Life of a Sampson

I'm just going to stop apologizing in each post about how late I am at posting. Let's just make huge delays the new expectation, and then if I happen to get in a prompt post now and then you will be pleasantly surprised. :)

Little Man had his 18 month well baby check up a couple of Saturdays ago. The problem with waiting to post is that you forget all of the stats. We have a summary sheet somewhere, but it isn't sitting right here at the computer and I'm not ready to jump up in search of it! I know he weighed in at 23 pounds, 4 ounces, which put him right below the 50th percentile. His height was around the 60th percentile and his total BMI was right on the 50. Sounds just about perfect to me! We were told to add a multivitamin with Iron, and the pediatrician informed us we no longer had to be concerned with developmental delays....that he was going to clear him of his concerns from the last visit. We didn't know to be concerned, so this was news to us! So we're right on track.

I tried to count up Noah's spontaneous words the other day...I think he has about 40 words he will say consistently. There are a few that we are still trying to figure out what he's trying to tell us, but in general he's very good at getting his point across (must come from his speech pathologist mama...). He loves to help with chores--unloading the dishwasher, putting his pajamas in the drawer, putting dirty clothes in the hamper, moving wet clothes from the washer to the dryer, dusting, sweeping, and anything else he can do to be by Mama's side. Books and music continue to be his favorite things. He has some books memorized (Bubbles, Brown Bear, and On the Farm to name a few) and will say key words along with the reader, and knows to point to the radio or the TV to ask for music. He loves doing the actions to "Wheels on the Bus", "If You're Happy and You Know It", and "Five Little Monkeys". Other current favorite pastimes include watching Mama cook, throwing things down the stairs through the baby gate, putting puzzle pieces in place, giving kisses, and anything to make Mama and Daddy smile. He asks to go "night night" when he's tired, which sure does make sleeping much easier than it used to be! Daycare continues to go well (in fact, maybe too well....now he cries when I pick him up to go home!) :) and we're just extremely blessed by our little guy right now.

Enough of a narrative. Enjoy a few pictures!

A pro on our hands?

He LOVES sharing Lucky Charms with Daddy.

Shopping for groceries in Mama's cabinets.

Saying "cheese" for the camera

This is how I found Noah in his crib today...asleep! He often asks to take a book to bed and will turn pages in the dark and "read" it outloud, but this is a first. When Aunt Mandie saw the picture, she said, "Looks like he was really in to that book!". haha. Literally!!

Keeping an eye on Mama's cooking. Nice belly, Son! And bed-head! :)

Daniel taught Noah how to drink from the faucet...

...which he now loves and wants to do frequently!!!

Noah is taking after his daddy way too early! :)

Learning about different kinds of birds.

Clearly, Santa was NOT a huge hit with Noah...

Noah LOVED adding the sprinkles to the sugar cookies for Grandma Shoemaker.

My son got in his first "wrestling" match with his cousin, and I ran for the camera! Oops.

Noah loves rocking in the kid-size rocker at Grandma and Grandpa Shoemaker's house.

The neighborhood Santa came by for a present, but Noah clung tightly to Daddy. After Santa was halfway down the street, Noah finally said "Bye!"

Playing with the present from neighborhood Santa.

One of Noah's favorite activities is to climb off and on the couch (he just needs a little help to climb on some of our couches--others he can do on his own). He loves putting his hands behind his head and "sitting like Daddy".

Noah thought one of Mommy's Christmas presents was a perfect jungle gym....

"Boo!"

But Mommy likes it much better as a toy organizer!

Singing songs at the Christmas Eve service. Noah loved dancing to the music. A little boy in front of us entertained Noah by showing him how to work an iPhone. His parents probably weren't entirely thrilled with him handing over their phone to complete strangers...but Noah enjoyed it!

Daniel and I both worked all week the week of Christmas except for Christmas Day so we didn't get to do any traveling. It was the first Christmas we've spent on our own--not at a parent's house. It was quiet, but it was nice to start our own traditions. (We do hope that Noah won't choose to start a tradition of the Christmas Eve he gave us---he got sick 5 times in two and a half hours through the night. Thankfully he chose to sleep in a little Christmas Day to let us all make up some of the sleep we missed out on! After that, he was fine! We're thankful it was short lived!)

Noah (or was it actually Daniel??) got waffle blocks from Grandma Sampson for Christmas. He/they loved them!

Noah knew he wasn't allowed to touch the tree...when we told him to get presents he stuck his bum way up in the air when bending over and trying to reach under the tree without touching it. It was adorable. And hilarious. And maybe we made him get all the presents just so we could laugh at him doing it over and over again....maybe.

The weekend after Christmas and before New Year's we drove to Pennsylvania to see Daniel's family. About an hour before we left St. Louis it began to snow and continued to snow most of our drive. At a gas stop in Indianapolis, the snowflakes were huge. We took Noah out of his carseat to experience it--he didn't know what to think! The flakes scared him at first and he tried to back away as they were flying into his face, but once he realized they wouldn't hurt him he laughed and squealed--I guess he liked it!

Noah was a fantastic traveler--we couldn't have asked him to be better. He didn't sleep nearly as much as I thought he would, considering we drove through the night, but he was happy and talkative when he was awake, which made for a great trip. My favorite memories from the drive: I had handed Noah his sippy cup and was turned around halfway in my seat to wait for him to hand it back. He took a sip before bringing the cup down from his lips, looking me in the eyes, and saying, "Hii-iii", in a "what are you looking at me for?" tone. Hard to type into a story, but it cracked me up. A while later, Noah started fussing just a little bit as he was trying to fall to sleep. I handed him a pacifier (which I have an incredible desire to break him of, but it just works so well to calm him down when needed that I can't bring myself to do it!) which he popped in his mouth and sucked on a few times. He then took it out and said, "Ahhhh!" Oh, Noah. You do make me smile. :)