Dad is Late, so Months 7 and 8 are Combined

There have been lots of changes for Sam over the last couple months! As mentioned below, he experienced his first Christmas morning on Harsen's Island, and New Year's Day in Chicago. He watched his first Rose Bowl, and consoled his dad when the wrong team won. But he did get to celebrate with his dad when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, even though he was asleep when the game ended. Good thing it was already over in the first half! Go Hawks! Sam also made a trip to northern Michigan for some winter fun with the Ledy family and lots of cousins.

Cousin Bennett, left, and Sam, right, go sledding on Christmas Day on Harsens Island.

Sam has made some big developments over the last couple months. The biggest is that he is now mobile. He is a crawling machine. If you want to spend a couple hours with Sam, be ready to move. He won't be sitting still. If you are a cat named Canoe, be on the alert because you are Sam's favorite thing, and he will crawl toward you when you least expect it.

And at the same time he learned to crawl, Sam also learned to pull himself up to standing -- and then use furniture and helping hands from his parents to waddle around on his two feet. So the crawling seems only a temporary mode of locomotion. Sam knows what his boots are made for. Watch out, Canoe.

In other good news, the puking is mostly solved! No more volcanic upchucks. It's great for everyone. He has replaced puking with making fart noises with his mouth. We think that's a good trade.

He now eats solid foods three times a day. Mostly cereals and fruits/vegetables, but he did have his first meat (lamb with lentils) last night. He loves to eat, and will eat anything.

The baby babble continues. It's clear Sam understands the word "Canoe", because he will search the room for the cat whenever he hears his name. We're still working on getting the same reaction for "mama" and "dada".

Pictures from the last couple months can be found here. We'll be back with more updates soon!