For Sandy

This post is especially for our dear friend, Sandy! Samuel fell in love with her all over again while she was visiting this summer. He remembered her from last summer but forged an even stronger bond this year. Here they are engrossed in the theatrical genius of "Toy Story" together. . .Samuel earned a special treat by successfully using the potty, and for his reward he wanted to "watch a movie with Sandy!"



While she was here, we went to the Denver Zoo and had a blast. Samuel discovered this monkey and told us "he wants to ride on the 'carouself' with me." Mean ol' mama would've said no anyway; good thing Sandy was there!!!

A few weeks later Sandy sent us a package. Samuel wants to thank you Sandy!! He loves his "cool sheets" so much I have a hard time washing them :-) This wave is especially to you, and he was saying "hi Sandy" while I took this picture!! Thank you so much, we love you!!! xoxo

OUCH!!

Samuel, if he wasn't already, is now officially a boy. We took a trip to the ER on 8/4/08 instead of heading to Ahma and Bapa's house for dinner after Samuel crashed into my open car door. Ironically, he was being wild and wound up because he was excited about the fire engine and ambulance responding to an accident near our home. We ended up following these same rescue vehicles to the hospital!! They were also transporting a little boy, and he was treated in the room across from us. His dad and I started talking, and pretty soon everyone had heard of our strange coincedence! Samuel was the star of the ER - everyone had to come in and meet him! The story was pretty funny, and has a happy ending - both boys are fine. Jack, the little boy from the ambulance, was discharged even before we were.


Samuel had to sit patiently while waiting for the lidocaine gel to numb his laceration. . .unfortunately for him he is my son and inherited my resistance to lidocaine! So he had to have the needle version anyway, but he was very brave. We told stories while the doctor placed three "kitty cat whiskers" in his eyebrow, closing his wound nicely. Samuel was a little disappointed when he saw them. . .they didn't turn him into a real kitty cat after all!








Despite having to continue on as a real boy, Samuel was a very brave boy and made everyone smile with his good attitude (and his chattiness!!) He got to go out for ice cream after his ordeal, which made everything ok :-)

New Do's

Here are some handsome men playing beautiful music together. . .with haircuts you probably recognize.

They were both getting awfully hot in this summer sun so without further ado, I present:


The new and improved (well, less hairy anyway) Wolfe men!! Samuel looks so much older, I have to admit that I cried after I did this. He is so much more comfortable in the heat, but I miss his little boy haircut. Watch for the return of that style in a few months :-)

2 months

December 07, 2005 - 2 months old!






Samuel was a very good sleeper during these early months. Once he picked his favorite binky (it's a kitty sitting on a moon) life was good. And there was sleep. For a little while, anyway :-)








Samuel's favorite comfort object (other than Mama and his binky) was "doggie." This is another awww, don't be ashamed.





December 27, 2005
A big milestone: holding onto something! The tigger rattle was a perfect grasping toy, it's little handle was just the right size. We had been working on this for quite a while that morning, and he was trying so hard to get it. He really wanted to hold tigger!

I'm trying so hard Mama. . .I'm really concentrating. . .




And then. . . . . .


I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!


He was so excited that he finally did it that he threw tigger into the air and it bonked him right on the forehead. This pic is post-bonk. . .he was so happy it didn't even matter :-)




YAY SAMUEL!!!















The next day, he was comfy with Aunt Jenny again (and his binky and "doggie" of course). For Aunt Jenny, these were her last few days before getting married! A little baby snuggle is always good for calming butterflies, right?







Three happy Wolfe boys with full tummies at White Fence Farm during Jenny and Tom's rehearsal dinner. It's a great place for a rehearsal dinner. . .ours was there too!!

When this picture was taken, these were the only 3 Wolfe boys (not counting Bapa and his brothers). . .now there are 2 more, both David's sons. Peter was born 2 weeks after this photo, and Eli was born less than 2 yrs after that - WOW

One month

November 07, 2005

Samuel is one month old today!! He has been smiling and laughing already. . .what a happy guy.

My favorite thing: looks like this one that say "hi Mama, I love you."







That's Aunt Jenny with a sleepy guy - somehow he has always been comfortable enough with her to sleep just about anywhere. I think I'd be asleep anywhere in a getup like that, too!




Speaking of sleeping. . .I came upstairs in Ahma and Bapa's house (aka Andy's Mom and Dad) to find this peaceful scene on their family room sofa. They seem so serene, don't they? The truth is, well. . .yeah, you know the truth.



There are so many pictures like this to choose from!! Samuel loved to sleep with his arms up over his head like this - it was so funny. That's Aunt Jenny's lap there; this may not look like the best place to sleep to you, but for Samuel, anywhere Aunt Jenny is is a good place to be :-)





November 26, 2005

Getting close to that 2 month mark, and such a happy guy!! He was super excited to have his diaper changed. . .and by that welcoming little smile you can guess how thrilling it was for me. :-)

How 'bout some history?

Many of you know how awesome I am at printing out and sending pictures to keep everyone up to date on what and who is in my life. HAHAHAHA

Now that you are all finished rolling on the floor. . .here's some history to catch everyone up :-)

Somehow, in the shuffle and whatnot of bringing baby home I have lost all my pics of those first few hours and days. Don't worry - I know they exist somewhere, but for this blog, we'll have to start at 2 weeks.


This is our little guy, Samuel Joseph Wolfe. He was born at Swedish Medical Center on October 07, 2005 and weighed 8lbs, 20 3/4 inches long. It's ok. . .go ahead - awwwww.








I like to call this his "old man face."












October 28th, 2005


It may be hard to appreciate here, but there is so much similarity in these two that the OBGYN who delivered Samuel said Andy would never have to take a paternity test. . .I'm pretty much just the box he came in!!













"I WILL suck this thing. . ."

It ended up being too much work. He was never one to work really hard. . .the binky was just so much easier! He never sucked his thumb again. . .but we caught the one time he tried :-)





November 06, 2005 - Smiling already! He is such a social little guy. James is six months older than Samuel, and Samuel just loves to watch what he can do already!! I can't wait to move around like that Ahma!!

We're baaaaaack!!!

Last month, the 3 of us went camping (again, surprise surprise!!!). We had a lot of fun. Samuel is getting so big, and he really enjoyed all the big boy stuff he got to try this year!! Like. . .




Woodcutting. . .a Wolfe family favorite. And really, a favorite of anyone who wants a fire, and thus eat :-)

Sam got to try his hand at helping Daddy with the firewood. . .he carried logs to the pile, watched attentively as Daddy split them (and Mommy too sometimes!!), and even helped make some kindling.

It didn't seem to matter what he was cutting though. . .Sam was happy just to be "big" enough to try. He also enjoyed. . .



some target practice!!! Way off in the distance you can see the target stuck on the tree there. Daddy had a lot of fun shooting at it with his new air gun. Samuel was a perfect shot everytime. . .with his stick :-)


Every morning when we got up, Samuel got to enjoy this big boy favorite. . .



COFFEE!!! Ok, so it's really a big girl favorite. That's certainly what was in my cup!!

Samuel got to enjoy a steaming hot cup of cocoa in the morning, and he loved every sip. I let him have a marshmallow in it once, but he ended that by insisting that a marshmallow in the cup = reach in up to your elbow no matter what Mama says and spill the whole thing everywhere just to try to grab that slimy white thing!!! Maybe he'll be ready for marshmallows next year. For now, hot cocoa is special enough.





The most exciting "big boy" event of our trip had to be. . .

Fishing!!!! Samuel caught his first fish, and he was so proud. We of course fried it up and ate it, he thought it was "delicious!" It was the first fish I ever fried myself, so that was interesting. It was pretty good. . .none of us starved at any rate :-)

As any good preschool parent does, we stayed committed to potty training even while camping. So Samuel also got to experience the "big boy" attraction to. . .




Watering the trees!!!



Look out "Girls," here comes "Potty Training Gone Wild!"







Sadly, we ended our camping trip early after Samuel got sick. He was pretty miserable, especially at night with a horrible cold/cough that kept him up having a hard time breathing. Poor guy :-(





You can guess by how awesome I look what our night was like!!







We had a great time anyway :-) Here's some other highlights. . .



Samuel loves our dog "Tundra." She is the only dog I know how will tolerate 30 lbs of all boy "riding" her. As you can see, she is thoroughly thrilled!


BIG HUGS!!





















We took a fun hike with Sam in our new backpack.



This kid is ALWAYS eating. . .











And as always, Andy "conquered" the wilderness with his innate ability to stay in that frigid water for long periods of time.
Following closely in his footsteps. . .Samuel, conquering our yard
:-)

Someone save me!!! Too much testosterone!!!!!


I hope you are all well; know that you are loved!! I guess this blog site has changed some. . .this was much easier! I'll be better, I promise :-)
xoxo Beth

Trying again. . .

I'd like to apologize to those of you who got excited about this blog in the first place, only to be disappointed because I didn't keep up with it!! I'm going to give it another try before I give up :-) I got pretty frustrated last time, because it took me FOREVER to get my words and my pic matched up appropriately. Let's see how it works this time. . .here's some snapshots to give it a go!