Sam is really getting older. We can't believe that just a few months ago, he was just gurgling and laying in one spot. Now, he can ask for and recognize any kind of "DOGGIE", he blows kisses and he can sign "more" when he needs a snack. Also, if you ask him "How old are you?" He'll answer with his pointer finger ("one"). IT's AMAZING!!

So the deal is that Julie's parents live most of the year as missionaries in Kiev, Ukraine, so Julie, Ryan and Sam live in their condo year-round to take care of it for them. Bob and Patricia come back in the summer and for the holidays, and since they've been home this year, Sam has learned THE cutest word ever. Everytime we take him up the stairs past Bob and Patricia's room, he puts his hand on his head and says "PA? OPA?" (that's German for Grandpa, which is the name they have chosen). IT IS ADORABLE. He also said it everytime he saw Bob or even sometimes when he's at the table, he'll point to Bob's chair and say it. Now that Bob is gone back to Kiev, we've put a picture of Bob on the door of his room, and Sam still points and says "OPA", just as clear as a bell. It's awesome.

Also, Sam has learned from Murphy, the Haack's dog, that Murphy is called a "DOGGIE". He also has a toy dog on a shelf that he points to and calls for. "Doggie!" He can't say Mama, but he does copy all kinds of sounds we make, and it is so cute to see him learn to speak to us.

Sam took a couple steps while our friends Steve and Kim were visiting, and since then he's been doing so awesome!! He takes more and more steps every day. He'll be running in no time!

Sam loves to wave bye-bye at anything that he can. He doesn't quite get WHEN to do it, yet, but we're working on that.:)

Sam loves anything he can hide under or behind - he loves the tablecloth, dish towels, pants...you name it. He also loves it to have a blanket tossed lightly over his head so he can crawl around in it and then POP his head out to hear you say "BOO!" It's a new favorite hobby!

It may be hard to see from this photo, but there are 4 big, tough teeth (2 on bottom and on top) that have been there since 6 months old, and now there are 2 more on the top and the bottom that are growing in fast! It's amazing and VERY dangerous...he has quite a bite!

Every time Sam wakes up, it's amazing, but he has more teeth!! We have counted 8 so far, and all of them are peeked out and growing fast. He's a trooper, and seems to be handling the growing really well.

Sam is so wiggly and loves to explore, so we decided he was just too big for his baby bathtub. He loves splashing around and isn't afraid to get everything, including us, wet! He loves watching the water drain out, too. It's fascinating to him! It's so strange that he used to be small enough to fit on the kitchen counter for his baths....

So it isn't one of Julie's favorite things, because now Sam can sure make a rucus, but he's learning the art of banging toys, silverware, blocks, etc. together in rhythm. He's learning to see objects for what they can really do. Auntie Linda was proud to help him learn this skill as well! Thanks a lot.... :)

Sam LOVES to take baths, but he's never been in anything bigger than our tub. We took him into the very cold water of the pool in Clearwater, MN during our vacation. He was a real trooper and let us bob him up and down. We had a blast!

Sam is such a little wiggly guy, and the doctor reminded us to give him a lot more solids than we were. He really has taken to it. He gets it EVERYWHERE, but he really loves fruits and green beans. He's even getting pretty good at getting Cheerios in his mouth by picking them up himself. He sure does make a mess, but he's getting to eat lots of fun things.

An hour before we went out somewhere, Ryan and Julie were holding Sam and suddenly, he began to clap and smile!! It was amazing. Julie's mom has been helping him learn "Patty-Cake" and he can now clap all day and night!

One afternoon Ryan went in to Sam's room to get him from a nap, and found him standing up and waiting for him!! Ever since, Sam pulls himself up on the couch, boxes, tables, pillows, us...whatever there is to pull up on. Auntie Linda was here and helped him perfect the skill AND hold on with only one hand! Soon he'll be walking...watch out!

We've been waiting for Sam to accomplish this for a while, but as seems common with Sam, all in one day, he suddenly got it right! Since he's crawling, he's learning to push himself around more, and suddenly, he just pushed himself into a sitting position. He's pretty good at balancing, but he does occassionally rock himself too hard and goes flying backward onto the rug with a look of shock on his face. But then he'll just whip himself over and try again. It is a little strange to come into his room at 4am and see him sitting up and waiting to greet us now, but it's super cute. He's so smart!!

One day, a normal day it seemed, Ryan was just admiring Sam's gorgeous and contagious smile, and suddenly noticed two tiny little pearl-colored bumps in his mouth! Sam has the beginnings of 2 tiny front, bottom teeth. (You may need to click on the photo to get a good glimpse of them...) We had noticed an awful lot of slobber and Sam trying to eat everything in site, lately, but now we can sort of understand why. Watch out, though, he can really hurt you now with those tiny teeth!

Well, Sam is old enough now to get to slobber a bunch of watered down, messy, tasteless rice cereal on himself 2 times a day to supplement his bottles! So far, he seems to almost get it. He sure does make a big mess, and he sure does make some funny faces when he attempts to get it down. It's really funny, but exciting!

I know that babies eventually are able to hold their bottles completely by themselves, but Sam is well on his way. He can get a good grip on it, and it still slips out of his hands, but he's doing so great, we wanted to celebrate him! This is a rare photo, however, since we still love holding him and cuddling with him while he eats. It's not a normal thing for him to eat in his chair, in fact, he gets pretty distracted when he's not close to us and looking up at us during feeding. Not to worry, we don't want him to grow up TOO fast! :)

Today, Mrs. Oas was watching Sam for a little while, and during that time, he leaned over slowly and suddenly discovered how much fun his feet could be!! He hasn't started eating them yet, but he sure was fascinated!

We were visiting the Haack's and Murphy the dog was entertaining Sam. Donna started talking to him, and she asked him, "Sam, did that doggy go, WHOOF?!" For some reason, the sound she made or the way she said it really cracked him up!! Ryan and I were in the living room and suddenly we heard him actually laugh! Up till now he's been smiling a lot, and he usually just makes a cute little coughing noise as his laugh, but this was a true giggle. She did it over and over and he just kept laughing! It was adorable.

It used to be that we could leave Sam by himself on the floor under his little animal mini-mobile, or even in his crib at night on his back and trust that he would stay put. That was back when he was just in  his lump stage. Well, suddenly, he has learned to use his chubby legs and arch his back, and with enough momentum...whoomp! Over he goes! He LOVES being on his tummy and looking at the world in a new way.

Sam still loves bathtime. He doesn't exactly get the whole idea of being in the water, but he doesn't seem to mind! He just looks up at Julie and smiles and sometimes has a confused look on his face. And he still loves getting his hair washed. His face is so cute when the water gets poured over his head. He just looks around trying to figure it out and then relaxes and enjoys the feeling. It's special time with mommy and Sam.

Sam has always had a fascination with keeping his hands in his mouth. But just now he started to really shove his whole hand down his throat to comfort himself. The problem is that he'll shove them so far in there that he gags and chokes! But it doesn't stop him! He'll just go right back at it. We almot never see him without a hand in that mouth anymore! And when he really gets going,we can hear him sucking and slurping away even in the next room.

Could he get any cuter?? We ask this every day, and then be blows us away with his gorgeous smile. The very day that Julie had to go back to work, he really started smiling right at her! That made her first days back at school pretty hard...He is finally able to focus on our faces and when he notices it's us, he gives a great big smile. It was worth the wait!

Sam was the BEST sponge bath taker EVER. I waited until my mom came to stay with us to bathe him, and she helped us out. His big problem is that he HATES to be cold, so he pannicced a little at first, but he loved getting his hair washed. He got quiet and looked so content. His hair gets really curly when it's wet, and he also loves getting his hair brushed! We were way more scared and stressed about it than he was!