Today

Sam this morning, "Daddy, this is the best day ever."

Sam this afternoon, "Daddy, Jakey is eating cat food."

I gave Jake a sippy cup to have him try it out today. I thought I would put a little milk in it and leave him alone with it for a few minutes. I came back to the sunroom five minutes later and Sam and Jake were sitting side by side. Sam was holding the sippy cup up and Jake was drinking from it. Sam said, "Jakey couldn't get the milk out so I am helping him."

Christmas Family Pictures

Halloween

Jacob on his mat

The black on the bottom of the last shot is the tail of a lonely kitty trying to get some attention.

Jake Laughing and Sam Camping

Josh and his lady-friend were doing a triathlon at Devil's Lake and invited Sam and I to camp with them. Sam did great though he didn't want to go to sleep (he loves reading books with the headlamps). There is a picture of tear down and breakfast, Sam helping review the bike route, peeking out of the tent (I was in it at the time), and video of Sam and Jake having fun after lunch a few weeks ago.

Bauch Boys, Mallards, and Sam singing

Here is a shot I took of three of the four Bauch boys a few weeks ago.

Betsy and I went to a Mallards game (actually two- but one was rained out).

We went to celebrate Grandma Hughes' birthday at the cabin and Sam and Kate played in the water.

Sam showed the range of a two year old's personality in a short video.

Jacob's First Studio Shoot

Camping

Sam and I went camping for a night at Devil's Lake. He quickly went primal. There were grunts, bugs, and feats of strength. He loved the fire, the s'mores, and reading books in the tent way past normal bedtime.

Sam Singing to Jake

"My name is Sam. I am a big brother. He cries a lot."

The title is what Sam has said on numerous occasions when meeting someone for the first time. To clarify, Jacob doesn't cry much. He doesn't sleep very long either. Right now two hours at a time is the average. Jake is also a noisy sleeper. I walked in to go to bed one night and Kate, Jake, and Gabby the wonder cat were all snoring at different volumes at different intervals. It sounded like a bar fight. Otherwise, things are going well. Jacob is wide eyed and active when he is awake. He seems to get excited like he is about to say something profound and then falls asleep.

Sam and I biked downtown and did a self guided Capitol tour a few weeks back. Then we hit the trifecta of two and a half year old boy dreams: a park on a lake with lots of birds to chase and a view of active road construction. Then a fire truck drove by and Sam almost exploded.

Sam caught an inchworm at the park last night. He put it in the "dumper" on the back of his tricycle and brought it home to show mommy and Jacob. We went back outside to put it on a tree and Sam said it had to be a little tree because it was a little inch worm.

Jacob Tyler Bauch was born 5/4/2010 at 5:54 pm. He is 7 lbs 10 oz and 19 inches long. He raced into the world. Big brother Sam thinks he's really cute.

Any day now

Baby #2 "Dumbo" will be here any day now.

We took some pictures this morning and Sam was a big help setting up.

Last week he helped move his bed to his new big boy room.

The clock is ticking (again).

Cute Kid

No new baby news. All is well. Any day now....

Tonight Sam and Kate were splitting an M&M cookie at the kitchen table. Katie flinched and rubbed her side.

Sam asked, "Are you sad?"

Kate said, "Mommy has a stitch in her side and it hurts a little."

Sam took the last piece of his cookie and reached out offering it to her. "Maybe this will help, Mommy."

She got a big smile and ate his last piece of cookie.

Sam looked at her all wide eyed and asked, "Are you happy now?"

Great Wolf

We met Grandma and Aunt Betsy at the Great Wolf Lodge over the weekend. We ran into some fellow tourists at the kiddy pool... The Hughes and Good families were there for the weekend too. The big kids did it all. Sam and Mitchell had fun together on the "spray gun jet skis" and kids' slides. Betsy and I did the lazy river and went to the arcade Saturday night. We met up again Sunday (this time on purpose). I included a little video from Katie's waterproof camera going down a tube ride.

Florida

Sam and I went down to Florida for a week. Kate stayed home to hoard her precious vacation time for baby number 2. He was wonderful on the flights. We had a lot of fun at the zoo, on the beach playing with a crab, in Julie and Scott's pool, and seeing most of the relatives Friday night.

Blue Mounds

Sam and I went out to Blue Mounds State Park for the Candlelight Ski/Snowshoe/Hike. Kate opted out as dark uneven ground in the cold with an extra person in your belly might not be a good idea. The trail was hard to see and quite uneven in some spots. Sam walked about a quarter mile before he asked to get into the backpack. What surprised me was that he kept bringing up how "dark woods are dangerous", "woods are dangerous at night", and "wolves are in the woods at night". I told him he was safe and then Sam went on to remind me of the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood and another one from The Three Little Pigs. Once he was in the backpack he said he was safe. The picture of Sam and I is the result of the nice lady holding the camera saying "smile!"

Zoo