Sam time

I can't believe that Sam is already a year old!  His birthday was last Wednesday, and we held a little birthday party for him a couple of weekends ago (on Feb. 6).  We had a good turnout for the party, including the attendance of some of Sam's friends, like Abby, Jack, and Rebecca. :)  Sam got to eat his first sugary sweet at his party - a cupcake!  He hated the frosting on the cupcake, and screamed whenever he got some of the sticky stuff on his hands.  Finally, we turned the cupcake upside-down, so he was able to get to the cake part without having to mess with the frosting, and he ate pretty much all of the cake.

Sam got lots of great new toys for his birthday - thanks so much, everybody!  Now we have some old toys that need to be given away, because we are quickly running out of space in Sam's room. If anyone wants some hand-me-down infant/baby toys, let me know! :)

About 3 weeks ago, we decided Sam's hair had gotten unruly enough for his first haircut.  Since all he needed at this point was a little trim in the back, around the ears, and in the front, I figured I could give it a shot.  Wow - I severely underestimated how wiggly little kids can be when getting their hair cut!  The end result doesn't look all that bad, except around the right ear, where I cut too much off, so it looks pretty silly.  Oh well - it will grow back out soon. :)  However, for his next haircut, we'll probably take Sam to a barbershop or salon.  We saved his "first haircut" baby curls for his baby book!

Sam has gone through the past month or two with one string of illnesses after another.  First, starting in early december, he had a horrible cold with a bad cough, which our doctor said was mild bronchiolitis.  Off and on throughout most of December, Sam also had some mild fevers. Then, on new years' weekend, Sam had a pretty high fever for a few days (his temp got to about 103 F), and then the next weekend, he got an ear infection (his right eardrum burst).  Finally, the antibiotics he was taking for the ear infection, probably coupled with a small stomach virus, gave him horrible diarrhea this past weekend, and he hardly ate anything at all last week. 

Anyway, it looks like he's finally feeling good again, and yesterday he was running around the house, being chased by his daddy, giggling like a maniac.  Sam also ate more food yesterday evening than I have ever seen him eat in one sitting before; I think he was making up for not eating much the past few days.  When we picked him up out of his highchair yesterday evening, it felt like he weighed at least a pound more, and his little stomach was really bulging out.  :)

I leave for a quick work trip to Atlanta today, and I won't be back home until Thursday evening.  I'm going to miss Sam and Larry so much! 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!  We stayed here in Austin this year- it was really nice being home for Christmas.  Larry's family came to Austin to spend Christmas with us.  On his first Christmas, Sam got to open way too many gifts.  He got lots of great stuff from his grandparents, including a red Radio Flyer wagon! 

The Sunday after Christmas, we drove down to the Rio Grande Valley to visit my grandmother (Sam's great-grandma) and other relatives on my mom's side of the family.  It was the longest car trip Sam had ever taken thus far, and he did OK (well, at least driving down - he got pretty cranky on the drive back).  We had a great time seeing everyone though, including Grandma Post & Rita and her family, who had driven down to the Valley as well. 

I can't believe it is already 2010 - time is flying by so quickly!  Hard to believe that Sam will be a year old next month!!