Well, it's not necessarily the hottest news off the press, but Sam is walking now! He started walking with his alligator push-around toy and, with lots of practice, quickly progressed to walking independently (right after our trip to Indiana, at around 12 1/2 months). Sam is quite the explorer now. He gets into the dog food daily (which means he also gets scolded daily), he is exploring the contents of the lower cabinets and pantry, and has even started to climb up on things. He even showed us early on that he could climb a whole flight of stairs! Where did he learn that?!
We think Sam is going to be very musically inclined, like his father, because he's quite the expert drummer (like his father, ahem). Anything resembling a drum stick is immediately picked up and engaged in banging on any surface that will make noise. The washing machine is his favorite instrument right now due to the thundering bass sound it delivers. He has an actual drum (um, thanks Aunt Kath & Uncle Mike) and several other small percussion implements to play with, but he's also not afraid to kick it old-school with a plain old wooden spoon and tin can combo. We often set up a small "drum set" of cans, pans and cups on the kitchen floor to keep Sam occupied while we cook meals or do the dishes. That was no problem until we noticed he started putting out a tip jar while he played. And Sam is no one-trick-pony. We're not sure what he likes more now - drumming or dancing. This little dancin' machine loves to get his groove on! Anytime he hears a good beat, he starts dancing and waving his arms without a care in the world. His favorite songs are all from Disney Channel shows, despite his daddy's best efforts to hook him on the dusty old classic big-band tunes and even some more modern drum corps music. Baby steps...literally. No matter what style it is, if it has a lively beat Sam just can't resist the urge to shake what his momma gave him!
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| Yep, even the washer and dryer are a drum |
Sam has also started to say several words and is actually connecting them to their meaning. At 15 months, he was saying things like ball, mama, dada, go, please, shoes and uh-oh. He also knew how to "arf arf" like a dog, "moo" like a cow and "ooh ooh eee eee" like a monkey. He's still working on saying "octopus", which is adorable to see and hear, even if he hasn't completely mastered the pronunciation. His vocabulary now includes a couple dozen English words, a small mouthful of Vietnamese words, and about a thousand words if only we knew how to speak Toddler. New words are coming out of his little face every day and we continue to be amazed and amused by how quickly he learns, and by what catches his attention.
Sam was also still a great eater up until about 15 months. At that point he began challenging us more when it came to eating fruits and veggies. He's still okay with blueberries and strawberries, but we're finding it difficult to get him to eat any other fruits. He refused pretty much any vegetable for a while, though by the time we are writing this, he has once again decided that carrots and green beans are approved. He still loves cheese, pancakes and goldfish and shoves scrambled eggs into his head with both hands. He will sometimes eat everything as fast as we can put it on his plate, but then often just considers his dinner to be confetti for the kitchen floor (at which point we are grateful to have a dog). Ah, welcome to the toddler diet plan. Enjoyable for them, sometimes frustrating for us...and it's a new adventure every day!
Speaking of adorable, we had Sam's one-year photos taken at the beginning of February. We absolutely love how they turned out and how they capture his little personality so nicely. He's such a fun kid and we feel incredibly blessed every day to be able to watch him grow, learn and play. Our sweet little boy makes us smile and laugh until our faces hurt. Here are a couple of favorite moments from the photo shoot. You can see the rest of them in this album.
