a little cozy

Unlike her claustrophobic mother, Sam seems to enjoy finding her way into cramped spots...

Cracker

One of the most amazing things recently has been watching Samantha's vocabularly develop. It seems like every day there is a new word coming out of her mouth. One of her oft-used words, and one of our favorites, is "cracker." Here's a video in which she uses a few of her go-tos -- "no," "cracker," and "Dada."

Step by Step

The big news on the home front around mid-November was that Sam took her first steps! We were so excited and so, it seemed, was she. Following are a few videos showing the progression one night....

Then, since this post is so long overdue, we can also give an update. Sam's walking progress is still right about what you see on these videos. She seems to have the ability, but not necessarily the interest in walking over crawling. I mean, c'mon, why walk when you can crawl there just as fast or faster, and none of those falls get in the way? Anyways, we're excited watching this development, and patiently awaiting her decision to start walking on a more full-time basis...

City Girl

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we spent a long weekend in San Francisco. It was a great trip -- 65 degrees and sunny the whole time, and we had a chance to catch up with a lot of Karen's friends from college. Sam seemed to enjoy the urban life, with lots of time walking around the city, great people watching, and even a fish pond at our hotel! Here are a few pix from our trip.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's been a LONG time since I've posted anything, so I'm starting a ways back now with our Thanksgiving in Portland this year. It was Sam's first train ride on the Amtrak Cascades, which was a nice break from I-5 traffic and monotony! We had a great time visiting Nani and Papa, Aunt Laura and Uncle Josh, and cousins Jake (3 1/2) and Becca (1 1/2) -- everytime we see the cousins, it's more fun than the last, as they really are getting to know each other and interact. Here are a few pictures from our trip.