Because this blog is starting when Sam is already almost two and a half years old I wanted to post some photos of him up to this point. Time is just moving so fast that I can't believe he has been a part of our lives for so long. I was talking to Paul yesterday about the fact that three years ago we found out we were expecting him. I never knew how much you could love someone until he was born. I cherish every day that I have with him and cannot wait to see how his personality continues to develop. So with all that being said, fair warning, this post will be filled with photos :)
The first few months of Sam being home all run together in my mind. I don't even remember much of our first Christmas with him because I was so tired! He was only 3 weeks old and was not a great sleeper. Because I nursed him I was the one on night shifts. He was a baby that liked to be held to sleep. Part of that was completely my fault because I had him sleeping next to me in a little pink bed until he was 5 months old. I was partly scared to leave him in his crib and it was also easier to just bounce him back to sleep if he was right next to me. I don't think he's that scarred from his time sleeping in a pink baby bed :)
After starting the search for photos of Sam, I freaked out because I can't find a lot of them. I have some posted on Facebook, but cannot find his newborn photos through the summer of 2010. I have bits and pieces, but have no idea where the others are. For instance... I cannot find any photos of his first Christmas! I have to get on this soon, and Paul and I need to figure out a way to store and organize our photos.
I stayed home with Sam until March 1st. So I took 12 weeks off for my maternity leave. I really needed those weeks to adjust to being a new mom. Not to mention that because I was driving so far to get to work (I work in a town that is just over 60 miles away from where we live) I really can't be that tired on my drive. Those three months also really helped me get the hang of nursing and making sure that my supply would last without taking to much of a hit while having to pump at work. I remember that we had absolutely no schedule what so ever with him. I let him sleep when he acted tired, and just fed him whenever he wanted to eat. Which worked for us, and I think it worked for him. The one thing I would do differently if I could, was pay more attention to the pattern that formed. Every night at 8:00 he needed to be held. No matter what we were doing, or where we were, if 8:00 hit, he was cranky and not happy in the slightest. Well, it turns out that 8:00 is his bedtime that he set for himself. If I knew more I probably would have picked up on that a lot faster. But Paul and I would usually leave him downstairs with us, and have him sleep on us until about 11 or 12 o'clock at night, and then he and I wouldn't get up and get moving for the day until about 10 o'clock each morning. Paul was awesome during those first few months. I would go to bed around 9:00 and Paul would take the first shift and either wear Sam in the baby bjorn or put him in the swing next to him, and keep him happy until he got hungry. Then he would change him and bring him upstairs to wake me up so I could feed him. Then Paul would sleep a full 7 to 8 hours, and take Sam from me in the mornings so I could get alittle bit more rest. We made a deal early on that I am still benefiting from. When we were together Paul said he would change all the diapers since I was nursing Sam. Well... Sam nursed until he was almost 13 months...then stopped. He is still in diapers and Paul still keeps up his end of the bargain :)
A couple of stats I had for Sam in this time:
December 7, 2009 - Weight was 6 lbs 15 oz and he was 19.5 inches long
January 11, 2010 - Weight was 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long (Ally was born bigger then he was at 1 month!)
January 19, 2010 - Sam slept for 6.5 hours and I felt amazing the next day. I posted on facebook about all the cleaning I was able to get done that day!
February 8, 2010 - Sam was 10 lbs and 7 oz. He got a round of shots and was miserable for the next few days.
March 1, 2010 - I went back to work full time.
March 3, 2010 - I took a sick day because I couldn't handle being away from him.
March 3, 2010 - Sam rolled over from his tummy to his back and I was very happy that I was at home with him to see this.
After I went back to work, we had to settle into a new routine. We were extremely fortunate (and still are!) in the fact that Paul's mom watched Sam for us. It made going back to work so much easier knowing that he was getting lots of love from one of his grandma's during the day. She actually would come to our house to watch him. So Sam got to sleep in until he was ready to get up, and stay at our house all day. We were very lucky! During this time I was getting up for work at 3:30 in the morning. I had to leave the house at 5:45 and I only had 1 set of pump parts (why did I just not buy a second set?!?). So I would wake up at 3:30 and shower and get ready. Then I would go in and feed Sam, then I would pump, then I would wash the pump parts, and then I would head out to work. I was living in a tired daze from March to May! The great part of my job as a high school counselor is that I do get the summers off. That is what kept me going in those months was just the fact that I only had about 12 weeks to go until summer break.
I know that in April we started giving Sam cereal. I look back at those pictures and think he was so tiny! We started with oatmeal and slowly moved into veggies and fruit. Sam ate everything and absolutely loved food. The only thing was the he was (and still is!) the slowest eater ever.
May 1st, 2010 was the official first night that he slept in his crib. Well, technically we started him the first night he was home from the hospital in his crib. But my mom held him in the rocker for the first part of the night, and when I was in there I was sleeping on the floor in front of his crib because I was so freaked out about him being at home.
May 25th, 2010 Sam had a sleepover with Stitch. Paul and I were always so careful about keeping the cats out of Sam's room because I was always scared they'd try to sleep in the crib with him. Well... after only 3 weeks in his room, the cats spent the night in there. Oops!
Summer break started in early June. The last week when there were no students in the school and I was just finishing up paperwork Sam would come to school with me. I must say everything took me much longer and I have a lot more respect for mom's who work out of their home while their children are there. The last picture is my favorite. He was making sure I knew that he was bored and ready to go home.
My first summer home with Sam was so great. We kept busy all summer by going to the zoo, the children's museum, walks, Incredible Pizza Company, and on a vacation with my family. Sam was just growing so much every day. It is also so fun to look back on the pictures from summer. He was in that stage where they are eating more food but not yet mobile so they are in the chubby baby phase! He was so cute with all that baby fat on him!
A couple of stats of Sam at that age:
June 22, 2010 - Sam was rolling both ways.
August 14, 2010 - Sam could army crawl.
Vacation was a lot of fun with Sam. We went with my mom, sister, brother-in-law, and their daughter Emma. Jenn was also about 7 months pregnant with my nephew. We went up to Michigan City, IN and stayed in a resort town on Lake Michigan. Mom and I went up and then Paul met us later since he had to work the beginning part of the week. We spent most of our time at the pool or by the beach and then would go out to dinner at night. Sam absolutely loved the pool. He would have spent all day there if he could have!
On August 16, 2010 I was back to work full time for the school year. We had a great first fall with Sam. We had his first Halloween, more trips to the zoo, first trip out to the tennis courts, family photos, and he started pulling up and walking if someone held his hands. We also found out we were pregnant with Ally on November 6, 2010.
With December starting Sam started to grow like crazy. We had his first tooth, his first birthday, and his second Christmas all within three weeks of each other.
December 4, 2010 - Sam's first tooth
December 7, 2010 - Sam's first birthday
December 11, 2010 - Sam's first birthday party
December 21, 2010 - Sam's first steps
Spring of 2011 just passed in a blur to me. Spring is always crazy at work with end of the year scheduling so I know that I was working longer hours. Plus, we were getting everything ready for the addition of Ally into our lives. We made the loft into a playroom for Sam in April. We built a swingset for Sam as well since he absolutely loves being outside. We went to the zoo about every other week it felt like but Sam loved it every time. At the zoo, we were one of "those parents" who put their child in a backpack harness. Sam was at the age where he loved to run. He could be right next to you one second and then see something he was interested in and be away from you before you knew it. I don't care what other people thought of us at the zoo, but it kept him safe and let him walk around and enjoy himself. If we didn't have it, he would have had to be in the stroller. We never used it like a leash on him, and would walk holding his hand still, but it was just so nice to have until he got to the age that we could relax a bit more knowing he stays close and can comprehend what we are telling him about safety issues. Sam also graduated from the sink as his bathtub to the big bathtub. He loves baths and would spend forever in there if you would let him. He is fearless and just sticks his head under the water so you cannot take your eyes off of him for a second (not that you would anyway...). Sam also had the first Easter egg hunt that he could participate in. He wasn't really sure about the gathering eggs part, but was really excited once he got back into the house and realized that there were presents in those eggs. I am definitely remember that fact this year, and probably having him open one egg up as soon as he gets it to get him more interested in finding the rest of them! Sam also started to love cereal. He really started to get the hang of eating with a fork and a spoon at this time, and cereal was one of his favorite foods because he wanted to be just like his dad in the mornings.
Before I knew it I was out on summer break and doing the final stages of getting everything ready before Ally would be joining our family. I think Paul and I tried to cram as much fun into those 5 weeks as we could for Sam because we didn't know how long it would take us to get out and moving with a newborn in the house. We went on walks every night that the weather would allow it and made more trips to the zoo, the Children's Museum, and Incredible Pizza company. Sam got several more hair cuts because his hair grows so incredibly fast. We wore the poor little guy out. He slept so well for us at night because we were constantly outside as much as possible.
Those two photos were taken in June. Looking back I feel terrible about them because you can tell he doesn't feel good. It turns out he had strep throat and we took him to the zoo and had him play outside in water! We got him on some medicine and he was good to go for the rest of the summer. Him having strep throat was really the first time that he was sick for us. So, he made it a good 17/18 months illness free!
And of course there is his favorite place to go. The zoo! He is happy going there every other day and the water park and train ride were favorites of June. The train ride scared him so much that he was clinging to me as it started. Which was very interesting since I was 8 months pregnant trying to keep him from getting so scared he jumped off the train. Which of course had no safety feature to keep him in there other then me. But once we got moving he was all about it and had a great time.
I remember the month of June and the first part of July being so scared that when Ally was born I would lose the special moments with Sam. I kept wondering what I was thinking having two so close together (when actually they are 19 months apart so they could be a lot closer then they are!) and how I was going to handle it. It seems so silly to me to even wonder how I would manage having two, because it just becomes so natural when the second child enters your life. Sammy doesn't know any better and he still got plenty of fun activities the rest of the summer. Which will follow in another post :)
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