a really good story that would be beneficial to women and they barely get into it.  

Here is my opinion, if anyone really wants to know.  We all know the benefits of breastfeeding not only for the baby, but for the mom, but I don't really think it matters.  I think the most important thing for your baby is that it is getting the proper nutrients whether from your breast or from formula; that your baby is getting bonding time with you; that it is taken care of and loved.  I just wish there wasn't so much pressure on women to breastfeed.  It is hard enough delivering the baby, then there is the added pressure to try to breastfeed, not to mention just trying to take care of the baby on NO sleep.  I know I was lucky because breastfeeding came very easy for me and Samuel, but that doesn't mean it will be easy with the next one.  If it works, it works.  If it doesn't who cares, just give them the bottle with formula and know that your baby is healthy.  

I will have to post pictures from the weekend later.  Samuel is up and ready to play.  

We have been having some rough nights for about a week now.  Samuel is teething again.  He is waking up every night at around 3 am.  That is almost exactly 8 hours from the time we give him the Advil.  We can't get him to calm down.  Last night he woke up at 2:45  and cried until about 4 am.  We went in his room a couple of times and he fell back asleep, but then he woke up yelling "Ma-Ma".  At about 4:15  Dave brought him into bed with us and he fell back asleep until about 6:45.  Tonight we are going to give him Tylenol and let him cry.  I hate to do that, but I know he has developed a bad habit and just expects that we are going to go in and rock him.  

This morning when we got up I was in the kitchen and I heard Samuel in the dining room.  He was at his high chair and banging on the seat.  Then he picked up the tray on the front and brought it to me in the kitchen.  I asked him if he was hungry and he smiled a huge smile.  I put his bib on him and he walked right to his high chair and tried to start climbing up into it.  I guess he knows what he wants.  

I said before that Samuel hides food in his high chair.  I assumed it was for George later.  However, yesterday after I got him out of his chair (after he refused to eat), he went straight for the food he had hidden in his chair.  He and George were fighting over the food he left in his chair.  It was pretty funny to see Samuel pushing George away to get to his food.  

I am off to drink more coffee.  It is one of those days.

Quick Post

Samuel had his 1 year check up today at the doctor.  He got two shots and his finger pricked.  He cried, but only for about 30 seconds.  He normally calms down very quickly.  

Updates on his statistics:

Height: 31.5 in (93%)

Weight: 26 lbs 5 oz (90%)

Head circ: 46.5 cm (55%)  Still can't get over how small his head is.  

We had to wait for about 40 minutes before seeing the doctor and Samuel walked all around the waiting room the entire time.  By the time we got back in the car he was exhausted.  He managed to eat a ton for lunch and then passed out.  Hopefully he will sleep for a while because I am tired.  

Forgot to add that if anyone is interested in seeing Samuel's 1 year pictures you can go to Burns Photography.  Enter the site, click on the "online viewing", when you get to the event code it is "Samuel-09"

Great weekend

It was a long, but great weekend.  I will post lots of pictures below.  The time change has been a little difficult on me, but I think because we were so busy this weekend and Samuel was so worn out it hasn't effected him at all.  He went to bed right at 7:30 last night and has taken his naps at the exact same time that he normally does.  I am happy that it has been an easy transition for him.  

We had a great weekend with the family and all of our friends.  Samuel's birthday party was a lot of fun.  He had a great time and got so many wonderful gifts.  He ate cake for the first time and he LOVED it.  

Pictures from the weekend.

This was the big cupcake that I made for Samuel to eat:

He couldn't wait to open his gift from Uncle Jonathan and Aunt LaLa:

Zayde and Samuel:

Here are all the zoo animal cupcakes I made:

Samuel on one of his new toys:

Here is is eating the yummy cake.  He loved it:

Snip Snip

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Well, Samuel had his first haircut. He did a great job. I think his dad was pretty proud of his haircut. Here are the pictures:

Here is Samuel and Dave sitting down for the haircut:


So happy that it is done:

Well, maybe not that happy:

Here he is at home after his hair dried a bit.  Looks pretty good.

Birthday boy

My baby is 1 today.  I can't believe how time has flown by.  This has been such an amazing year.  It has been rewarding and extremely hard work, but I feel so lucky to be able to be home and see Samuel grow and change everyday.  I have seen all his firsts and I can't imagine what it would have been like to miss them.  Both Dave and I feel so blessed.  I couldn't have made it through this year without Dave and our family and friends.  Love you all.

Here are some pictures:

I took our running stroller out and Samuel was really excited to explore underneath it, until he got stuck.

This is the last time you all will see Samuel's hair like this.  I took this yesterday.  We are getting his haircut at lunch today!

Here is the birthday boy this morning:

I don't know what the deal is, but I am tired.  I feel like I could just sleep and sleep and sleep.  Our bathrooms have been painted and they look great.  Now Dave is on a mission to replace everything else in the bathroom.  We already bought a few towel racks and one shelf.  We need to get two new medicine cabinets and a cabinet for the towels in the spare bathroom.  I don't know when we are going to have time to do everything.  

I am cleaning and doing laundry and getting things ready for the grandparents to all come in town tomorrow for Samuel's birthday.  He is 1 tomorrow.  I can't believe it.  

On Monday night when we were at the Container Store getting a few things, Samuel said bye-bye.  He was waving and he just said it to the check out clerk.  Dave and I wanted to make a big deal out of it, but since we were in the store we didn't want to frighten anyone.  He hasn't said it again since, but it was pretty cool that he said it once.  

I am looking forward to Samuel's birthday party.  I will have to post pictures of the cool cupcakes I am planning to make.  

I am going to relax while he is sleeping.

It's confirmed

Dave and I went to the driving range this afternoon.  It was pretty chilly, but the driving range had heaters.  Anyway, I totally suck.  I mean I am so terrible it is amazing.  I hit it maybe 80 yards.  Maybe 90 with my driver.  It was terrible.  I need to read my golf book and get some lessons.  

Samuel had a babysitter today.   She put him to sleep for his afternoon nap and did a great job.  She was only over here for 2 hours, so it was short and sweet.  I think she played with Samuel for 15 minutes and then put him to sleep.  Easy money. 

I have lots of cleaning and planning to do for the week since Samuel's birthday is Thursday, the grandparents come in on Thursday and the birthday party is Saturday.  I am so excited.  

We are off for an early dinner and then relaxation for the rest of this Sunday.