Our Little Escape Artist

Saturday afternoon Mike and I had the biggest scare since our entrance into parenthood. We were both in the process of getting ready to leave for the MHGS Spring Banquet (yes, we were running a bit late). Samuel had been playing really well in his room while Mike and I were getting dressed, packing bags and grabbing the final things we needed.

I came out of the bedroom and peeked in Samuel's room...he wasn't there. I asked Mike if he was with him and got the response of "no...I thought he was playing." I did a quick scan of the living room, listened for any noises and determined..."he's gone!" Samuel has discovered the ability to undo the deadbolt of the door, open it and apparently take off.

Mike took off down the back stairs while I did a look through the typical hiding spots in the house. As Mike was rounding the last set of stairs along the back of the apartment he saw the flash of Samuel run around the front of the building...laughing...thinking it was a great adventure. Mike took off after him since he was headed toward the parking lot and caught him halfway down the drive.

Samuel was panting and had probably had the biggest adrenaline rush he has ever had. To recap...he undid the deadbolt, opened the door, went down three flights of stairs and took off across the parking lot in less than three minutes. Meanwhile, I was still searching the apartment, beginning to panic as the ideas of what might have happened started to go through my head.

Oh...the joys...
We are calling our apartment complex about installing a chain!

Fun in the Park

The other day we all needed a little break so we headed out to the park. The weather here has been pretty nice lately so the outdoors has become much more intriguing.

This is a little park that is right near our current apartments. It is really pretty nice. They have a kids play area, a huge field and a pavilion with a great grill. We are thinking this will be the location of Samuel's 2nd birthday party!

Samuel loves slides, but a still a bit hesitant about heading down them. It is actually nice to know that he does have a little bit of fear since we are use to him throwing his body all over without a care in the world that the cement might be hard or that someone might not be there to catch him!

We also had to grab blizzards on the way. Dreaming toward those nice summer days!

Story Time with Buba

The other day I was drying my hair in the bathroom, looked out into the bedroom and this is the scene I saw. Samuel usually will sit outside the door and "read" this book while I get ready. Lately has been showing and increase in his love for Bailey. Apparently he felt that she would also enjoy the story so he climbed up to share it with her.

Let's all hope he loves his sibling this much!

Fun in the Tub

Samuel continues to love his bath time. His latest has been laying down on either his stomach or his back. He thinks he is so funny when he puts his ears, chin or nose in the water. He doesn't seem to mind a bit of water in his eyes unless we happen to do so when washing his hair. We snapped a few "decent" pictures the other night so I thought I would share. Yes, we are fully aware that one day he will hate us for these and yes we will pay for his counseling to deal with it!

Helping Mommy

This morning Daddy had his last weekend of class for the trimester. Mommy was feeling a bit "under the weather" so I thought I would make everyone some banana bread and banana muffins. Mommy helped me get the recipe down and all the ingredients out and I went to work!

My favorite part was using the blender! I loved the noise and thought it was hilarious to watch the ingredients mix together. I think I might have been so excited I may have over mixed a bit! Oh well. Mommy even let me scoop the batter into the muffin tin!

It was so much fun. Don't worry, she wouldn't let me put it in the oven even though I was sure I could have done it all by myself!

Happy Easter

We had a great, relaxing Easter this year. Samuel was up at 4:00am (still on EST) so the Easter bunny didn't make his appearance until after nap time. Samuel was so excited about finding eggs and his presents. It was a lot of fun to watch.

He went searching for the eggs around the apartment as was very excited when he got to open them. He loved the candy and the money!

The Easter bunny also brought a few new Bob the Builder videos, Bob the Builder toys, a new memory game and a Sesame Street puzzle. Of course we had to open all of it right away!

Spring Break

As many of you know, Samuel and I just returned from a nine day trip to Florida with Nana and Papa. This was the last year that Uncle Mike would be playing baseball so we all suffered through the sun and warmth to be there. It was a great trip complete with a day at the Magic Kingdom. Samuel loved it and it was a ton of fun to watch his excitement over the smallest of things. Here is a recap of our trip through a few pictures.

Here comes the parade!

Samuel liked the characters as long as they were fake!

Riding on the carousal with Papa!

Pluto was one of Samuel's favorite. He even got to pinch his nose!

Playing in the water was a ton of fun. It was also a great way to cool off!

Samuel and Nana watching the parade together.

Building a Mr. Potato Head .

Mommy and Samuel outside the castle.

Planting flowers in memory of Grandma Donna.

Showing everyone how he is already learning to drive.

Uncle Mike hit his first home run of the season and guess who got the ball!

Playing in the sun!

Keeping cool down by the pool!

All the girls were jealous!

Lego Land would have been daddy's favorite. We look lots of pictures for him.

Nana, Papa and Samuel during our last night out!

Trains with Daddy

Samuel has been loving his trains for the last couple of months. He has us "help him" build a few tracks a day and is so excited when he puts the trains on and watches them go. Here are a few pictures of he and daddy playing!

Play Group

Each Monday morning, Samuel gets to go to a playgroup sponsored by the Children's Hospital. It is a playgroup designed for children with hearing impairments and Samuel serves as one of their typical language development peers. We are currently on a break until we get back from Florida, but I forgot to post these pictures awhile back.

This month the theme was on community helpers. They had all sorts of activities for the kids including coloring, dressing up, playing in the post office and lots of great books. Samuel was not at all excited about dressing up, but he loved playing with the doctor's tools and did so pretty well. I guess we could guide him in that direction?!

Here he is in his element...puzzles.

"That will be $5.95 please." A future at Starbucks?

Unfortunate Side Effect...

Ever since we moved to Seattle, we have slowly began to realize that there are definite side effects that come with living here. For example...

-driving down I-5 and being amazed by the beauty of Rainer,
-the city shutting down when there is a threat of snow,
-rain, rain, rain,
-waking around a store and being surprised when a dog is standing next to you,
-traffic jams at the strangest times of the day,
seeing- a man in a business suit and a man dressed to go into the wilderness for a week within one block of each other,
-warmer winters and cooler summers,
and the latest...
-Starbucks sucking in even the youngest of us!

Samuel watches Mike and I drink coffee (way to often) and is now able to recognize the Starbucks label anywhere. The other morning, Mike came home with coffee and Samuel immediately said "hot" pointed to the Starbucks label and said "Babucks!" He then wanted to have his very own holder for his cup. He walked around very proud of his new cup!

Mommies and Babies

This just proves to us that Samuel is one of the smartest boys ever. We found this puzzle a few days ago and the teacher in me couldn't resist something educational. Anyway, we got it home and sat at the table for what I figured would be Samuel's first little mini lesson...I was wrong. He looked at the pictures and started matching all the animals up! I was amazed.

He can now do the whole puzzle without any problems and is constantly asking to do it again. I guess I will keep my eyes open for some more like it. Before I know it we will be working on multiplication!

Time for the Updates

Yes, I am fully aware that it has been over a month since my last post. I do realize that it is time for an update on what life has been over the past month, so here goes...

I think I am going to do this in segments of the big events that took place and try to date them appropriately. That will also make it look like I haven't ignored the blog since February!

Here goes...

Last Weeked

We had a really good weekend. Saturday, daddy was in class all day so Samuel and I hung out here in the morning and then headed down to the Seattle Center in the afternoon. We met up with Roxy and her clan and headed into the Pacific Science Center. Mike and I went there when we first visited with Phillip, but haven't been back since. They have a lot of cool things and a great play area for kids. Samuel and Roxy loved it.

This was a room full of instruments. Samuel loved banging around. I think we will have to take Daddy back here.

Samuel and Roxy loved the water/bubble table. They played for quite awhile and Trish and I were beginning to plan a table to each of our living rooms!

Samuel with a good shot of his Ireland hat. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Samuel and Roxy both thought it was great fun to hang from the Muscle Endurance exhibit. I think they both hung longer than I could have.

This was by far Samuel's favorite. He loved catching the balls then watching them fly up into the air. I was also pretty fascinated!

On Sunday, we decided to spend a family day at home. Mike was able to finish painting Samuel's room. I will send a picture when I get a chance. We also planted flowers in our flower box than Jon last July in memory of Hannah.
Here are daddy and Samuel planting the flowers!

Samuel helped by giving daddy the next one!

Samuel thought the best part was watering. I don't think we will have to worry about them getting to dry since he talks about it at least ten times a day!

Job well done!