Our Baby Size Life!

Posts Tagged ‘Samuel’

It’s taken me a while to post about this, but I just had so much to write about, stuffing it all in one post seemed like a bad idea. So what the hell, I’m splitting it up.  First we’ll tackle the preparation for our little guy’s party.  Now I don’t know how this idea snuck into my head, but when we started talking about his birthday back in January, I was under the impression that a baby birthday party was an easy thing to plan.  I’m thinking Sam’s only gonna be one year old; he ain’t gonna remember squat, right? So, we should put together an easy party: blow up a couple balloons, throw a few decorations around, wrap a box or two, pay for a cake and BAM! We are done folks.

Not so.

Mom had her say too.

Now wait just a second before you fill the comment box with the sounds of cracking whips or asking me where my pants are.  She brought up a couple interesting points in her argument, and I admit that while she was right on those, I was right on… well one or two others. So, like any couple, we compromised (I let her think she won ).  Having set the ground rules for the party, a hard decision awaited us: the theme. Did we need a theme? Did we have to have a theme? Would theme be overkill? Sam was not even one yet and didn’t really express interest in anything in particular. What kind of theme could we possibly do? Sam likes the nipples on his bottles… Should we do a nipple theme? Imagine the cake! Finally, after a week of brainstorming, Melissa and I sat in the kitchen eating lunch, while Sam played on the floor near by, when we suddenly had an epiphany.  Actually Sam clued us in: he tickled Elmo… And the rest, as they say, is history.

Sammy checking out the theme

Elmo floats above all!

Next thing you know, it’s Sam’s big day, and we are running around trying to get everything done in time.  Melissa’s big project was the cake.  It was the focus of the party, so she was using that sharp-shooter concentration of hers to get it done… No pressure!

Melissa working her baker talents...	...almost done...
Elmo! I'd say the cake was a success!	Hmmmm! Left over cake and icing means Elmo cupcake clones!

While Melissa was again displaying her culinary talents, I was on Sam duty. Did I mention I had a bad cold? Well I did. You know that guy you see on the news every year… The one who gets trampled by a bull in Spain during the running of the bulls? That’s how I felt. I was hopped up on DayQuil and Advil Cold & Flu pills. Should I have mixed? Maybe not, but they got me through the day!  Suddenly the door bell rang. It was around noon and the party was starting a 2 pm, so we weren’t expecting anybody, so I run up and answer: it was our neighbor and her son with a gift for Sam! His first official birthday gift! They gave Sam a set of children’s books, but not just any books. Her son hand picked, from his own collection, his favorite books and gave them to Sam.  Talk about a thoughtful gift! He was happy to give them to Sam since he had so much fun reading them when he was little. We loved his idea and thoughtfulness. I’ve written it before and I’ll surely write it again: we have great neighbors!

Sam unwrapping his gift... Once all the tissue paper was gone, he lost interest!	Melissa looking through the books... which one shall we read first??
Sam and our neighbor!

After our friends left, Sam was now ready for his party. Putting him down for a quick nap beforehand was a good move on out part… We knew he would have a busy day ahead of him, but we just weren’t sure how busy. Would he make it through? Would I (my really, really bad cold remember )? Would the house survive all Sam’s kiddy friends hopped up on icing sugar and soda pop? Sam Vs. the cake: who survives? Who got drunk and strip-teased on the living room table?

Come back soon, and I’ll tell you all about it!

That’s it for now folks! Take care and thanks for reading!

Whew! These days, we are crazy busy, I will have a couple post coming up soon about Sam’s birthday party and his first few days at day care. Yeah, Melissa and I are a little freaked out about that, more on that parental anxiety to come…  So for now, I hope you all don’t mind another comic post! Let’s keep the story going and see how Sam and Elmo are getting along… Catch up with part 1 here.

Sam loves water and he especially loves his bath!  We keep things mixed up for Sam. It keeps things interesting for him… and for us by varying our routine on a nightly basis. And that is an important tip folks: vary the routine, don’t break it.  Babies love their routines and it keeps life manageable for the parents.  Fighting it will just make things worse, I know, I tried. So, find ways of varying the steps you go through enough to keep you sane, and your kid won’t be lost in his daily habits. Preaching done, on with the post.

So, some nights we give him his shower and others it’s a full-on bath, complete with bubbles! Now, babies are curious by nature and tend to discover things by looking, touching and then tasting.  The first time we put bubbles in his bath, he went right to the tasting! Down went his hand in a big scooping motion, and up it came with his fingers full of the sticky little bubbles.  A moments hesitation on my part in wiping the suds away and it was too late, they were gone!  Swallowed by the sparsely toothed maw, they never had a chance. Sam made a face and never tried to intentionally eat them again.

We’ve given him a bunch of baths with bubbles since then and I just don’t know why I hadn’t thought of doing something like this to Sammy before.  Bubble hair! Let the games begin! Man it’s fun to being goofy parents!  We can have this kind of fun and he’s too young to know any better! I think he liked having his head soaked in suds.  Check it out in the gallery below.  It starts off with a little dab of suds… then the bubble monster strikes! Is there a baby under there?!?!

Chat’ya soon folks!

A couple weekends ago, I needed to drop into work on the weekend for a reconnaissance mission of sorts.  I also needed Melissa to be there because she has a particular talent for interior decorating.  This was the same day that Melissa and her sister were baking those freakin’ good chicken pot pies, so the sister tagged along as well.  Just to make things a little more coincidental, my brother-in-law, the sister’s boyfriend, was at work that day doing some overtime with some of my co-worker friends from out of town.  Great! The whole gang would be together and Sammy would get to meet the people I work with… most of them who read this blog!

Or so we thought!  Turns out that by the time we got dressed, got out the door and arrived at my work… they were already gone!  We were a little disappointed that Sam wouldn’t be meeting anybody, but then again, the whole floor was empty…  Which means, for a mischievous little runt like myself, that opportunities are abound for some Sammy-made sabotage!

Off we went exploring the floor and facilities. We also stopped by at the desks of my co-workers, both the nice ones and the bastards, to see what we could see…

Well, my vacation has been over for just over a week now, and I put off posting about those wonderful last few days, because… well they were just so damn fun! I have to say that I did NOT look forward to going back to work! I guess everyone feels that way about their vacation right? Well, as you can see in the pic on the left, I loved my vacation with Meli and Sam! Lazy mornings… or was that in the afternoon? I forget… and you know what? That’s the point! They were fun, stress free days with family and friends. Check it out!

After getting back from Wildwood, we spent a couple days just lounging about relaxing and getting ready for our next trip down to see my sister in the Toronto area. She doesn’t get to see Sammy often, so we just had to go down there with the pamper packer and get her to change some diapers! And she did! Ummm, I think she actually changed ALL OF THEM. We got there on a Friday afternoon around 2 pm and my sister got home from work at 5, and we never saw Sam again until three days later when we had to leave! She was adamant in taking care of her “Sammy-kins” while she had the chance… Even getting up early for that morning bottle! Meli and I could sleep in… we loved it! My brother-in-law FINALLY got to hold Samuel, as the only other time he saw Sam was last Easter and he was sick with a cold! Here he is on the right, a nice shot of uncle and nephew taking a break on the deck. We had some great meals while we were there, which is the usual when we go to stay with them. They always seem to outdo themselves! I kept my two nephews busy as we played a ton of sports: Whiffle Ball, Basketball, Hockey and Football. We even played some Holey-Board and I brought down my RockBand video game for some nighttime shenanigans! Needless to say, we did rock! The singing was a little weak… I kid! I kid! We had some good laughs. The three days we were there flew by, we all had so much fun, it amazing Sam found a little quiet time to catch up on his reading!

Arriving back home, we took it easy having fun just the three of us. Lazy days just playing around outside with Sam, and taking a lot of pics. I love those days. The kind of day when you don’t plan anything… not even what’s for supper, and I love supper folks. Melissa had the great idea of throwing a blanket outside and just sitting out there staring at the clouds… Sam was a fan of this activity, he kept staring at the leaves blowing in the nice summer breeze. Sam also has a favorite toy. It’s a gift from our friends Aaron and Soizic (thanks again!). It’s a big, blue, plastic tube filled with air and it has three jingly balls rolling around inside it. He just loves it! It’s lightweight so he can grab, kick, punch, toss, yank, chew and pretty much abuse it any way he wants. Here’s a couple shots of him playin’ around with it!

Our last weekend on vacation together was a busy one. We had friends Josée and Sylvain over for supper on the Saturday (that’s Sam and his friend Maxime on the left, after a post meal walk) and my cousins wedding on the Sunday. That’s right, a wedding on my last day off before headin’ back to work! Talk about finishing your vacation in style! The wedding was great fun, the party was rockin’ and the wedded couple are very much in love… But we had to leave early as we didn’t want to inconvenience our babysitters on a Sunday night. I mean, seeing as Sam’s babysitter was, in fact, my boss, I consider myself lucky he accepted to babysit until 11pm on a Sunday night… with work the next day no less! But that’s Norm for ya! A good guy through and through! Luckily Melissa’s sister was there to keep him in line! *wink wink* Thanks again to you both, we appreciated the rare night out together! That’s it for now folks, as always… thanks for reading!

Hey Everyone!  It took a little longer than I had thought to get this second post up, but we’re just having so much darn fun!   And I have to write this one quick because we’re on our way out check out and old lighthouse in the town of Cape May.  Just make for some nice pics!  Plus, for the ladies, the are plenty of little dinky deco shops and stuff, so that will keep ‘em happy too!

Here are a few more pics, as you can guess, our daily routine has been beach & boardwalk.  We’ve been doing that for about 4 days now, but don’t blame us for lack of originality, it’s the weather’s fault!  We’ve had nothing but beautiful clear sky and cool ocean breezes since we’ve been here!  I love it, Melissa love’s it and, of course, Sammy-Pants loves it!  Meghan gave Sam that nickname, Sammy-Pants, and I’m not sure why, Sam hasn’t worn any pants since we’ve been here!

There is a theme park here called Morey’s Pier, it consists of three huge peers that stretch off onto the beach.  It’s like a six flags amusement park: tons of rides, tons of food and tons of those games that look easy so you try them then quickly realize you got screwed and are stuck standing there looking like a dolt who just spent 24$ to get a little plush toy that disintegrates the minute it hits water…

But we’re having a blast!  Between all the sea shells and crab hunting and sand castle making and breaking and the weird food testing (like fried Oreo`s and dipping dots ice cream of the future) there’s always something to keep us entertained.

So I’d better go, we got a day of historical exploring to do… before we hit the beach again!

Man I love that salty air!!!

It’s been a while since my last post, but as I mentioned in the posting, life has gotten busy! I’ve got a couple personal projects out of the way, only to have a few more take their place! But I’m not complaining, I love being busy, being productive and being creative! yay! Which means the blog has been suffering! Boo! Which also might be a good thing! Why? Well I started this blog mainly to chronicle the events of Sam’s arrival into our lives and in the past few weeks, the posting have also included topics that make this blog more like any other: movie reviews, game reviews, site reviews, rants about current issues, etc. Which is fun to do, but off the original intention of what this blog was supposed to be and what makes it different (in my eyes) to other blogs. So, I’ve decided that in light of my other sudden summertime occupations, I will update this blog less, but when I do, it will be about the parent life with Sam.

Having said that, last weekend, Sam, Melissa and I went to a great little restaurant near my parent’s place for Melissa’s 30th birthday dinner. It was a beautiful evening as we arrived at the little cottage like resto around 6:30 and proceeded to talk and dine until well past 9:30! The atmosphere was perfect, a nice breezy summer evening by the waterfront, under a giant maple tree watching the sun set on the water…all the while enjoying a great Austrian meal!!! The company was, of course fabulous, but we did regret that my sis and her family couldn’t be there. But we drank to them and hoped they were having as much fun as we were back in Toronto. Sam was a big hit with the waitresses and other patrons as he giggled and smiled his way through the evening, only to finally fall asleep in his Dad’s arms shortly before the ride home. Safe to say, he was pooped!

Later in the week, we had a massive, violent thunder storms blanket the area were we live. Much damage did ensue as trees were pulled out at their roots, roofs and houses were torn and many a garbage pail has gone missing…having flown away on the wind. I was working, but Melissa and Sam were at home during the ordeal which had them taking refuge in the basement as the storm raged outside. After a hit like that, it was no surprise that some water infiltrated through our windows causing minor water damage. Most of the city lost power as well. That’s right! Sam’s first blackout! So I took some pics of him to commemorate the moment! It just so happened that the sky was clearing as the sun set that evening, so I ran out and took a pic of my street with nothing but the sunset shading us in its soft glow. It was a nice moment and I was actually thankful for the blackout just then. It was a welcome respite from our neon filled nights, to have an evening bathed in pink giving us all some time to think.

See you next post!

The Mother’s Day weekend is traditionally a big one in our families. Not only was it Mother’s Day, but it was also my mother-in-laws birthday on Saturday, my brother-in-laws birthday on Sunday and my own birthday on Monday. So we had a lot to celebrate, and we did, with three days of fun with family and friends! It all started off on Friday night as my good buddy Daniel and his wife Anna Maria invited us over for a great birthday meal! Anybody who knows me knows I love a good home-cooked meal, and Dan & Anna Maria gave me a yummy B-day gift with a great Italian-style lasagna (complete with bechamel sauce!!!) preceded by an entrée of lobster with marinated artichoke hearts. A nice salad and two types of cakes for dessert later, I was stuffed silly. Sam, while enjoying his bottle-o-milk, was a good boy being pretty quiet all evening while Mom and Dad played with Dan & Anna Maria’s two kids, Christopher and Amanda! After a meal like that, Melissa, Sam and I slept like babies… well for Sam that’s not much of a stretch, but you get the idea.

Saturday was a crazy, hectic day so the good nights sleep was, in retrospect, perfect timing. We had decided to have Melissa’s whole family over for the aforementioned birthdays/Mother’s Day mash-up and we had lots to do! As I try to do every year for my mother-in-law, I made some homemade spring rolls! They are always a big hit, so I enjoy making them, and I will most likely post the recipe in the near future. It was a BYOB party and we all had a great time with the last of the guests leaving around midnight. Sam was exhausted as he was passed around more than a 2 dollar joint. Check the link below for some pics of that day.

Sunday was my family turn as Melissa, Sam and I packed up the car and header to my parents place for the day. And what a beautiful day it was as we spent most of the day outside in the sun playing all kinds of sports with my 5 year old niece Meghan. We had some great salmon on a plank cooked on the BBQ (again, I’ll post this recipe too) and some Nanny-made apple crisp for dessert. Following supper, we gave Sammy-boy a bath/bottle combination which is a sure knock out for him. It’s was another great day with family that I live for. It was not perfect, however, as my sister and her family couldn’t be there with us , but we thought of them the whole day.

Getting home Sunday night and seeing my bed was a welcome sight. All that fun and my 30th birthday still hadn’t passed yet! I still had a couple hours left to say goodbye to my twenties, but I ended up sleeping them off and dreaming of what the next decade would bring with Melissa and Sam…

Check out some pics of the weekend here!

Since I’ve started back at work, when I get home, for me, it’s all Sammy all the time. Melissa deservedly gets the evening off and I take care of the little munchkin. A nice little tradition we’ve started is having bath time be a Father & Son moment. It’s our bonding time that I look forward to every night and, well to be honest, I feel useful! I believe that is the biggest problem I’ve been having since Sam took his first breath: feeling useful!  But Melissa says I’m doing great, so as long as she’s happy, I’m happy

So now that Dad has an official baby job to do, I give it my all…and Sam does too! He gives his ‘all’ on my hand, my arm and sometimes my leg. Wherever his little pea shooter is aiming, I am foolish enough to have some kind of body part in the way for him to soak!

Check out our bath time fun here!

Well its done! We are back from the hospital and we are pooped! Here’s a quick summary for now, I’ll post more soon!

Sleepin’ Sammy

A BIG thanks to our families and friends for their well wishes and generous gifts… Your support means a lot to us and we LOVE you all back – special thanks to Anna Maria for all her efforts, enthusiasm and FOOD! (Yummy Italian cooking )

My Dad deserves a medal or something…He sat in this hospital waiting room crap chair for over 12 hours, all alone, in a creepy little waiting room full of French teen pop mags, sleeping on his rolled up winter coat, no food, no water and only a bit of news every hour to keep him going…now that’s commitment to family!

Melissa worked hard an gave me the most beautiful little baby…Samuel! Our little guy’s stats:

Date of Birth: February 20, 12:34 pm

Weight: 8lbs 8oz

Length: 19 3/4 inches

Package: Yes

I think I’ll turn in now, gonna be a loooooong night. Who knows, maybe I’ll be posting at 3 in the morning

The new family of 3!