Our Trip to Washington

For almost ten days at the beginning of August, we traveled to Seattle, Washington to celebrate two very special occasions. 

The first was my mother’s 60^th birthday (for those of you reading that are her friends, no worries, the big day isn’t until September 24th). She said awhile ago that in place of us planning a big party for her, she wanted to go on a family vacation --- but like, a REAL family vacation with ALL of the family.  Strange concept, I know….but these days our family includes: Mom, Dad, Tim (in Los Angeles), his wife Lilly (who came in from Maine because she was there for the summer for an art institute), Jeff (New York City), his girlfriend Laura (New York City), me, Zach, baby Sam (all in ND), and Alan (and his ex-girlfriend Michaela joined us a lot because they both live in Seattle and we all adore her).  So imagine getting all of those people in one place for any amount of time.  J   But miracles apparently do happen.  

Dinner at Kingfish Cafe

The group, minus Dad, the photographer

This was the first time that Sam would meet Uncle Tim, Aunt Lilly, Uncle Alan, and Miss Laura.  He was pretty spectacular the entire vacation, which made me so happy.  He usually is such a pleasant kiddo, so I am glad they got to see that.

Morning story time with Uncle Tim

A bottle from Miss Laura

Sam in the "kids" picture

My mom had found a house to rent in Greenlake, and it was amazing!  So fun to have plenty of space, a porch, living room, and a kitchen (and amazing to have a dishwasher for bottles…..).  It was just the right size for our group and really a place we could lounge around in.  The first night we all got there we were tired, so we just ordered in pizza and enjoyed each other. Over the next couple of days we packed in some great stuff like: the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery tour, the Ballard Farmer's Market, an Argosy Seattle Harbor cruise, Pikes Place Market, a hike to Twin Falls, a visit to a few local spots that Alan enjoys, and the ‘kid’ gift to our mom --- a family photo shoot.  We have no proofs yet, but if I’m allowed to share them when they are ready, I will.  That was what we did the last night, which was a nice wrap up --- but we were so bummed to have everyone part ways the next day.  Here are a few more pictures!

Going to the Ballard Farmer's Market

The second occasion that took us to the beautiful northwest was the wedding of my best friend, Jess, to her best friend, Dan.  J    They live in Seattle, but their wedding festivities took place in the San Juan Islands, which is even more northwest of the city.  We took a ferry to Friday Harbor and then drove up to the resort, Roche Harbor.  It was such a gorgeous place to get married.  We had a great time.  There was a bridal shower that my mom and I gave, a BBQ to welcome all of the guests (in place of a rehearsal dinner), the wedding on Friday night, and a brunch on Saturday.  We were very busy, but it was so lovely for that busy-ness to be with good friends.

None of them had met Sam, and they did SO well with him!  It is a strange feeling when we venture to something like this where we are with “old” friends.  Most of them are people I met in college, and none of them have kids.  We were the only ones --- a very opposite situation from here in ND where EVERYONE has at least one kid.  We were odd guys out --- but each of the girls were so sweet with Sam and loved on him like they had known him forever and they were taking him in as their own for now.   And it was fantastic to have my parents there with us because they were so willing to help (and they did a lot!).

Six month Sam is close on the horizon…..

July Travels

We have been doing a lot of traveling lately, which has been interesting.  It has been so good for Sam to be in different environments and meet so many new people…but I always get a little nervous traveling with him.  I never know how he’ll do on the airplanes (he is usually great, but we had two bad flights one time that scarred me), and I’m a little uneasy exposing him to so many germs……but each new experience has really been good for him.  I feel like he develops and grows so much with each new place.

In July I went to Kansas with Sam for a few weeks.  I had a bachelorette party go to at Grand Lake in Oklahoma, so my parents watched Sam for a few days at their house.  It was strange to be away from him for that long for the first time, but I knew he was in good hands.  

Playing with new toys

Loves the outdoors, so he went on walks with Papa Mark

We then had a week at my parents house togetherbefore we left for Table Rock Lake in Missouri.  Sam met a lot of our friends from Bartlesville and went swimming in the lake for the first time.  He seemed pretty impartial to the experience, which was similar to his first pool experience. Oh well!  He was a great kiddo during the entire trip, and that was all I wanted.

Lake swimming

Pool time on the deck

Floating in the tube.  

In August we traveled to Seattle and Roche Harbor, Washington for two different special occasions, so I'll do a separate post for that vacation (Zach came for that one!).

5 Months on August 9th

On August 9^th,  Sam turned 5 months old.   We were in Seattle/Roche Harbor, Washington for my best friend’s wedding, so he had plenty of people around to celebrate with him (the groom’s mother called it his monthiversary).   We just got back home recently, so we were a few days behind on picture taking.

5 Month Sam

Shortly after this photo he starting chewing on the stuffed
cow...so we removed it and put Mia there instead.....

....but then he started chewing on his outfit.  Teething?  I think so.

 We haven’t had an official doc appointment for the updated measurements on our little guy, but at the quick appointment we did have in late July (he had a little rash on his stomach) he was 15 pounds 8 ounces...so a pound heavier than his 4 month stats.   Here are a few of new things that happened this month.

* Rolled from his back to his stomach in his Pack N Play…..but we missed it….and he hasn’t done it a whole lot since…

* Clothing: somehow jumped from 3 month clothing straight into 6-9 month sizes.  This child is so long!  He also graduated to size 2 diapers.

* First weekend away from Zach and me, first time with a babysitter

* Met all of his aunts and uncles

* Lots of traveling!  I’ll talk about all of that soon….

* Starting to sit steady on his own

* His blonde hair grows more and more everyday...and he has one REALLY long strand that I can't bring myself to cut, so it flaps in the wind.  Easy entertainment for us.  :)

* Eating: four bottles that are 6 ounces and one 8 ounce bottle before bed.  He has also started a new things where he likes to rub his fingers on something while he eats.  It is so cute to be giving him a bottle and feel these little fingers swirling around on your back.  Textures are an obsession lately.

*We are pretty certain he is teething, because his sleep has become a little rocky.  He’ll go to sleep really well and then wake up off and on between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.  The pacifier calms him down, but if it falls out, I’m up again to get him back to sleep.

*Loves: the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” but only with the actions, the book “Tails” that has textured tails on each page for him to feel, checking himself out in the mirror, our dog Mia, anything he can get into his mouth.

We liked the blue neon SAM sign in the background
Seattle, WA
August 2012

He is just such a blast.   It is crazy to see how much he develops each day…..he is so much more active in his jumper (pushing buttons, spinning things, grabbing the toys that dangle), he smiles ALL of the time, he is laughing when things are funny, and in just overall most interactive.  He will still go to a stranger, but it is very apparent that he knows us and his aunts/uncles/grandparents.  He will even give great reactions on Skype when he sees a familiar face.  

He is growing up so much, which seems to be something that most parents get sad about...but we feel really lucky to have such a healthy and happy little guy.  

4 Months on July 9th!

Way behind, as usual.

Month four was full of big moments!  Sam celebrated his first Father's Day with Zach, he took his first airplane ride to Kansas, met his Uncle Jeff and the "greats" on mom's side of the family.  He had his first really big chuckle of a laugh, celebrated his first 4th of July, and he rolled over from his stomach to his back!

Sam's 4 Month Stats:

Weight: 14 lbs. 8 oz. (43%)

Length: 25.5 inches long  (73%)

Head: 43.1 cm.

Eating:  6 ounce bottles with formula supplements, mainly before bed

Sleeping:  Very predictable nap schedule during the day and still very solid sleeper at night.  We usually get about 10 hours out of him at night.  :)

Favorites: the book "Harry the Dirty Dog," our family dog Mia, and when Zach gets home from work.  

Zach's family came for the Fourth of July, so time with them is how he rounded out his fourth month.  We spent a lot of time at home just "baby watching," but we did make it to the air show on the 4th.  We didn't stay for fireworks.....maybe next year, if we live somewhere that gets dark before 11:00 p.m.  :)