Happy New Year

Well it's a new year ... where do we start? I guess we should pick up where we left off last year with Sam's Christmas presents still coming.

My mom came to the coast while we were there and brought more presents for Sam (and us). Aunt Melly got Sam a Babo Ugly Doll. He's super soft, so ugly he's cute, and the perfect size for Sam. Sam has been sleeping with Babo since he got him.



Aunt Andrea got Sam a Flash Beat Drum. It's awesome! It has three different buttons on the side. One for drum beats, one for crazy sounds, and one for songs (Caribbean steel drum type songs). When you beat on the drum, it lights up and makes the selected sounds. If you turn the drum on its side, it lights up and makes sounds as it rolls. Since Sam beats on all of his toys, it's fun to have a toy that responds.



Grandpa Stanley got Sam the Fisher-Price Little People Animal Sounds Farm and The Wide-Mouthed Frog Pop-up Book. Sam LOVES pop-up books. He's finally starting to try to reach for the pop-outs, so it's getting harder to read them to him. I usually hold him while Chris reads (and acts) the books.



I had the Fisher-Price Little People Farm from the 70s (still have it actually). The new version is lot different. Sam opens and closes the barn doors to make the horse and cow sounds. The little pig is great for teething.



Sam was quite a handful while we were in Mississippi. He was crawling so much! No more putting him in one spot to play for a minute. He especially loved the phone cord. Yiayia and Papou loved giving Sam kisses.



Here's a picture of Chris and Sam at Yiayia and Papou's house. Aren't they cute in matching hats?



We went to the Biloxi Bay bridge to see how much progress they've made rebuilding since Katrina. They are supposed to be done with three lanes (i.e. half) later this year.



Here's a shot of Deer Island in the distance. You can see that the trees were stripped by Katrina.



Later that night we went to Country Gentlemen, the restaurant where Nicoletta works. Sam flirted with Frieda until she came over to play with him. He loved playing with her hair!



We planned to go home the next day, but a huge storm in Dallas had DFW shutdown. We rebooked for the following day. Sam didn't think the airport was a very fun place to hang out.



When we got home, we decided that this would be a good transition to finally move Sam into the crib in his bedroom. I think it was a bigger change for us than for him. He's actually sleeping better in his room. He's still waking up once a night, but we are getting a lot more sleep. He can roll around all he wants! We even put the bumper back in the crib. You are not supposed to have a bumper until they are 6 months old to reduce the risk of SIDS. It's actually kinda amusing that we thought he's sleep in there before 6 months old.



We decided to take Sam to the park for New Years Day. He's too small for the swings at the park down the street from our house. We're going to have to find another park with baby swings. He was more interested in what Cleo was doing than swinging.



Since we were out, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. There were lots of baby cows in the field.



Back at home, Sam is "petting" his best friend Cleo.



Back in day care, and back at work, but not for long. I took Sam to the doctor for his flu shot. It wasn't that bad. He only cried until we stood him back up after the shot. Interestingly, he weighed 18 lbs 9 oz which puts him in the 38th percentile. Looks like solid food is helping him grow ... or is it all that time at home with family for the holidays that made the difference?



So, here's the bad news ... Sam got sick on Sunday. He threw up a couple of times that day and then woke up with diarrhea. I took him to the doctor on Monday and she said that he has rotavirus. The biggest concern is dehydration. He really doesn't want to eat or drink. If he refuses, I have to give it to him in a dropper. He has to have 1.5 oz every hour -- that's 15 dropperfuls. I bought every flavor of Pedialyte that they make. He's also on soy formula with lactobacillus (good bacteria) added. He's drinking better today, but the diarrhea hasn't gotten any better. That's expected to last 3 to 8 days. Of course, this will be a set back for his weight. At least he doesn't have the fever and isn't throwing up. He's actually in great spirits most of the time. We are so lucky to have a happy baby. I'll probably be off work all week because I don't want him back in day care until the risk of dehydration is gone.

-- Emily