recent & Halloween pictures

Hello again from North Carolina! Samuel and I are still based at my sister Charis' house (along with her husband, 5 year old daughter, and 2 month old daughter). We plan to return to Guam at the beginning of December. Soon after we return to Guam, I'll start working part-time again, but this time we'll have a part-time nanny!! We are going to be completely spoiled, but I'm so excited about the help!

Here are a couple recent photos of Samuel. He is now 17 months old and it seems like he is changing faster than even when he was an infant.

He has well over 100 words that he uses fairly regularly, he runs, loves trying to use utensils by himself, and is just a complete toddler now. I realized this a few weeks ago when we were in Target and he saw kids playing with trucks, and he cried to be able to get down and play with toys in the toy aisle. Here he is holding his toothbrush (one of his favorite activities--he has to sit down to do it).

He is standing on a stool here. Endless fun!

He still has pretty severe stranger anxiety. He loves interacting with people, but doesn't like anyone except immediate family to hold him. It is really hard for me to leave him at the daycare at the YMCA for even an hour while I try to work out--he cries pretty much the whole time.

However, I will say we had a major breakthrough regarding this when we visited Minnesota in October. He stayed with Rudi's mom (Grossmama) without any problems. I was able to visit with friends, leave the condo, or take a nap whenever I wanted and Samuel did not cry with his Grossmama. She was even able to put Samuel to bed one night without my being there.

Speaking of the Minnesota trip, again those pictures are on my camera, so I can't upload them until I return to Guam. However, we had a great time visiting Sally, Rudi's childhood friends (Robyn, Molly, Jim, and many of Sally's friends), and my college friends, Anne & Sarah. It was fun to introduce Samuel to everyone, and also fun to be able to leave him with his Grossmama!

Here are a couple pictures of Samuel at Saturday morning coffee with Rudi's family friends that he's had since he can remember (pictures compliments of Molly Repya--thanks!!).

Carol, Joyce, Sally, Molly, Jim, Samuel, me having coffee on Saturday morning (around Oct. 10)

Samuel crying because someone other than Mommy is holding him

HALLOWEEN

This was our first Halloween night together. Last year we missed it as we were flying back from Hawaii to Guam...plus Samuel was only almost 5 months old.

So this year, my brother Mick & his wife Natalia, along with my sister Candace and her friend Andrew all came over to Charis' house. From there, we caravaned over to Natalia's parents' neighborhood (a less than 10 min. drive away). We started trick-or-treating at Natalia's parents', then went to about 5 other houses before calling it a night. Samuel took candy out of people's bowls when offered, but if someone tried to give him candy, he'd throw it on the ground! I guess I don't have to teach him about taking candy from strangers! His favorite part about the candy was just holding it. He held onto a milky way candy bar for about 30 min (wrapped--he had no interest in unwrapping it) and did everything one-handed b/c he had to hold on to that milky way.

After trick-or-treating, we spent a few minutes at Natalia's parents' place, where Samuel had a great time playing their piano!

The only pics I have posted are of Samuel dressed up at home before leaving for trick-or-treating. The pictures of the actual "event" are on my camera, so I can't upload them until we get back to Guam and our own computer.

As a cowboy for Halloween. His hat stayed on for about 3 seconds.

Taking his hat off.