Wet n' Wild

Samantha got her first drink from the hose today while we were outside cleaning/playing. She had such a fun time splashing in puddles and getting her hands in to whatever she could.

We have been singing "Row Row Row Your Boat" and now when Sammie sees the video she starts singing, "rwoah rwoah rwoah". It's very cute. This evening, she wanted more "row row" so more she got!

Daddy picked out my shirt. Isn't it cute?

 Showing Daddy how the chameleon catches a fly...

Lookin' Pretty

This morning was the first time Sammie picked out her whole wardrobe.

Grandma finally got her grandkid bluebonnet picture... and they smiled too.

 

Climbing Up INTO

Yesterday I witnessed Samantha climb INTO her high chair. I didn't make a big deal of it (1) so I wouldn't scare her and she'd fall (2) so she wouldn't repeat it, but oh how I wish I had the camera! And I couldn't wait to tell Daddy about it! Although we didn't celebrate this "accomplishment", I am very proud of her and how her mental gears work. Well, she did it again after dinner and I had the camera phone in arm's reach. It's blurry because she moves so much.

 Here's how it goes:
(Don't worry, Daddy was behind her.)

 

 

 

 

Lil' Bunny Foo Foo

It was story time day and Miss Jane read bunny books and sang bunny songs, which reminded me of a song that I loved in elementary school, "Little Bunny Foo Foo". Sammie and I had so much fun picking up the field mice and bopping them on the head. She did a better job this week than last. She danced to some of the songs and did some of the hand movements. She's catching on, so I hope she can be more attentive in a couple of weeks. However, there was a little boy that sat in front of us who resembled Nate (or so I thought) and Sammie wanted to sit next to him and crawl all over him. She also wanted to give him hugs and kisses. Since he was about 2 1/2 or so he seemed a little annoyed by this but tolerated her.

 

Daddy and I left the laundry we folded on the floor last night and Sammie helped me bring it all to the bedroom this morning. I put the kitchen towels on the couch, grabbed the shirts and Sams got an armful of socks. After I got dressed I turned around and saw that she went back to the living room and brought the towels to the bed as well. What a wonderful little helper!

Oddly, I found Sammie playing with her cloth dolls today. She refused to be caught red handed for a picture, but darn it I was determined.

Showing off my tower.

Welcome Back

Nate must be feeling better because he was at Grandma's today with a full smile. He and Sammie were so happy to see each other.

Juice Box

Poke it...

 Push it...

Slurp it... Ahhh!

Standing Tall

Poor Naters. Although, he is on the up, we are still sending him hopes that he's 100% real soon!
(I love that she is biting Nate's card. That's probably a bad thing, but better than his arm, right?)

Sammie loves walking Shadow! That girl loves that dog... (No, Grandma, we're not taking him home with us).

 We finally got Sammie's new tower in today! Hooray!! Now she can cook and be in the kitchen-business without us yelling at her to be careful or sit on her bottom. Plus, it will grow with her for a few more years. We got home a little later than usual today, so she wasn't very interested in it since she was hungry, but she did say that she liked it and thanked Daddy for it (and Mama too). And when Ali jumped in, Sams got very upset. She doesn't mind sharing her toys, but when it comes to her personal things, watch out! I saw her get upset when Nate was messing with her high chair one day at Grandma's.

Tonight during her bedtime, she was just about finished her bottle and half asleep when I gave her kisses and night-nights and said "I love you"; she raised up a tired little arm and tapped twice on her chest to say "Love you" back to me. Oh! It melted me. I love that girl more than everything and anything in the world.

Pretty Girl

It's been very sunny now that it's Spring and Grandma has finally convinced Sammie to wear her hat and today she kept it on for a long time, unlike her sunglasses which she didn't keep on at all. She also took Sams to a neighbor's to try and take pretty bluebonnet pictures in her old dress.

 

Bluebonnets: Take I

The bluebonnets are full and beautiful all over the city. We finally got a chance to take Sammie's picture in them and what do you know? She wouldn't smile and would barely hold still, so we'll try again another day. We'll give you a peek-see, but we won't spoil you in anything too cute... just in case!

After taking pics, we went to Gran's to hang and eat dinner and Sammie enjoyed her time in the garden. Grandma must have taught her how to water the plants, because she really wanted to fill up the can and water them... and she knew just what to do!

Grilling at Mar's

We went to Marti's to celebrate Adam's birthday. Sammie always enjoys playing with the doggies and sharing the love. We spent most of the time enjoying the beautiful weather outside and while we took a walk, Sammie found a black and white kitty to love on also. Good thing it was just as sweet and laid back as Nikko "our" outside cat. While on our walk, Sammie picked some berry-looking twigs for "Mar". She decided she just knew how to say Marti's name.

My Doodlebug

I had work dark- not bright, the sun wasn't even up yet- and early this morning and since Daddy had work too, Grandma Wells came to sit with Sams. Luckily, Naters is with his other grandparents but he isn't feeling very well. He went to the doctor this morning and we are sending Nate some love to get better soon!

After nap and a yummy strawberry-banana snack, Mama had an itching to go outside and pull up some gigantic weeds. Sammie, as awesome as can be, played independently while I did so. She slid on her belly and jumped and some times she would pull up some weeds or play in the dirt then run to me about her hands being dirty. I allowed her to wipe them on my pants since I was getting dirty, too. Of course she took me up on that offer a lot, until after a while when she got used to the dirt and had fun digging and getting dirty and looking for doodlebugs.

 (we have lots of yard work to do)

Storytime

We went to the library for storytime this morning. It is the first one we've attended since Samantha has moved up to the toddler group. I liked this group better than the lapsit group because it was more laid back. Sammie had no interest in the stories or songs, which the theme was trains, and since we were new, we didn't know all the songs or dances. Sammie was also very preoccupied with watching all the babies that came to the group. I hope that if we begin to go on a regular basis she is able to focus on Miss Jane's stories and direction and less on everything else going on around her. Over all, I think she enjoyed herself and tried to make a new friend, whom Sammie stuck her hand out to shake the mother's hand, "nice to meet you". Afterward, she had fun playing around the children's corner of the library.

 This evening we went to Konrad and Michelle's to celebrate the Gender Reveal of Baby #2. Sammie loves playing with Ella and vice versa. They are so cute together! Can you guess what they are having by the cake ball Sammie is eating? She grabbed it off my plate and went to town. Then it kept her up until 10:00pm. Oh boy.

Independent

It's crazy how much longer it takes to get out of the house when you have an independent little girl to tend to. I try to let her make her own choices and do whatever she is able to do on her own. She can choose what she wants to eat, what shirt or sweatshirt to wear, chooses to wear a hat on her silly days, climb in the car and buckle her own buckles (in the highchair and wagon too), and now she wants to put on her own pants. This morning after a clean diaper she wanted her jammie shorts back on but it was a little too cool outside. Grandma will be surprised the day she shows up with her pants on backwards (she actually got them on backwards). It was funny.
She also likes to sing-a-long with you. Her favorite tune is "do do do" to the "Manamana" song. She'll start singing as soon as she sees those hot pink monsters on the screen.

One leg at a time

Dawn of the Dead

Samantha isn't one to sleep through thunder and lightning... and last night was the worst of all. I saw her in the monitor wide-eyed and worried right before she started crying around 1 am, so I brought her back to our bed where she actually fell asleep... sound asleep. Boy does she twist and turn and make lots of noise in her sleep! Daddy and I couldn't sleep at all. Finally, I brought her back to her bed then I looked at the time... 6:35am! We had to get up in less than 30 minutes! Luckily Sams didn't have to work and took a nice 3 hour nap at Grandma's and was still ready for bed tonight.

Sammie this morning...

Mama & Dada this morning...