Sam turns 1

Sammy's big day was Monday, May 23rd, when he turned 1 year old. It has been a wonderful year of growing and getting to know his world for him, and a wonderful year for us getting to know him. Here are some pictures from his birthday celebration.

This is one of my favorites. Littlest Dude has some mischievous in him. Trouble, with a capital "T".

With warmer weather now that it is spring, we spend a lot of time on our screen porch. Here's the lad trying to be patient while waiting for the cake and presents. Furniture cruise!

FINALLY! Dinner time. We had tamale pie for dinner. And hats.

His mommy made him a tasty, tasty cake. He wasn't sure what to do with it, but we all helped with some demonstrations.

SUCCESS!

Here are just a few of his favorite gifts. A sturdy little push-wagon from Grandma Pam and Grandpa Doug...

A potty seat from his optimistic father...

And a big ol' bag of Duplo blocks from Aunt Ellen and Uncle Ken.

Happy birthday, little guy!

Weekend update

It has been a busy weekend of fun and chores. Photographic evidence:

We've got other plans for Memorial Day weekend, so geranium planting came early. I wrote about why we plant geraniums last year.

Here we are weeding. It was a very wet spring here (to say the least) so the daffodils did very well. Usually they are dried out by now.

Sam wasn't sure how to respond to the grass on his feet. He'd hold them up to keep them from being tickled. He didn't mind crawling in it though.

At Alger, the lad got his first taste of dirt. It may look like chocolate, but it is definitely not chocolate.

It was hot work, so we soothed our bellies and memories with a trip to Malley's.

This is not dirt, it is chocolate.

Sunday morning, video chat to France wasn't working, but Sam was happy to see the sun after morning rain showers.

Rainy morning meant time for me in the shop. This is my current project, a glass-door bookcase in cherry. The top-to-sides dovetails are done!

Video blow-out!

OK, time for a whole heaping serving of the Sam Camera.

My lovely bride has been shooting video of the little guy from day one, using her point-and-shoot Canon. With a little time available to her this spring, she's been doing a lot of work in iMovie, putting together some Oscar worthy clips of the little guy in action. If you want to see these in a larger size, just click on the YouTube link in the lower right side of the video.

This first one is mostly from March and April, 2011. Apologies for the advert- we used Google's ad-supported music and the ad comes with. But you can join us now as we watch him learn to sit up, scoot, and crawl.

Next up, video coverage of our April trip to visit Grandma Pam and Grandpa Doug on the occasion of Great Grandma Esther's 100th birthday! He loved spending time with cousins, and of course, Haley-dog.

Finally, more recently, the little guy figured out how to clamber up the stairs. He's not yet discovered the laws of gravity, but we'll be sure to capture that on film as well.

Date Night

Last week we had the good fortune of family visitors, and not just ANY family visitors, but Kim's folks. Sam and Maggie enjoyed having Grandpa Doug and Grandma Pam in the house- Sam got lavish attention, shopping and treats galore; Maggie got a Cold Stone Creamery outing with Grandpa, shopping with Grandma, and quite a few games of Mexican Train.

Kim and I, in addition to wonderful company and seven days worth of happy hour, got date night out on Friday.

We spent it downtown, at Lola, where we enjoyed a lavish and delicious dinner. We started with crispy bone marrow for an appetizer, which was sinfully rich. For the main course, Kim had salmon with chicken confit and I had lamb shank. We split an order of Lola fries, which in their duck-fat-fried, rosemary salt goodness go well with everything. We washed it down with a very tasty Willamette pinot noir.

Here we are in our steppin'-out duds.

And Sammy gets a lipstick smooch from his mother.

A First Mother's Day

Kim experienced her first Mother's Day today. With small Sammy, it couldn't have been better.

The two Claspy men took her to Le Petit Triangle Cafe in Ohio City, which has, in two visits, become a favorite.

Here, Sam toasts his mother on her day. (Kir Royale for her, l'eau minerale for him)

(and yes, he loves his mummy.)

Our entrees arrive, and the lad and his mom tuck in. Boeuf Bourguignon for Kim, roast duck breast for Dad. Both were outstanding.

Happy Mother's Day!

My Favorite Moms

OK, Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, so I thought I'd share a few pictures.

In digging through some scans of slides, I came across this one. Must have been Mother's Day at some point back in the early or mid 1950s. But as I looked at it, I realized that these wonderful ladies are the most important moms I had in my life as a boy growing up. The group includes my dad's three sisters, Nancy, Nadine (the two on the left- no idea which is which :-) and Lois in the pixie cut. My mom is front and center, with my Grandmother Claspy behind her, and my Grandmother Hoffman on the right. They are on the steps of 4032, the home in which my grandparents Claspy raised their four children and a whole brood of grandchildren.

I got started with this when some friends on facebook changed their profile picture to one of their mother, so I thought I'd follow suit. I used a crop of this picture of Mom from 1958, taken in a greenhouse in Columbus, right around the time my dad finished his graduate degree in physics. She rocked those cat-eye glasses for another decade plus after this shot was taken.

And of course, my sweetie, who also just happens to be a mom extraordinaire!

YAY for moms!