The teachings of Zen

Sam likes to head outside after breakfast and tend to his rock gardens.  Though it is uncertain what he's thinking about, we imagine he's either pondering the true meaning of life as he becomes one with nature or seeking wisdom in the attainment of enlightenment.  We look forward to the day he can share.  Oh yeah...Go Heels!

A day at the zoo...well almost

Sam woke up to find himself at the zoo.  He loves to hear and practice saying all of the animal sounds.

Pic of the Day

Another beautiful day

We took Sam outside for some more sun.  He enjoys touring and getting to know every square inch of our apartment complex.  If it doesn't open soon, Sam will be going over or through that fence to get to that pool.

Mr. Oppo.  If you listen closely you'll hear/see a gimpse of Sam in all his 'no' glory.

At the playground...

Oh yeah.  Sam has yet to meet a playground he doesn't like.  Though the OM area isn't quite 'The Village' it certainly has plenty of fun close by.

The dreaded moving bridge.  I have to give Sam credit.  Though he isn't always

successful at getting all the way across he is never too scared to give it a try.

Here he is surveying the obstacle.

He knows to hold on tight.

Oh how I wish my legs were just a bit longer.

OMG that was close.  There's always tomorrow.

Let's Go Heels!!!

So there's a few things Sam has no say in at this point.  His favorite pattern is pinstripes and his favorite color is Carolina blue.  It's great to be back in ACC country.  Unfortunately Sam wasn't ready to come with us to see the Heels take on the Terps last month, but he's definitely looking forward to March Madness.  Here's hoping you all have UNC going all the way in your brackets.

I'm a Tar Heel born, I'm a Tar Heel bred.  And when I die, I'm a Tar Heel dead. 

So it's rah-rah, Car'lina-'lina!  Rah-rah, Car'lina-'lina!  Rah-rah, Car'lina-'lina!

Got distal phalanx? I bet Sam has more than you.

Even though you could clearly see Sam's special big toes on the ultrasound no one mentioned anything and we never even gave his pics a second glance until recently.  The next opportunity to grasp Sam's big toe awesomeness came when the NICU nurses who were 'checking' Sam after being removed.  I guess its not everyday those nurses get to see double big toes.  At the time my focus was on Sandra considering her insides were on the outside but that didn't stop those ladies from holding their own show and tell with Sam in the corner. 

Fast forward to today...

We went to see a specialist at JH now that we have some X-rays.  What fun taking those were.  For some odd reason Sam is not down with anyone trying to restrain him in anyway.  It only took Sandra, myself, and a couple X-ray Techs to capture these great shots below.  The good news is it only looks like one extra bone in each toe since the middle bones have fused together.  I figure this could be the only logical reason why Sam only has one gear while running...slow.  As we thought surgery is recommended for Sammy. 

Animal Sounds

Sam's talking!  He's making animal sounds now.  Well...kinda.  He has created his own version of what certain animals sound like. 

I got it on video for you.  Oh and the pig sound - not really a sound since Sam just scrunches up his nose and breathes hard.  We have J to thank for that one.

Here's a really sweet video.  Listen closely to hear him say "wub woo".  ::melt::

Kangaroo Climbing

When Sandra headed to Vegas I knew it was time to take drastic measures.  That meant dusting off the climber from storage and assembling it in the living room.  At first he thought it was more fun to run his trains and trucks down the slide.  He finally got enough courage to give the slide a try himself.

Sam is begining to love the camera

Back in the day Sam only wanted to hold the camera.  Now he's all about being the center of attention and enjoys the flash.  The other morning we started to work on some of his poses.  I'm guessing he gets this from his cousins, Logan and Alyssa.

Show me sleepy.

Show me bashful.

Show me scared.

Show me surprised.

Show me sophisticated.  Shout out to Gma Shap!

Show me silly.

Most importantly, show me your gameface.

Pic of the Day

After a long day of trains...

Sam starts to get sleepy.  We usually do a bath, a quick Chuggington clip and a favorite book or two.  We ask Sam if he wants to "go night night" and then he runs off to grab his blankets saying, "night night, night night."  After a few ounces of milk Sam is ready for sleep. 

Choo Choo!

Sam woke up to find his train table top in progress.  He loves to focus on track disassembly so the next step will be to get the tracks screwed in. 

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Another trip to the trail...

Since Baltimore no longer recognizes winter, we hit the trail on another beautiful day.  A big thanks to E2 for sharing his hoodie.  The bad news is we've already had to rip the opening to get Sam's head through.  Thank God New Era makes size 8 Yankees hats because he is going to need it.

Get ready...

Get set...

Go!