Sam's First Day of School 2009

Sam started back at daycare today. He quickly slid right back in with his old friends and was already talking about going back there tomorrow. At daycare, kids are not allowed to bring any toys from home, but they can bring their own blanket for naptime. So, as a special surprise this morning, we presented Sam with a new blanket! He was SO excited to see "Mater" and "Lightning McQueen" (I think he is McQueen's biggest fan) on his new daycare blanket. Peter and Sam left before I did, and I got a little choked up saying goodbye, but Sam just hugged me and said "it's okay, Mommy." Before today, Sam and I had a ritual in the morning of doing a family hug with Daddy before he left for work and then waving in the front window as Daddy drove off. This morning, I was the only one in the window, and Sam and Peter both waved from the car. I knew he would be okay though as he smiled his great big Sam smile and clutched his new blanket...

Back to Work

I officially started my new job this week! So far it has just been a lot of meetings and trainings, and I'm excited for next week because the rest of the teaching staff will be returning from their summer break, and I'll really get the chance to get settled into my new position. It's been fun to learn more about my school and District 196. A big thank you goes out to my sister, Amy, who has been watching Sam for us all week long. Next week, Sam officially goes back to school too - daycare with his daycare provider, Lisa. We were at the park by Lisa's house recently, and she came over with the daycare kids. She was excited to see him and how much he has grown this summer. Olivia (age 4) and Bella (age 3) also came over to say hello. I kid you not, Sam started BLUSHING and got a huge smile on his face when these two cute little blonds started talking to him. We think he had a crush on Bella last spring because he would mention her name all the time, so I'm sure he'll be excited to play with his daycare friends again!

Baby L

We are now 18 weeks along. That means only two more weeks until we are to the halfway point. This pregnancy is going by incredibly fast, and I'm sure it will start to go faster with school starting and then the holidays coming up. After that, it's time for baby to arrive! Everything seems to be going smoothly, and the baby's growth is right on track. At our most recent appointment, the heartbeat was 159 beats per minute. We have an ultrasound in a couple weeks, but once again, we are going to have a delivery day surprise instead of finding out the gender ahead of time (sorry Mom...and Candy...and Amy...and Ashley!). For the last couple of weeks, I thought I could maybe feel a few movements from this new little one, but it wasn't anything strong enough to be sure. Then, last Saturday while Peter and I were at a movie, I definitely felt the first real kicks! They have continuted every day since then, which is exciting because it makes everything seem more real, and feeling the baby move was one of my favorite things about my pregnancy with Sam. We try to tell him that his little brother or sister is kicking, and he says "No, no. No kicking." I think he thinks his little brother or sister should get a timeout for kicking Mommy. When we ask Sam what we should name the baby, his answer is always the same, "Uncle Duke", which is how he says "Uncle Luke". I guess Uncle Luke has had quite the impact on him!

Summer Fun

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over and football preseason games have begun! I haven't been that great at keeping up with the blog this summer (or even taking pictures), but we've been very busy doing lots of fun summer time activities. We've had many trips to Cascade Bay with Katy, Jackson, and Henry, and we've also made it to the Minnesota Zoo many times. Though we've heard of both of them before, this summer we finally went to the South Saint Paul splash pool and the Children's Museum. Sam loves playdates with his ECFE buddies - Owen, Gabe, and Wyatt - and it was fun to try out these great places with them.

Sam knows that whenever we go to Grandma Kim's house he can score some sort of treat, so lately when we have arrived he immediately asks for a cookie. Today, he was lucky enough to get a fudgsicle from Grandma. Needless to say, we had to hose him down afterwards.

Sam's First Twins Game

We brought Sam to his first Twins game a few weeks back. We took the light rail down to the metrodome, and I think the "choo choo train" ride was just as exciting to the little guy as the baseball game! My family joined us for the game, and Sam managed to sample everyone's food - he got a taste of hot dog, chips, nachos, soft pretzel with cheese, ice cream, cotton candy, and probably more I can't even think of. Not exactly a day of healthful eating, but hey, you only go to your first ball game once! Thanks to Sam's friend, Jackson, who lent Sam his Twins jersey for the big event!

Here he is on the train ride home, after a busy, busy day...

August 17th

Happy Birthday, Grandma Peach! We hope you have a great day:-)

Love,
Sam, Peter, Kristin, and Oscar

Family Photo Shoot - Summer 2009

Thanks to Gwen Kosiak (www.gwenkosiak.blogspot.com) for taking our family pictures! We had a lot of fun and got some great smiles from Sam (unlike our last family photo shoot at JCPenney's!).

If you are interested, here is a link to more pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30516&id=1021911409&l=e6bb442e8f

Samtalk

My son just cracks me up. Here are two conversations from this morning:

Me: Sam, what do you want for breakfast today?
Sam: Umm, toast. Wif peanut butter and jewwee. And a apple.

This next one is during breakfast after I gave Oscar the last bite of my toast.

Sam: No, Mommy. Naughty. Go to timeout.
Me: Yeah, Mommy always tells you not to feed Oscar your food, huh.
Sam: Yeah. Timeout.

At the end of breakfast...

Me: Sam, are you done eating?
Sam: Yes, I'm full.