Adventures with a Poodle & Baby

Sam's Moving Video

Here's where Sam is at today. Still not walking long distances, but he gets around over any terrain. 

Haircut 2

Today we did Sam's second haircut. This time it was done by dad, and it turned out pretty good. Jacob's not interested in getting his hair buzzed, so he'll continue going to professionals.

Teeth update: Sam has 14 teeth in and numbers 15 and 16 are starting to poke thru (those would be upper molars).

Jacob and dad enjoyed some of the first snow today. We went outside and threw snowballs at the house and a couple at each other. We also shoveled the driveway and sidewalk. Jacob made sure we got everything, when dad was being lazy and just getting the "important parts".

More teeth?

We think Sam is getting his second batch of 4 teeth in now. It looks like one is popping through, but there's a lot of drool.

Sam's 1st Haircut

With less than a month to go before his 1st birthday, Sam had his 1st haircut tonight. It was at home with a man we recently met who is very helpful in teaching us about Sam's hair and some good tips on how to cut and treat it. The haircut went pretty well at first, but as he grew more tired he got pretty fussy. We were happy to see the hair go and to see Sam grow up right in front of our eyes. He looks much better with his hair cleaned up. Without further ado, a couple photos...

Not Always Easy

Even though he's a real easy-going kid and always ready to smile or laugh, it's not always easy to get a good picture. Here's some from tonight while using the flash, he kept closing his eyes. It was also a bit past his bedtime, so he was tired, and just had his first haircut trauma.

Sams eating a lot

Today Karen reports that Sam ate all of his food and also everything that she was eating. Looks like we'll be needing to get out the next size clothes if he's in a growth spurt.

Eating

Sam's been doing something funny when we feed him. He opens his mouth wide and doesn't close down on the spoon. So you have to scrape the food onto the roof of his mouth. Then when you remove the spoon he lets it drop to his tongue and then eats it. Pretty silly.

Sam's Peek-a-boo video

One of Sam's favorite things to do at bed time.

 

Adoption Play Group

Yesterday Karen had a good time with other moms at an adoption play group in Dexter. It's good for her to share her experiences with others going through the same thing. One of the group member's is a former coworker of mine who adopted about 2 weeks before we did. We've got a couple pictures of her daughter and Sam together.

Busy, Busy

Two boys sure keep us busy. Just a quick update - Samuel is doing great, Jacob is too. We had a great Christmas with the boys and the family. They got tons of presents and everyone was happy to see Sam growing and getting to be more of a "little person" and not just a non-responsive baby doll. He does indeed have a great personality and looks to be a real people person. It will be great to have at least one extravert in the family.

Unfortunately we found out this past week Sam has asthema. He had been waking during the night with big coughing fits, so we finally went to the doctor. We have to give him a breathing machine treatment twice a day, but other than that he's perfectly fine and now improving much better.

He does sleep from 8pm-8am or thereabouts, and we wake him around 9:30 at night to feed him. So that's been working great for a few weeks now. He's 3-1/2 months along now.

Jacob loves playing Batman on the Wii now. We've already exhausted Star Wars and Indiana Jones - all from the Lego series games. He also got a Smart Cycle, video game bike he rides and plays in the family room, so that's good. Jacob's a real joy and full of imagination. Just watch out what you say, because he'll repeat the most interesting things.

That's about it for now. We'll try to post as more activity happens.

Courtdate Milestone

Yesterday was the courtdate that we have been waiting for. It's the day that the birthmom signs off on all rights to Sam and allows us to take the next steps towards being the official parents. We enter a 6 month review period now and then go through Finalization at the end. If anything were to happen, Sam would not go back to the birthmom, the chapter is now closed on that option.

While it's a great day for us, it's a bittersweet day. We know that there is lot that the birthmom is going through at this time, even though we don't know her. They say that adoption triangle is built on loss - Loss on the adoptive parents part because they're usually unable to bear children, Loss on the birthmom's part because the child she conceived is gone, Loss on the child's part because the mom who gave birth to him is out of the picture.

For now, it's good that we and our family have a piece of mind knowing that Sam is here to stay. We've been having a great time making a video and seeing all the fun stuff that's happened over the last 8 weeks. Last night we went out to dinner to commemorate the event. We had nice experiences with waitresses and Sam was wearing his "Little Brother" shirt for the first time.

Samuel Update

Tomorrow Sam will be 4 weeks old. It's hard to believe, I had to check the calendar two or three times to make sure that's right.

The biggest news is that we have a court date. I might be wrong, but I think it's November 3rd. This court date is more for the birthmom to terminate her legal rights, so we won't be going to the court. What happens next is a 6 month review period for the agency to report to the state that we are good parents and then we have finalization. So most people look at that is a formality.

Our case worker came out to meet us this past week. She'll be following up with us in 3 months and then at the 6th month point. So that's all good.

Number One question we get: "How is Jacob doing with everything?" Jacob is doing great. He's a big 4 year old and getting more mature by the minute. His vocabulary grows by leaps and bounds. We got this really great game for the Wii, called "I Spy, Ultimate Challenge" and he just loves it. It's the perfect game for both him and us as a family. He plays another game "Pet Rescue" which he likes, but it's a little boring for dad to watch, plus it's single player. I Spy, on the other hand, is great fun for all. He's actually completed the entire game now and is starting over from the beginning.  - Anyway, what I was starting to say is he surprised me in one of the puzzles that's a space theme. He said - "Oh, it's a  constellation." He must have learned that from Grandma Nana (Karen's mom).

Whenever Jacob's not sure where the baby is, he usually says "Where's my baby?" He likes to hold him one in a while. He often likes to touch his face. One time he said he tastes like chocolate, another time like broccoli. He's usually good about helping to find a pacifier, or let the dog out while our hands are full. Overall I would say Jacob does his own thing about 90% of the time, and just keeps tabs on where Sam is. I'm sure he'll be eager for Sam to grow and play with him.

This morning I set Sam down on our "thinking chair" (like in Blues Clues) and Jacob jumped up on the chair with him. They were really cute together on the chair, so I snapped a quick photo. It's always neat to have pictures from childhood being in places that you know you can only fit when you're a certain age - like under chairs, etc. Or like the 6 preschool boys who sat on our patio swing together for Jacob's birthday party.

Sam has been to the doctor's twice now. Last week he was 8lbs 2oz. This week he barely gained any weight, but he grew in length. We called him the "crunchy baby" when we brought him home because he was always keeping his legs pulled up tight to his upper body, like a little ball. Now he's starting to stretch out, and even his face is not so scrunchy.

We've had lots of meals and visitors. It's been great for Karen not having to cook. My sister and her husband moved to town last weekend. So we've just been really busy. Sam has stayed home for almost everything, except his doctor visits. Tomorrow we're planning to take him out to church for the first time. So life moves on, and we're all just as happy as can be with little Baby Sam.