Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve!

We spent the day at Gram and Pops' house.  They set a festive table and fixed a yummy dinner - Mushroom Crab Soup and homemade Cheese Bread.

Sam used my baby Sesame Street china set!

We got out the Play-Doh while Gram cooked - thanks to Daddy for taking pictures of us

and our Play-Doh creations!

Sam got some pretty awesome gifts - too many to mention!  He hadn't had a nap all day and started to have a melt-down right around present-time, so we put him in his crib (where he screamed) and the grown-ups quickly opened gifts from each other.  After his crying spell, Sam felt a little bit better and opened the rest of his presents, sans pants.

(Gram and Pops gave Sam his own rake for

when they work in the yard

...)

When we got home, Daddy had to put together the present we got for Sam.  We wanted it to be ready when he woke up Christmas morning.  We've been coloring and having tea parties on the floor for too long, so we got Sam a little table and chairs for the living room.  He loves it! 

Spritz a la Sam

Meet Sam, our Spritz Sprinkle-Shaker extraordinaire.

Christmas offically doesn't begin until the first batch of Spritz come out of the oven. This year, Sam was our little helper, and he did a great job of shaking the sprinkles and "pretty balls". When Gram asked Sam, "Do you want green or red?", Sam eyes got big and he shook his head YES, so green

and

red is what he got, one color for each hand. Our cookies have never looked prettier!

When The Birds Were The Bees

Buzzzzzz.

The day I got Sam's bee costume at our local children's resale shop, I stopped at a thrift store in town, just to look around. I found a bee "body" for grownups for $1.99. It was looking like Sam and I were meant to be a pair of sweet honeybees for Halloween this year. Brian asked if I could get my hands on some yellow duct tape so that he could join in the fun. A quick trip to the craft store for some duct tape, pipe cleaners and yellow pom-poms and our costumes were complete!

We invited the grandparents over to the hive for dinner and trick-or-treating. Sam made it just halfway down the block, stopping at only a few houses for treats, but that was plenty for us, too. We all ended up sitting on our porch with dessert and coffee and passed out candy to the neighborhood kids by the light of Daddy's second awesome jack-o-lantern.

What a Happy Halloween!.

Autumn Blooms

Fall has come to Texas!

Gram and Pops and I took Sam back to the Dallas Arboretum to enjoy some beautiful fall color!

Sam was a bit clumsy that day. It started before we left Gram and Pops' house, when he fell in their yard and rolled over some crushed acorns. Then at the Arboretum he fell in front of Strega Nona's house, right into a big mud puddle. After we wiped off all the mud on his face, all his bumps and scrapes were easier to see. Here's a little before-and-after:

But he was a trooper about it. We stopped for lunch on the lawn, changed his shirt and enjoyed the rest of the park. The pumpkin houses were so colorful. Sam especially loved Cinderella's mice and her carriage that had turned back into a pumpkin. There were many varieties of gourds, arranged in clever scenes.

 (swans in a pond)

We were a bit early for the mums, but the pumpkins were amazing. Everywhere you looked there were more and more pumpkins!

Another special treat was the concert playing on the north side. We stopped so Sam could listen.  He sat with Gram for a while and then and of course, he had to get his groove on!

He didn't make it back to the car before falling asleep.  Too many pumpkins for one little boy...

Happy Birthday Gram

Happy Birthday Gram!

We had fun celebrating with you!

Homerun!

Gram and Pops got Sam a t-ball set for their yard and WOW can this kid hit!

And he does it all holding the bat backward!  Imagine how far he could hit the ball if he turned that sucker around!  In honor of the World Series - where Mama's hometown is playing against Daddy's hometown - here are some pics of our little slugger. 

Hey! It's Sam!

It was strange...everybody knew his name...

No one said, "Oh, who's this?", or "Is this your grandson?". Nope - everyone who saw us would say right away, "Hey! It's SAM!!". I wonder how all the teachers and staff at Gram's school knew who this little person was? Maybe,

just maybe

, it's because they've seen his picture a time or two before. Hmmm?

Hmmm?

Songs

Sam's love of music appears to be getting stronger.

I think most kids like music, but Sam just seems really into music, into dancing, into...

grooving

.

One of the first things he's been asking for when we get to Gram and Pops' house (after begging for crackers at the pantry door) is "songs". Gram puts on one of his favorite cds and Sam starts dancing. After a few shoulders rolls and some head bops, he heads on over to his wooden blocks and gets the two cylinder pieces. Then it's time to really rock it out!

Up, Up and Away

Well, not away so much.  But definitely up and up.

Sam recently experienced his first Plano Balloon Festival - kind of one last hurrah for the summer. We all know he's a big fan of balloons (see

here

), but this event took it to a whole new level!

He got to see skydivers,

feed Pops some goldfish,

eat some ice cream (of course),

and then it was down on the field for an up-close look at some balloons!  There wasn't enough wind for the balloonists to take off, so they let us on the field to get a better look!  Even better than a launch, in my opinion!

Another first - Sam's first bus ride!

It was humid and hot, but Sam had a blast watching buh-woohs!

Lil' Elton

"Blue eyes, baby's got blue eyes". Gram and Pops' closet is fun because it's a mirror AND it slides open and closed. On this particular day, Sam was having fun looking at that kid in the mirror that was wearing some wacky glasses, the one that looked a little like Elton John.

Funny Man

Yes, those are curlers you see. Many who know Sam are aware of what happens to him after about 7:00 pm. The kid gets silly. Crazy silly. All cranky temper-tantrums disappear to be replaced with almost slapstick comedy routines.

These photos were taken Saturday night at Gram and Pops' house. Sam asked for Gram's velcro curlers and, because Mama has the same kind, he knew right where to put them. After admiring himself in the mirror for a while, he was off to play in the closet. He thinks it's hilarious to run in and out, in and out. He thought he was a riot. And with Gram, Pops, Andrew and Mama all crammed in the bathroom laughing at him and taking pictures, it's not hard to imagine why.

Fountain Fan

If it's a fountain, he's a fan. This fountain was a particularly cool one.  It was big, had lights and "danced".  And when the wind blew, and it was really blowing that day, we all got wet. And no matter which direction we ran around the fountain, the fountain water seemed to follow us!  But as far as Sam's concerned, the wetter the better!

 

Hoppin' Down the Bunny Trail

Sam's first word today? ROW-WERS!

Sam and Gram and I headed down to Dallas last week early for a visit to the Arboretum. They had a special exhibit called "Peter Rabbit's Village". We were able to visit several little cottages belonging to Peter, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, and Miss Jemima Puddleduck. Sam loved the bees, butterflies and ladybugs made of moss, and gave a mossy Miss Puddleduck a kiss on the beak.

 

Sam and Gram watched a fountain grow "big, bigger, BIG!" and played catch in a maze garden. We saw some koi fish taking a morning swim and I'm sure they heard us leaving with Sam screaming and kicking his feet. Apparently he likes real fish, too, not just the cheddar ones.

We ended the day (at noon - it was hot) meeting a big, friendly Peter Rabbit along with some real-live critters including a bunny, hedgehog and mouse.  When we got home we were tired and sweaty, sweaty, sweaty but we had a great time!  Flower collages to come....

Arboretum Fountain from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

Sam and Gram Summer

These two are enjoying their Sam and Gram Summer. They've gone to storytime, taken a ride on the carousel, and played at the pool.  I think all three of us are going to have a hard time when Gram goes back to school.

Happy Fourth of July!

Sam had an All-American Fourth of July. Gram, Pops and Uncle Andrew met Sam, Daddy and I in downtown McKinney for a picnic and a parade on the square.

Sam did great during the parade - he waved to the floats and even waved the flag Pops got for him. The motorcycles were a little loud and scary, so it was a good thing Gram was there. He shared an ice cream with Daddy and met a puppy named Zack.

The weather was a little warm and humid, but not bad for Texas in July. We had some cloud cover and a breeze and no rain!

Last year Sam was too little to enjoy the 4th, but he definitely had a good time today. Happy Birthday America!

Had to take his shirt off to eat strawberries...       Playing with the ball Uncle Andrew brought him

Dad bought Sam some ice cream to help him cool off, and we all know how Sam loves "sssk-eam"

                     The motorcycles were sooo loud!

This is how all our family photos would look if I were 6'3", but I'm up on a curb today!

Khaki, gray and black??  You guys!!

Zack the "bow-wow-wow-wow"

Happy Fourth of July 2010 from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

More Swimmin', More Picnicn'

We had a picnic on Memorial Day at a spot we'd picked out over three years ago.

We have lots of little parks in our neighborhood with benches and shade. We chose to picnic at the park that Gram and I drove by one day back when Brian and I were house-hunting and she said, "If you move here I want to take my grandbaby on a picnic right there" - so we did!

This was Sam's first time at our neighborhood pool and he had a great time. Gram put him on the side of the pool and he "jumped" to her on the count of three, he swam on his tummy with Pops, got a horsey-ride from Daddy, and bopped around the pool with Mama. I think his favorite part was the walk-through water fountain area. My favorite part was that Sam slept great that night!

Ice Cream

Eating with ice cream with Sam is quite an event. All eating is serious business for Sam, but ice cream especially so. Sometimes he signs "more" the entire time he's eating it, sometimes not. But he always twists his body in some way to show that he's extremely happy to be eating ice cream.


Ice Cream = Happy from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

Sam's Got Rhythm

This kid can keep a beat.

Last weekend, Sam and Gram and Pops and I went to the Denton Jazz Festival at Quakertown Park just off the square. We saw some bands, a clown making balloon animals, and a little train just for kids. Sam got a big balloon (two, actually) and we played on the swings at the playground in the park. The part Sam enjoyed the most was the preformance by the African Drumming and Dance group.

Sam ate during most of the performance, but he also danced. We get such a kick out of watching him. He really knows how to move for a 14-month-old. Gram commented the other day that he's the only baby she's ever known who can "shimmy" his shoulders. In this video he doing some kind of arm-thing. He's having a great time, that's for sure!

Little Eatin Little Dancin from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

The Park

You'd better not say "s-w-i-n-g-s" in front of Sam unless you're ready to go.
Now.
Right Now. We've had to start spelling things around our house, "swings" being number one.  Our little boy loves to go to the park!

Here we are at one by Gram and Pops' house. Sam loved the swings, of course, and the little baby slide. There were two little boys there his age that he didn't give much thought to. Then he saw a "big boy" (about eight-years-old) that was playing with a BALL. A real basketball on a real basketball court. Now that he payed attention to!

After watching basketball practice, we played with Sam's baby basketball, practiced walking, and kissed ladybugs. A busy park visit!

Early Easter

The Easter Bunny stopped by early with a basket for Sam. This basket had a theme: balls, balloons and bubbles. How did the Easter Bunny know these are Sam's favorite things?

Not only were there balls and bubbles and balloons, there were snacks.  Snacks of all kinds.  Snacks hidden inside plastic eggs, basketballs, and chicks.  There were yogurt drops, baby goldfish, cheerios and peach poofs.  Because of all the snacks, Sam spent a long time just eating his way through his basket. 

(Here he is...signing for "more")

Once we were able to pry the snacks out of his chubby little hands, we all took a walk to the park to play on the swings and look at the ducks. 

We ended their visit with pizza and another bubble party in the backyard.  Then Sam had his first bubble bath with his new bubble soap. 

What a tasty, bubbly Easter celebration!

Easter Chick from Sara Straka on Vimeo.