Bugs, Trucks and Puppy Dog Kisses

While walking up to Grandma's, we saw some doodlebugs walking on the sidewalk and decided they would be happier in the dirt, so we picked them up and moved them. Sammie enjoyed studying all the other stuff that is in the dirt.

Behind Grandma and PaPa's house, there is a new subdivision being built and Samantha has been so very interested in trucks the last couple of months. Not only does she like to see the trucks work, she likes to watch and hear their loud sounds on the street; she calls out "big truck!" She also loves playing with cars and trucks. Here she is playing with Daddy's old hot wheels from when he was little.

 

Shadow used to dislike the kiddos when they were helpless little babies, but now that they can attack, he loves jumping up for kisses. As much as Samantha gets annoyed by this she sure loves that dog's attention! (It's more than she gets from Ali). Before leaving Gran's, she bent over to give Shad a kiss on the snout. I asked her to do it again to get a pic and she continued to hug and kiss him. I even got a pic of him licking her face, but that's just too icky... This one is sweet...

Target

Samantha was feeling better today at Grandma's.
On the way home, amidst her craziness in the car, we stopped at the store to pick up her allergy prescription... and she knew just what to do!

Umm, is this the way out? Ooo... groceries!

Sunday

Samantha slept better last night, but not as well as usual. She woke up this morning having to potty and I was hoping she'd go back to sleep, but noooo way! She was up and excited. At least she was interested in laying the blanket out with the pillows from the couch to read books. What a great start to our day, as well as some Daddy pancakes!

Daddy worked in the yard some and Say Say got to get in her pool. She sure loves the hose.

While at the store, I picked up a bath pouf for Sam just like Mama's.

~We didn't give Sammie any milk products today and her cough seemed a little less than usual. The whole fat milk can be so thick and stick to her throat, which may not help in clearing things up.

~We had a some good moments... and some not so good moments. She threw fits for no reason and even got put in time out for hitting me. Ahh, waiting til she's 100% better.
~Her new "favorite" phrase: "Thanks you". She has also become a major repeater... She repeats everything!
~She loves crawling around like Ali cat and meowing.
~Some times when she goes potty she doesn't want her little potty seat. She says, "No potty seat. Big girl."

Croup de Ville

Samantha was up all night from coughing, which means Mama and Daddy were, too. Oddly, I couldn't wait for the alarm to go off at 7:45 to make an appointment to find out what's going on and hope that she didn't have an ear infection. Of course, by the time the alarm went off, she was heavy snoozing. So I gently rolled her out of bed, put a diaper on her and some clothes. In trying to keep her sleepy, she was chipper-ly awake. We sneaked in to tell Daddy bye and off we went to the clinic.
[Potty Side Note: As soon as we left, she said she had to go potty, but I told her she had to hold it until we got to the office (about 20 minutes). Her diaper was dry when we got there and she pottied!]

Ok- So the nurse practitioner thought she had croup cough due to the heavybarking sound, but Sammie has no problems breathing, no fever, and has been acting normal for the most part, therefore, she decided not to give her the steroid prescription. I told the NP this is the cough she gets when she has/is getting an ear infection. She checked both of Sammie's ears and they were clear, however that can possibly change, so we need to watch if she starts getting other signs of an ear infection. So basically, Sammie isn't sick, the cough is from the stupid allergies and drainage, we need to keep taking the allergy meds, give her a pillow (I did last night), and it's ok to give lollipops/honey to soothe her throat; if she still has this cough in 2 weeks... Rugh Roh!

First lollipop at 9:00am. What a breakfast treat.

Waiting in the car for her to finish it.

Needless to say, Sammie was ready for her nap and slept for 4 hours!!! Whew. We both needed it. I got a little nap too and surprisingly, Daddy came home early. We were happy to see him!  

[Potty Side Note #2: The Girl Who Cried Potty~ About 2 minutes after pottying, she claimed she had to go again. I told her I wasn't playing that game and she was on her own to go. She marched herself to the bathroom and when I didn't hear from her for a few minutes, I checked on her. She had pooped in the pot all by herself! and I made her go alone. I'm not sure if I'm proud of her for going by herself or going poop in the pot, or if I am upset that I missed it...?]

"Say Say pooped"

Snoozy Woozy

Samantha and Nate seemed to have done a lot of pretend snoozing at Grandma's... On PaPa, on the couch, on PaPa's shoulder... Too bad it wasn't real snoozing because Sam woke up at 1:30am with that terrible hacking cough (which she normally sleeps through) and I don't have any idea what time she finally fell back asleep. Either way, she didn't want to wake up this morning- she just wanted to cuddle- and she didn't take her usual 3 hour nap at Grandma's. But man, that cough is just terrible (and her nose is runny). We are going to the doctor tomorrow to make sure it's not another [ear] infection! Austin allergies... Grrr!!!

 

 

 Samantha really loved using the food processor to mash her cauliflower. Look at that smile! What a little chef she'll be.

Puzzled

After Gymboree we met up with Michelle, Konrad and Ella for lunch. Sammie was on her best behavior and I love it!

Getting stamps at Gym.

 Since Daddy and I were worried about Sam and her dislike of puzzles and pretending to [not] know her colors, I thought we should sit down after nap and go over the puzzles with their shapes and colors. Of course, she has been doing a great job with her colors in the past couple of weeks and she loves the new color/shape puzzle we got her. I figured she could use the learning time, although I had to trick her into doing the puzzles, but she got them done by herself... with help of the blue mermaid.
She told me where all the pieces went and wanted Mama to put them in the spot, but I told her I couldn't figure it out and she'd have to do it for me. She knows circle, and today she called out oval and rectangle (although that sounded like something weird like "rangle").

Last Kid's Day: The Biscuit Brothers

It was the last Children's Day and the Biscuit Brothers closed it down. PaPa said to get there early and that was no joke! We arrived early, but not early enough! It was already mostly standing room left, although we found a spot at the edge of the steps and the "river". It was a bit hard to see with the large speaker in front of the group. So we figured we'd go stand with PaPa on the side and we could see from right above, then from just a few feet away. It was a great performance! Even Samantha danced and clapped.

Look at that crowd!

Told you it was close. Now if only that door was closed.

Eating a peach popsicle with Daddy ~ YUM!

I love this pic- sitting on the antique chair.

Afterwards, we had to stop at Mama's work for a quick diaper shower, which totally threw us off schedule- Booo! But she enjoyed talking with everyone and helping Konrad open a gift. Unfortunately, I shouldn't have given her the brownie to eat because it took forever to get her to lie down for nap. 
It was a very busy and very tiring day... and boy did she expressed it. She even got put in time out for hitting tables and throwing things for no reason. <Here we go. We're holding on tight for this ride.>

PS~ No diapers, besides to sleep in and she did great at Children's Day pottying on the "girl's potty" (twice). She even pooped in the pot tonight after a HUGE dinner: A bowl of Daddy's chicken and rice, 2 chicken nuggets, and some queso.

Dipping for my own queso :)

Panty-Head

Samantha is so helpful. She helped Grandma cook dinner and PaPa do his crossword puzzle. We're glad she's doing some kind of puzzle, although she does love the new color and shapes puzzle she got. She really knows her colors now, so it's time to move on to numbers and shapes!

 When we got home, Sammie found a new use for her panties... A hat! She also wiggled off her potty seat and sat on the toilet. She almost fit perfect until she almost fell in the toilet... It wasn't as funny as I thought it might be.

 

Sammie sure loves to tumble. We'll probably stay at Gymboree for the 3 months then look into tumble- gyms for toddlers. 
Another perfect day in panties :)

Oops... A Small Step Off Track

Samantha kept saying she had to potty/poop this morning but wouldn't go, so Daddy suggested a diaper. She loved that idea! She jumped off the toilet, ran into her room, and lied down on the floor, calling for a diaper and waiting for one. I gave in to avoid the fight so we could leave for Grandma's and I could get to work, then she insisted on wearing a diaper all day, although she still peed in the potty. I am afraid that if we take a step back or get off track, Sammie will get side tracked and forget or not care about using the potty; or worse yet, get confused about when she can go potty.
I thought potty training was going to be a difficult task (and a messy one), but Samantha has been awesome at making it easy. I hope to keep that up.

Other than that, Sammie had a wonderful day at Gran's. She ate a lot, slept a lot, played a lot and even got her spirit on.

 

Sammie is quickly approaching two and we are definitely seeing it. Not only is she listening less and testing the limits, she is showing more [stronger] emotions like getting angry when things don't work out in her favor. Her thing- since she was little- is to "power up", as Daddy and I call it and some times she will slam her hands on the counter or wall. We just have to let her ride out these feelings.

Day 12: Two by Two

Samantha has officially been potty trained! Under 2 years old in less than 2 weeks!

Today was our first outing without a diaper on and she was fantastic. Of course I brought a change of panties, shorts, shoes and even a towel for a 'just in case' moment. We had brunch with Mike, Lori, Nate and Baby Stella and Sammie pottied twice at the diner and again when we got home. If we didn't ask her I think she would have just held it. Daddy said after nap her diaper was dry (besides the poop).  So, looks like she can make it through nap without peeing, but we're not risking that any time soon! This evening, we went to Lowes then Kohls, and although she kept talking about the potty in the car, which made Daddy and I nervous, when we got out she said she didn't have to go. Once we got to Kohls, she went potty when we were by the bathrooms. It was cute, the had a mini kid's size toilet, even though I still had to hold her up. When she was finished, she must have remembered what Mommy said the other day at the grocery, "Public bathrooms are yucky and we use our foot to flush", because she lifted her little leg up to that little handle and tried to kick-flush it :)

Warning! Graphic Content!
During bedtime, we had a repeat performance of the other day when she HAD to sit on the pot after 9:00. While we read books and sang, she insisted she had to poop and slid off my lap to run right into the bathroom. She sat for a long time, but she did poop two little turds and was so excited about it! I finally had to pull her off the pot at 9:45! We talked about how we have to change this new bedtime routine, although we are all so proud!

I promise one day I'll stop talking about potty training and start telling you more of what Sammie is up to, like colors. After headaches from constant corrections between green and blue, and yellow and orange, she is finally catching on and telling us all her colors. Some times it takes her a couple tries.

Ham and Cheeeese

Samantha requested to go on a stroll this morning. She loved drinking out of Daddy's water bottle.

Sammie had her first ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. She was hesitant at first, but scarfed it down.

After napping for an hour and a half, she woke herself up to potty, although she wouldn't go back to sleep- Of course she wound up pooping in her diaper... and she never sleeps after that. Oh well, she still had an extra hour and a half of quiet time.

As for potty training: Sam can tell us when she has to potty, although asking her randomly doesn't hurt. On the other side, she won't go alone. I think tomorrow we'll venture out diaper-less ;) 

After nap we went swimming... well, she got in the pool.

10 Days and Done

Because of Sammie's late night potty escapade last night, and also Grandma and PaPa having a pool day, she was EX-hausted this evening. She cried hysterically to go to bed. As for potty training, she did great in the car going to and from Grans', but had one poopie accident with Grandma. At least she has figured out when she has to pee.

A Fine Angel On Day 9

We had Gymboree this morning and Samantha was wild- she couldn't stop for a minute- but by the end of our class she still had the thought to go potty! Afterwards, we went to the store and mid-way through, she needed to potty again. Although she had a diaper on, we rushed as fast as we could. She did amazing (public bathrooms are so yucky and she has no idea how disgusting it is). *Two days in a row with no accidents* She is really getting the hang of asking to go potty now and some times it's twice in about 15 minutes, like she's trying to get out of dinner or something... but she pees. Since we got her car seat protector, tomorrow morning we are going to go to Grandma's without a diaper.

Taking a second to relax in the tube.

Loving climbing over the wall.

It's been days since I've posted a potty pic ;)

Since she is doing a fantastic job potty training and was a total and complete ANGEL at the store for the 2 hours we were there (of course charming the elders), she got the pleasure of devouring her first Oreo cookie after lunch and, of course, she is in love! She even likes to dip it in milk the way Daddy and Mama do.

Oh, let's say about 9:30pm *yawn*

During bedtime, Sammie requested to go poop in the potty and we sat there for about 30 minutes waiting. Geesh! It was after 9:00. I am not looking forward to these nights of waiting. (Maybe it was the half Oreo she had after dinner)

Day 8 is Great!

It was Children's Day with PaPa and Sammie was in quite an awkward and quiet mood. We didn't listen to the performer long before we headed to get Sammie's face painted. Silly Sparkles the clown chose a tiger for her (we were running out of ideas after a beautiful butterfly and a kitty cat). The tiger looked great!

Daddy gets me a lemonade- Mmm

A shot of all of us (Mama barely made it in).

Silly starts her work.

RAWR!!!!

As for potty training: Samantha did GREAT today! No accidents and she even told us a few times that she had to go pee. She is still wearing a diaper as soon as we leave the house and getting panties as soon as we get home. Her diaper has been dry when we get home and she has a full bladder when she sits on the pot. Today she was rewarded with a new little blue mermaid.

As for our other baby who has sadly been pushed to the backseat, Ali has a bladder infection that has been going on for a long time. We didn't realize it until about 2 weeks ago when we noticed she was peeing blood. We took her to the vet and got her on antibiotics. Unfortunately, they didn't work and she is still uncomfortable and peeing blood, so Daddy took her back today and got stronger antibiotics and a new food for her. There are 2 possibilities for her getting a bladder infection: 1- She may be sensitive to the food is she eating, hence getting her new "safe" food. 2- Kitties may develop infections due to stress in their lives. Go figure, stress in Ali's life?! Yes, when she doesn't get any of our attention and crazy Sammie is running after her. We'll start by changing her food, if that doesn't work, than the latter it is and on to the next step.              Ali got a new toy too.

It's Been One Week

Still working on potty training and today wasn't the best day. Most days have been awesome and Sammie makes them easy, but although this evening wasn't difficult, I am thrown back that Sammie didn't care that she pee'd in her panties twice in about 15 minutes and also went potty in that time span. Once she didn't even care, she just squatted a little and let herself flow. She must have just been so excited that Daddy was home and "fixing" her new step stool.
She had a couple of accidents at Grandma's house, too.

Chillin' out

No, PaPa, I'm not looking. Grama, push!!

Helping Daddy "fix" the stool.

I can fix it.

The final cuteness :)