Monthly Archives: May 2010

Sam’s New Schedule

Here is Sam’s new “big boy” schedule. He switched to 2 naps at 6 months. Thanks Ellie for helping me figure this out!

7:30 Wake up, have 8 oz bottle

Crazy play time with Dad

9:00 Eat breakfast

10:00 Nap time!

11:30 Wake up (Mon: swim class/ Tues: playgroup)

12:00 Have 8 oz bottle

12:30 Eat lunch

2:30 Nap #2

4:30 Wake up, have 8 oz bottle

Go running!

(Speaking of, I am running my next 5K on June 5th. Please consider making a donation to Susan G. Komen!)

6:00 Eat dinner

7:30 Get ready for bed, read books with Dad and have last bottle (6 oz)

7:45 Turn on fan, pull down black out shades, and down for the night

Messy!

Sam recently started finger foods.

Tofu:

And bananas:

He is such a mess:

And the mess goes all the way up the arm…

Clean up can be tough.

But luckily, Henry’s a great vaccuum cleaner.

He waits patiently on his bed while Sam eats his meal.

(A little less patiently when he hears the “plop” from another piece of food hitting the ground.)

I don’t even need to vacuum…just kidding! (kind of.)

And for your viewing pleasure…

Run, Caitlin, Run

Last weekend I ran my first race ever. It was the 2010 National Police Week 5K. My friend Angie, who is an actual runner, ran with me. In fact, running this race was her idea. Twenty two years ago her uncle, a policeman, was killed in the line of duty. We ran in his memory.

And we’re off! There I am in the lead!

Not really…Here I am! (white top, pink shorts)

I am not a fast runner, but I ran the 3 miles almost 8 minutes faster than I did in practice! I am sure that running without Sam in his jogging stroller helped. As did a little healthy competition–being passed by a middle aged man carrying a 5 foot flag pole really made me step up my game.

But the best motivation was my cheering squad!

Dairy Delivered

Gross! I just recently learned what goes on with egg laying hens. You really don’t want to know. (But in case you do, you can see it here.) I was in a real bind because I LOVE eggs! As much as I admire those who can be vegans, I don’t think I am up for the challenge. And I knew from my friend Angie that eggs labeled “cage-free” or “free-range” weren’t any better.

But as luck would have it, the same day that I saw that video, a friend of mine asked if I was interested in having dairy products delivered from a local farm (Seriously, it was the same day. How weird is that??).

So here’s the deal. Every other week, you set out a cooler and the dairy delivery fairy sneaks over in the dark of night to deliver all the dairy products your heart desires. Or all of the dairy items that you ordered online that week. And because it is from a small, local dairy farm that you can tour yourself (my friend and her daughter did just that), you know all the nastiness that was going on in that video is not going on here!

Our dairy farm is called South Mountain Creamery, so if you are in the DMV area you should check it out. The delivery fee is $3.75 so if you split it with someone, as Ann and I do, it is pretty reasonable. And all the dairy products are priced at about what they would be in the store. And the best part might be the adorable packaging…

Mother’s Day Mahem

For my first Mother’s Day as a mother, Sam and Ben took me out for a delicious brunch at Columbia Firehouse.

And then all hell broke loose.

Well, that might be a slight exaggeration. But really, Sam is no longer the best dining-out companion. Gone are the days when he would sit in his car seat contentedly playing with a toy.

Actually, for most of the brunch Sam was completely happy, he was just screaming nonstop. He screamed in the restaurant, he screamed in the car, he screamed at the grocery store, and he screamed at home. My ears hurt. Shhh!

So my first Mother’s Day was not quite the idyllic day I was picturing, but it was still wonderful. I got to hang out with my two favorite people in the entire world. (And I got to sleep until 9!)

A Tree

Last Friday, we were honored to be a part of something truly special.

When Ben was younger, he was friends with a boy named Graham. Graham had a heart condition and died when he was just a little boy. Ben and his family have remained close with Graham’s family over the years. When we found out we were having a little boy, we wanted to honor Graham’s memory. We named Sam after Graham, whose first name was actually Samuel.

Last Friday a cherry tree was planted on the national mall in Graham’s honor (a kind gift from friends of Graham’s parents). Graham’s parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends flew out to DC for the occasion.

After several touching and moving words about Graham, the tree was planted. Everyone took turns shoveling dirt around Graham’s tree. Here his mother Claudia, his father David, and his sister Eliza take their turn.

We wanted Sam to take part in this as well.

We feel honored to have been able to name Sam after such a wonderful child who left this world way too soon. We cherish the friendship with his family and know it will continue throughout our lives.

7 months!

Happy seven month birthday, Sam! You continue to amaze us with your accomplishments every day. We love you!

Sam’s stats:

Sam is increasingly fascinated with Henry. If Sam is ever fussy, all we have to do is call Henry over and that immediately lifts his mood. He loves when Henry gets within grabbing distance. It makes us a little bit nervous because when Sam grabs hold of your hair, it hurts! But we are trying to teach Sam to be “gentle” and until then, Henry is pretty good about walking away.

Sam is a great eater. So far he has had rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, apples, pears, zucchini, avocados, bananas, and rice crackers. Now that he is seven months old we are going to try tofu! That should be interesting. I have heard it is a good finger food and it will also be a good source of protein mashed into his cereal.

One of Sam’s favorite games is “bibbling” (I don’t think that is a real word, but that is what Ben’s mom said they always used to call it and I don’t have a better word!). Ben puts his hand in front of Sam’s mouth while he is making noise and then moves it back and forth really quickly so that the resulting noise goes: awbawbawbawba. Sam loves it and has even learned how to do it himself. If we imitate him, that really cracks him up!
Sam has been practicing his standing up skills. He loves to stand up but definitely still relies heavily on us to give him balance. We have tried showing him how to hold on to other things to help himself balance but he hasn’t quite gotten the idea. And as you can see, he is very proud of himself!

Sam is starting to develop a little bit more independence and assertiveness. If we are giving him a bottle and aren’t getting it to his mouth fast enough he grabs the bottle by both hands and shoves it into his mouth. He doesn’t understand that he has to tip the bottle up, though. And we have definitely reached the milestone of “objecting when you take a toy away” (to quote “What to Expect the First Year“). He also likes to help us hold the spoon when he is eating.

Screaming is Sam’s favorite sound to make. He often likes to scream first thing when he wakes up. It is not mad or sad; it is a happy scream. But it is definitely a loud scream!
Things that make Sam laugh: sneezing, burping, falling over, being imitated, seeing Henry. He is really developing a sense of humor.

Swim Class Update: The Big Dunk

We went to swim class today. All was going well–we practiced paddling, we practiced kicking, we sang “Wheels on the Bus.” And then it happened. Our swim teacher instructed us to gather together: it was time to dunk the babies. Yikes!

She told us to count to three and then after saying “three” we should blow in our baby’s face and dunk him under. If your baby comes up coughing and crying, that’s it for the day.

So we did it. And Sam was a champ! He came up blinking, but no tears or coughing! I dunked him three times and by the third time he scrunched his face up in anticipation. He’s so smart. Of course, that was also the only the time he came up coughing so maybe his scrunchy face isn’t actually the best for going underwater… In any case, I am sure he is destined to be the next Michael Phelps (except without all the pot-smoking, of course!).

By the way, I found out that taking pictures at the pool is actually not allowed. So no more adorable swimming pics until summer comes and our neighborhood pool finally opens.