Updates Mid-April

We've just survived a fairly exciting few weeks:

• Emily's narrowing in on her dissertation topic.
• I've done much of my mid-year grading.
• We've attended a conference, seen old friends, hosted family, done some local trips.
• We've finalized plans for the next few years.
• Some of the lowlights have been a flu and computer issues.
• Taxes are done (yeah Em!)

Sam updates:

• Sam's still at eight teeth.
• He likes to dance lately. I'll try to post a video or two of the time with Reina. He sort of bounces, walks, and giggles at the same time—fun!
• He has one dvd he watches regularly. It's a wiggles video, which is pretty fun. He's especially fond of Dentist Jane and smiles whenever she comes on. He also likes the part with four colored flowers and with the librarian (who is cool and plays the guitar).
• I've moved Sam onto my back for walks. We haven't taken walks much this winter, so it's fun to be doing this.
• He can look at a book for a while by himself (he actually did this this morning, buying us a few hours of time).
• He still refuses a sippy cup, which drives Emily crazy
• He is pretty good at eating things with his hands, and eats dinner with us. He doesn't even mind spicy food and hasn't shown any clear dislikes.
• He plays with a ball, and can kind of “throw” and even catch. (This is a big plastic ball.)
• He likes to “clap,” something he practiced with Grandma Barb.
• He's very playful and pretty good natured. He really has a sunny personality.
• But he's also developing a will. This is good because he is becoming his own little self, but it is hard as a parent. He throws a little tiny fit if you take away something he likes; so far the fit usually just lasts a minute or two.
• He's gotten through his first flu. It was very strange. I'd had it. Both he and Emily woke up at the same time and began throwing up. Even when he was sick, he still had some moments of playfulness.
• He loved his Easter Sunday at Westminster (this was before he got sick). It's so fun to be at a church where children don't cause much disturbance. He also went to Maunday Thursday with us nearby.

That's our news. We'll try to update more soon. I'm trying out a linux system now (Ubuntu). I think it will be good for internet stuff and is a bit cleaner than my windows (which was buggy, and is in Chinese, and acts a little funky). That's our news! I'll try to be a better correspondent.

Bday Party #2 and Another SAMpling

This has been a fun week. It was my "spring break," so I had more free time. I made some good meals this week--a stew, pizza, chicken verde, pasta with Italian sausage, and an egg casserole. I am becoming a competent cook. (Having recognized my liabilities in cleaning, this seems like a good compromise role for me.)

Today we had a very nice day with Sam. I woke up with him, we took a nap together late morning, and the three of us walked to McD's for lunch. He loves the littleplay ground, where he can mosey across the rubber floors and watch the children on the slides. Tonight we did cake. He liked it, but was close enough to sleep that he only had a bite or two.

This week he also did his first trip to the local playground. He liked the swing, but enjoyed eating the dirt even more. I foresee many more such trips.

Sam is in general a delight. He walks pretty well now. In the last few weeks he's shifted from being a slow walker who would drop down and crawl if he had to cross a room, to a pretty fast walker. He likes being "chased." He giggles if I walk backwards in front of him when he's in his stroller. He also thought it was hilarious when I strolled him backwards one day. He's becoming a more consistent waver--it's very cute. The other funny thing he has been doing is "growling" with the toy t-rex my brother bought him. It's very cute. He had a growl before, but now it is a little fiercer.

Our Taiwan plans seem to be all coming together. At some point I'll start a personal website and Emily will start a new blog. I almost can't believe that it is all working out. I've announced I'm not returning to my job next year. I feel a fair amount of guilt about it, and I think we probably could have been happy here for many years, but I think Taiwan is where we belong. More news to follow...

Bday party #1

Today we brought cookies to Sam's party at the local public library. It was very fun and we had a great time. The only snag was that "the itsy bitsy spider" scared Sam a little. He really does love the library. He's still probably the least mobile/littlest participant, but just loves watching every one and listening to the stories.

My job was to check with the librarians and make and decorate the cookies. Sam's real bday is 3/21, but since it's a Saturday and friends and family are mostly elsewhere, this was a pretty fun way to celebrate.

This is my spring break, so I am trying to offer more baby care and Emily is ramping up her dissertation work. It's a little bit of a struggle, but things seem to be coming together.

A SAMpling

I have been fairly visual in this blog, but haven't tried to convey recently what the baby is like, and so I introduce this new feature, a sampling of Sam stories. (I also like that this this sounds like "sapling," which reminds me of him.

In random order:

• Sam has the makings of a great wrestler based on our efforts to change his diaper lately. He shifts, he turns, he moves, he feints, he ducks, he rolls...
• He has six teeth, which have been in for a while.
• He's on his first cold. Other than this he has only had Roseola (which sounds like an old aunt).
• He can walk the length of a room now. His favorite thing is to walk around carrying his big red, square toy box. He looks like a gardener, or maybe a fisherman or handyman.
• He has discovered the cat's water and food bowls. Thankfully, the litter box remains unknown territory.
• He loves to feed himself. This is okay with potato, carrots, peas, pieces of bread, etc., but not so good with spoonfuls of soup.
• Is "napping" in his crib, and will play in it for a while when we wake in the morning, but is not so keen on really sleeping in the crib.
• Sam's an extrovert. He demands at least one trip outside every day. He loves anywhere that has people: church, mall, food, etc.
• Is becoming a Wiggles fan. So far he's only seen Netflix wiggles, but we just bought him his first DVD.
• Sam does not like yogurt very much. He does like cheese.
• Sam is very ticklish, he loves to have Emily wave her hair over him. If he's not really hungry or sleepy, he can usually be enticed to play.
• Loved his red balloon. It still has air.
• Sam's coming up on a year--it's very exciting. He smiles and giggles a lot and we are very much enjoying him.

Recent Sam 2

This is a mix of pictures. Here are two of us coming back in the recent storm.

Here's Sam's crib. He is napping and sleeping in it some now. We have not stressed a lot about sleep so far. The crib is just another option.
Here's our recent trip to Em's school. It was nice to spend the day together in NB.

Recent Sam 1

V-Day