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.