How's Your...?

Uncle Shawn brought this hat back from a business trip to Aspen, Colorado. We are not sure that Uncle Shawn is going to be allowed to hang out with Sam anymore.

Haircuts

I realize that for many babies, their first haircut occurs after many months of life and is a very big deal. Sam, however, gets a haircut every five minutes. Since he's not a girl, I can't pull it back into adorable barretts or bows or ponytails. The only accessories it gets are food and snot, which he applies liberally with his fists after they have visited his mouth and nose, or even more delightfully, the dog's. It's like having the convenience of a bib on his head--if he wants to pry, smear, daub, or merely redistribute anything off his hands, his hair is there ready to recieve it. My hair is also there to receive it, apparantly, which is why mine has been confined to a ponytail for 12 months.

Uncle Shawn

Sammy and his favorite Uncle Shawn both love to play with bright, colorful objects.

First Steps!

Dec 23, 2006--
After being confined to his car seat for 16 hours from Charlotte, NC to West Chicago, Sam got out and took his first steps!!! It was as if he had saved this surprise especially for Papi and Mami. Sporting his peppermint pajamas, he staggered back and forth between Danny and Shari amidst cheers, whistle blowing, shouts, clapping, and a blinding barrage of camera flashbulbs. Sometimes he would stand with his legs pumping up and down in one place as he tried to work out how to propel himself forward. The little synapses in his brain fired off like 4th of July fireworks as all at once he was having to coordinate bones, muscles, balance, forward motion, arms, and focus amidst a joyful uproar. I feel that a whole era has shifted away and that my baby has sprung up into a full-fledged boy.

Siu Family

Thanksgiving and Christmas were extra amazing this year by the presence of our Montangard friends. Arriving in the States on Sept 14 as refugees, they spoke no English, but the universal language of food and kids playing did wonders to connect us. Montagnards (who are not ethnic Vietnamese, but are the aboriginal people of Vietnam) are Christians and celebrate Christmas, another point of connection. I meditated on the foreigners who traveled to worship Jesus in Bethlehem--Jesus who was not just for Jews, but for all of us from Vietnam to Nigeria to the States.

Sam Gogh

Sam Gogh, already an impressionistic master of his favorite landscapes. (That, or Sam Vinci is drawing a secret code in toys?)
This particular masterpiece took him 5 seconds.

Bottom Gunner

I was never exactly sure what Aunt Miriam's military outfit for Sam was supposed to mean until the other night when Sam passed gas in the bathtub. whooaaa nelly. He is guite the bottom gunner, no doubts there. He created a little donut of bubble bath all around him in just a few short, but tremendously effective, seconds.

Candy Bar Advice

Now I'm not saying this has ever happened to us. But I wanted to advise you to never leave candy bars laying around, even the mini-size ones and even if they are unopened. If your baby has teeth--say for instance, two small ones--I would speculate that he or she might still be capable of ripping open a wrapper, theoretically, that is. Babies should not have a big gob of chocolate in their mouths for many reasons. For one thing, it will create a mess like molten lava for a good 5 feet in all directions. Secondly, the sugar high might mean that everyone gets to stay up till midnight; not that I would know for sure since I'm not admitting it's ever happened, but I thought you should make note of this in case you are ever so enormously naive and careless as to leave a mini-chocolate bar lying around.

Sam & the Doberman

I don't get it. Sam can grab our doberman's two ears and pull them with all his might. Lexie doesn't yelp or twist away. And she is much stronger than the grip of Sam's slobbery little fists. I'm mystified. Is this a doggy head massage?

When Lexie is stretched out against the back door, she becomes a jungle gym. Sam crawls over her, sits on her, pokes her jowls. The other day Sam had a wooden spoon with which he was happily swatting Lexie. Lexie raised her head with an air of mild curiosity, as if a mosquito were buzzing. Sam eventually modified his badgering by first bonking her on the head and then brushing the length of her back with the spoon. Lexie was unmoved. Sam began to shout "ga!" at which point Lexie coolly stretched out and fell fast asleep. Am I missing something?

Thanksgiving 2006

Sam spent Thanksgiving in Waxhaw. Here's the little poot with 3 of his 8 cousins (3 live in Cambodia, 2 in Chicago). Yes, his nose is a scabby mess. The day before, while in his walker, he worked open the patio patio and cruised on outside. However, a 7-inch drop meant that he did a face plant in his walker and howled. (We really thought the door was secure!) It was so awful. I told Sam over and over that such an unjust thing would never EVER happen again in his life. So that was a big fat lie. What was I supposed to say? What if one day he breaks a bone? or has surgery?? Unthinkable. The whole world will have gone to h-e-double-hockey-sticks in a handbasket. I can't bear the injustice. I better go have a cup of tea and start worrying ASAP.

Practicing his Index Finger

From limbs swatting the air, to the exquisite precision of squishing an ant, the motor skills of Sam have undergone such stunning progression and refinement that it takes my breath away. Not least among these wonders involves his index finger.

Every day we "practice his index finger": I put a scrap of food on his highchair tray, preferably something slippery like watermelon. His fist pops out of his mouth where it generally resides, and his index finger emerges from his fist. He stabs enthusiastically at the food. He misses. The chase is on.

Traveling like an inchworm, his finger arches, straitens, arches, straitens as it scoots forward, dragging a fat fist behind. As he pursues his food into the far corners of the tray, his mouth drops open in anticipation. I explain to him that step #1 is to secure a grip on the food, and step #2 is to open mouth. But he already knows how to open his mouth, so he goes ahead and gets that ready.

For a long time, newborn Sam enjoyed the random jerking of arms. Then one day around 3 months he discovered that hands are fastened at the ends of said arms, and that hands can catch each other in the air. For a few weeks he practiced clasping them together like a champion. Occasionally he would forget how to unclasp them, and this would cause his face to crumple into grimaces of bewilderment. When he’d finally give up and relax, they’d fall easily apart, to his great surprise.

Suddenly one day, he came upon his wrists! He shook them excitedly. He gradually refined this into a primordial wave which he brandished wildly in the direction of barking dogs, speeding cars, and the washing machine when it shook on spin cycle. Sometimes he would accidentally hit himself in the face when he needed to wave at a car and rub his eyes. You could practically smell new neural connectors being soldered together in his brain.

From large muscle systems to teeny tiny muscles, the progression has continued. In the past month he has discovered that in his possession lies a full set of astonishingly functional fingers, and an INDEX finger!!! This is cutting edge, people. Sometimes from his playpen, he points at me with one drool-dipped index finger in that gesture of "Uncle Sam Wants You” (a.k.a. Baby Sam Wants Mom). He grins and then seems to say, syke!, and returns to banging his toys around like a monkey.

Trick-or-Treat

Sammy trick-or-treated for his first time as a Pumpkin. He went with his best friend, Santiago the clown. They worked late into the night (8 p.m.) canvasing the neighborhood, working their cuteness at every doorstep. When they began to yawn, we pushed them harder, another 10 minutes, until they grabbed irritatedly at each other's costumes. So we called it a night and went home to tally up our profits. Now Rohan Mortgage has a full candy dish thanks to Sammy James' first economic contribution to the family business.

Eating Fish Food

Danny and Sam love to feed the fish in our 60 gallon tank. The fish swarm around the sinking flakes like a colorful dust devil. The other night, Sammy grabbed the can of stinky fish food and started licking it. I pointed out to Danny that this was disgusting, even if the can was closed. Danny didn't think so. Next thing I knew, smelly flakes had exploded all over Sammy, the floor, etc. Both Danny and Sam were very surprised at this apparantly unforeseen turn of events.

Shortly thereafter, Danny and Sam began rolling a can of "TetraMin Tropical Tablets" (Extra Nutrition for your Bottom Feeders!) back and forth on the floor. I inquired if Danny had checked the lid, but Danny felt this was unnecessary. (silly me) In a moment, green pellets had scattered across the kitchen floor. Who could have foreseen?? Some of them even made it into Sammy's mouth. Then, as if all of this weren't instructive enough, Danny and Sam began to play with the same can again, this time with the lid "securely" on, according to Sammy's daddy. I know it is going to be very difficult for all of you to predict was happened next, so I will have to tell you: the lid came off and pellets scattered all over the floor. Abin mamaki! Danny and Sam were totally blindsided by this strange and unjust accident.

Today I heard Sammy smacking and sucking very loudly on something. I stuck my finger in his mouth and retracted one of our Doberman's Alpo Prime Cuts (Savory Beef Flavor). I am now reviewing my habit of shopping at the grocery store. When stinking algae meal and processed cow chunks are suitable food for the entire range of life forms in our home, why buy Gerber?

Sam portrait

Earth leans away from its star, and Sam's eyes grow wide in wonder. Twirling leaves, flocks of honking geese, chilly air, the scent of woodfires, football on TV, fuzzy jackets. When we take walks, Sam leans forward in his stroller and pumps his arms up and down wildly, laughing at the squirls, gurgling at the wind whistling in the pines, shouting his wonderment at the world. Once he grabbed a large branch beside his stroller and, his face glowing, dragged it with his chubby fist for about a block. When he finally let it go, his body was heaving with the effort and he grinned up at me with the thrilled look of a conquoror.

Danny the Daddy

Doberman on Treadmill

Our doberman, Lexie, has learned to run on the treadmill. Yup. It's great. Danny bought the treadmill at a flee market for $40. It took him 2 weeks to train Lexie not to panic when the ground moved. Now she's smart enough to stay on, even when we're out of sight.

One day Danny put her on around 9:30 a.m. and left for work. He told me to take her off around 10:30. Well, I had to do some errands and totally forgot. There were also some workmen on the roof that day. When I got home at noon, the workmen had left for lunch and the yard was deserted, but there was Lexie, galloping along at top speedl! I quickly stopped the machine and she flopped towards her water dish, tongue lolling. After a nap in the sunshine, she was bounding around the yard again--remarkable.

Zzzzzzzz

Dad in Cambodia

Dad at the Angkor Wat ruins in the jungles of Siem Riep.

Dad in Vietnam

Snake, anyone?

Dad left for 2 weeks in Asia. We missed him, but we went to Chicago to be with Papi and Mami, so we were okay

6-Month Doctor Visit

Sammy had his six month doctor's appointment today. The doctor and all the nurses said, "Wow, he is so handsome!" I already knew this, but it was helpful to have it medically confirmed.

Sammy is in the 95th percentile for everything, for example weight (20lbs, 14oz) and length (28in) and head circumference (18in). (Imagine if your body was only 10 inches longer than the circumference of your head.)

Sitting up was sooo 5 months, so he scored high on that. The doctor gave him a tongue depressor to distract him, and Sam grabbed it with his right hand, and switched it to his left hand. Switching hands like that is soooo 8 months, yet Sam is only 6 months, so this only goes to show...

Two Great Grandmas

Sam has two awesome great Grandmas who live in Michigan - Great Grandma Wilda Savage (below) and Great Grandma Plueddemann (above).

Singing with Papi

Mmmm and wide,
Mmmm and wide,
There's a fountain flowing mmmm and wide...

Cousins Jumping

ahhhhh

the swarming sound of dune grass in a breeze,
the powdery press of sand on sole,
the float and dip of gulls in currents of the sky,
the diamond-spray of surf,
sleepy afternoons,
the croon of insects at twilight,
starlight shimmering on swells of water,
the lake's glassy tabletop at dawn, stillness.

Shores of Lake Michigan

Hours later we arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan. Sammy was absolutely thrilled with the wind in his face and the crash of waves massaging those tiny, exquisite shells that are his ears. He jumped up and down in my arms, flapping his chubby arms and squealing with the gulls.

Crossing the Mason-Dixon line

Sam crossed the Mason-Dixon line on Sunday, July 23, shortly after breakfast. A pale, warm sun was just beginning to drizzle over fluffy Kentucky fields. I was eating a cheese McBiscuit. Danny was driving. Sam, who is disgustingly happy in the mornings, was in his car seat sucking four fingers at once and making loud smacky noises. And then it happened: the Ohio River Valley spilled away before us like a giant bowl filled with the jumbled granola of Cincinnati. Factories that would have been dingy in another slant of light, now looked like sugary golden-brown crumbles on coffee cake, and the river like a sunny smear of apple jelly. Barges of coal slid, both stately and grimy, beneath towering steel bridges. The murky water puckered and burped in their wakes. As we drove above river, I explained to Sam the significance of the crossing. He shouted, “Ga!” and then smeared his drooly fingers across the window until it looked like a herd of slugs had traveled there.