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Both Samuel and I got to meet a bunch of cousins, aunts, uncles, and say Happy Birthday to Joe’s Grandma Olsen. Curtis who is Joe’s youngest cousin was really excited to meet Samuel and they both had a blast together:

Curtis even taught Samuel how to play the piano:

Grandma Olsen was excited to see Samuel too, since she hadn’t seen him since he was 2 weeks old:

Most of the time while we were there, we just relaxed around the house. They had a pool, so we took Samuel in a few times. Here is a family shot of us in the water:

Samuel loves to be thrown up into the air, and he had even more fun in the pool. He looks like he’s perfecting his stunt moves:

Samuel loved being on top of the raft:

When he was on the raft by himself, he actually fell asleep more than once. We didn’t get a picture of it, but we did catch a picture of him sleeping in the crib, which is impressive since he normally wakes up when we open the door:

One of the days we were there, we had a babysitter for Samuel for the day so that we could travel to the Big Apple to see The Lion King on Broadway. It was such a great gift that Joe’s parents gave us and we had a wonderful time. The show was amazing and we even had fun playing at the huge Toys ‘R Us across the way. Here is a picture of us in front of the sign:

We had such a great time and can’t wait to go back and visit again once Samuel is old enough to enjoy the traveling!

• Samuel & Friends @ 1 Year
• Shoreline’s Chili Cook Off
• New York Visit
• Samuel 1 Year
• Samuel’s 1st Birthday Party
• Samuel’s 1st Birthday
• Celebrating Edo
• Samuel 13 Months

Here’s one of the most recent pictures of Samuel so you can see how he’s becoming even more expressive:

P.S. There were a total of 250 photos uploaded, so might take you a while to go though them. It took me several hours to get it down to this amount too.

Samuel’s personality continues to emerge and he is loving to babble constantly. He still hasn’t decided he wants to stand on his own or walk, since he is content crawling and leaning against furniture. This is one of my favorite pictures from this month, since he looks like a little man:

He is a hungry little boy and loves waffles and cheese, although he continues to love bananas and enjoys blueberries. He also loves to eat paper, so we only let him play with it while supervised:

There are many more pictures in the Samuel 11 Months Album.

San Diego Visit

Samuel had a lot of firsts this month, starting with his first time being around a dog. Samuel and Baron really enjoyed playing with each other, although maybe a little too much. Baron is Joe’s parent’s dog and there is a great picture that Joe took of the “guys”:

Samuel also got to meet his Great-Great Grandmother:

And his Uncle Craig:

And family friends:

We had a really fun visit and there are more pictures in the San Diego Visit Album.

Brenda’s Visit

Samuel also went to Pismo Beach for the first time when Brenda came down to visit. He and Brenda really enjoyed the company of each other:

Brenda and I have been friends for a really long time and it was fun for the three of us to hang out:

Brenda brought an early birthday gift to Samuel, and he really really enjoyed the bag that Brenda put the gift in (he’s also wearing the shirt she got him from Honduras):

My parents were also down for their anniversary and dropped in to say hi:

There are more pictures in the Brenda’s Visit June 2010 Album.

Samuel & Friends

Samuel also had the opportunity to play over at his Godparents Josh & Sandra’s house and they taught him how to play the piano:

He is quite the natural:

They also let him play with wood blocks and he thought they were rather tasty:

There are more pictures in the Samuel & Friends 11 Months Album

Folsom Visit

Samuel also had his first time in the pool when we went up to visit my family in Folsom. We went up because we needed to get a “new” car since our car was totaled (it was just me in the car, wasn’t my fault and everything is fine). Samuel wasn’t too sure about the pool because it wasn’t as warm as he is used to with his bath, although he certainly is the cutest little shark ever:

He also played for the first time in a tent. The tent had a tube for him to crawl through and he had a lot of fun:

While Samuel was in the pool, we also had a BBQ with my extended family:

The day before Joe and I also had a little “date” when my mom watched Samuel while we hung out at the mall and shopped. It was the first time we have been out without Samuel that wasn’t a wedding, since our anniversary last year when Samuel was 2 weeks old. It was strange not having him there, but we felt like teenagers again – in a good way.

The next day was Father’s Day, so I got to give my dad a card and had some special gifts for Joe’s first Father’s Day. The first gift was a signed copy of Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share, and the second gift was an engraved silver ring that said Samuel in Hebrew. Later that day, my mom watched Samuel again so that my dad and us could go see Toy Story 3. I wish my Mom was there so that I wasn’t the only one balling my eyes out. We left that day in what was formerly my Dad’s car, a really nice Toyota Camry – in Silver! Yeah for grandparents!
There are more pictures in the Folsom Visit June 2010 Album.

PHEW. That was long, thanks for reading!

This was a really big month for Samuel’s development. Here are all of the milestones that he had this past month:

Sitting. He has completely mastered sitting. Sometimes he will sit and play with toys, but mostly he just does it as a means to something else.

Crawling. In a few short weeks he has become an avid crawler.

Standing. In a few seconds, he can go from laying on the ground to holding onto an object standing.

Crusing. He can move between objects that are close together by holding on.

Talking. He is a real chatterbox, especially when he is sleepy or frustrated. When he is unhappy he says mamamamama. When he is content he says dadadadada. Probably a sign of things to come.

Eating. At the beginning of the month he wasn’t so sure about Cheerios, but they have become one of his favorite foods. He hasn’t quite mastered getting them from his hand to his mouth, but if you put them in his mouth he eats happily.

Folsom Visit

Samuel also had his first visit to Folsom to meet a bunch of his Great Uncles and Aunts (and Great Great ones too), Cousin, Great Grandmother, and Great Grandfather for the first time.

He was well loved by the ladies.

Meeting his Great Grandmother Thelma.

Meeting the Great Edo.
There are a bunch more photos in the Folsom Visit Album.

Samuel is really growing, moving, and getting into everything. He still is really cute and a lot of fun. There are a LOT more really great photos of Samuel this month in the Samuel 9 Months album. Also there are some fun photos in the Samuel & Friends at 9 Months album.

After that we went to my grandmother’s house in San Francisco and my parents met us there. The next day we visited Ghirardelli Square where my parents worked as teenagers and then went to the Presido and happened upon The Walt Disney Family Museum. It was very expansive and contained all kinds of great facts about how Walt started in cartoons, the end of Oswald and beginning of Mickey and other business challenges, a Multiplane Camera, a huge model of Disneyland in the first few years and a lot more. We were there for 3 hours but could have been there longer. Just outside the building I went for a walk with Samuel in the stroller and got some shots of Golden Gate bridge.

That night we had Thai food and chocolate cake and took a bunch of pictures:

Later in the week we went out to Japanese food, at our favorite place Goshi’s, and had desert at Cold Stone Creamery.

The next day some friends came over and made me yummy mexican food for lunch and chocolate desert. It was fun to see everyone and they know me so well. That night when I came home from work Joe surprised me with a candlelight dinner all prepared with romantic music playing. We even danced a bit and then watched the sweet movie Imagine That. The next day Joe came home from work and surprised me with flowers. He was really excited that he surprised me twice in a row.

Thanks everyone for making my Birthday special.

It all started with him getting some photos with his baby friends:

Then on Christmas Eve we went to church and got all dressed up:

On Christmas Day he had his first taste of real food. We gave him Avocado because we thought the color was appropriate for the day:

We also let him play with the wrapping paper and I found a gift under the tree:

In the afternoon I made some sandwiches and we went on a picnic to our favorite park – Heilmann Regional Park:

That night while Samuel was sleeping Joe and I watched a bunch of Charlie Brown Christmas movies on Hulu. After that for the next week we had the Grandparents come visit.

First to visit was Nonno & Noni:

Nonno decided to introduce Samuel to tennis balls, hoping that he would follow in his and Joe’s footsteps:

Then he had time with Grandpa and Grandma:

All in all we had a fun Christmas time and are excited to see how Samuel enjoys it as he gets older.

On Halloween we had a lot of fun dressing up Samuel as a Starfleet Officer. To be more specific he wore a uniform from Star Trek:The Next Generation and the color he is wearing is for Security, Operations, and Engineering. We choose it obviously for Engineering. My mom made the incredible shirt that he is wearing and we found a pin that worked well as a communicator. He wears it well with his intense stare that he likes to do.

Then on Sunday, November 1st we dedicated Samuel to the LORD. It was a really special moment for us because we went onto the same stage that we got married on. Pastor Tonye had some great words to share about the meaning behind a dedication, that it is a time for the parents to declare how they want to raise the child. Also he mentioned that it is not a baptism because a baptism requires that the person has made a commitment to follow Christ. Also praying with us was Pastor Jack, Brian (head of Chidren’s Ministry and friend of Joe), and our good friends Josh & Sandra who are his Godparents.

We came home and had a quick little family photo shoot that turned out well. It’s crazy to think the last family photo was almost 3 months ago.

P.S. Joe also got an early Christmas present of a MacBook Pro which allowed us to download all of the photos that were on our camera. Take a look at the new Samuel 3 Months album for more photo fun.

While Joe’s family was in town last weekend, they took care of Samuel and payed for Joe and I to have dinner at Madonna Inn, which is starting to be an anniversary tradition. The food was great and it was our first time out without Samuel. There was a big band playing music and Joe took me out to the dance floor for a song.

Our anniversary is very different this year than the previous years, but Samuel is a great anniversary present that we are giving to each other.

The day that Samuel was born Kristen’s parents came down to visit for a week. Samuel enjoyed sleeping in Nonno and Noni’s (Italian for Grandpa and Grandma) arms.

Last weekend he got to meet his Grandpa, Grandma, and Great Grandma Olsen.

We also took a trip to Avila Barn, so Samuel could experience being outside and the family could enjoy some good food.

It was really great to see family and they were such a great help with Samuel.

Check out the different photo albums for more pictures:

• Nonno, Noni, and Samuel
• Grandpa, Grandma, Great Grandma, and Samuel
• Avila Barn with Grandparents