Bouncing To The Doctor's

We got a nice rain this morning, so instead of going south for Children's Day, which PaPa claimed to be a lame show, Samantha and I went to the bounce house.

Watching the rainfall this morning. "Rain!" "Wader!"

We gave Sams her Zyrtec (like always when she has a runny nose), but I noticed it wasn't working like it usually does; on top of that, she had 3 poopie diapers in about 2 hours- Not like her system! Then I thought about her unusual fussiness yesterday and I decided there was something going on and I wanted to check with the pedi's office to fix it. They called back quickly and said it could be a cold or maybe even an ear infection. Since Samantha just had an ear infection a month ago, I was in slight denial it could be another one but I was very curious, and I wanted to nip whatever it was in the bud... and fast! We made the doctor's appointment for 30 minutes later, so Sammie had a chance to jump a little before we headed over to the office.

We got to the pedi and Dr. Lam checked Samantha's everything. Thanks to Sammie's doctor kit, she knew exactly what to expect and was calm and patient during the whole visit, even when Dr. Lam cleaned out the ball of wax in her ear and discovered an ear infection. Yet again, another one *sigh* I'm just lucky we caught it early. So, back onto antibiotics. I wish I knew what was causing her to get sick: A sinus infection in March, a first ear infection in May and now this one.

Needless to say, Samantha continued to be fussy on and off all day. We sure hope she is feeling much better tomorrow morning!

Lil' Piggies

Samantha was upset with me this morning because I didn't give her a paci when she woke up (which is our daily thing). In fact, I took it out of her crib and told her she lost it. Wow, that's the last time I do that! She was such a fuss bucket for me until we got to GaMaw's and then after we got home. I tried to make it up to her this morning by giving it to her while I put pigtails in her hair, but it didn't help much. On the other hand, look at how amazingly adorable this little girl is!

 

 

 

 

Hand Fart

GaMaw got the funniest video of Samantha being so serious blowing on the back of her hand to make a hand fart. What a silly little girl. Daddy says he used to do that too. I hope she doesn't wind up learning how to do armpit farts when she's older, but I know she will!

Happy Daddy Rawr Day!

I got Samantha to repeat after me: "Happy. Dada Rawr. Day!" Then she ran in and woke Daddy up.
We started our morning with cinnamon rolls then Daddy started to get to work on that pesky side yard that's taking for-ever to get done. Mama's gift to him was cutting, trimming trees/bushes and cleaning up the backyard, etc.; however, there was so much to do you could barely tell I did anything at all (luckily I have pictures of everything that needs to be thrown out).

Sammie wanted to help Daddy with the tiller- machine.

 After clean up and nap, we spent the evening with GaMaw and PaPa. Sammie always has such a good time there.

Daddy was showing her how to blow to make the boat sound.

 

 

Daddies!

 

 Samantha did an awesome job eating all of her dinner: pulled pork, corn salad x2, sweet potato fries, bread and milk, so she got a special treat afterwards. I swear all she had was the tiny bowl!

A future Blue Bell ad?

It's Times Like These

We celebrated Dr. Meadow's little boy, Kade's first birthday today. There was a bounce house-slide into pool which we weren't well prepared for. Luckily, we had swim diapers in the car along with a change of clothes and a towel and sunblock- Ok, so we were just missing the swimsuit. Sammie couldn't wait to play with Reese, but when she saw him she acted shy as usual. Reiston played a lot in the water so after Sammie watched him and the other kids, she decided she wanted it, although she was being an anti-water baby. She would stand in the pool, but every time a bigger kid went down the slide and splashed she would get upset. Of course... it was also past her nap time.

Sammie and Reiston

Attack kisses from the birthday boy!

Sam, why don't you ever look and smile? Say cheese Dr. Meadows.

Before dinner, Sammie helped me wash all of her cups. She sat on the counter next to the sink and concentrated on which lids went with the correct cup. Although she matched quite a few of them, she couldn't master screwing on the lid to the cup. I sat and watched her little gears turn and realized that she really isn't a baby anymore. I know I post about this often, but for some reason this time was different. It made me a little sad and I know I got teary-eyed. I am so proud of her and her amazing personality and proud of all the things she has learned like her numbers, colors, animals, how to behave, etc. But to watch her think about which lids go with the matching cup is something we have never talked about nor ever mentioned. But her brain was concentrating, working independently and thinking hard and it was doing an amazing job!

Climbing Mt. PaPa

Climbing on PaPa is so much fun!

Sammie has been putting her own shoes on for quite some time, but she especially loves it since GaMa bought her Crocs that she can just slide on. GaMa got quite a kick out of Sammie putting them on the wrong feet and walking around. We're trying to teach her left and right for her shoes and that the tag goes in the back when she puts on her shorts.

This is how we do dinner. She looks like a lil' ol' golfer.

Today I am 20 Months Old!

Wow! We can't believe it... Samantha is 20 months old already. Two years is quickly creeping up on us. She has become so much more independent, vocal, opinionated, understanding, funny and sweet!

As I was explaining to Grandma Re this morning that Sammie says "Say" for her name, I asked Sammie to say "Sam" and she did :)

She changed her mind this morning about going to story time because she wanted to play in the water, so I filled up the pool and let her have at it. She kept herself fully occupied while I worked in the backyard. After work and nap, we went to visit Lori and Baby Stella, unfortunately Nate wasn't there. Sammie was so excited to see Stella, but she was more excited that she got to hold her, so much so that she actually cried when I took Stella away. Say-Say did a fantastic job being gentle with Stella, petting her head and looking for her feet, and putting her paci back in when it fell out of her mouth. She is an amazing Lil' Mama!

 

 I ordered Sammie some lacing beads since she's doing a great job with her fine motor skills. She understands the concept, but needs a little help to fully push the lace through. I have no doubt  that she'll get it in a few weeks.  

Samantha said another 3-word phrase this evening after dinner. Since she sat in my chair, she had me sit in DadaRawr's chair. Afterward, when I showed her pictures she would say "That mama chair."

First Children's Day

We found out about the Austin Symphony's Children's Day at the Park last year when Sammie was just about 8 months and although she was too young to fully enjoy the event, we went and had fun... and got to visit with PaPa at work too! This summer I was super excited because Sammie is old enough to enjoy the festivities! Since I went down to part- time work, I decided to take Wednesdays off in the summer (and luckily Daddy now has off also) to go to make it part of our weekly routine. She "enjoyed" the story that was told and about 5 minutes of the music, then she had enough of sitting still and wiggling from Mama to PaPa to Dada. We know next time to let her run around during story time and maybe she'll watch the musicians play. We tried to beat the crowd to the tents for some face painting and ice cream and I believe that's where Sam had the most enjoyment...

 

 

She's a sweet treat thief.

 

 

The most beautiful butterfly I have ever laid eyes on.

 

Shadow

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

One of Samantha's favorite words is "Shadow". She loves that dog so much and he is finally loving back on her and Nate. She loves to pet and hug him and he now loves to get close and lick her face. Sometimes Matt and I wonder if Sammie will have an imaginary friend and as much as she calls out for Shadow during random daily activities, we think he is her imaginary dog-friend. (However, she still loves her Ali- Kat!)

Her fine motor control is getting so much more developed: I used to have to guide her hand to scoop Ali's dry food, but now she just digs in for the scooper and starts scooping. She doesn't need my help. Then when she makes a mess, she calls it out and helps sweep it up. She also has to give Ali her wet food/lunch. She knows Mama or Daddy has to scoop it, then waits to walk it over, carefully, to Ali's area of the bench. She's growing up so much and so fast!

scoopin' Ali's food.

*laptop crashed again, so I'm left to blog on my phone and update pics later :/

Daddy Aboard!!!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

We had a great Daddy Day! We were finally able to ride the train together on a beautiful morning and Sammie loved having DadaRawr sit beside her. She kept making this surprised "O" face when the whistle blew; she also had the cutest laugh that sounded like "ta-ha haaaa". She is such a sweet girl and we love seeing that shine in her eye!

Waiting on the train *choo choo*

This is what Sunshine looks like <3

OH!!!

 

 

Serious Sam wouldn't smile with the train.

Afterwards, we visited GaMa and PaPa and ate lunch with them. They had just celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary (June 9). It's nice getting to hang out without having to rush out the door to work or to dinner.  Cheers to them! Here's to many more happy years together!

When we got home and after Sammie's 2 1/2 hour nap, she helped DadaRawr make some pizza dough. She loves getting her hands in stuff, but doesn't so much love having them dirty. She got dough and flour all over, but kept needing to wipe them off. We told her just to lick it off her hands.

A Dada and his girl walking through Lowe's