Jingle Bells, White Knuckles, Gold Medals and Puke

There are a couple of themes that came out of Christmas this year:

Jingle Bells: Christmas was truly merry and bright. We packed a ton into our trip home and delighted in how much Sam enjoyed seeing his cousins, grandparents and friends (aka our friends' kids). We snuck in an adults-only dinner with my college friends and loved meeting Jen's fiance for the first time. Sam was buried in gifts at the Peckhams on Christmas Eve, but was really only interested in doing laps around the kitchen, living room and dining room. We brought Sam to mass on Christmas morning and Steve and I were absolutely astounded by Sam's behavior. We spent most of last year's mass in the church basement and were expecting to do the same this year. Totally not the case as Sam was perfectly happy to scope out the people around us and listen to the music. Definitely a highlight in my book.

Our afternoon was filled with food, more gifts and lots of laughter. We finally wrapped up the celebrating at about 10:30 and promptly fell into bed. Sam gave us a very nice gift and slept until 7:40 the next day. Again, another highlight.

White Knuckles: Our ride home to Chicago was pure hell as a dense fog descended on most of Wisconsin. We chose a semi that was going about 55 and stuck behind it almost the entire way (the longest 7 hours of our lives). Steve's hands were sore from gripping the steering wheel and I don't think either one of us has ever been so happy to see 2234 West Charleston. We highly recommend against driving through Wisconsin on a dark, windy and foggy night.

Gold Medals: Grandma and Grandpa both get gold medals for putting up with us and our mess while we were at home. It's amazing how a family of three can descend on a perfectly clean and neat house and immediately turn it upside down. In the midst of that, they managed to pull off another memorable Christmas celebration and some excellent beef tenderloin. Sam gets a gold medal for being an great traveler. He slept in the car when we wanted him to, only fought a couple of naps and handed out lots of hugs and kisses along the way.

Puke: Unfortunately this Christmas will be remembered for its puke. Within 48 hours of Christmas, Angie, Claire, Grandma, Meghan and I all had the flu. I can't remember the last time I felt this terrible, and again, would recommend against it. I just thank God that we made it home before my gage reflex started up. And speaking of gold medals, Steve gets one for driving us home and then welcoming me with open arms when I tapped him on the shoulder at 5 a.m. and told him I was deathly ill. Of course he jumped right in and spent the day taking care of Sam and nursing me back to health. Another priceless gift for me.

Hope you had an equally enjoyable Christmas, minus the white knuckles and puke, of course.

Walk and Roll

Sam has officially graduated from crawling to walking. I have mixed emotions about this development. I loved Sam's crawling days. If you ask me, the crawling phase is just way too short. And not because it's more work to keep an eye on him now that he waddles around. Crawling is just so "baby." I'm a little sad to see him move on.



BUT that's life, so I'm working on embracing it. It's hard not to fall in love given how fun it is to watch him make his way around the house. The only thing that's not to love: all of the trips and falls. So far he's taken a header into the Christmas tree, the side of the toilet and numerous walls. We're hoping that part passes soon.

Bring it On!

The countdown to Christmas is officially on. Sam's been keeping an eye out for Santa and carefully inspecting the tree to make sure everything's in place. The Christmas tunes have been blaring since the day after Thanksgiving and the gifts are slowing stacking up. In about a week we'll be headed to Minnesota! It's amazing how quickly time flies this time of year -- especially when you throw in a couple of crazy weeks at work.
We've been throughly impressed by Sam's restraint around the Christmas tree. We were fully expecting to yell "no!" every time he passed by, but he mostly just gives it a quick once over before moving on. Occasionally he'll examine a branch or an ornament, but otherwise, it's on to more important things like empty plastic bottles and garbage.

Turkey Day 08

Given all of the time that's passed since my last post, you're probably wondering if we survived Thanksgiving.

We did!

Sam was a real trooper on both the trip there and back. He slept most of the way, and when he wasn't sleeping, he just sat quietly (huh??!)

We hit both families on Thanksgiving and the day was so nutty I only ended up taking two photos -- and they are not good ones.

We're all counting the days until Christmas. Mostly because there's so much to do between now and then, but also because we can't wait to catch up with our friends and family again.

Long and Lean

In case you haven't had enough first birthday fun, here's another recap. This time via a rivetting video. :)

Sam sailed through his one-year check up tonight. He got a clean bill of health and clocked in at 22.1 pounds and 33 inches tall (that's the height of an average 19-month-old toddler). The doc described him as "tall and thin." I guess so!

One - Part Two

This picture collage gives you a pretty good idea of how the evening played out (with the exception of the last photo which was supposed to feature Sam's new shoes).

Uncle Shriner joined in the festivities and Sam was all too happy to use him as a human jungle gym. We unveiled the cake, belted out Happy Birthday and let Sam dig in. Given his outgoing and curious personality, we were a littl surprised he didn't attack the cake with a little more vigor. He just picked at the frosting a bit, and smeared it around his high chair.

We attempted to open gifts and discovered that what they say about kids is true -- after they open the first one, their interest quickly disipates.

Sam stayed up a whole hour longer than normal, which gave him lots of time to try to keep up with Meghan and enjoy all of the people who had turned out in his honor. It was a memorable celebration and we're so thankful we were surrounded by our family and friends for the day. Now we're left to wonder what the next year will bring!

One - Part One

Sam turned one on Saturday to great fan fare. Just like last year, Grandma and Grandpa Boylan, Aunt Kristine and Cousin Meghan were here to toast the little man, but that was really the only similiarity. We skipped Northwestern Memorial in lieu of a trip to Macy's to hear a reading of When Horton Hears a Who. Meghan and Sam were entranced for about five minutes before deciding climbing and crawling all over the children's department was a better idea. After Grandpa chipped in for three giant, talking Horton's (one for Cousin Claire back at home) we took in a nice lunch Boylan-style with a round of midday beers.
The Suess-themed adventure knocked out Sam for a good two hour nap, which gave us just enough time to regroup before breaking out the cake.

Class is in Session

One of our favorite parts of the weekend is going to Bubbles Academy for music class. We've been attending classes since Sam was about 5 months old and he's loved it since day one. Take a look (courtesy of Flip Video, the greatest invention ever).

Yes We Can

Is it just me or did it feel really good to wake up this morning? I scooped Sam out of his crib and told him he was waking up in a better, brighter world. While the task at hand seems almost insurmountable, the promise of moving in a different direction and the prospect of progress is enough to buoy my spirits.

When I was driving into work this morning, the Chicago skyline was basked in sunlight and I couldn’t help but feel exceptionally proud to be an American and a Chicagoan. It truly feels like a new day has dawned!

I didn’t have the foresight to snap a picture of Sam this morning, but I think this one sums up how we’re feeling at 2234 W Charleston today.

Change is coming!!

Steve was stuck at work a little late tonight so Sam and I settled in to watch the election returns. Sam wasn’t really into it, but I couldn't help but look at his happy little face and reflect on how lucky we are to live in the United States. It’s easy to take our democracy for granted, but it’s truly amazing that each and every one of us have a voice in the process. In fact, Sam’s nanny voted for the first time today and it was awesome to watch her fly out the door to get to her polling place. She was genuinely excited about having the right to vote and it was a good reminder that we’re all pretty lucky. I hope everyone who is reading this participated by voting!

Spider Sam

Happy Halloween! Have a frighteningly good day!

Bear Cub on the Prowl

A little bear cub was spotted enjoying a perfect fall day over the weekend. He encouraged a brown cow to head indoors for a snooze, urged a goose to catch up to the rest of his clan and told the birds to head south for the winter. And finally, at the end of the day, he posed with a fan for the paparazzi (that's right. A random asked to snap a photo with our Sam man).

Eleven Months

On Wednesday Sam was 11 months old. I tried to take his monthly photo in the Sam chair, but given his age, it was impossible to get him to sit still and look at the camera. Yes, Sam is busy these days. He hasn't started walking, but he's very adept at crawling and climbing. He can scale almost anything, especially things that are technically off-limits like the fireplace, the stereo equipment and the toilet. He has also perfected waving, pointing and is working on his first word: ball. He loves his books and never tires of peek-a-boo. He discovered that his little fingers fit perfectly inside Mom and Dad's mouths, ears and noses, and while it feels like we're being mauled, Sam finds it fascinating. Maybe he's on his way to being an ENT specialist. If so, he really needs to work on the art of a gentle touch.

Lights, Camera, Action

We bought a Flip video camera last week and I'm in love. It's super easy to use and the editing process is painless. With a few clicks you can have a pretty decent little "movie."



Enjoy! And after this post I promise to start mining for content somewhere other than the bathroom.

Wee!!!!

Talk about aging! Take a look at what a summer can do for a kid Sam's age!

April 6 --


October 5

Progress

I've been a little lax on the blog entries lately. Sorry. It's been a busy stretch for Steve and I on the work front and I just did a five-day stint in Miami at BKC. It's amazing what can happen in a week. Cousin Meghan got her big girl bed and Cousin Claire has taken her first official steps! Sam learned to drink from a regular cup and continues to perfect the fine art of climbing. These are the pics that kept me going while I was away.

Enjoy the weekend.

Quack!

To help make sure Sam doesn't slip and slide his way into a major injury in the bathtub, we invested in an inflatable duck that helps keep him contained. He loves it and bathtime remains one of Sam's favorites.

In other news, Sam has a new friend in the world! Dyson McBroom was born on Friday and at 9 lbs, 12 oz, his mom deserves a big round of applause. Congrats to whole McBroom clan!

Rain Rain Go Away

It rained all weekend long thanks to Hurricane Ike. To preserve our sanity we lifted the ban on TV while Sam's in the room and watched part of the Vikings game as a family. Sam was enthralled and tried his best to get as close as possible to the screen.

The forecast calls for sunshine the rest of the week, but after being homebound all weekend Steve and I are contemplating one question over a much-needed bottle of wine: what in the hell are we going to do all winter?

Merry Go Sam

We had so much fun at the zoo last week that we decided to return today. I guess that's the really great thing about living a couple of miles from a free zoo. We said hello to the sea lions, beavers, bears and lions before introducing Sam to one of childhood's greatest traditions -- the merry go round. It was just as fun as Steve and I remembered, and Sam seemed to enjoy it too.

After all of the action, Sam was ready for bed even earlier than usual. He was fast asleep by 6:45, dreaming of wild animals, we presume.