Easter and other Especially Entertaining Events

We hope you had an amazing Easter!  Samuel went to his very first church service (due to our self-imposed winter hibernation) and 'hunted' eggs.  He had a great time shaking them and banging them together.  Easter will never be so effortless for us again! 

Pop-Up and his grandchildren



So sick!

As mentioned in the previous post, Samuel had a stomach bug last week.  It was terrible.  Constant projectile-vomiting and crying.  He only felt better if I was walking with him.  The situation would have been pathetically humorous had I been a fly on the wall...watching my distraught-self awkwardly aim Samuel in the direction I needed his vomit to land (ie on non-carpeted floors) and watching Michael follow us around the house, bowl and soapy washcloth in hand, cleaning up as we went.  Michael was such a CHAMP.  He didn't complain once about spending his entire evening cleaning up.  Have I mentioned that I'm so lucky to be married to this man?

On the not so bright side, Samuel lost HALF A POUND.  It's amazingly frustrating that it takes months and months of hard work to gain those precious ounces only to be lost with one evening of sickness.  After a few tears of defeat were shed on my part, I do what I always do....make a plan.  The next day, I steamed a bag of baby carrots, drizzled them with calorie enriching olive oil, got out my blender and started blending.  Or.....not.  This blender of mine has always required a little help getting started.  I gingerly mashed down on the carrots with a wooden spoon and CRUNCH.  I pulled back the spoon to find that the blender had eaten the end off.  I laugh at myself sometimes....

Over the last couple of weeks, I have decided that Samuel is a lot like his daddy.  Sure, he looks more like me, but he has certainly acquired some characteristics that are not mine.  Such as Michael's preference to work on 'African time' - that vague and imprecise form of time measurement that is sure to drive any true American ABSOLUTLEY bonkers.  Phrases like 'just now' (meaning....'sometime in the near OR distant future') are frequently heard among those of his culture.  I have gotten so used to it over the years that it is almost endearing. 
But surely no son of mine will have inherited such a trait.  No.  My son will do things exactly when he should do them (or before) because that is how I would do them.  My son will show ALL of the other kids up.  He will be the FASTEST and he will be the BEST and everyone will say "WOW!  He is ALREADY crawling/walking/running/etc!!!" 
Well...obviously that hasn't worked out for me.  Samuel is half African afterall...he will do it 'just now'.  I had resigned myself to this and decided not to worry about the fact that he is nearly 10 months old (adjusted age) and still not crawling.  But just when I stop worrying about it, he gets up on his knees and crawls!!!

Ah...this kid...I love him more than anything, but I think he's going to give me a stress-induced heart attack!