Aquarium Trip

We went to the Seattle Aquarium last week and it was a huge hit! Sam enjoyed the fishtank at the Children's Museum (also awesome), but when he saw the full wall of fish at the Aquarium entrance, he was absolutely entranced. "Fishies! Fishies! FISHIES!" For awhile I was afraid we wouldn't get any farther into the exhibits, because he was about ready to camp out all day. Every few minutes he'd run back and drag me to the glass, just to be sure I wasn't missing anything ^_^ He kept trying to count the fish, but his grasp of counting isn't quite ready for anything that wiggly.

My pictures didn't turn out so great, boo!

Eventually I lured him away with the promise of more fishies, and we found the tide pool/shoreline exhibit. This tank had a wave generator and every 15 sec or so a big wave would go through. The waves surprised him, every time one went by he would yell "hey!" I hope it didn't bother any of the other guests; I thought it was hilarious.


Then we moved on to the hands-on pools, where you could touch starfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and I don't even know what else. Sam was mostly interested in the water ("splash splash!"). We didn't hang around too long, but I did find a star fish for him to touch. Dunno how impressed he was though, since it neither glittered nor wiggled.

He also really liked the jellyfish exhibit, but just like the hands-on pools, I suspect he found the media more interesting than the inhabitants. It was a big transparent ring with jellyfish rotating through and a color-changing backlight on one end. He plastered himself to the light and informed me of all the color changes.



We wandered around for a bit after that but were starting to run out of steam. Sam liked the otters, especially once I pointed out that they were kind of like our puppies if Millie could swim. Hopefully that doesn't lead to confusion down the line.

The problem with going to the Seattle Aquarium via public transportation is that our bus dropped us off waaay up on Pike Place (in front of the Market) and we had to trek down a looong stairway to get to the aquarium. It was doable first thing in the morning and going down, but I wasn't about to attempt it going back up afterwards. That meant a long, roundabout bus ride with a (level) walk to catch our original bus back home. And guess what happened on the first bus?

Yeah, sleepy baby did not wake up through several blocks of being juggled through the city, onto bus #2 and all the way back to the apartment. He's a heavy boy! 'Course, it's his mommy's fault for not leaving sooner or bringing a stroller, but wheeew it made for a long haul back. Totally worth it to see him at the aquarium though!

Crunch Time

Two more days! The movers start tomorrow, and Thursday morning (early morning!) we'll be getting on the plane. It still feels a little unreal, but suspect that won't last much longer--things are about to get very real indeed.

We had an open house this weekend with several interested parties, so fingers are crossed for maybe hearing about an offer! That would be wonderful. You know it's bad when my non-Catholic husband suggests that I get a St. Joseph statue to plant in the yard :-)

Last week we actually had a rainy day, so we took the opportunity for a quick picnic! This may sound counterintuitive unless you've lived through a Texas summer, but it was wonderful--a short walk through the woods and light rain to covered picnic tables. Sam splashed in a few puddles, explored, and enjoyed being allowed outside after 9 am!

Trip to the Park

Well, our move dates have been set; we're officially less than two weeks out from the big date! Gotta spend the next few weeks getting ready and spending as much time as possible with family and friends :-)

I'm playing catch-up with the Sam pics, here's some from a trip to the park a couple of weeks back.

Climbing up the mountain! I was really impressed (and scared!) the first few times he did this, but he's a real pro at it!

Made it to the top! Complete with dramatic lense flare (or bad lighting, one of the two).

He always gets excited about slides, but then gets nervous about the actual letting go and sliding down part.

Going up is much less scary. "This is how it's supposed to work, right?"

"Okay Mom, that was fun but now it's time to go!"

Undercover Baby

Sam found a neat trick to distract Mommy and Daddy from naptime!

Now you see him . . .

Now you don't! Nope, no babies here. Sam must have escaped, you should go look for him! Just make sure to leave the door open behind you.

Are they gone yet?

Oh hai! 

Cuteness Update!

A short post in which Sam displays several newfound skills:





Drinking from a real cup with only minor spillage.





Wearing Mommy's flip-flops





Making faces at the camera! He didn't blink, that's the face he was making.





Grabbing up to 6 bean bags at once (and still making squinty grins at the camera!)

The Toddler Bed

Young Master Samwise has been able to climb out of his crib for over a month now, but luckily he’s lazy well behaved enough to stay put as long as mommy gets there in a reasonable timeframe. Buuuut, the situation couldn’t go on forever, and I finally managed to track down the toddler rail for his crib. (and that’s a looong boring tale) Now that everything is figured out and Jonathan installed it, the bed looks great and works great!

He was perfect his first night in the toddler bed, but when nap time came around he discovered that once mommy leaves, it can be playtime! I couldn’t get him to stay put, even by reading him stories. Since he was playing quietly, I closed the door and kept the monitor close while I worked, and after about an hour and a half I didn’t hear any more movement. Held my breath and forced myself to wait for another ten minutes, and look what I found!

I am so proud of my big boy!