Fall

Fall in Seattle means mostly cloudy days and darker nights. We've been spending more and more time indoors, trying to keep Sam entertained. He loves to move around, whether pulling toys behind him or taking a seat in a laundry basket for Mom to push around the floor. Spending time cuddled inside also means more time for reading. Sam likes to pick out books and bring them to us. He is learning how to sit in our laps for story time, but occasionally he flops himself on top of us instead (see very beginning of last video).

He loves to point everywhere and has trained us well to identify all sorts of objects on command. When quizzed, he can identify many things, like the appliances in the kitchen or family members photos on the refrigerator.

Life's a Beach!

At the end of October, we went on a family vacation to Florida. All of Sam's grandparents joined us, too. It was really nice spending easy time together, enjoying the sun and sand and, of course, Sam. He got a lot of practice walking on the beach. He would walk and walk without ever looking back to see if someone was with him. He is so fearless!

I didn't take that many pictures since we had the Papparazzi with us (i.e. Karen and Steve), but here's a sampling:

I enjoyed getting to savor my coffee at the grandparent condo while Sam got his fix of lovin'

The sand felt like flour!

One of two cloudy days all week:

Ahoy, I spy a ship over yonder!

 Sam loves pretending that anything is a phone. He'll hold it up to his ear and imitate us. But of course, he prefers the real deal. Here, looking slightly sinister, he's got my droid in hand:

The Siesta Key beach was beautiful:

My mom role-models, Karen and Beth:

We celebrated Sam's 1st birthday together and played with the decorations:

Stackin buckets: