Oh this child! Don’t let that sweet smile fool you – she’s ALL kinds of feisty and sassy. She tests our patience on a hourly, sometimes minutely basis, but she’s also a lot of fun. I’m starting to realize that so much of parenting is basically repetition. Here are a few of the things that we say over, and over, and OVER again hoping that they will eventually stick.

• “Say please” (or thank you, or you’re welcome, or whatever other polite term we’re working on).
• “What do you say?” (Along the lines of the point above – the answer is usually “Please” or “Thank you.”)
• “Guess what? I love you.”
• “How about we read a book?”
• “Inside voice please.”
• “Leave the dog alone! She needs her space.”
• “Do you need to sit on the potty?”
• “Hooray! You went pee in the potty!”
• “Clean up Clean up Everybody Clean Up” (the “Clean up” song)
• “How do you think you might get that” (what I’ve started saying to her when she says “I wa-ant that” – the answer is usually when she asks for it politely then she can have it).
• “Oh really?” (my response when she’s telling me some story or thought of hers, which could be anything from “we should go to Alaska and see a moose” to “how about we eat chocolate chips and watch Elmo” – both of which she has said today.)

Not much to report this week – we’re all sick with a nasty cold, so rather than go into excess detail about the McSnoterson household I’ll write about how we decided on naming this little guy Samuel John.

That afternoon after he was born I was holding him and I said “He’s Sam!” And he is! I know that there will be other Sam’s in his class at school, and he will know other Sam’s, but it’s a good, solid name and it suits him. John is named after my father, which also fits since the two of them have a special bond already. Sam also has a tendency to spit up or have diaper leaks on Grandpa so I joke that it’s a good thing he’s his namesake.

In other Sam news, we had his four-month check-up yesterday. We were taking bets that he’s over 20 lbs. now and we were all wrong. He weighed in at 19 lbs. 15.5 oz. This made J and I really relieved, since at 22 lbs. we need to get a new car seat. I’m glad to put that expense off for a few weeks or months. He’s still in the 100% for weight! He’s also 28.125 inches long! Holy moly! By contrast, at 4 months Clare was 12 lbs. 15 oz. (yes, 7 pounds lighter) and 24 inches long.

Where does the time go around here? Long moments lead to short days, shorter weeks and then I look up and go “what? It’s March? Huh?” Somehow between the middle of the night feedings, stuffing as many vegetables as I can into quesadillas and pesto pasta, putting away outgrown children’s clothes, responding to work emails at 11 pm from my phone, and interrupted dinner conversations I look up at a baby who’s no longer a newborn and a child who’s no longer a baby. That was a long sentence, but not unlike what my life feels like these days.

Then there’s this – where I turn around from making dinner and find Clare reading a book to Sam. Makes my heart skip a beat…

The first almost-warm day of the year where we all go out onto the neglected back deck to soak up a little bit of sun.

And Grandma T’s visit!! We can’t forget that! As you can see, Sam was especially thrilled to see her. Her timing was perfect since Samster has suddenly become a little social butterfly. I mentioned in my last post that he’s not the smiliest baby but, in classic fashion, he seems to be reading my blog and has turned into a very smiley kiddo. I couldn’t be happier to be proven wrong.

While our Sam is quite sweet, he’s not a super smiley baby. I wouldn’t say that he’s serious but he’s just calm and content. I call him the little dude because he just kind of relaxes back in a way that makes me say “the dude abides.” Sam abides.

He also moves. He’s relaxed, but he’s usually in motion. His hands are going, his feet are kicking, his knees are coming up, his fingers are always, always in his mouth (it’s not teething… it’s not teething… if I keep telling myself that it won’t be teething… yeah… right), and his head is moving around. When he’s on his tummy he’s very busy swimming his arms and pulling his knees up under him. It’s as if he was born knowing that he wants to move forward and it’s his life’s mission to figure out how to do it.

Sam is still a Mama’s boy, but he has discovered Daddy and he thinks that Daddy is HYSTERICAL! Sam has actually started giggling, but only when J tickles and zerberts his chest and neck. When Jeremy got home last Thursday Sam literally squealed with delight. Of course I’m not surprised – Clare still thinks that J is the funniest person on earth and now it seems that Sam agrees with her.

A few things I want to remember about four-month-old Sam:

• Sometimes winding down to sleep he lets out little coos, grunts and moans to wind down. It’s the sweetest thing, especially since he’s not usually that verbal. He’ll let out a little loud sigh and then melt into a deeper sleep.
• I thought we might hit a month birthday without putting away all of Sam’s outgrown clothes and pulling out a whole other size. This month we almost did. I’ve only put away his smaller 9 month size pants, his 6 – 12 month size ones still fit. I did, however, pull out a pair of 12 month size pants the other day. My thick little guy needs a roomy cut around the middle. So far his 9 month size sleepers and onesies still fit – phew!
• Sam has never really liked laying on his back. I’ve never known a baby to dislike it as much as he does, but he much prefers to be on his tummy. He doesn’t especially like being leaned back at a 45 degree angle either, but he has tolerated it in the swing, his bouncy seat, or being in his activity gym if there are enough other things to distract him. He LOVES to be straight up and down, so he spends a lot of time in his bumbo seat and now his exersaucer (pictures coming soon). These toys allow him to be upright, which is his preferred position (besides being held of course).