Everyone Into the Pool

As you can see from the picture, Sam went swimming! But we'll get back to that, because there's so many other things to report on.

On Friday, we drove to Hilton Head so Sam could visit his Grandma and Grandpa Staab and see their house for the first time. The trip down was a little rough. It was hot and the car was cramped. But we made it.

On Saturday, we introduced Sam to his Great Grandmother Doak. Both of them really enjoyed each other's company. And after a while, all the women were fighting over him.

When we got back to the house, we decided to see if Sam could float. It was a huge success. Once he got used to the water, he started kicking his legs and moving his arms. He swam (with his dad's help) 2-3 laps. There are many pictures and one nice video of the event in the Photo and Video Galleries, respectively. The video is from our camera and the sound doesn't seem to be working on the web. The dialog is basically Dave saying, "Are you filming this?". And Melanie responding, "I think so." I know in some pictures it looks like Sam his only being held by his neck -- and that is correct. Sam was doing so well, that that was the only support he needed. (Don't worry. Sam was never in any real danger in the pool and holding him by the neck did not hurt him at all.) After the swim, Sam was exhausted and took a long nap.

That night, Grandma Staab read him a bedtime story. The book she read was "My Very Own Name", a gift from our cousins Dan and Missy, and their son John. This book is a one of a kind. It was specially made to tell the story of how a bunch of animals got together to create the name Samuel Bennett Ribar. It was a very special gift, and we love it.

On Sunday, we drove back to Charlotte. We (Dave) packed the car in a better way, which gave us all more room and made the drive nicer. We are all tired from the busy weekend, and we're looking forward to a short week and the Friday holiday.