12 Months!!

Oh my goodness, I have so much blogging to do! I'm going to try to get it all done this week but we'll see!!

Our little man turned ONE YEAR OLD on June 18th. In some ways, it's crazy that it's been a year since he was born, and in others it seems like he's been with us for ages. Here are the highlights of Samuel's 12th month:

First off, we moved into our new house this month!

 Samuel enjoys getting into "his" cabinet and playing with the plastic containers.

 Samuel has climbed across every inch of this house! We pretty much have it baby-proofed and it's nice that he can explore.

 Samuel's room. We love it!!

Samuel and Daddy playing in the backyard.

 Next, Samuel took his first swim class this month! He LOVES the water!! Samuel learned how to kick, splash, "float" on his tummy and back, blow bubbles, and "jump" off the side to Mommy or Daddy. Here is our little swimmer with his Daddy.

And here we are at the baby part of the Carrollton pool. They have all sorts of splash toys and a lazy river! We love it!

Here Samuel is jumping into the pool to Daddy.

We enjoyed getting snowcones after swim class on some nights. I think Sammy like raspberry flavor best!

 Our little man got his hair cut for the first time this month! It was on June 16th at Cool Cuts for Kids. He did a fabulous job! He loved sitting in the little car and chewing on the little gown they had him wear. Doesn't he look handsome???

 We have also enjoyed some good cousin play time this month. Samuel and Hannah love each other and enjoy "playing" together. This is only the beginning of cousin craziness!!

At Samuel's 12 month appointment on June 19th, he weighed 22 lbs, 12 oz (55th percentile) and was 29 3/4 inches long (50th percentile).

He is wearing 18 month clothes.

He can say mama, dada, cheese, and go.

He is cruising along furniture all the time. I'm pretty sure he would be able to walk on his own if he tried, but he really isn't interested yet. It won't be long, though.

Samuel loves to play "peek-a-boo", stack and unstack blocks, swim, go for walks outside, and just be free.

Samuel doesn't like to be cooped up for long, to get his diaper changed (seriously, he fights it and screams when I put him on his back!! I'm ready for this phase to be over!!), or to be away from mama.

He will eat pretty much anything we put in front of him. Some favorites are cheese, bread, watermelon, strawberries, bananas, and ice cream:)

We LOVE our little man!! I am so happy to be spending the summer with him!!

Next up: Samuel's first birthday party and camp!

Eleven Months

Oh my goodness. What a month we've had. It has been crazy busy but for good reasons! Here we go:

Most exciting news this month: We bought a house! About a month ago, we were driving around looking at garage sales and we ended up finding a house! We move in this weekend and couldn't be more excited. Sammy is especially excited about helping us pack!

We have done lots of swimming this month. We've gone a couple of times to the apartment pool and then swam with Cousin Hannah in Cammy and Out-paw's backyard. Samuel LOVES the water! We signed him up for "Water Babies" this summer which should be tons of fun.

We went to Abilene last weekend for my cousin Matt's graduation from college. He is my youngest cousin and I can't believe he's out of college! And getting married! We had tons of fun with family and Samuel was in a great mood all weekend.

Samuel continues to pull up all the time and can cruise on the furniture pretty well.

His 5th and 6th teeth FINALLY broke through a couple of days ago. He is a much happier guy now!

Samuel is wearing 12 to 18 month clothes.

Samuel loves to sing, dance, and growl. He cracks us up and of course that makes him do it more!

Here is a picture of Samuel and I on Mother's Day weekend. He is my joy and I'm so happy to be his mommy!

Eleven month pictures:





10 Months

 So, this post is a little late but that's ok. We have been very busy around the Irby home! Here are some highlights from Samuel's tenth month:

*He is about 22 lbs now and wears mostly 12 month clothes, although he can fit into some 18 month.
*Samuel is getting is 5th and 6th teeth (on either side of his front ones on top). They have been coming in for forever and make our little guy pretty upset sometimes!
*Samuel started to pull up this month and now pulls up on everything! He can pull up and take a few steps holding onto things.

*Samuel can also climb our stairs!! He is getting faster and faster at this...

We took several cute pictures at the arboretum and in the bluebonnets

 

Sammy had such a fun Easter. The Easter Bunny gave him a swimsuit, a xylophone, some new bibs, and some bubbles. Then we went to church where Sammy had fun in the nursery and we celebrated Christ being risen. We then went to the Irby's for a wonderful Easter brunch. Samuel had his first easter egg hunt where he just sat there and let me bring him eggs. Oh, what a fun day!

Sammy had his first experience on a baseball field this month! We went to a roughriders game where Sammy was chosen to go on the field and have his first taste of lemon! It was hilarious and tons of fun.



Sammy also went to his first wedding this month. Look at our precious blye-eyed baby!!

Oh such exciting news: Sammy decided to say "Dada" and "Mama" this month! He said Dada while we were at the park. I got him out of the car, handed him to Matthew, and he shouted "Dada" so excitedly! He said Mama just a few days ago when he wanted out of his high chair. He says both a lot now (though not on command) and we just love it!!!

Sammy continues to love to read and be read to. I read him several books most every night, and he will just sit there, usually with his thumb in his mouth, and listen and look at the pictures. So precious!

Also, he sits in the big tub now and loves it. He will either try to pull up on the side (which I hate because I'm afraid he will fall) or "swim" on his tummy, splashing like crazy.

I could go on and on about our precious boy. We love him so very much and are so blessed to be his parents!!



Nine Months

Our baby boy turned nine months on Sunday! He just gets more fun as the days pass and he is always making us laugh!

Sammy weighs 20 lbs and is 28 inches long. He is wearing 9 and 12 month clothes.
He is eating more solids. Some of his new favorites are graham crackers and yogurt.
He is crawling around faster now and using his feet more when he crawls. He can sure get to cords and DVDs quickly!
Samuel got his top two teeth and is looking more like a little boy now!

We have had lots of good play time this month.

Sammy went to Mrs. Courtney's for the last time. He had a wonderful six months with her and he will have to go back to visit soon!

Samuel got to play with cousin Hannah several times this month. They are trouble makers already!

Sammy and I had a wonderful Spring Break together.We went to Abilene to visit Nana and Granddaddy where we went to the zoo and played a lot. When we came back, Matthew took a couple of days off and we went to the park and to the St. Patrick's Day parade. We also went to visit Chloe and Samuel while they were in town and Sammy went swimming for the first time. Oh, and Samuel had his first injury this month. I didn't strap him in to the stroller while we were sitting outside at a restaurant and I was feeding him. All of a sudden he slipped out the bottom, landed on his rear, and went head-first into the concrete. He had a bruise and a scrape but was ok. I am sure it hurt me more! What a busy, fun Spring Break!

We love our little man so much! I absolutely cannot wait until Summer when I will have him all to myself for a while!! Here are some 9 month pics:

8 Months

Wow, this past month flew by! We were pretty busy with a couple of sicknesses (I had strep and Samuel had RSV), a wedding, a trip from Mom, and Valentine's Day.

Here are some highlights from Samuel's eighth month:

*He enjoyed his first Valentine's Day. We got him a baseball beanbag and a little doll. His grandparents got him some fun stuff, too!



*Samuel is crawling fast now! He can get wherever he wants to go and he can get there quickly. We have to watch him constantly!

*He is getting his two top teeth now. We can just barely see them pushing their way through. He's had a little runny nose because of it but that's really the only symptom.

*Sammy got sick for the first time this month. He had RSV for about two weeks. It wasn't a horrible case...he just had a bad cough and runny nose.

*Samuel is talking and singing a lot now. He constantly says "gagaga dadada yayaya cacaca". He loves that he can make new fun noises now!

*Samuel is eating solid foods like a champ! I am still making his food and it's great. I love knowing exactly what is in the foods he's eating. Some of his favorite foods are: bananas, apples, zucchini, and avocado.

We love our big boy!!!

Seven Months

Samuel turned seven months old on the 18th!! Here are some highlights from this month:

*Weighs about 18 lbs.
*Wears 9 month clothes mostly
*Size 3 diapers
*Sits on his own
*Is army crawling (dragging himself with his arms and pushing off with his toes). He can get most anywhere but not very fast yet
*Growling...loves to growl and make other funny noises
*Sammy finally likes his veggies! He loved his first fruits (bananas and apples) and now will eat most anything we give him. I am making his food and loving it! He usually eats bananas and oatmeal for a late breakfast at Courtney's and then a veggie mixed with barley or rice for dinner.
*Drinks water from a sippy cup but not very well yet
*Sammy went on his first airplane ride to Abilene this month! He did a great job, although I don't think the other passengers thought his growling was very funny!
*Samuel got a cousin this month! Hannah Philippa Larkin was born on January 12th. I'm sure they will be BFF!
*Samuel is a very busy little boy. He is always trying to grab something or kicking his legs or playing with something...we are going to be very busy once he starts really crawling!

New Recipes

I am totally having an evening to myself right now and LOVING it!! Matthew went out with some guys after dinner, Samuel has been asleep for about an hour, and I have been making our grocery list and planning meals. AND re-runs of The Office is on! I love nights like this!! Anyway, I decided that I'm going to document what new recipes I'm trying and how they turned out/what I could have done differently. This week I tried two.

Country Steak with Gravy
1 (1 1/2 pound) boneless top round steak
1 (12 oz) jar beef gravy
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1. Cut steak into 6 equal pieces; place in a lightly greased 4-quart slow cooker. Combine gravy and remaining ingredients; pour over steak. Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour; reduce to LOW and cook 5 1/2 to 6 hours or until meat is tender. Makes 6 servings.

I made this on New Year's Day and Matthew and I really enjoyed it. I also made mashed potatoes and green beans (which I also made for Samuel, which he didn't really like). I don't really think I would change this recipe at all. Oh, I also made strawberry champagne smoothies for New Year's Eve. They were really yummy!

Dijon Chicken
Okay I'm tired of typing out the recipe. I"ll just remember this all came from the same cookbook that I'm using right now.:) I think I cooked the chicken too long on this one. It was okay but not great.

I'm looking forward to trying three new meals this week!!