Xylophones and Pumpkin Cheesecake

If you asked Sammy and I about the best parts, you'd probably get a difference of opinion. I inhaled the homemade pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust and nutmeg and cinnamon whipped cream (even volunteering to finish Jamie's when she couldn't). Sam loved the shaved roast beef and assortment of cheeses. I enjoyed sitting in the living room talking about Sarah Palin and Joe Lieberman and What's-Obama-Gonna-Do-Next with all the grown ups. Sam seemed more interested in tearing up magazines, spinning little plastic toys and playing with the green battery-powered feather duster. I stared at the dancing bright lines of the screen saver on the high def TV as I listened to Bright Eyes and Wilco and great singer songwriters I'd never heard before. Sam stared at Lucy's giant black cat balloon and listened to Lucy bang on her Sesame Street xylophone. I fell in love with adorable little Arie who turned into a cuddly pajama-clad, barefoot angel after a little Motrin to help the teething pain. Sammy fell in love with Lucy's toys. We all fell in love with 7-week-old Lily.

As Sammy's bedtime arrived he snuggled up in the crook of my arm and Jamie suggested we try laying him down in a playpen upstairs. After a few minutes of snuggling with mommy, my little man drifted off to sleep upstairs and let me sneak downstairs to spend the night listening to entertaining stories about nurses who whisper during childbirth, small town school board members who write letters to the editor and old boyfriends who unexpectedly discuss their compromised anatomy.

The evening was a wonderful success and I'm once again grateful to have friends who are such gracious hosts. Dave and Jamie took such good care of us, that I actually felt rejuvenated the next day. Here are pictures, and you can see more on Lucy's blog.

The Evidence

How much is Sammy moving around? I offer these photos as evidence.

We don't know where we got these,
but they were brand new when they arrived
in a bag of hand-me-downs from someone

And these monkeys were shiny and new
when Lisa gave them to Sam in May

It's a good thing they don't fit for long because he's wearing them out faster than you can imagine. It won't be long before he fits into THESE.
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On the Move

Hey - is there stuff up here I can get into trouble with?

Yesterday afternoon, Sam was not to be contained. I played with him on the floor of the nursery where he constantly pulled himself up using the handles on the hope chest that my Uncle Rich built me over 15 years ago. He raced around the house in his Tot Rider, following me to the laundry room and to the bedroom and to the bathroom before getting bored and going to watch birds out the dining room window and then spinning around in the middle of the kitchen looking for trouble. He played with every single toy in his little playyard in the living room, stopping only to pull himself up and then cry when he couldn't figure out how to sit back down. He giggled and laughed and sang along with his new singing frog that his cousins brought him last weekend. He sat at the top of the stairs and pulled at the base of the baby gate, knowing that was the way downstairs to the basement fun and the new Disney "bike" that Auntie Annie bought him last weekend. He couldn't move his hands fast enough as he shoved noodles and chicken and apples and pieces of bagel into his mouth at dinner time. The only time he slowed down was when I sat his exhausted little body into a warm bath and tried to entertain him with bubbles just before bedtime.

When I fell into bed last night, I actually turned the baby monitor down. The little white box that sits on my bedside had been broadcasting his rapid little breaths at maximum volume for three nights. I would hear trucks and sportcars speed along the road in the middle of the night, and the receiver amplified the sound of the heat kicking in or the pipes knocking after I flushed the toilet, but I could hear every single breath he took, even the quiet ones that puffed through his little mouth when he faced away from the monitor. Yesterday afternoon his breaths started to slow to a more normal pace and the hacking cough that I could almost feel scraping my own lungs had calmed, so when I crawled under the comforter, I turned the volume down just little and actually slept. Hard. And so did Sam.

Sam is definitely on the mend AND on the move. (God help me!) Here are some great pictures from last weekend.

Pneumonia

No new picture of my smiling boy to add this time. Just this picture from a few months ago when he was last sick and a note that I have updated his weight (on the frame at the right) to reflect what we saw at the urgent care clinic last night and again at his pediatrician's office this morning. The little guy if fighting the nasty RSV virus which can be pretty serious at this age. He had a little cough on Monday, but by Wednesday he had a harsh, wet cough and labored, fast breathing. A few chest xrays and a nasal swab (not fun for either one of us) and he was diagnosed with RSV and pneumonia. He's on antibiotics and getting albuterol through an inhaler every 4 hours, but he's not out of the woods just yet. The pediatrician said that day 3 or 4 is usually when RSV peaks, so hopefully we're getting close to having the worst of it behind us. But Sammy's mommy isn't sleeping well and she probably won't until she hears him breathing normally again. We go back in to check his blood oxygen level and his chest again tomorrow morning, and hopefully things have improved since the 85 mmHg blood oxygen level we saw this morning. My chest physically aches every time I listen to his deep hacking coughing, and I'm anxious to have my healthy smiley boy back. Sam, as always, is mild-mannered and content. You wouldn't know he was sick except for the cough and the rapid breathing and his desire to be held a little longer at bed time. He still smiles when I hold out a spoonful of peach yogurt and laughs when I sing "How Much is that Doggie in the Window." He's just panting like that little doggie and he pulls his stomach and his chest in and out to get more oxygen. Poor little guy.

October Cuteness

Riding a "bike" at daycare

Is it possible that October is his cutest month yet? He just keeps learning and learning and learning... learning to ride a trike and use sign language and thanks to TT, how to climb stairs. After Uncle Ron's visit we all headed to Green Bay so TT could babysit while Uncle Ron and I watched the Packers from section 334 and wondered at what age we can start bringing Sammy to the games. Here are some of my favorite photos and videos from the past week:

Riding in the car

Trying to escape the living room

Sammy LOVES Uncle Ron

Hanging out in his new pen

Ready to be alone with TT while Uncle Ron and Mommy go to the game

And below are videos of things Sammy has learned... riding a trike and signing for more...

Guess Who Took This Picture

We have a visitor. Someone we love is here taking photos of the striking fall colors and the unusual migrating birds and the backwaters and potholes of the Mississippi River valley at dawn. Last night after Sammy's bath, our visitor snapped this photo of my happy, clean little man. Stay tuned.
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It's Good to Be a Packer Fan

Some weeks are better than others, but Sammy doesn't know the difference. He doesn't care that Aaron Rodgers is connecting with his receivers or that Ryan Grant is managing to break through. Sammy doesn't care whether we lose at home to Atlanta or win on the road in Seattle. He doesn't care whether I dress him in his green onesie or gold pj's or this cute little green and gold packer outfit. All he cares about now is moving around... as much and as often as he can.

Brooklynn Visits

Music, sunshine, perfect fall hiking weather, and Applefest. We had a great weekend. See pictures here, and videos below.

Brooklynn feeds Sammy:


Brooklynn watches Sam with favorite toys, a wooden spoon and an aluminum roasting pan: