Little Kitty

Maybe some of you will be insulted for Samuel, but I can't help but think of him as a little kitten sometimes. Let me explain. He loves to crawl into our front window and soak up a little sun. When our Christmas tree was still up, he'd take his little hand and bat at various ornaments that were hanging within his reach.

Baby toys get "batted" around the floor - he doesn't pick them up, but bats them here and there while chasing them (chasing being a relative term - he's a pretty quick crawler, but not THAT fast). He also likes to crawl over to me and rub his head on my legs, like a cat does when they want to be petted. And he likes to scratch the leather furniture! It makes a great sound to his little ears.
One thing he doesn't really like to do is curl up on my lap. He's way to interested in what's going on in the room to hang out with mom. Unless she has a bottle. He's such a cheery fellow. Everyone loves him because he has such a ready and engaging smile. It's a lot of fun.
Beware if you're on the floor! Here he used the Lego table to boost himself up to see over the boys heads, but usually he'd just crawl on top of the kids. In fact Maggie will completely panic and run away screaming if she notices him crawling toward her when she's on the floor. I didn't catch it in this picture, but he was having a good time pulling Aaron's hair.
He's been crawling for a couple of months now - somewhere around 6 months old he figured it out. His new feat in the last couple of weeks is pulling himself up on everything. Here Maggie was jealous of the attention I was giving Sam, so she had to pose in the picture while showing me that she can do the same thing as Sam ( "Say good job, Maggie!" says Margaret.). Sibling rivalry, anyone?
Oooh, here's a little bit of showing off - only one handed!!!

Aaah, the thumb! So sweet and juicy. I love it!

Hmm? Are you talking to me?
Oh, the camera! I love that thing! Oh, oh, take another one! See my new teeth?

I consider Sam to be a really easy-going baby, but when we get out of his home routine, he can get a bit cranky. Here we were at a Pinewood Derby that was taking too long (don't they always?) and was getting fussy.

But wait! There's mom with her camera again! Cheese!

The poor little guy has the flu right now and has been miserable. His happy little smile has been missing for a few days. He's slowly getting better, so hopefully he'll be up to new tricks very soon. He sends his love!