Sam News

July 26, 2003 - Sam has been a busy boy ever since his birthday. So far this summer he's been to Barcelona and the Costa Brava in Spain, Chicago, New York, Newport, and Martha's Vineyard! Not only that, but he's made it to the beach a whopping eight times this year - and he's really starting to like it (especially playing in the sand). Sam has become a really confident walker, and he's sort of starting to run a bit (though it's still more like speed walking!) Still no words, but he's babbling like crazy, so we figure some of those great thoughts have to start coming out soon!

We have some big family changes to announce here as well. Derek will be starting in the Imedia program at the Rhode Island School of Design this fall, learning about new media. He promises this will bring innovation and pizzazz to Sam's website and videos! We will also be moving next month - staying in Providence but getting Sam some outdoor space. Stay tuned to email accounts and your mailbox for the update. We hope you'll come visit!

May 29, 2003 - Sam is 1, and we can't believe it! How did time fly by so quickly?! Must be 'cause we're having so much fun! Sam chose to take a giant leap (literally and figuratively) for his birthday. For starters, he took his first real steps the day after his birthday. He's been experimenting more and more with walking and getting up from the floor to standing ever since. He also added a number of skills to his repertoire that had previously eluded him: waving, clapping and blowing kisses! Sam has become quite the string bean - he's 10th percentile weight (19 lbs, 9 oz) and 90th percentile in height (31 inches, or as Jen likes to point out, almost half as tall as his mother!). We celebrated Sam's birthday with his first bike ride, a birthday breakfast picnic in the park, a fondue dinner party with friends, and then a big party over Memorial Day weekend with all of his grandparents, Uncle Richard and Uncle David, cousins Ben and Brian, and friends of all ages. Whew! All just in time for Sam's separation anxiety to start kicking in! It was quite a week!

May 1, 2003 - Our little boy is growing up! We're not sure if it's the long wavy hair, the way he looks in his jeans and a t-shirt, or the fact that he likes to stand a lot, but every time we look at Sam we can't help thinking he looks more like a little boy than a baby. Sam has become a really smiley kid - he's always happy to see us or to play with his toys (especially his balls). He loves playing games like peek-a-boo, and repeating the sounds he makes is a game that generally cracks him up! And while he's not yet walking, his crawling skills are pretty impressive - he can crawl over just about any obstacle, and when there's a clear straight-a-way, he's off in a flash. As Sam quickly approaches 1, playing with him is more fun than ever!

March 9, 2003 - Whew! Time is flying by and we can't believe Sam turned 9 months! It's official: Sam has now spent more time out of the womb than in... though every time we put him in water, he does seem somewhat nostalgic! Sam is gaining new skills from head to toe - he's eating more and more solid foods, he's making lots of noises with ma ma ma's and happy screams being his favorites, he's crawling all around the apartment chasing after his parents, and he's standing and walking with support. Thank heavens for baby-proofing!

January 27, 2003 - Sam had a great visit to Brazil! He really is a great traveler. He flew 11 flights in 11 days and slept through them all. There was maybe a combined 5-10 minutes of crying the whole time! He had fun exploring the country. We took him to some beautiful beaches in the south of Brazil. He's still not sure how he feels about beaches - a combination of fear and fascination - but we do know he loves pools, especially hot ones! And the constant noise and traffic in Rio kept him busy in the city.

Sam's other big news from the trip was that his second tooth came out! As with the first one, this tooth came out with a minimum of fussiness, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for the rest! Sam's also becoming more and more mobile. He's still only skootching backwards, but he's able to spin around with ease (sitting or lying on his tummy) and he's getting better at going from sitting to lying down gracefully. He's also doing a lot more standing, with less and less help. Watch out world!

January 1, 2003 - Happy New Year! Sam spent New Year's at a nice Italian restaurant with Mom and Dad, charming all of the other restaurant guests. He fell asleep for part of our late night dinner and dessert, but woke up just as we parked in front of Providence's state capital building for the midnight fireworks show - the first one he didn't sleep through! It was a great way to celebrate Sam's first New Year's ever!

Sam's biggest news is that he has his first tooth! Yes, his bottom right tooth finally broke through, after months of anticipation stemming from his love of chewing on everything he can get his hands on and drooling all over the place! Sam has also started scooching. He can now push himself backwards clear across the room! He hasn't figured out forward motion yet, but we imagine it's coming soon. Sam has become very accomplished at the kind of rolling he likes - front to back to the right - but he's still working on back to front. He's come very close... but then settles for the stability of his back. Sam's making noise all the time now - he loves to growl and squeel and test the limits of his vocal cords.

November 18, 2002 - We can't believe Sam is six months old already! He's a barrel of fun! This last month was filled with lots of milestones. First of all, he's eating solid foods. So far he likes rice cereal and is growing on squash. He's also rolling over (front to back) much better than before. Last but not least, he's sitting all on his own. Now sitting is his favorite position since it lets him have access to all his toys. We went for Sam's 6 month doctor's appointment today and he weighed in at 17 pounds 12 ounces and 28 inches long. He's still in the 90th percentile for height... time to buy him a basketball!

October 20, 2002 - Sam turned 5 months old today. We can hardly believe it. Just saying it makes him sound so old to us! No doctor's appointment this month, so we don't have an exact weight, but we're estimating between 17 and 17 1/2 pounds. He's really starting to seem heavy! Sam's starting to teethe - there are a couple of little white spots on his upper gum where they'll be coming in. He doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain from it, though he is chewing on just about everything in sight! Sam's also grabbing things like crazy, and really starting to play with his toys, which is a lot of fun to watch. Check back after the 31st for pictures of Sam in his Halloween costume!

September 20, 2002 - Sam turned 4 months old today. Wow! He's growing up so fast! He weighed 15 lbs. 15 oz. at his 4 month check-up and was 26 inches long. He smiles all the time now, and is laughing more and more (it still takes a lot of work to get a laugh, but it's worth it!).

June 25, 2002 - Sam smiles! Sam's been smiling in his sleep for a while, but today he started smiling while awake. As you can see from the picture, he's developed a big, happy grin. He smiles every day now. He especially loves to smile on his changing table, and in the morning when he's always in a good mood (we get fewer smiles at night when he tends to be a bit fussy).

June 16, 2002 - Sam's first bottle! After almost four weeks of counting on mom for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Derek got a great Father's Day present of getting to feed Sam (of course we fed him breast milk, so we're still counting on mom!). Sam was a little confused at first, but then took to it like a champ.

June 9, 2002 - Sam's first trip! Sam took his first long car ride today, making it from Providence to Long Island with only one minor meltdown (he just wanted to be topped off). He did so great, and he enjoyed meeting his other great grandfather and his Aunt and Uncle.

May 31, 2002 - Sam went for his second checkup today, and he packed on an entire pound in a week! He's now 8 pounds 11 ounces.

May 27, 2002 - Sam had his bris today, surrounded by lots of family and friends. He did much better than his parents who here worried sick all day about what he was about to go through. He slept through the first part of the ceremony while he was being passed through three generations of relatives. But he woke up for the circumcision, expressing his opinion about the proceedings by peeing on the mohel. Sam's parents were very proud! A good breastfeeding later and Sam had forgotten all about his ordeal. Way to go Sam!

May 24, 2002 - Sam went for his first doctor's visit today. Dr. Finigan said he looks great. He weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces, a 7% drop from his birth weight, which was within the expected range.

May 20, 2002 - We want to welcome Sam Alexander Roth Gordon to the world! He's MUCH bigger than we expected. He came out 8 lbs. 4 ounces and twenty one inches long. He was born at 4:14pm on Monday, May 20th, after about 17 hours of labor at the Alternative Birthing Center (the ABC) at Women and Infant's Hospital, in Providence, RI.