A teenager already?

Being pregnant again so quickly with health problems has really taken a lot out of me. I'm not the best at waking up if I don't have to. So last thursday I heard Sam singing away in his bedroom like he normaly does and thought, "Oh, I hope he doesn't wake up yet" as I drifted back into sleep. Pretty soon I heard him start to talk which means he's either close to being awake or if he does it long enough and it gets understandable he's finally ready to get up. Lucky for me I also realized Arnold was in there with him. "Yes! I get to sleep in for a bit longer while Arnold takes care of him" was my next thought as I drifted back into dream land. Then to my surprise I realized that Arnold was back in bed and Sam was still in the other room. Not being very awake I was slightly confuses since I was pretty sure I had heard Arnold talking to him a minute or so before. This is a later telling of the the story I got upon asking where Sam was...

"Thursday morning, I woke up. After a while I heard Sam starting to sing as he does sometimes in the morning when he is getting ready to get up. He sort of sings a merry little tune of "aaaaah" "ahaaahh" "aahhaaaa". It is rather cute. So, after having listened to this for a while, I decided to go and get him, as I only get a limited time to see him each day. So I walked in, opened the door and said "Guten Morgen SamSam!" He sort of smiled, looked at me and cuddled back down into his blanket. Since he had been singing for quite a while before I got him, I figured that he was ready to get up. So I walked over to him, picked him up, and walked him out the door. He squirmed and got back down, walked back into his room, and shut the door. I wasn't sure if he had closed it on purpose, as he doesn't always have complete motor control over all of his skills. So after a moment, I decided to open the door again. He was next to his bed, looking as though he were trying to get back in. I figured that that couldn't have been the case, and that he had just been walking around in the dark in his room. So I grabbed him by the hand, and walked him out of his room again, so that I could take him to say good morning to Mommy. But as we got out of the room, he turned around, bolted back into his room, and this time deliberately pushed shut the door and left me outside. I was quite surprised by this, and by this time, I was laughing. What had at first appeared to be merely an accidental closing of his bedroom door had not, after all, been an accident. I went back to Mandi and told her about it. We ended up getting dressed and coming back about 15-20 minutes later, and sure enough, he was laying in bed again, singing away... "

So to explain the picture. This is Sam the second time he woke up. Still a bit sleepy and not ready to get out of bed but his happy little self. I can't imagine what he'll be like as a teenager if he's like this already... :)

My big little helper

Sam loves to help me whenever he gets the chance whether it's doing dishes, cooking dinner or even vacuming. I always thought little kids were scared of the vacume since it's so loud and I never dreamed Sam would like it since any loud noise tends to scare him. However, we quickly discovered curiosity can overcome just about anything and he loves the vacume.

He got it the other day when we were rearranging things and cleaning up a bit and just had a blast. He even knew what sound it should make and was giving quite a show which we were lucky enough to actually get on video since he doesn't usually perform well for the camera. So enjoy!

Aunt Iris and a great end to a great trip!

Sam had so much fun playing in the backyard. He played with Dad on the trampoline and then decided he needed to wear Dad's socks. I don't know if you can see it here but his legs aren't nearly that white in real life... :)

Ok, so I'm putting this one in for Arnold. Me sitting on a swing and eating icecream :P

We had a great dinner outside and I think this is the only picture I have with most everyone in it except Arnold and I.Hannah (sorry if I spelled that wrong) became buds with Sam in the one day we spent there. She got some loves from him too! :)

Ok, so now for some videos. They are a little long but I have to brag on Sam and his amazing abilities. This one is of him climbing up the ladder to the slide at their house. I didn't know a 12 month old could do this but apparently it's possible. Arnold was there with him but didn't really do anything to help. No wonder I'm so tired all the time trying to keep up with all the new things he does.

Ok, so this one I feel a little bad about, but to be honest he had stopped himself every time previously at the bottom of the slide before getting off. So of course the one time I decide to take a video instead of catching him if he needed it he falls off at the end. He thought it was funny and wanted to go again so I don't feel too bad it's just funny and hard to watch.



Ok, so if that wasn't enough to convince you how amazing Sam is then this should do it. I didn't know a 1 year old could swing by himself on a swing. A normal swing that is... He is simply amazing! The best part of this video are the little squeaks of pleasure that he makes. It's a little hard to hear but he kept making the cutest little squeaks. Oh, and it is long so don't feel obligated to watch it all.

Last look at Graz

We went on a walk the last evening there and got pictures of all sorts of things. Unfortunately there is not enough room to do them all here without being annoying so here are a few more to finish off with.

Sam loves rocks and any time he finds them he likes to pick out his favorites and give them to people he likes. It's really cute because it's like getting a little gift from him.

Sam also loves his greatgrandmother. I think he knows just how special she is. This is just one time he stopped and gave her a little love. It was so precious and I'm glad we got a picture of it.

The old family castle

Ok, so I know it's not much but not too long ago this house, mini castle, was in the family and it's pretty cool. It left the family through marriage under a time of changing laws. I'm kinda glad things turn out the way they do but it's fun to get cool pictures like this and be able to say, "That was in the family once".

This is the really fun gate or entrance and Sam enjoyed sitting in the small opening. He won't be able to do that for much longer since he's growing too fast.

These pictures are of the house we stayed in while we were visiting Arnold's grandmother. It was so neat since it seemed like everywhere we went we were kind of stepping back in time.

To Grandma's house we go...

Arnold's grandmother lives with his Uncle on the bottom floor. His Aunt has a bunch of animals that she currently has running around the property and Sam just loved getting to see and pet them all. He was so cute with the bunnies, causious of the geese and scared of the chickens.

He loved the horses eventhough they were the ones I was the most worried about. They were friendly and just walked around not necessarily seeing the things down below like Sam.

This is the house where his Grandmother and Uncle live. I think Arnold's father spent at least part of his growing up years here. It's an old house but a beautiful and fun one.

Graz

We went to Graz where Arnold's father's family is more recently from. We spent a little time in the city and took a look around at all the fun stuff there. We decided to go to the top of the hill and when we got to the stairs decided that although it would be cool to say we walked up the elevator was looking pretty nice.

This is the view from the top. Sam was being pretty silly and curious as always so he didn't hold still well for the picture but he's still cute and smiling.

We went to check out the Armory which was absolutely amazing. I've decided every little boy should get a chance to see it. Although we couldn't take our cameras in we did get to see a glimps of some kind of military thing that was going on just outside of it.

Sam fell asleep by the time we finished with the Armory so I guess that's a good excuse to take him back later to see it again someday when he's a little older. :)