Happy Birthday, Dear Grandma !

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, Dear Grandma......

Happy Birthday to you !

Grandpa gets down with Samuel

Sharing crawling tips

Hmmm.....stairs represent a new challenge

A sweet trio

Happy times were had by all.....

Puppy Love

Since we didn't get to take our recent trip to Florida, we had the nice consolation prize of keeping some friends' Golden Retriever puppy. It was a FUN week !

A lovely "Lady"

First snow ?

Lady with her "Fairy Dogmother" !

Viewing at the zoo ! We primarily kept the puppy in the kitchen, so when it was necessary to block off the room, we used an old door that had recently been replaced. It's hard to tell in this picture which one is IN the zoo and which one is OUT.

Feeding time at the zoo was Lady's favorite!

It gave new meaning to the verses in the Bible that talk about feeding the children's bread to the little dogs and the little dogs eating the crumbs which fall from the table! The puppy was a very diligent "helper" at Samuel's mealtimes. In fact, she was accidentally rewarded at one of the feedings.....when Samuel won't eat, we sometimes use various "tactics" such as zooming the spoon like an airplane and pretending to eat it ourselves, etc. (yes, we've sunk to all those "ridiculous" things parents do); anyway, at one of the meals I told Samuel I would give it to the puppy and moved the spoon in the direction of the puppy but not that close (I thought). However, the puppy took it as an invitation to jump up and lick the spoon ! We now know that puppy likes Apples & Chicken baby food! I think Samuel would have gladly let the puppy have the whole jar. (And, yes, I did get Samuel a clean spoon !)

This was a favorite spot, even when the highchair was empty. Must be fond memories...

She was quite taken with Samuel. "Play with me, play with me....."

Sweet babies...

Strange Bedfellows or "Cat's In The Cradle"

In the zoo we call home, Sophie has found a new "cage". If I forget and leave the door to Samuel's room open, I will sometimes find Sophie curled up in his crib (especially, as in this case, if there's a clean sheet on the mattress!) So when I went to put my screaming little banshee down, this was what I found.....

So, knowing she would immediately jump out, if he was in there, I went ahead and put him down. But she didn't give up her claim as easily as I would have thought. She moved from place to place in the crib, but he kept following her from corner to corner, until she finally gave in (gave up? gave out?) and got out.

So she decided to sit in the chair; he's watching carefully to see where she's at....

She gave up the chair and went to her favorite place of all---lying on the heating vent. No wonder it's cold in here (for everyone but Sophie anyway)....

She was finally evicted from the room...

Snow Bunny

Samuel bundled up to go out and see his first snow today.....

Ride 'em Cowboy !

One of Samuel's favorite toys he received for Christmas from Grandma (in Alabama) was his Bounce and Spin Zebra. It bounces and spins around and, like every other toy, has music and lights. It makes galloping and other "horsey" sounds (guess zebras and horses make the same sounds ?..... at least the folks at Fisher-Price think so!) Of course, Samuel doesn't get tired and of course the zebra doesn't get tired, but since Samuel is too small to ride it and make it bounce by himself yet, the one holding him on and bouncing him does get tired ! Hi Ho, Silver !