Author Archives: Caitlin

Kelly Crawford: Best Photographer Ever!

Through my friend Natalie, I found an amazing photographer. She came to our house today and took some beautiful pictures of Sam. She was so patient and great at setting up shots. I highly recommend her (kcrawfordphotography.com). The only problem is that her husband is in the foreign service, so at the end of January, they will be moving to East Timor. When they get back in two years, I can guarantee I will be booking another shoot!

The cutest baby in the world

Sleeping like, well, a baby

I knit that blanket for Sam.

Can you tell he is about to cry?

Baby in a basket!

My little smiley guy.

Sweet hat.

snOMG 2009

Today there was a record-breaking snow storm in DC.

We didn’t leave the house, except to take Henry outside.

And of course to take pictures of Sam’s first snow.

All bundled up.

What a cute pair.

Christmas Decorating

I wanted to get a Christmas tree, but we just kept not making it to Meadows Farm. Yesterday, we finally decided to go. Ben came straight from work and greeted me with hot chocolate from Starbucks. Sadly, there were almost no trees left. Since we were leaving next week to go to Texas for a week, we decided to just skip the whole tree thing. But hey, at least we got a picture with Sam in a cute holiday outfit and and a tree in the background.

This is what we ended up with at our house. Not bad, right?

Next year, I think we will go with an artificial tree. We can put that up the day after Thanksgiving!

President Barack Obama

Sam and I drove downtown to meet Grandpa Pat for lunch today. We got stuck in traffic. So much traffic, in fact, I was able to get out the car and take a picture.

Pretty soon, we heard sirens. President Obama and his motorcade came rolling by.

There they go!

Wave to the preseident, Sam!

Sometimes it’s cool to live in DC.

Happy Hanukkah!

Sam celebrated his first Hanukkah. We even made latkes, but sadly there is no photographic evidence.

Daddy helped Sam unwrap his present. Thank you Grandma Trish and Grandpa Chuck for the adorable outfit (complete with sweater vest).

Two months!

We went to see Dr. Mouchahoir today for Sam’s two month check up. I can’t believe how fast time is flying! Sam is doing great and we couldn’t be prouder parents. He had TWO shots this time and after our experience last time, we were braced for the worst. He did a much better job this time, or maybe we were just more ready for the tears.

Dr. M was very impressed with his head and neck control, which I was happy to hear. I have been slacking on tummy time lately because Sam hates it so much. But Sam was really showing off at the appointment. He even lifted himself up on his forearms!

Sam’s stats–

Weight: 13 lbs, 13 oz (95th percentile)
Length: 25 ½ inches (Dr. M said “off the charts” but wrote down 98th percentile)
Sleeping habits: Eats at 11 pm and then wakes up at 7ish. Although he sometimes squeaks on and off starting at 5… The saving grace is that Sam and Dad get to spend some quality time together after the first feeding of the morning while Mom goes back to sleep!
Favorite toys: infant chair (loves to kick to make the lights and music play), Lamaze spinning mat (helps make tummy time more bearable), mobile (smiles and giggles as objects spin and fall)
Smiles and coos all the time. I love it! It is so rewarding to smile at Sam and have him smile back. I love when he gets his eyebrows going for the extra cheesy smiles

Thanksgiving

Sam’s first Thanksgiving was great, although I am pretty sure he didn’t notice! Grandma Judi, Grandpa Char, Grandma Stephanie, Grandpa Jerry and Auntie Rebecca all came to visit and helped us cook a delicious meal (actually, they did almost all of the cooking). It was great to have all of the visitors and I don’t think Sam was set down for a minute—which was a nice treat for him! Sam has really started looking at people and smiling so it was so fun to see him interact with all of his relatives. The only bad part about the weekend was that Sam started waking up before 7:30 again (he had been sleeping from 11-7:30). Oh well! I am sure he will get back to normal soon!

Sam is one month old!

Today Sam is one month old! I can’t believe it. Everyone says the time flies by and it really does. I can’t believe I am saying this but I am really going to miss this stage. I love being able to hold Sam in my arms right after he eats. He is so sleepy and happy and curls up in the tiniest little ball.

And I love seeing all of his adorable expressions—each day there is a new favorite.

Sam’s stats–
*Weight: 11 lbs, 2 oz (90th percentile)
*Length: 23 ½ inches (97th percentile)
*Sleeping habits: Eats at 10:30 pm, 3ish, and 7:30 am—getting close to sleeping through the night!
*Starting to track and make eye contact on occasion, although he often looks away. Maybe eye contact is too intense for him right now.

*Cried like crazy when he got his shot! Ben and I couldn’t believe all the tears from the shot this time. We thought it would be a breeze because when he got his first vaccine right after he was born he hardly seemed to notice. Poor baby!
*Favorite toys: Mr. Peacock and Joey the caterpillar (Ben does a hilarious Jersey voice for Joey. I’m not sure Sam appreciates it yet but it certainly keeps us entertained)

Picture Day

Mom is visiting and we went to Sears today for Sam’s first portrait session. He pretty much cried the whole time but we got a few good shots. And the crying ones are pretty cute too. The important thing is we got at least one shot for the birth announcement. Success!

Week 4

This past week has been really good. I really felt ready to start socializing and meeting other moms. I joined the Fairlington MOMS club and went to my first event—the Halloween party. I rushed over as soon as I finished feeding him and he slept almost the whole time. It was funny because it really wouldn’t have made much of a difference if he was there or not. He just stayed in his stroller the whole time while I talked to the mom’s. But he did get to wear a super cute Halloween costume!

Then the next night, we went over to Rachel and Matt’s house to help pass out candy to trick-or-treaters and hang out. It was really fun to see everyone and show off Sam. He donned his second Halloween costume and looked adorable (of course!).

Mom is coming tomorrow and I am really looking forward to having some adult company during the day!