Samuel 8-10 months

9 month apt:

19 lbs. 13 oz.

28 inches long

Sam learned how to crawl the week we were getting ready to leave for Germany. He was about 9 months old. For the past few weeks, he has been getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. He looked as if he was so close to figuring it out. Tom’s parents came out to visit Jan. 14-16 before we left. We were sure he had waited to show them for the first time. He made his first movements forward that weekend, but never did more than two or three steps. Each time he did, we would all shout in excitement, which would scare him, and he would stop. We were really busy packing and cleaning the next two days before we flew out so he spent a lot of time being babysat at the Carlstons. He seemed to make a little progress, and she captured a video of him crawling and posted it on her blog. When we got to Germany, our new apartment has all wood floors throughout the entire apartment. We love it, except for the fact that it makes it nearly impossible for Sam to figure out how to crawl. He gets up on all fours and tries to go forward, but all he does is slide. His knees give out from under him and he can’t seem to stay up. He ends up pushing himself backwards. He’s been pushing himself into corners and under the furniture all week. Once he’s under the furniture, he can’t seem to figure out how to get out and he’ll yelp for help. Its pretty funny. If I leave on his shoes, this seems to help a little bit by providing a little traction. I’m not sure he’ll ever learn how to crawl successfully in this apartment, we’ll see. He is getting more mobile though. He is starting to pull up on things and get up on his knees. It probably wont be long before he is pulling himself up to standing and walking along the furniture.

*This was written a few weeks ago, he is now 10 months old and a crawling machine! Which also means he is into everything! He has certain places in the apartment he loves to play (the bathroom trash can, our shoe shelf, and the pot/pan cupboard.) When it gets really quiet and I notice that Sam is not in the same room as me…I know right where to look. It makes me wonder why I ever encouraged him to crawl in the first place.

Other funny milestones and traits right now:

-Sam loves to grab faces and give kisses. If you get close to him, he will grab your face and pull you in for a big, open mouth, slobbery kiss. Its cute, but wet. Grabbing is not so fun. I have to keep his nails really short, because he has scratched my face many times trying to give me “loves.”

-Sam is fascinated by his sister Ainsley. If she walks in the room, he lights up and follows her every move. He thinks she is the funniest thing ever. If she does anything, he will start to laugh. She loves this, and tries to do more silly things to keep him going. They share a room and many mornings I will hear them giggling in there. When I open the door, I’ll see Ainsley sitting next to Sam’s crib making faces at him and making him laugh. I love to see them get along. Sam also wants whatever Ainsley has. He is constantly trying to hold her princesses or dolls. This does not fly with Ainsley. If Sam even dares touch one of her toys, she has a fit. We are working on getting her to share, but her argument always is, “He’s a boy, boys don’t play with princesses.” Can’t really argue with that…

-Sam loves music. Whenever you turn music on, his little body goes up and down in rhythm like he is dancing. It is really cute and one of my favorite things about him.

-Sam is eating more and more solid foods everyday. He loves crackers, raisins, bread, yogurt puffs, etc. His favorite is French fries. We gave him one to distract him while we ate out once because he was really grumpy. He loved them, now whenever we have them he will eat more than Ainsley. You can’t feed them to him fast enough. He loves to eat off my plate too, he will eat almost anything we are having for dinner. I still make his own baby food, but he is getting more and more picky. He doesn’t seem to like vegetables as much anymore…probably now that he’s had so much sweet fruits and other yummy things. He has such a big appetite lately. The other day he ate an entire grilled cheese sandwich (broken in pieces), where as his sister ate only half of hers.

-Bathtime is still his favorite time of day. He is a fish in the water and absolutely loves it. I get drenched everytime I bathe him because he kicks and splashes so much. I used to use the shower curtain as a shield to block the water as I watched him play in the bath. But here in Germany, there is no shower curtain so I get drenched. Ainsley usually bathes with him, but she doesn’t like his splashing either. She is always getting mad at him for getting her wet. She is not as much a fan of the water. We still struggle to pour water on her head just to wash out her shampoo.

-He has a funny “pirate face” that he makes all the time. He scrunches his face up, closes one eye, and one eyebrow raises. It is the funniest thing. I’ve had a hard time capturing it on camera though.

-Sam has learned how to sign, “more,” “all done” and sometimes “milk.” I try to do a few signs with him since we had such success with signing with Ainsley. He’s never watched “Signing Time” but has picked up on a few. He has also learned how to wave goodbye. He also loves to shake his head “no” or “yes.” It’s really cute.

-He still takes two naps a day. But church is right during his morning nap, but he will no longer fall asleep in my arms. He is very squirmy and loud during church. Tom and I take turns “battling” him the whole block. He is the youngest baby in our ward right now so he is also the loudest. It is a little embarrassing at times

-He loves cars and balls. His favorite thing to do is push his little squishy IU ball around and crawl after it. He also loves to push his cars and crawl after them. His other favorite toy…it whatever Ainsley happens to be playing with at that moment. He’ll try to take it from her and it drives her nuts.

-Sadly, has two not so great habits. The first is his uncanny ability to find any electrical plug nearby. Whenever he sees one near, he goes straight for it. In Germany, they are squares with a cut out circle in the middle and he is fascinated by them. He immediately wants to stick his finger in it. This week we went to a playgroup in the city. We were in a huge room with balls, pillows, and stuff to crawl on. But somehow, Sam found the only plug in the room and spent most of the time trying to make his way over to it. I had to keep pulling him away from it. The second is his fascination with cords. He loves to grab and pull any cord, the computer cord, ipad cord, or cords behind the tv. We are constantly yelling at him to stop.

-Sam got his first two teeth at the exact same time. He was being especially cranky about the second week we were in Germany. He kept waking up crying in the middle of the night. This was very unusual for him. One night, he woke up crying. I pulled him in my bed because I was so tired. Tom asked me, "Why is he so upset?" I said, "I don't know." Tom then asked, "Could he be teething?" I checked, and yep...two teeth were poking through. I hadn't even noticed. But as soon as they were in, he was so much happier.

-He is beginning to say little words. When asked, he can say “Dada.” When he is in his crib or crying, he always says “Mama, Mama.” And when he sees Ainsley, he makes some jumble of “A sound.”

We love our Sammyboy! He is such a happy little guy and he brings such joy into our home. He is a wonderful child and mild tempered. He is such a flirt in public. He is a momma's boy and loves to be held. Now that he can crawl, he follows me around the house...whining for me to pick him up. We love him and are so grateful to have him in our family.