Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sam is settling in
We tried to keep the same schedule as school with nap time right after an early lunch, but with a piano tuning going on in the house and me and Sam running errands in the late morning, he got lunch and nap time about an hour late. Aimee said he was asleep before she even laid him down in the crib. He slept for over 2 hours too. It was great.
Oh and he sure has had a great appetite lately. He eats all his vegetables, with minimal fussing by the end, crackers or cereal, and a full helping of a fruit (he loves applesauce but we have been trying mango lately, which he is warming up to.) Oh and tonight Aimee made a berry smoothie with yogurt and a berry mix we get from Costco... we all had them and had no problems finishing them off.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Aimee's workin it
I am tasked with dropping him off in the morning, 8am, and picking him up at 2pm so we get a slightly reduced rate for not having him there all day. I have a pretty easy schedule, so it works out pretty good and I get to give him a snack and try to get him to rest for a little bit before Aimee comes home, we eat dinner, entertain him until his bedtime at 7 when we get to work on other things until we get to bed around 9-10pm.
I would still like to try to find a place, other than a daycare facility, like we have him in now, that may be in some one's home and with someone who could give him more personalized attention. They seem to have a lot of kids at the place we have him at now and with limited teachers, it means that only the fussy ones get the attention. That said, the "teachers", "caregivers", "play coordinators" or whatever you call them at this stage, are great. They do seem to try to attend to each kid, there are just too many to really allow a one-on-one interaction all day.
Sam hasn't been fussy, for the most part, except maybe when I first leave he gets a little pout and wimper. His reports for the day have rated him as content, but when we come to pick him up he is evidently relieved and kinda whimpers about it a little when he sees me. I watched him through the window yesterday before I went into the room to get him and he was just kinda milling around the room at the coattails of one of the main caregivers, Kristin. It looked like he really didn't know what to do with himself. It really made it hard for me to leave him there today.
As a result, I have found it a little hard to concentrate at work. I read a book when Sam was about a month old, well part of a book, called The Science of Parenting. (I should finish that now that he is older.) It talked about the observations that this doctor group had done on brain chemistry of children, through brain scans, as they grew up and were in different situations. One of their conclusions with kids in Daycare was that they were all under stress of being away from their parents, even if they seemed content and didn't fuss during the day. The same stress hormones and indicators were present in the calm, content kids as in the ones wailing and crying for periods of time during the day.
Sam kinda looks at me when I leave with an inquisitive and almost sad look on his face. He seems to accept that he is staying at I am leaving with minimal fuss, but I can just sense that he really just doesn't understand why we are leaving him there with these strangers. I know he will adapt, as kids are very resilient, and Sam seems to take to new experiences well. My crazy analytical, or as my friend growing up liked to call it just anal, mind just can't keep going over what his experience must be like for the two closest people in his life (his caregivers, family, friends, and play pals) give him up for what must seem like forever to his time insensitive mind. He has to get used to new people, doing things in a different way to Mom and Dad.
Please pray that Aimee and I can make the most of our interaction with him in the morning and at night when we are with him that he would be aware that we love and care for him deeply and are only putting him through this because we have no better alternative at the moment. Please also pray God's will with our situation, that if a better place for Sam is out there that He would direct our search to find it and make us aware when we come across it.
I pray that Sam is getting at least some good out of this experience and will come through it with some beneficial life skills and experiences, like making friends, dealing with new experience, how to manage change... I have to trust God will nurture and protect Sam in the way only He can and that Sam isn't too young for it to be beneficial for him.
Sam's attempts at feeding himself
Last night when I had to feed him by myself before Aimee got home because he was screaming and trying to climb into his highchair, he was evidently hungry. He wouldn't let me feed him more than a couple bites, so I gave over the spoon and he got a couple good spoonfuls in when he started just kinda playing with it. He also got this, for a better way to describe it, "sinister" look on his face (like when a madman in a movie contemplates his master plan) and was jabbing his spoon into the bowl of food he was eating. I hope this isn't something he is picking up from kids at Daycare.
He then decided to start wiping the mess of food on his face and got it in his hair and chair and essentially everywhere. Aimee and I are quite neat freaks and are having a hard time with him making a big mess, but trying to let aside our inner Monks to let him be a kid and explore and figure it out for himself. We have been successful to this point in keeping him from playing with the bowl too much, like picking it up or swiping it off the table, but have tried to not clean up every little splotch of food he gets on the table and himself. I don't want to give him a complex about having stuff on his hands as I have seen some kids almost have a panic attack if they get messy hands... and I don't want him to turn out like me since I can't continue eating comfortably with sticky hands or utensils.
All that said, it is amazing how well he is doing and how little help he really needs now to feed himself to his content; then he lets us help him finish eating and is fine with it. I guess he is just starting to express his individual space and initiative.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Legos

unfortunately the majority of them are single peg blocks, but they are still fun to build with.
I made a couple lego towers for Sam that you can see on Aimee's blog. Sam really liked pushing them over and even helped place a couple blocks with help... it was exceedingly hard to keep him distracted with other things as i got taller and taller towers built.
I look forward to when we can build something together.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sam's a walkin, man
And this one shows him practicing on the scooting toy my sister's boys, Tyler and Isaac, had at their house while we were there celebrating birthdays with them. He almost got more excited about being able to walk across the room by himself, with the aid of the back or the scooter, than he has when he tries to take several steps on his own.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Holiday's are coming
Sam has been playing with the pumpkins we got when we went to the pumpkin patch at a farm just up the road from us. I hadn't ever gone that way before and didn't realize how many farms there are out there, really pretty close too. Anywho... Sam sure loves his little pumpkin he picked out.
When we went to the farm we had Sam in a really cute overall and shirt, but it was so cold he ended up taking all his pictures in his sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. It reminded me of ET for some reason, something about Elliot or something.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sam’s tongue
Sam started sticking out his tongue for whatever reason lately. He does it all the time and finds it quite funny when you stick out your tongue to him in response. It is quire cute and hopefully it will turn into raspberries soon; which I have been trying to get him to do since he was born.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Long time, new post
Had an unexpected movie experience the other day. We forgot to reorder the movies in our NetFlix queue and got Mr. Brooks. Not that I didn’t want to eventually see it, but there were other movies I would have rather seen.
Anywho… we watched it and were kinda caught off guard with how we got intrigued by the story and the conflict of the main character. It is pretty suspenseful, if not a little slow at times, but not the B movie type we thought we would get from this independent film.
Warning… it is pretty graphic, definitely adult. It is a about a serial killer!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Sleep Time
It seems like 6 out of 7 nights, he is kinda wound up, either due to our daily schedule being a little out of the ordinary or possibly just getting enough sleep during the day (or maybe not enough) and being still mostly awake at bedtime (or possibly too tired other times). Most of the time it seems there is no specific reason. We are putting him to bed and he is calm, tired, but in a general good mood. We put him down in his crib and walk away, shut the light off, step out of the room and, "WaaaAAA", this most desperate cry follows us out the door. I don't know if he is going through some separation anxiety or just, as I said before, either too awake or too sleepy.
It has given me the opportunity to rock Sam to sleep most nights. He falls asleep in my arms and I get to spend about 5 minutes just looking at him by the light of his night light; barely identifiable shadow.
This time is precious to me. I am not wholly aware of why even now. It does embody the relationship I would like to have with my son. To leave him in peace, be "standing outside his door", and be at the ready to comfort and, when the time comes, support him through my strength, warmth and gentle embrace of love. It is through our daily relationship that I am able to build the trust and comfort with him necessary to bring him comfort in these times and it is good to know we are headed the right way.
Tonight he was fussing so hard as I came back in the room. As I picked him up and cradled him in my arms, the wails turned to sweet whimpers, to quiet coos; his eyes shutting almost immediately and I could tell his body relaxed as I felt his full weight in my arms. I stood there for longer than usual and just soaked it in, fully realizing my place in his life. I may feel like I am not cut out to be a good dad sometimes, like I lack something that is necessary, essential. However, it is times like these that those normal doubts vanish because they never really had any substance. It makes me want to strive harder, be better, to live life so that Sam will have the example he needs and so desperately deserves.
It has changed my perception of my heavenly father also; having a son of your own can evidently give you a glimpse of what God must want for us. He wants to be there, ready to swoop in when we call "Father", and already is if we would just call to Him. I guess I need to ponder that aspect more...
Went for a walk
So... I decided he just needed some distraction and I put him in the stroller and started walking. We ended up going down to the river, crossing the bridge and going south along the bike path and he seemed to be doing much better almost immediately. I just kept walking, figuring he would fall asleep and I needed the exercise anyways. I just kept walking, figuring I would go to the bridge to the south, cross back over to the West side and go home with Sam adequately tuckered out if not asleep.

I did not plan that it was over 2 miles to the bridge and I didn't have any water, or a diaper bag for Sam. I was in my work clothes: t-shirt, jeans, work shoes, and my wide brimmed sun hat. My pants were all dirty and still a little wet from weeding and trying to pull out the grape vine stump. I am sure it was quite a site with me walking a stroller down the path in such a condition, but most eyes were on Sam and who cares otherwise.
We got to see some baby geese that were all over a lawn of some retirement place. They were quite cute but I was glad there was a rod iron fence between us and them, they were posturing like they were being protective. Or maybe interested in the slight squeak of the stroller.
Anywho, we got about a mile and a half and were still not at the bridge and I just got wore out. It was hot, I was hot, Sam was struggling every once in a while when the sun would get under the sun shade on the stroller. I finally put the burp clothe hung over the sun shade to provide additional shade over his face and that worked pretty good... then the stroller started squeaking; first the left front wheel and then the right front. Squeak..... Squeak..... Squeak... squeak.. Squeak... squeak.. Squeak. squeak..... Squeaksqueak.... (repeat) I am sure the lady I was following was about to go nuts; I sure was.
Without water and with the repeated squeaking I was just ready to give up. So I found a shady spot just before the bridge that overlooked a pond fed by the river and called Aimee to come pick us up. Going for the walk was a good idea, but just not very good execution or planning.
We had a fun time though and Sam was perfectly content through the whole trip, including the short stop by Fred Meyer on the way back to get him some more baby food (so we can continue to figure out how to make it ourselves and still have something to feed him in the meantime.) BTW, he sat in the cart and played with whatever he could get his hands on... the diaper bag handle, Aimee's purse strap, etc. very contently.
He was great and fell asleep in the carseat on the way home from FM, 1 mile. Ready for a nap when we got home, he slept for over an hour and then got up to eat again, happy as a lark. It was a great afternoon.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Rhodadendrin Garden Park
We went to the Rhododendron Garden Park this past weekend and Sam got to be in the grass for the first time. He didn't seem to know what to think of it at first, especially since we were coaxing him to look so we could take pictures. He didn't seem to mind it too much, but probably will have more fun in the grass when he can crawl around a little better.
It was very nice of Aimee to sacrifice her studying to have a day out with Sam and me. She is almost done with her degree and we both look forward to more times like these.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
First Words...

Monday, May 18, 2009
5 minute conversation
He seems quite taken with the prospect of getting himself understood and seems to be trying so hard to articulate what he is feeling. It was really neat to see him in such great spirit, just letting me know what was on his mind.
He has also been jabbering during meals now when he gets something new, like beans the other night, that he doesn't especially care for. You have to be careful not to stuff a bite in while he is doing this since most of it comes back out, either as spray or just runs down his chin. He makes the funniest faces and shudders from time to time; like when you get a bite of something that just doesn't taste all that great.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Rolling, rolling, rolling
Sam is really getting the hang of rolling over since his first time last week. He has realized that he can throw his head at the end to overcome his arm underneath him. He just today realized he could roll over in his crip too. He was maybe a little surprised when he was successful and wasn't too happy about it. I am sure he will master this in no time also.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sam, almost rolling over
Funny... but you might have had to be there.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Update...
There have been many, many diapers, spit-ups, play times, books, snuggles, and buzzing ear drums since Dec 1, and it has all been worth it. You could say I am quite the proud Dad. I am still learning to gracefully take a seat full of after-bottle spit up that has inconveniently missed the 2 sq feet of burp cloth laid out in front of Sam and soaked my only pair of jeans from knee to rump; luckily I feed him in a slick leather chair. He is very good at thwarting my efforts to keep this from happening and I think I am more frustrated with myself for not anticipating it better, or being ready for it. You would think I could learn by now.
My wife has many pictures of Sam over the past 4 months of his life posted on her blog , since she keeps hers up better than I do. Check it out if you are interested and I will try to post some here that she hasn't posted; maybe some of Sam and me that are special to me.
Friday, October 03, 2008
More to come
I know it has been a long time since I posted last. There has been a lot going on and I haven’t taken the time to write about it all here. I do have a lot to identify as past projects and new ones I am currently working on that need to be finished in the next month before my first child decides to come into the world.
There is a lot to tell and I will make an effort over the next several weeks to post the past and future entries with pictures, but painting the nursery comes first this weekend. Things will be a little more relaxed once Aimee can start putting together the nursery finally.
Oh, and I am trying out a new way to post that doesn’t require me to bring up blogger.com directly. Microsoft Windows Live Writer (Beta) is part of the Windows Live offerings that I came across when posting my work schedule to Office Live and trying to get access to it from home. Anywho, I will let you know over the next several posts how this goes and if I like Writer for blogging.
That’s all for now.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Another weekend
- Nailed the loose baseboard in the Office to the wall so we wouldn't keep kicking it across the room
- Put some fold down door stops on a couple doors that like to work their way closed; Master BR, master bath, and Office. These seem to be way nicer and easier to use than the wedge door stops we were using.
- Vacuumed, to clean up the drilling mess from previous task and catch oversize hairballs in the office and bathroom
- Tried to patch hole in roof over garage that is leaking; but didn't quite get it completely, or the roofing sealant didn't completely stick.
- Hair cut; done by Aimee - really short

- Tried to patch up the small holes in Aimee's car trunk that are letting in water when it rains really hard; but with little success.... I think the bondo I got was not the right stuff to use, so I have to go back to the store to see what else I can find.