Sam's New Habit---It Must Be Genetic

Only my family (and maybe Missy... and Kelly) can truly appreciate the significance of this video...

More From Door County

A second weekend in Door County. See photos here and watch Sammy bathe in the kitchen sink below.

My Little Man

A few weeks ago Sam and I made an appointment for a photo shoot with a woman I found on the internet. On the evening we showed up Sam was uncharacteristically fussy. He had a cough and a constant stream of snot coming out of his nose, and his big bright eyes were rimmed with red. I wanted photos of him outside, and Tammy set him up on a bowl on a beautifully lit path in the woods. She snapped just a few shots before he started to cry, and despite me tickling him and holding him and singing to him (something I never do in front of anyone... especially complete strangers) he never really cheered up. We took pictures in the woods, against a stone building, in a field of tall prairie grass. Beautiful light and a fussy baby that didn't want to be put down. But you'd be amazed what a good photographer can capture.


Later that weekend Sam spiked a fever close to 103F, and he continued to be uncharacteristically unhappy and sleepy. When he refused to eat Sunday morning I brought him in to urgent care and we discovered, to quote the doctor, "a flaming ear infection." Poor little guy.

But if you want to know what a great baby Sam is and how incredibly blessed I am, look at some of these proofs. To look at them you wouldn't know that he was sick. My little trooper.

Annual August Tradition

Ann and her family left this morning, and Grandma had to leave for Chicago shortly after that, so Sam and I were alone at the cabin on Lake Michigan for a few hours. As I dusted the last of the sand off the kitchen floor and pulled the door shut behind us, I realized how hard it must be for my mom every year when she says goodbye to the cabin and the great memories of another year. I felt sad that our time with Annie and her family was over, and it will be Christmas before our little family is all together again. TT returns to the cabin later this week and Aunt Judy will join her, and as I do every year, I will make the long drive for a second weekend of sun and sand and family. Stay tuned for more photos next weekend, but here are a few from this past weekend. And check out the fun Sam had with his cousins just before bedtime. (The second video is a little out of proportion because I filmed it vertically and had to rotate it, but it's fun to watch Sam learn from his cousins how to jump on the bed.)

Food and Friends in Green Bay

Who do all these legs belong to? Click here for the answer.

We spent another weekend in Green Bay, and Grandma and Sammy enjoyed experimenting with food (and imitating each other spitting--thanks, Grandma). This is how Sam feels about green beans: