Our other child

Since Clara has been neglected on the blog front lately, here are some recent pictures. She wasn't too thrilled about wearing that hat, but she obliged...

I think she looks like a teenage girl, rolling her eyes at her mom for embarrasing her. :)

Trip to NWI

We headed to Northwest Iowa last weekend to watch Fred (Grandpa) in his debut role in the Spencer Community Theater's production of Over the River and Through the Woods. Fred was great... the star of the show! He really has a talent for acting! We look forward to watching him in many more plays!

Sam didn't go to the play, but enjoyed his visit with Grandma and Grandpa! He played piano with Grandma, read lots of books, and had great morning time with Grandpa while the rest of us slept in (He was especially excited that Grandpa let him eat a cookie for breakfast :)). Here's some pictures from our trip...

The snow... it wasn't this dreary, the picture is in black and white. Doesn't it look like water?! There was tons of it, as far as the eye could see!

See, bright and sunny :)

Sam needed his shades... or my shades.
He was a great traveler! He played (mostly with Ba Bill and Paco (Gaco), stickers, books, and his blankie), and slept (although his nap(s) were quite a bit shorter than usual) and watched a few movies. I was impressed with how little the dvds were on!! Within the 18+ hours in the car, I think we only watched like 3 hours of tv!

Showing the depth of the snow...

Of all the toys we brought, Samuel was more interested in playing with daddy's shoes...

...or playing the piano.

He actually did pretty well (I thought)... not just banging on it and singing along :)

Dancing again

Our little boy takes after Grandma and Grandpa Lutz and Aunt Gretchen in his LOVE of dancing! Some pics and videos of his mad skills...

Dancing with Papa

Dancing with Monkey

Dancing by Himself

Helping Daddy

He also like to help Papa with his push ups. :)

Wedding Weekend

Riley and Amy Logan!!

We headed up to Branson this past weekend for the beautiful wedding of our good friends Riley and Amy. Samuel got to tag along. I had prepared myself that one of us would likely miss most of the ceremony and we probably would have to leave the reception early, but Sam did great and looked so adorably handsome (I am a little biased though).

My WONDERFUL date...

...and my other date. We got through the ceremony with a lollipop, so his outfit was already stained before I could get a good picture of him in it... oh well. The girls...

The boys...

So, here's what got my one year old through a three plus hour reception way after bedtime...

Ham...
M & M's...

Cake...

Dancing...

( He loves to dance with "Ba Bill")

... and doing summersaults.

Thanks Kari for taking such great pictures!!

Helping mommy cook

Samuel loves to help me cook lately. Here he is whisking our eggs and then standing next to me (with his milk, of course!) while I cook the eggs (please ignore me in this picture... it was morning, what can I say? :)). He also loves to pour things into the mixing bowl, wipe the counters, and lick the mixer when finished! He's such a good little sous chef!


And, you may have noticed... Clara is never far behind when we are cooking :)

18 Month Photo Session

Samuel's latest photo session... Not the best one ever, but I got a few decent pictures out of it. This first one is my favorite! He's telling his monkey a secret :) I might try another session with a wardrobe change in a few days when the snow melts...

Which one is your favorite? You can vote in the poll to the right...

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3
Picture 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

Picture 7

18 Months Old

The out takes... I actually had to take extra pictures to get some good out takes this time. The above picture was the second one I shot! He still hammed it up for me to get some good action shots too... here we have (not in order) harp face (this is the face I make when practicing and sometimes performing harp), the itsy bitsy spider, a growl, the splits, never staying still boy, and my little cheese ball!

Wow! A year and a half?! Really?! Samuel continues to show us more of his sweet personality all the time.

His favorite activities of late...

- running - holding mama and papa's hands and yelling "ahhhh" as he pulls us along behind him

- dancing - mama or papa jumping around in circles while holding Sam and ending in a dip... Samuel then copies these actions with his stuffed monkey (his "oo-oo")

- rough house - chasing and tackling Clara until she's had enough and goes to hide under the bed

- cleaning house - he loves to take things out of the drawers and off shelves and systematically stack said items on his table, chairs, or the edge of the bath tub... and, sometimes, put it all back

- cooking - he begs to get up on the counter and help me cook and then mimics cooking with his toy kitchen we made for him out of a cardboard box

- staying busy! - he is always moving, always hungry, and always looking for new friends to play with (well, friends to hand toys to or big kids to watch play)

His new developments...

- He's becoming more vocal. My "quiet" little boy has decided that talking (with his mouth and not using sign language) is not so bad. He enjoys sitting in his crib after he wakes up, for a long time (like up to an hour), practicing his sounds and new ways to combine them. He used to babble using one consonant at a time (gagagagaga or bababababa, etc.), but now he combines consonants and applies voice inflection like he's carrying on a whole conversation with himself (BAbagaGagagadaDA) and throws in a few of his real words too... papa, gaga (dog), mama, and ba (ball) are popular favorites. I love listening to him practice over the monitor while I make coffee and get ready in the mornings!

- So, I mentioned that he does this in his crib... yes, he pushes us away if he's not ready to get up when we go in there. So, we leave him, until he starts calling for mama or papa. He usually wakes around 7, but doesn't get out of bed till closer to 8! I love our new routine!!

- Motor skills have always been a strength for Samuel and he continues to love to run, jump, and climb over everything. Clara is a fun moving obstacle to jump on (usually more like falling on her) and tackle (more like try to climb over or pry her mouth open). He likes to climb onto his toy train and ride it while standing on the seat (no fear!!). But my favorite part is when he's climbing all over the place and stops for a quick hug and a cuddle before moving on!!

Samuel has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh. He keeps me great company when shopping or driving around town. I love spending my days with him and watching him grow and change all the time! Happy half birthday Sama-Lama!