Keeping Up with the Kramers

August 12 - Honeymoon Island, Palm Harbor

We've spent the past two weekends visiting both Florida coasts to enjoy some time with family and take in some sun on the beautiful beaches!

Sam first visited the beach during a visit to Aunt Kath's house in Palm Harbor. We were having lunch at the cafe on the Gulf coast beach of Honeymoon Island when we decided to take Sam down to the water for an impromtu first (saltwater) dip. He was so into the sand and water that we couldn't even get him to look up for a photo!

Learning to be a beach lover

Right before he got knocked over by a wave

About two weeks ago, Sam and I were playing on the floor and I thought I saw something white in his mouth. Sure enough, when I put my pinky on his gum, I felt the sharp edge of a tooth bud! Today, he's up to two tooth buds peeking through his gum line. So exciting!!! They're still very small and Sam isn't quite cooperative enough to allow us to snap a photo of it, but you can definitely feel and see that they are there. He must be doing really well managing the discomfort of teething, since he has hardly fussed at all and doesn't ask for much from us!  He's taking those chompers like a champ!   Although he's putting just about everything he touches into his mouth, he doesn't really like teething rings. We suspect that, even though the cold rings should be soothing, they are just too hard for Sam's liking. His favorite things to gnaw on are the nose of his Mickey Mouse toy and the nipple of his bottles. He had been taking 6 ounces of formula really well, until recently when he began stopping after about 4 ounces to chew on the nipple for a little while.  Because he's messing around, he can sometimes take longer to finish the last 2 ounces of milk than it took to consume the first 4!

Munching on a baby cookie

Speaking of food, so far we have introduced Sam to eating sweet potato, apple, pear, banana, green beans, peas, broccoli, nectarine, squash, prunes, peaches and carrots, in addition to rice cereal and oatmeal. He's also had a taste of ice cream, Nilla wafer, watermelon and the baby cookies from Ella's Kitchen. He loves it all, as long as we keep mixing fruit into his veggies!

Baby bird and Grandma Kramer

We are still making most of our own baby foods at home, and can make and store about two weeks worth of food at a time. We are going to have to get some more storage containers though, as Sam has progressed right into two solid meals a day.  It won't be long before he is up to three.  Look out Harry & Larry's BBQ, here we come!!

At Sam's six month well visit, he weighed in at 18.9 lbs (70th percentile) and 26 3/4". Our pediatrician says that six month olds are the perfect children because they stay where you put them, don't talk back and they eat everything. And we agree! Sam is delightful! He's a happy, energetic boy.... very curious, talkative and has a happy disposition. I use to ask him if he was happy when he was a newborn and hadn't yet figured out how to smile. Now we know he's happy because he gives us lots of smiles every day. He is tons of fun!

Six months old today!

We also celebrated my birthday on July 27. Shawn took me out to the Chef's Table in Downtown Winter Garden to celebrate. If you've never been, please go! The food is incredible! The menu is created based on what's in season, everything is locally sourced and prepared to perfection. They are one of the few places in Orlando to cure their own meats too. We had been hearing great things about this special occasion experience and we were not disappointed. They even have what they call The Tasting Room portion of the restaurant that is more of a bar and tapas experience. It's also fantastic and a perfect spot for a date night! I enjoyed the day very much and getting to spend a romantic evening out with my sweetheart! And I especially enjoyed the dinner leftovers for lunch the next day!

On the weekend of my birthday, we also had Sam's six-month photo shoot with our friend Kristen from Ella Lu Photography, the same photographer who shot his newborn photos. Despite the weather being hot and muggy already by 8:30 am, we had a great time and Sam did very well. We shot the photos in the Downtown Winter Garden area, which has a great small town feel with rustic looking walls, vintage tile fountain, and tree-lined brick streets. We also visited our favorite lakefront park to snap a couple of shots with the beautiful green grass and tall oak trees. We took tons of photos of Sam and even squeezed in a few family shots. Here is our favorite picture from the shoot. You can see the rest of Sam's six month photos here.

Super boyyyy, da-da-da-dat-da-daaaah!

Since the weather had been so warm on the day of our photo shoot, we decided it would be a good time to get Sam into the  swimming pool for his first real dip! So, along with my sisters, brother-in-law and niece, we got into our bathing suits and headed for the community pool. So far, Sam seems to really like being in the pool. He splashed around and enjoyed being pulled through the cool water. We sure hope he enjoys swimming, because he will be learning infant water survival and swimming skills in a month or so!

First time in the pool!

Sam's Olympic rings. Could he be the next Michael Phelps?

We welcomed Shawn's niece, Jenna, and her family to Winter Garden last week for part of their family vacation. It was so much fun getting to spend time with Jenna, Hassan and their three beautiful kiddos.

Shawn and I recently took Sam and Teddy for a picnic in Newton Park near downtown Winter Garden and had a great time. It's the perfect outing with a baby! So we decided that it would be fun to take our visitors on a picnic to the park as well, and we are naming this new regular event "Sammies with Sammy"!  Everyone enjoyed the fresh air and the gorgeous lake shore view. The boys tossed the baseball around, climbed some trees and saw a baby alligator floating by the dock.  Everyone had a yummy lunch (Publix subs for the adults and PB&J for the kids) and Shawn taught the kids how to make a duck bill with Pringles.  Amazing how being a parent takes you right back to your own childhood!






Our excursion also included a stop at Scoops ice cream shop. We love this charming, old-fashioned ice cream parlor. It's the perfect staple for our little town and no visit to Winter Garden is complete without a Scoops ice cream cone. We also stopped off at the new downtown splash pad. We've been waiting for Sam to be old enough for a visit and we thought he was finally ready! It was so cool to introduce him to water as a toy!

Every week, we receive emails from Baby Center, WedMD and the like with great information about baby development at Sam's age. When the messages started mentioning sitting up, I thought, "No way! He's not ready! He's just a baby!", but thought we should start practicing anyway.


The other night after work, Shawn and I were playing on the floor with him and we decided to show him the colorful accessories that go along with this house toy. We sat him up in front of the door and let go to see if he could sit up independently. And he did!! Of course he was a little wobbly, but after a couple of days he seems to have gotten the hang of it. We think he's really enjoying his new point of view and is very curious about his surroundings.

Sitting up independently for the first time

He's also started to use rolling around as a mode of transportation. He loves rolling over several times in one direction, until he runs into a piece of furniture. It's a blast watching him figure all of this out and start to explore his world.

Rolling around and checking things out

"No Paparazzi!"

Happy Little Plaid Family

We had a great Independence Day here at home, with our very own little "Uncle Sam".  My mom, stepdad and our friend Scott came over to celebrate with us. Shawn cooked up some yummy BBQ and even set off fireworks in the backyard.

Our neighbors were also in their back yard setting off their own fireworks so we took turns and all enjoyed the "rocket's red glare" together! Sam was fascinated with the fireworks. The noise didn't seem to scare him at all. He watched intently and just took it all in. And much to our surprise, he slept through the "bombs bursting in air" throughout the neighborhood after he went to bed.

Watching fireworks

The boys next door

It was a great All-American day! We are having so much fun sharing each holiday with Sam and showing him all of the fun traditions of our families and culture.

Our little boy is growing up and doing all kinds of new tricks! He's discovered his feet and learned how to hold his bottle all by himself. Since Sam started eating solids, we decided to make our own baby food with the Baby Bullet. Sam's been offered homemade sweet potatoes, peas, pears and bananas. He loves the fruit and doesn't really like rice cereal or the vegetables. But we're going to keep working on him. Neither Shawn or I can blame him on the rice cereal - bleck!

Holding his bottle like a big boy! He's watching TV at the same time... multi-tasking

Sometimes he improvises

Holding his feet, but they haven't made it to the mouth yet

First batch of homemade baby food - pears, peas and sweet potatoes

We had a really nice first Father's Day. We started the day with a homemade breakfast casserole and we all enjoyed a meal at the table together. Shawn had been pretty attached to the hospital bracelet he wore when Sam was born and was sad when it finally broke apart and fell off. So for Father's Day we got him a sterling silver ID bracelet with Sam's full name and his birth information engraved on it. I also got him a picture frame with with an American flag design and the words "Future President" and put a photo of Sam in it! Shawn really liked his special gifts and I think he had a nice day with his family.  Shawn is also looking forward to many a Father's Day to come when Sam is a little older and can sit with us to watch baseball and eat popcorn and apple slices, in honor of his sweet Grandpa Kramer who will certainly always be watching over Sam from Heaven.

Shawn and his dad, the unforgettable Raymond L. Kramer (aka, "Grandpa Fuzzyhead")

Happy Father's Day! (June 2012)

Look how far we've come!  (February 2012)

Hanging out with Grandpa Ewen

Grandpa Ewen loves talking to Sam and making him smile

We've had a couple of doctor visits this week. This past Monday, on his five month birthday mark, Sam came down with a fever and wasn't eating well. He'd been suffering from congestion for the past couple of weeks - remnants of his first cold - so we suspected an ear infection. We decided to take him to the late-night pediatrician, but the doctor really couldn't tell us what was wrong with him. By Wednesday morning, his lack of appetite was still really concerning, so we took him to his regular pediatrician and learned that Sam had viral throat infection that included three ulcers. Dr. Gordon said that Sam was one tough kid because he expected him to be more uncomfortable and upset. But Sam was his usual happy self - smiling, trying to grab the stethoscope and playing with Dr. Gordon's fingers. Unfortunately, since it was viral, all he could recommend was plenty of rest, a cold drink and acetaminophen (Tylenol). Sam wasn't really interested in cold water and we didn't want to offer him juice yet, but he loved cold bananas and pears! It's Saturday now and Sam is in much better spirits! His appetite has finally started to return and he actually slept last night waking only two times, which was a nice change from waking every 45 minutes or so all of the other nights this week. If you're curious, Sam weighed in at 16 lbs 11 oz... right on track!

He loves to stand and play with the toys in his Jump and Play Frog

Although we can't really blame daycare for all of this illness, we suspect it's a contributor. So we've decided to take a break from daycare and hire a babysitter to stay at home with Sam three days a week. Luckily, Grandma Ewen still watches him the other two days. We hope that he builds a very strong immune system...we're just going to let him start doing it a little later in life.

Check out more photos of Sam in our June album.