A Very Merry Christmas

Sammy had an awesome 2nd Christmas! As you can imagine, he was completely spoiled by our family. We spent Christmas Eve at my Mom and Dad's house with the Smith family, spent Christmas morning at home and then Joe's family came over Christmas Day in the afternoon. He got so many fun toys and we've spent the last couple of days just lounging around watching him play with all of them. It's been so fun watching him and spending all this time with him!

We also got really fun news that we're going to be having another little boy! Joe and I peaked at the ultrasound picture on Friday and then surprised our families on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We keep telling Sam that he is getting a baby brother, but don't think he quite gets it yet! =-) We're really excited - it's going to be fun watching Sam and his brother grow up together. They are going to be best buds (hopefully!) and the biggest Mama's boys you've ever seen! =-)

19 Months

Sammy turned 19 months old today! He has had a busy Thanksgiving weekend - went to the Festival of Lights at the Zoo on Wednesday night, went to Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house on Thursday, got goldfishies for his room on Friday (Dippy and Gipper are their names), went to Nana and Pappaw's for Thanksgiving on Saturday and now it's Sunday and he's been napping for 3+ hours - I wonder why. Here are some current Sammerism's:

- LOVES blankets and paci. He loves to hold the tag from his blanket and rub it against his face.

- Still loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Chuggington

- Has moved from the "Birds" class at Little Gym to the "Beasts" class. He's one of the youngest kids in class, but is doing really well. He can hang from a bar and walk across a balance beam with some help

- His favorite books right now - Corduroy Bear, any Mickey books, Pooh Alphabet, Good Night Gorilla, pop-up books

- Favorite foods - definitely still "cakes" for breakfast. He loves pancakes and we can't get him to try much else. Big Mac n cheese, hot dog and "chick" lover. But don't forget the ketchup!

- Really likes to say "Hi" and "Bye". Was big into giving pucker-kisses up until a couple of weeks ago, but now he seems to prefer to just lean in to get kisses and hugs

- Can identify his hair, eyes, ears, belly (likes to lift up his shirt), nose, feet, etc

- Says a lot of 1-syllable words and turns 2 or 3 syllable words into 1-syllable words: clock, book, home, green, blue, bee, goat, moon, etc.... apple is "app", baby is "ba", etc

- Favorite things to play with: Shooting baskets (loves to say "shoot"), building blocks, cars, choo-choo

- Loves going to the zoo - favorite animals are probably the manatees and monkey's

Moooooo

As you can see, Sammy ended up being a cow for Halloween. Cutest cow we've ever seen! He walked around and said moooo when we would ask him what a cow says. He had his first actual trick-or-treat experience. Wasn't so sure about it at first, but then had a couple of houses where he held my hand and walked up to the door with his candy basket, rooted around for the best chocolate with Mom's guidance and proudly walked back to his wagon. He's a big fan of Kit Kat's. And yes, that is Joe as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man at Aunt Kel and Uncle Ted's big Halloween Party. He was hilarious! We also celebrated Cousin Keelie's 1st Birthday last weekend. Here's a picture of her starting to dig into her cake - she is adorable!

Pumpkin Patch

Here are some updated pictures - I'm a little behind. Daddy went out of town last Sunday so Sammy and I went with our friends, the Foley's to a Pumpkin Farm. Sammy and Kellen had a blast checking out the farm animals and pumpkins and even took a hay ride. I couldn't stop thinking about last October when we took him to a Pumpkin Farm - he was six months and we were posing him next to pumpkins. This year I was begging and pleading with him to stand by a pumpkin, while he just wanted to run around and explore everything. It's so amazing how fast they change in a year! Still trying to figure out what he's going to be for Halloween...think maybe Cookie Monster.

Slumber Party

Sammy's cousins, Karsyn and Madie came over and spent the night Saturday night. Sammy loved it! They played outside for awhile, went crazy in the ball pit, watched a movie and got donuts the next morning - think they all had a lot of fun!

Sammy meets Mickey

A new Disney Store opened up at the Kenwood Mall this weekend and they had pictures with Mickey so we decided to go! When we first saw Mickey, Sammy was really excited. As we moved up in the line and got closer he was checking him out hard core and decided he wasn't so sure about him. We were able to get a picture with him though Sammy didn't want to get too close to him! Something else that happened this weekend that was really funny - after his bath, he decided he wanted to walk around naked for a few minutes. We are on the 2nd floor and he goes over to the railings that look over the entry way/front door. He proceeds to start peeing through the rails onto Jax who is standing below. The scary thing is - he started cracking up laughing like he knew what he was doing!

16 Months

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Our Sammy Whammy turned 16 months today. He's the funniest little guy. He loves playing hide and seek now. Here's one of his favorite hiding places. Some other things he's doing - he's starting to feed himself with a spoon. He's very picky about the books you read to him - he'll take books of the shelf, look at the cover of the book and then either give it to you to read or throw it on the floor. He went to his first baseball game a couple of weeks ago - a Dayton's Dragon game. He loves being outside and playing in his ball pit in the basement. His favorite snack right now - graham crackers mashed up in milk. He likes doing somersaults. He can identify/point to some body parts (ears, eyes, etc). Lots more, but these are just a few things off the top of my head!

15 Months

Sammy turned 15 months last Wednesday. Here are a few updates on what he likes and what he's doing:

- Funny faces (doggy face with his tongue out panting and lip pucker)

- Favorite (or should I say most used) words - "Duck" and "Ball"

- Favorite foods - Pancakes for breakfast, String Cheese and Corn

- Likes giving the dogs treats and throwing the ball for them

- Likes going for rides in his wagon or bike

- Seems to love basketball (points and gets excited when we pass someone who has a hoop in their driveway). Loves to dunk balls. He also really likes his plastic golf clubs.

- Likes going swimming and dunking balls in the hoop at the pool

- Likes slides and going to the playland at our YMCA

- Likes taking baths in his big boy tub and newly decorated monkey bathroom

- Likes going to the Little Gym on Saturday mornings for his "birdie" class.

- Has started to dance when he hears music

- Likes to put things away

- I tried to tell him that everytime he spots a cute chick, he should "whistle, give a wink wink and say "hubba bubba". It always makes him laugh everytime I do it.

- Loves books - he especially likes books that have the tabs you pull open. His favorite books are probably "I Love You Through and Through" and Brown Bear".

- Loves waving hi and waving and saying bye to everyone

First Haircut

Sammy had his first haircut last weekend. We hated to do it because his curly hair was so cute, but it was getting a little long and possibly looking a little girly. He loved everything about the hair cutting place (called Cookie Cutters) - the slide, getting a balloon, watching Mickey...everything that is except sitting in the chair getting his hair cut. Not a fan of that. It looks adorable though and makes him look like a big boy. He's definitely a big time walker now - all over the place! One of our favorite things he's doing right now - Joe and I will sit on opposite sides of a room and I'll say "come give Mom hugs" and he'll waddle over and give me hugs. They Joe will say "come give Dad hugs" and he'll waddle over and give Dad hugs. And then this gets repeated...over and over (he usually doesn't lose interest until he does it at least 6-8 times) - it's the best!