February is here!

Hello from Washington! I can't believe it's February already. January went by so quickly. Sam is going to be nine months old on Friday. I can't believe how big he's getting. I've been noticing this week how much taller he's gotten, and how his limbs don't look like baby limbs anymore. He is turning from a baby to a toddler right before my eyes I think.

He is really getting so big. We had a fun month around here. At the beginning of the month we went down to Olympia to visit Brie and the twins! They are so adorable! They've grown so much since they were born, but they're still so tiny - especially compared to Sam, who in comparison looks pretty huge. We both got to hold Ginny, and Justin even got to give her a bottle since she needed her formula supplement while we were there. After visiting with Brie and the babies for a while we headed out to dinner with the three of them and Kyle. We had a really good time, and it was really nice to see them again! Hopefully it won't be too long before we be able to get back down there again. I am so excited to see the babies grow!

On the 14th we finally got to have our delayed Christmas celebration with Brooke and Dave and Tara and Phil and all the kids. We hung out and had a good time here. Sam and I also got to hang out a lot with Brooke, Seamus, and Lorelai. We went to the playground with them a couple of times - Sam's first trip was fun and he enjoyed riding on the swings! A few days after that we met the Whalen-Robinsons, Courtney and Elena, and Brooke's friend Jill and her little girls at Woodland Park and explored the zoo. Sam is old enough now to crawl around in the little kid area at the Zoomazium, and he had a lot of fun exploring there! It was fun to watch him and all of the little kids interacting with each other. It's so fun for me to go on outings and hang out with friends with kids who are a little older. It just makes me look forward to so many things - when Sam is old enough to climb around on more things, when Sam is old enough to get excited about seeing the animals at the zoo, when he's old enough to play together with other kids for real. I can see in the future how much fun it's going to be with him, and it's so exciting.

Sam is doing amazing. He is eating like crazy, and trying new things all the time. So far, he has not disliked anything that we've given him as far as finger foods go. We are currently integrating different foods into his schedule. Waffles, toast, veggie hot dogs, baby food meat sticks, Morningstar chicken nuggets, french friends, mashed potatoes, broccoli tops, canned peas... it's so fun to let him try new things. I am also happy to be exploring new things because while he likes the baby food, it doesn't tend to have very many calories, so it's good for him to be able to get some nutrition elsewhere. It's also nice for me because when he wakes up in the morning I can give him a cut up waffle or piece of toast, and that keeps him occupied long enough for me to get the rest of his breakfast together and make myself something to eat.

He is crawling like a pro now, and likes to exlore in the basement. It's pretty much babyproofed as long as someone is keeping an eye on him if he gets quiet. The only thing he can get into are a couple of cords that we would have to string up across the wall and haven't figured out yet, but he's not that interested in them being as he's surrounded by toys. His favorite thing to do is to pull himself up. He does it with ease now and will pull up anywhere... the coffee table, the entertainment center, the couch. He's getting better at getting down too, and will look down to see if he's going to fall on top of anything. He also loves taking things out. I stack up his DVDs and the video games for him every day so that he can come down and unstack them onto the floor. He loves to take toys out of baskets or boxes. This week he stood up on his own for a few seconds a couple of times. Justin thinks he is going to start trying to walk soon - he can take a few steps if you're holding him up, but I don't think he has the balance yet, or the understanding. He's still at that stage where if he does get standing on his own for a few seconds, he doesn't really know quite what to do. I think we've still got a while before any walking, but who knows? Justin walked at 9 months and I walked at 15, and who even knows if that means anything?

Justin is leaving for the Philippines tomorrow. I'm a little bit nervous about being here by myself with Sam for two or more weeks, but I know I can handle it. I have lots of help and places to go. Last time Justin went away for this long, it was hard, but Sam was only four months old so he couldn't even walk or roll over or anything yet and I wasn't chasing him. On the other hand, Sam plays by himself a little bit more, so I do get little breaks sometimes when he's awake. I know that Justin is going to miss Sam a lot while he's gone, and I'm going to miss Justin too. It's hard not having another adult around the house, and of course I just miss him when he's gone anyways. He is scheduled to come back on the 16th, but we'll see - he may be gone closer to three weeks and coming back on the 20th. Justin's Mom is taking Sam this weekend so I can have a little bit of time to myself at least. I am looking forward to having the most 'me time' I've had in a while. I'll need it to gear up for the next couple weeks!

Well, that's about it for now. I just posted a bunch of photos from different things in January, so check them out! I am pretty sure I won't be posting anything for the next couple of weeks since by the time I get Sam down for a bed or nap, I'm usually starving and making myself food, or trying to briefly check e-mail and clean up the house! Hopefully I'll have a great update in a few weeks though.