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.