Bubble Boo

Sammie found a bottle of bubbles in the cabinet, so Mommy and Daddy blew some bubbles for her. She really enjoyed popping them, unlike over the summer when she was scared YAY! Mommy promised that she could also have a bubble bath tonight and she had a blast in the tub. She even played Santa and sang "Ho Ho Ho" even though Christmas is over.

Big mouth cheese!!

No, Mommy, I didn't wreck the living room.

Bubble face

Tonight's new words: crocodile- "crook"
Signs 'spaghetti'- instead of using pinkies, she uses index finger.

She has also been telling stories. A long long time ago, she stepped in an ant pile and got ant bites on her arm-- the marks are still there; then there was the time Ali scratched her arm for playing too rough. Well, now Sammie pulls up her sleeve and points to her arm and says "Ahh" (Ali), like Ali scratched her and she's telling you about it. We have to tell her "Are you telling stories? Ali didn't bite you, those are ant bites from a long time ago". It is so hilarious. We can see her having such a creative imagination!

Get Ready Grandma

Since Daddy will be going back to work next week, he gave Grandma a preview for what she's in for by having the 2 toddlers together again today.  It's been months since she's had to watch the 2 of them together and by now, Sammie has learned SOOOOO much new stuff. I think Grandma will be shocked to actually see how independent Sammie is and how well she can listen. At least this will give Grandma a little bit of a break from 1 kiddo.... well, kinda.

Daddy... I got my shoes and sweatshirt on, now LET'S GO!!!

Coloring is serious business.

Ummmm.... No. I don't want my picture taken.

Sammie's new words tonight: yucky (yhackey), done

Just to add: Sammie has been so loving. She is always giving Daddy and Mommy hugs and kisses. I think her way of saying "I love you" is by pounding on your chest "love". It melts my heart when she stares in your eyes and does that <3

Fried Chicken

Aunt Magda also sent me a green bow that she made.

Since Marti is feeling better, we decided to go for a visit. Sammie was greeted at the door with 3 very happy doggies. She was thrown off at first by them, but enjoyed all the attention and love they gave.

Get in your cages, dogs!

Silly Sammie

That's my belly button.

 Tonight was Sammie's first night eating some fried chicken and a biscuit... not homemade. As long as she had her "Daddy special sauce", she gobbled it up. She even ate up the spinach! She did a really good job with dinner, although she rubbed it all in her hair. During bath, she started pointing to her privates saying "poop" and then she farted- LOL. I asked if she had to poop and wanted to sit on the pot and she "said" yes. She was so proud of herself for sitting on it. She kept smiling and giggling. I called Daddy in to see, but we didn't get a picture so we wouldn't ruin the moment.

More Daddy special sauce, please.

Words that Sammie is learning/ saying: learning- please, saying- thank you

At The Car Wash

Sammie doesn't like riding through the car wash that much, but she loves climbing all over the car while Daddy is vacuuming.

drinking & driving

Finding random stuff from the back seat

We received Grandma Maria's package in the mail today! Aunt Magda sent a big doll from Costa Rica. She is almost as tall as Sammie, but she wasn't scared... She still gave hugs and kisses.

A dolly from Costa Rica!

hugs & kisses

Pahtty Time

Daddy is doing such an awesome job at teaching Sammie about needing a diaper change! When he smells a poop or sees a fat diaper he asks Sammie if she pooped ("poop" is interchangeable for poop and pee) and if she needs a clean diaper. She will usually nod her head yes before heading to the changing table for a clean up. Also, every time she finds a tube of cream she rubs it on her butt like it's butt cream. We got her little potty seat in the mail today, but she wasn't as excited as we thought she would be to sit on it. We are aware  to not force her on it because that can lead to problems.

Hold on tight, Mama. Don't let me go.

What a big help! Sammie throws her own diapers away.

But I don't wanna sit on the pot!

Daddy brought Sams to Grandma and PaPa's to play with Nate and they all took a walk over to the playground to play, run and swing. Daddy said they were gone for a while. When I got home, Sammie smelled like a dirty little kid. She must have played hard!

Nate, let's see who can swing higher!

"Monkey" bars

Again with the lip!

While brushing, I checked Sammie's gums and the tip of her bottom left first molar has cut through. That's #10.

New words: Bye, spoon

Big Bounce

Lori reminded me the other day that there is a bounce house not far from our house, so we decided to check it out this morning. Man, it's really close!- Just about walking distance. Sammie enjoyed bouncing in the little houses for toddlers, but Mommy started getting annoyed at the rambunctious boys that wouldn't pay any mind to anyone else. After a while we ventured over to the big kid's side and Sammie and I had a bounce house all to ourselves. In the back there was a big world with blocks to climb up and she did a good job starting, however I had to help her about half way through. Turns out it led up to a slide and we had a blast sliding down! We had to go get Daddy who was at the table studying.  Since it was nap time, Sammie was getting tired and lying down on the bouncers... and it was time to bounce.

Jumpa-Jumpa!

Come on, Mama!

Daddy! Watch!

Climbing up to the top of the world.

After a good nap and some fussiness- her bottom right first molar broke through during the night- we went to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Wells and Naters was there too. Sammie had so much fun watching and mooing with the cows while she swung, giving Shadow cookies and she was heavy on giving the pouty lip to Grandpa ("PaPa"). Grandma made us all a "Second Christmas" book and Sammie had to look at it over and over again. She loves looking at pictures.

...and this is Nate... and this is Cakes.

Sammie's new trick of the day: High five, Low five, and Shake hands "It's nice to meet ya!"

3 Strikes (Doctor Update)

It stormed bad last night and woke Samantha up. She doesn't do well with thunder and lightning. We had her come lie down with us in bed, but she just laid there awake. Daddy finally took her to the couch to see if she could fall asleep on him. Nope... back to the crib... again with the crying. Well, long story short, Sammie finally fell asleep- God only knows what time it was, maybe 4:30?- and Mommy had to wake up before 7am. Today was the first time that I left for work without Sammie being awake and kissing bye-byes. Strike One

Waiting in the waiting room... impatiently.

We had Sammie's doctor appointment today and she is a growing bean! The nurse asked if Sammie can say 4 words... Uhh, Yeah! Then Dr. Sperling came in asking what words she says and Mommy and Daddy started rattling off Sammie's random words. She was impressed. We also told her that Sammie knows (by pointing to) all her body parts: hair, head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, chin, tongue, boobies, belly, bottom, and feet. Doctor said that's what she asks at 18 months and Sammie is ahead, "It's good that she has parents that spend one on one time with her".
While checking her out, the doctor looked in Sams' mouth and saw that her bottom molars are coming in. After bath, I looked and saw that her gums were very swollen. Strike Two.

Being silly waiting for Dr. Sperling

*cute*

Sammie got some vaccines today: 2 shots and a toe prick for hemoglobin. They did the toe prick first and she watched. She cried some until she saw the blood come out and then was a little mesmerized by it, then went back to crying. She was still upset when she got the shots that followed and I have a feeling she won't be forgetting this visit. However, she was a trooper by smiling and waving at the nurse. She was grumpy throughout dinner and during bath she would start crying hysterically with her toes clenched and point to her "ouchies". It was as if she was being dramatic, but I think she was scared about what she witnessed. Strike Three.
We actually had to dose her with Tylenol for bed... Better get prepared for a long night.

No Mama, don't touch my toe!

With a quickness, she'll giggle at something funny.

Sammie's height: 30 inches
Weight: 20 pounds, 3 ounces
Words: Mama, Dada, Ali, dog, cheese, duck, quack, moo, this, that, balloon, star, socks, back, up, down, hot, baba, baby, fish, kiss, ball, stuck, poop, elephant, cookie, rock, yes (and nods)
Signs: more, food, water, milk, cold/brrr,finished

Is It Saturday?

Mama was happy to come home after work to get cuddles with Samantha. It was a rough day, not only for Mama but Daddy too. Is is Saturday yet?

Coo Coo Bananas!

I came home and poor Daddy was WORN OUT. Sammie was a crazy girl, yet the sweetest one ever. She played hard and the toys around the living room proved it! Daddy taught her to 1-clap, 2-clap clap, 3-clap clap clap, although she wouldn't do it for me, and in return Sammie helped Daddy learn programming.

Hiiii Daddy!!!

*chuckles*

Bananas and Gold Fsss Snack= Yum!

 Sammie is at the point where she is so interested in watching you go to the bathroom. She wants to play with the toilet, toilet paper, and flush, although we don't let her. After bath she kept acting like she had to go potty and pointed to the toilet-- this is 2 days in a row-- So, I pulled her out the tub and sat her on the toilet. She was comfortable just hanging out, not scared of falling in like she used to be. Then she kept saying 'Poop', so I told her to push... she pushed, but nothing but a tiny fart came out. Well, she's learning and catching on pretty quick. We are ready to get her comfortable on the pot (and Daddy is tired of changing diapers). We can't wait until her little toilet seat gets here this week.

*Today was the first day Samantha got a (moo) milk bottle in the morning. It's official, after 15 1/2 months, my baby doesn't depend on me for nutrition anymore.... although she is still getting about 2 ounces of frozen breast milk at night.... just to get through the winter for the extra healthy antibodies.

Daddy said that she also took her evening moo milk in a sippy cup and didn't take her second nap (2 1/2  hour morning nap was sufficient). She is used to getting a warm bottle to fall asleep, but we need to change things up a bit and make her a little more independent.

Jump!

Lori and Mike are having a girl! Since we haven't seen them since before Christmas, we visited and celebrated. Sammie enjoyed playing with Nate and following his madness. Nate has a little trampoline and Sammie kept sneaking on to jump, that is until Nate followed her and bumped her out of the way. Sammie learned that she had to hold onto his hand to jump so she kept it out, waiting and had a blast bouncing. And oddly, she was shy with Lori and especially Mike; but with Nate, she couldn't stop giving him hugs. Cutie pie!

Sweet girl giving hugs

Here Comes Trouble!

Samantha was such a naughty girl when she woke up this morning. She wasn't interested in "eating" because she wanted to run around, fussing on and off. Then she made her way up the couch and onto the kitchen counter to destroy the neat pile of junk I had organized... and boy, she did not want to listen to a thing! I pulled out a Mega Block table that we got from Lori and she wanted to climb that too, even when I told her it was going to fall. Then, as I was loading the dishwasher, she kept pulling at the utensils and mugs. I kept telling her to stop and "no touch", but she just kept on, until she grabbed a knife... then she got a good smacking on the hand. My poor baby was so upset and she still didn't understand. Oh man! Well, after a good nap my Sweet Angel conquered that little bad girl from the morning, and she was refreshed and ready to take on the day! We love our sweet baby angel!

I love making a mess with Mommy's stuff.

Sams loves sitting on the counter to be in everything.

Sammie loves to sit on the counter while I check out at stores and likes to play with the credit card pen. While at Carters, Sammie was waiting for me to pay so she can sign the machine with me and the cashier said that she was so advanced [for being 15  months]. Sammie seemed "more advanced than her daughter who is 21 months". Mommy and Daddy feel so proud when we hear things like that!

Stopping to smell the flowers.

Get Well Soon

Mommy's friend and co-worker Marti is sick, so I made her a card this morning:

Get Well Soon, Marti

xoxo, Sammie

I Know. I Can Do That By Myself.

Man, Samantha is getting too smart for her own britches! This morning I decided to make Daddy and I some strawberry muffins and I was going to have Sammie help me. I took out the muffin pan and the paper cups and when I handed her a cup to guide her to putting it in the pan, she just took it from me and did it herself. Wow! I was amazed! I wished she would have done it sporadically in the pan, but she could only reach the edges. I also guided her to pouring the milk in. I wish she could have also stirred, but it's hard seeing as I was holding her. When it was time to put the muffins in the oven, she knows.... "Hot".

Mama, I haven't done this before, but I know what to do.

We were on our way out the door to go to Walmart. Since she knew we were leaving, she ran to the garage door waving and blowing kisses to Daddy. We had to stop her and tell her that she has to hug and kiss him goodbye and she listened. When I opened the door to the garage, she watched her step and went walking to the driver side of the car to the back door ready to hop in (that she can't do yet).

Mama is teaching Sammie "Ouch! That hurts. Say you're sorry" with a hug and kiss.  Well, every time I say ouch she leans in with some love. We were walking in the store when my knee started to ache and I said "Owe" and there she went leaning in with love. She is so sympathetic.

We received a package from our friends Amy and Emerson (and Chatrick, too). Sammie was surprised to find a box on her chair when she woke up from her nap. She got a book, a cd with Emmy reading the book and a wooden bear. She loves it all, especially that bear! She has now learned to say "bear".... and she gives it hugs and pats too.

Special delivery for Sammie

Love, Emerson

Hurry! Hurry!

A bear and a picture of Emmy.

Thank you, Amy and Emerson!

Za

Sammie had a fun day going with Daddy to get his books for school and some diapers too.... but she sure did want to be held by Mama this evening when she woke up from her nap. Mama is happy to be off tomorrow to hang with Sammie and Daddy!

Sammie loves to pizZA feed self!

... and as always, she loves sharing.

PS~ I found these jammies in the bottom of her closet. Wish I found them before Christmas, but we'll get what use we can out of them. Sammie looks at them and points to Santa and says "Ho Ho Ho".