Merry Christmas

We’ve had a fun few days already. We’re now on leg two of our Midwest trip. Christmas we split between Emily’s family and my family. Sam is his usual charming self and is (a small miracle we accept) sleeping later into the morning (8ish). It’s been nice to have some extra pairs of arms to hold him and play with him.

Last night at the Christmas Eve service he played through about the first forty-five minutes but then was restless. I went downstairs and walked him around the fellowship hall. Holding his hands, he was able to step his way along with me for nearly the whole perimeter. He can also balance by himself on his legs—not for long, but for ten or fifteen seconds. I think he’s going to be a little runner soon.

We’re wishing you all a merry Christmas. This has been an exciting 2008 in our (expanded) family.

Storming and Studying

Sam loves to read--we did about 10 books today. I find No No Yes Yes a lot more fun than Western Civ.

The benefit of a popular name is that you get to see it on the cover of books.

He's now a selective crawler. If he sees something he wants, he can be there pretty fast. But he doesn't really just explore, and if the item he seeks is more than 10 feet away he's just not that interested.

Is that not the cutest smile ever? He knows he's learning some skills.

It's been an exciting few days. Yesterday we were snowed under. I took a long walk over to campus to pick up papers in the middle of the storm. It was a fun trip, and I talked to my parents on the way. One of my father's favorite lines for ministers is a quote he stole from the coast guard "we have to go out but we don't have to come back." I was impressed that the Post Office was open, so I mailed some things and picked up a passport app for Sam.

The other pictures above come from today's trip to the library. It was a lot of fun. I worked on the drive up and got some other work done in bursts throughout the day. I have no attention span lately, so I'm finding it very hard to stay engaged with work. I have the urge to spend money or watch videos, or escape the desk, but I can't quite pull it off yet.

I hope you reading this are all well. I can't believe 2008 is racing to a close. I have the feeling that it will be an exciting few weeks ahead of us.

Teething and Wobbling

Sam is really funny lately. Both Emily and I have had experiences where he is really acting funny--he wants to sleep but every few minutes he wakes up and cries. However, with a little Tyenol he's back to smiling and playing within moments. He's a chipper little thing when his mouth isn't bothering him.

He's also funny to watch with his little play table. It's one of the tables where the baby can push buttons and it makes sound. But lately, it seems to give him little fits of baby rage. We still haven't figured out why. Is it because he's standing up and doesn't know he can sit down? Is it because he wants to walk but can't? Is it a sound that scares him? Sometimes he just plays away, but other time it flips him out.

Neither of us are looking forward to the upcoming travel period. I am finishing up the first major batch of grading. The upside is that we're very excited about visiting family and looking forward to Christmas in Ohio.

Essays

If the professor does a review day, gives you essay questions in advance, talks about possible responses, don't you think you would write something for those essays? If he pleads with you for just a few sentences wouldn't you write something?

Sam's Winning Personality

Sam has been a little fussier the last two days. Up to this point, he has had a very charming personality. My work study student said that 他性格很好. She's often kind of surprised by it, as are a lot of other people. Up until this point, his fussiness has always been tied to sleepiness or hunger. It's a bit surprising, perhaps because neither Emily nor I are really that easygoing. He also has been fairly distractable the last six months. Even when he's been tired, he could be persuaded to laugh and play.

I think several developments are in the works. First, he's getting the idea of walking. He won't probably actually be really able to walk for a while, but if he hold his hands he can step, and he loves practicing standing up. He's developing his own little will, and we can see he's frustrated when he wants to do something and can't do it. It's a great thing in that soon he really will be able to do things on his own. And he will be his own person. But it's also a little sad to watch his Happy Baby period ending.

More Pictures

Here are a few more pictures. In the second picture, the person greeting Sam was one of his nurses at the hospital. It has been fun to keep seeing her. Above Sam is at a session meeting. Emily thinks he has "Obama ears." What do you think?

Baptism

One of the church members just gave us photos of Sam's baptism. It really was a fun day, and we remember it fondly (and so will he).

Christmas at the College

Today was the College's annual Christmas party. It was very fun. Emily ran errands and had some solo time while Sam and I worked the party. I was able to talk to several people who I know, Sam had his picture taken with Santa (he was interested in Santa's beard), and we did Christmas songs with candles and a tree lighting. Lots and lots of fun. Sam fell asleep in the chapel during Holy Night, quite appropriately.

Family Pictures, Recent Events, and the December Rush

I've been meaning to upload some family pictures, and now have put up an album on-line of our Chicago trip and of Emily's family. It has been really nice to catch up with everyone.

Over thanksgiving we both got a bit of a break. I had a 9 day period with just one hour of class--a case where have Wednesday-Friday classes paid off (all of which were off for the break). I am getting started on dissertation revisions and working on little projects. Having Barb here helped Emily get some blocks of time to reengage on the dissertation. I keep reminding Emily that we're busy with good reason--a Baby, three jobs, a dissertation, and some other works in progress. And this has been a travel intensive semester--we've been to Williamstown, Louisville, and Chicago.

This last week I could a college class to the UN. Pictures are up here.

For your entertainment, I also attach "the Baby whisperer." Maybe sometime we can arrange a duet with my Dad, who sings Sam a great whale song.

Catching up

We have a backlog of Sam posts. He is now sitting quite well. At Halloween (just above) he was still pretty wobbly, but most recently he sits very well. He's a pretty smiley guy and loves to giggle. He makes a clicking noise, like he wants to be learning Khoi. He loves his jumper, and while he can't exactly crawl, he can now reach pretty much anything he really wants within a five foot radius (although he does get distracted easily).

Emily and I are doing well, although this has been a bit of a rough week. I've had advising, several sets of midterms, and some other projects. I will have my department chair come observe me soon. I'm planning a trip to the UN for my first year class. It's just a lot to do logistically. I am finding that I can handle the logistics, but they are not really fun for me. I do feel that I am doing an excellent job at most of these things, but it's still just a lot to figure out. My biggest challenge is prepping for class. I can do a mediocre job with a few hours prep, or an excellent job with a lot more work. This week I'm doing the Reformation (comfortable) and the interwar period (think Virginia Woolf and Sartre and existentialism--less comfortabl) and next week it's state formation and World War II (down right uncomfortable). On some areas I'm pretty behind. I need to put together syllabi for next semester and do book orders. I'm also behind on my own writing work. All of this is the long way of saying that it's mid-November. There's only a month less, and actually I could be in much, much worse shape.

Pumpkin

Em took Sam to a Halloween party in H-Town today. Here are the pictures, with special thanks to Grandma for the hat and Aunt Lisa for the socks.

Baby Day

Today's my day with the baby, and things are going well. We've already had some nap time, he spent a while in the bumbo (sp?) while I worked in the kitchen, he's doing some exersaucer time and we're planning a long walk and some attempts at solid foods later.

He's continuing his baby struggle towards mobility. He has a sort of "flopping fish" approach now, where through a combination of turning and rolling he can move several feet. He spends time on the floor, but especially loves the bed which is like a zero gravity chamber for babies--he can really book it there. He's pretty delightful to be around, and stays smiley as long as he's in sight of someone.

He continues to make new sounds. For a while he had an extended bark (or maybe a "quack"?) monologue he'd do that was very entertaining. Well, entertaining when we were awake. It wasn't so entertaining at 6am.

It's hard to believe Sam's closing on 7 months. Depending on how you count it was Friday (when the birth occurred) or will be this Tuesday.

And here are a few more baptism pictures. We're still remembering the happy day.






Here he is exhaused after his happy day.

Baptism

Our Church, With Blue Skies Overhead

Maureen holds Sam

Today was Sam's baptism. It was a wonderful day and he seemed to love every minute of it. He's just such a fun baby it's hard to describe. I know that he won't always be like this, and I won't always have so much time to spend with him, but I am just continuously delighted.

Rho, a Deacon, grabs him next

He woke up smiling and played and then napped on the (now nearly 90 minute) commute to church. He was picked up almost immediately by Maureen, a member who I knew before we began going here, and who would serve as the elder later in the service.


Sam gets passed around a lot, and really thrives on the attention. I think I was more circumspect as a child, but he seems to love being the baby of the church. He was fine throughout the service. Our worship has a mix of music, liturgy, and arts, so he is usally very content. Today he had one brief fuss, but otherwise seemed to enjoy being part of worship.



For the service itself, Pastor Karen asked the questions and performed the baptism, but Alex (a recent seminary grad who works there) preached the Sermon. It was (appropriately) the Pauline text. Sam was engaged throughout the baptism--very focused on what was happening. He didn't seem to mind the water at all.

This is a member of our church and one of the nurses from the hospital, Tekla. We heard she would be there if there was c-section, but she also happened to be working the weekend we were there. She saw him as a newborn and holds him on the day of his baptism

He was carried through the pews and his hand was held by many people. I know that in my Reformed Worship class we discussed the appropriateness of this, but I actually think it's a beautiful reminder for the church. And for adults, our congregation tends to either have many people laying on hands or an invitation to the congregation to come and hug the new member. In many ways, it was just the standard service, and yet it meant and will mean a lot to us, and I hope also to Samuel. We went to part of the session meeting after church and then went out with Samuel.

Sam smiles at Grandma

I think we have felt that this church called us in a unique way. I'm sad we're so far away now, but very glad that we're able to stay involved. And we're very happy Sam could be baptized at the church that loves him so much.

Week Six or Seven?

It's hard to believe how the semester goes. Things always are so busy. I feel like I am beginning to get a hang of courses, even though parts have been a little rocky. I gave the worst grades I've ever given on a test and only had a couple of students come to see me. I'm not sure quite what to make of that.

My parents come tomorrow, so I thought I'd put up one batch of pictures now before the photo flurry of family + baptism. We go to a church that is AV-friendly, so I am sure there will be plenty of images. I'm very excited about Sunday and glad that my mom and dad could come.

Here are some recent pictures of Sam in denim. He's incredibly cute lately and we are continuously in awe of our baby. He is a total little extrovert. We have a baby sitter for a couple of hours on Monday, which will let Emily get up to her school for the day. I may also have a work study student who can help me with Chinese and office work. I'm sort of surprised everything is coming together.

More news to follow...

6 Months

As he was born on March 21st, Sam is now 6 months old. He dazzled the congregation today, pulling on people's hair, crowdsurfing his way through the pews, and smiling at anyone who would smile back.

Some updates:

• He gets his six month check-up and shots on Tuesday
• He's making raspberry noises
• He likes carrots, but isn't so kean on bananas, applesauce, pears, or oatmeal
• When he eats something especially new or strange he does this funny electric shake, like you're giving him shock therapy and not just applesauce
• He is inchworming his body a little bit--he reaches out his army and wiggles his bottom and moves his leg. There's no sign of an actual crawl, but he's working on it
• Like his father, he turns cranky almost exclusively when he's hungry or tired

Those are the Sam Chronicles for this week.

Teething

This was one of our more productive days. I did five hours of class, we went back to Old Home and visited with various friends and family. I feel worn out, but still reasonably coherent.

I’m becoming more balanced about teaching and preparation. I still struggle with Western Civ, but I think this is just the nature of teaching outside my field.

Samuel continues to be quite charming. He took some nice naps and handled the car well. He was tired/hungry at dinner, which is hard for him in unfamiliar places. If he’s hungry, that makes him mad, but he won’t eat unless he’s sleepy sometimes. The challenges of baby moods…

He is probably teething. He slept unevenly last night and was fussy this morning. I suspect we have one coming. It will be hard, because I hate seeing him uncomfortable. Sadly, pain is part of growing up or being human.

Baby sitters and other matters

Yesterday I took Sam to school with me. It was a pretty interesting day. I did my early classes regularly and then Sam came for my hour with first year students. (This way Emily was able to run up to school.) We also met the person we think will be Sam's babysitter. Her name is Kim and she's the student gov president and has a lot of experience. She'll take him for 90 minutes on Mondays while I teach. She can have him on campus, in my office, and Emily'll be able to go up to school for the day. I think it will work very well. But I can hardly believe it--the first baby sitter and hopefully more time for Emily to work on the dissertation.

We're adjusting a little better. It was a bigger change this summer than I realized it would be: geographically, academically, famiy, emotionally, etc. There have been some nice points of continuinty--church, school, etc.--but it's still a pretty big change.

Spoons

Here's Sam eating his first spoonfuls of mixed instant oatmeal. It was combined with mother's milk and he liked it. He opened his mouth automatically and got almost as much in as he spit out. Just in the last week he's begun reaching for things, is rolling over a little better, and is doing the first motions toward what will be his scoot.

Williamstown

We visited the maternal home this last weekend for my grandfather's 96th birthday. Sam stole the show and we all had a lot of fun. He's clearly more extroverted than we realized--he loved being passed from person to person. Whenever an aunt would smile at him, he would just beam. It was fun for me since this was a place I visited regularly as a child. Above are some pics with grandpa and the two aunts.

Move In Day

Today Sam and I walked over to campus and watched the first year students move in. I'm sure I made some parents cry, as I held my baby and watched them leave theirs in the campus parking lot.

I love being in a place where we can walk everywhere. Sam showed off the folk at a Chinese restaurant tonight, doing his trick where he sits on my head and giggles. We also met some Chinese students on campus today. They wanted to know if he speaks Chinese. I said 他英文也不會說. I don't know if that's right, but it worked for them. At this point, he is strictly prelingual, or perhaps he speaks the universal language of babies.

Here is our father-son picture.

For this one, I tried to do the picture cut off just like Michael Phelps did for his SI cover.