Trying again to catch up.
Quick update... 29 weeks! The baby is wiggling all over the place - often visibly. :) We even have two short name lists, boy and girl. Maybe we'll actually pick a couple of them at some point!
Thanksgiving was fun. We drove 1500 miles in all. :) Luckily, SAM is a really good traveler. All you have to do is put on some of his music, and he'll ride along for a good hour just listening and looking out the window. :) Of course, that means we have to hear Wee Sing Silly Songs for the millionth time, but it's a small trade-off. He spent a good part of the drive looking at books as well - listening to him read the Dick and Jane stories all on his own was super cute. Yep, it's bragging time - the Dick and Jane book that hoshiadam's mom got him was a huge success. He really likes it, and he can read all the stories in the first book on his own now. :) We're working through the second book; it gets a good bit harder, but we're making progress. I know he enjoys it, because sometimes I have to set a limit for how many stories we can read, or he would just keep going. The 7-year-old neighbor boy was suitably impressed when he read SAM a story and then SAM reciprocated. :) He's started to show an interest in reading other things - the lightbulb has come on! He'll spontaneously start spelling words that he finds on signs and such. He has only tried sounding out one or two words on his own so far, but I think he's almost there. It is awesome. :)
Seeing hoshiadam's family was good. We may even get to see them again at Christmas, if their house doesn't sell right at the holiday. That will be madness, with my family (somewhat extended), his family, AND Ami's family. Aveareya, we should have you bring your family up too! :)
Our Christmas tree is up! Yay! Now I just have to finish putting the Halloween stuff away...
July was our big trip. SAM and I left from an Eclipse event and headed south, along the coast to Texas. We were gone about two weeks. It was forever because I got myself all nervous about the pregnancy (I was still only around three months then), but other than that it was fun. The first night we stopped in Montgomery, Alabama, and in the morning a guy working next to the parking lot let SAM ride in his bulldozer. He even got to lift the scoop up and down.
A funny kids' door at a Mexican restaurant - SAM was almost too tall.
After driving forever (riding in cars has been uncomfortable this whole pregnancy, but morning sickness added whole levels of less-than-fun), we made it to my grandmother's house, and then we left again and went to Galveston.
Yay beach! His bulldozer float made a brief reappearance.
The family trade of dribble castle construction was passed on to a new apprentice.
All things are impermanent... castles near a new bulldozer toy more so than most.
I kept commenting on the unusual abundance of brown pelicans this year, compared to what I remember from my childhood, and I was very happy to see recently that they have been taken off the endangered species list!
Hermit crabs can still be found, as well. :)
We didn't get to stay long at the beach, after all that driving. On the way out we went by Moody Gardens, which used to be a completely awesome thing and now is rather disappointing and overpriced. But SAM had fun. He got to drive a dinosaur.
And pet a snake, twice.
He got to play in a shark cage - looks like he's expecting one to show up any minute.
Then back to my grandmother's house. This is the first place he went in the morning. Who needs a bathing suit?
Apparently not anybody. :P
He managed to fall off the steps, and since he can't swim yet I got to get in the pool too. *rolls eyes* He was quite pleased by the whole experience.
My grandmother is in the process of domesticating some buzzards, by feeding the stray cats food that buzzards seem to like. They didn't care that there was a little boy in their drinking water.
Onward to my grandfather's house. It was VERY HOT weather, but there was swimming.
Then back to my parents' house.
There was swimming there too.
There were so many Playmobile toys that they drained his energy, it seems. :)
Finally we got home! There was a watermelon in the garden. :) It was tasty.
We found a way to reuse those horrible styrofoam packing peanuts. :P
He went fishing for the first time with Granddaddy.
And that was pretty much it for the month, except that my nerves got the better of me and I went for an ultrasound. :) There was a baby in there.
I think it's funny when people ask if we could tell the gender. :)
Thanksgiving was fun. We drove 1500 miles in all. :) Luckily, SAM is a really good traveler. All you have to do is put on some of his music, and he'll ride along for a good hour just listening and looking out the window. :) Of course, that means we have to hear Wee Sing Silly Songs for the millionth time, but it's a small trade-off. He spent a good part of the drive looking at books as well - listening to him read the Dick and Jane stories all on his own was super cute. Yep, it's bragging time - the Dick and Jane book that hoshiadam's mom got him was a huge success. He really likes it, and he can read all the stories in the first book on his own now. :) We're working through the second book; it gets a good bit harder, but we're making progress. I know he enjoys it, because sometimes I have to set a limit for how many stories we can read, or he would just keep going. The 7-year-old neighbor boy was suitably impressed when he read SAM a story and then SAM reciprocated. :) He's started to show an interest in reading other things - the lightbulb has come on! He'll spontaneously start spelling words that he finds on signs and such. He has only tried sounding out one or two words on his own so far, but I think he's almost there. It is awesome. :)
Seeing hoshiadam's family was good. We may even get to see them again at Christmas, if their house doesn't sell right at the holiday. That will be madness, with my family (somewhat extended), his family, AND Ami's family. Aveareya, we should have you bring your family up too! :)
Our Christmas tree is up! Yay! Now I just have to finish putting the Halloween stuff away...
July was our big trip. SAM and I left from an Eclipse event and headed south, along the coast to Texas. We were gone about two weeks. It was forever because I got myself all nervous about the pregnancy (I was still only around three months then), but other than that it was fun. The first night we stopped in Montgomery, Alabama, and in the morning a guy working next to the parking lot let SAM ride in his bulldozer. He even got to lift the scoop up and down.
A funny kids' door at a Mexican restaurant - SAM was almost too tall.
After driving forever (riding in cars has been uncomfortable this whole pregnancy, but morning sickness added whole levels of less-than-fun), we made it to my grandmother's house, and then we left again and went to Galveston.
Yay beach! His bulldozer float made a brief reappearance.
The family trade of dribble castle construction was passed on to a new apprentice.
All things are impermanent... castles near a new bulldozer toy more so than most.
I kept commenting on the unusual abundance of brown pelicans this year, compared to what I remember from my childhood, and I was very happy to see recently that they have been taken off the endangered species list!
Hermit crabs can still be found, as well. :)
We didn't get to stay long at the beach, after all that driving. On the way out we went by Moody Gardens, which used to be a completely awesome thing and now is rather disappointing and overpriced. But SAM had fun. He got to drive a dinosaur.
And pet a snake, twice.
He got to play in a shark cage - looks like he's expecting one to show up any minute.
Then back to my grandmother's house. This is the first place he went in the morning. Who needs a bathing suit?
Apparently not anybody. :P
He managed to fall off the steps, and since he can't swim yet I got to get in the pool too. *rolls eyes* He was quite pleased by the whole experience.
My grandmother is in the process of domesticating some buzzards, by feeding the stray cats food that buzzards seem to like. They didn't care that there was a little boy in their drinking water.
Onward to my grandfather's house. It was VERY HOT weather, but there was swimming.
Then back to my parents' house.
There was swimming there too.
There were so many Playmobile toys that they drained his energy, it seems. :)
Finally we got home! There was a watermelon in the garden. :) It was tasty.
We found a way to reuse those horrible styrofoam packing peanuts. :P
He went fishing for the first time with Granddaddy.
And that was pretty much it for the month, except that my nerves got the better of me and I went for an ultrasound. :) There was a baby in there.
I think it's funny when people ask if we could tell the gender. :)