Happy Easter!

| April 25, 2011

Happy belated Easter everyone!  Here are some pictures of Sam in her Easter finery.  This year, Mark picked out Sam’s dresss. I just loved it.  It is such a typical Easter outfit for a little girl, all frilly and dressed up.  For whatever reason, Sam hated it!  She made us crazy trying to get her picture.  Every time we would put it on her, she’d cry and yell and try to pull it off.  She has never done that before with any item of clothing.  It is really a shame, because the dress is so gorgeous and she looked adorable it in.  We did manage to distract her enough to get her to smile a little so we could get a few pictures last week.

Sam wasn’t sure what was going on with the plastic eggs in the yard, but she appeared to be disappointed that they were empty.

This is one of the only shots we got of her standing up so you could see her whole outfit.

And, here come the tears!  Look how mad she looks!  Yup.  This was pretty much the whole time.  Oh well, there’s always next year.  Maybe she can pick out her own dress next spring.

Finally, one last very important picture — the Easter Bunny and his assistant.  It was a close call getting this picture since they tried to scamper away, but we managed to get a quick glimpse!

Ring Ring!

| April 20, 2011

My mom called me today at work and told me that Sam wanted to call her mommy.  She said Sam actually picked up the phone and said, “Mama”.  I couldn’t believe it.   Of course, when she actually got me on the phone, she barely talked.  I heard a few babbles but that is it.  Usually when she gets someone on the phone like Grandmom or Daddy, she just holds the phone to her ear and smiles but she won’t talk.  I keep thinking that someday she will tell Grandmom she wants to talk to me and she will actually call and tell me about her day.  That is really hard to believe, but I guess it’s not that far off.

In other news, Sam has been having a tough time lately. I think she is teething again based on the signs and I am pretty sure it is her 2 year molars.  She is still missing her incisors, but from the way she keeps trying to chew on things, including her hands, way in the back of her mouth, I’m pretty sure it’s the molars.  Yesterday, she was so tired that when I went into her room in the morning to get her so I could go to work she was fast asleep.  That never happens.  She is always awake and anxious for me to come in and get her. I wound up going into work an hour late so that I could give her some extra sleep. My poor baby.  I feel so bad for her.  There is not much we can do other than give her some Motrin, ice rings to chew on, and give her lots of hugs, which she craves when she is teething.  She gets very clingy and lovable.  Hopefully, the tooth or teeth will break through her gums soon so she will feel better.

Mark and I were talking about her tonight and noting how big she is getting.  Not just in size, but in the way she acts. She does so many grown up things.  She has real opinions about things now.  We were trying to take some Easter pictures of her in her new dress and she was just not in the mood yesterday.  Boy did she let us know about it!  And I have noticed when she cries now, it is not just a simple cry, but rather, there is always some babbling in the mix, like she is actually trying to tell me what is wrong.  The other day, I was trying to put her down into her crib to sleep and her milk ran out.  She cried and cried and in between the cries I kept clearly hearing, More!  More!  I wound up giving her more milk, of course, but it really struck me how she is trying to communicate now.  Someday soon she will really be talking to us and expressing herself in ways she is just not capable of now.  I can’t wait to really get a glimpse into my little girl’s mind.  Sam is so smart and so funny.  It will be exciting to see how that comes out when her speech develops.  All I know is, I can’t wait to get to know yet another amazing part of my girl.

Spring in the Suburbs

| April 18, 2011

Sam really loves flowers.  She tries to be gentle when she explores them, and I am trying to teach her to not yank the heads right off.  She can be somewhat vigorous in her exploration.  She is always walking around pulling the heads off of the dandelions in our yard (which is not a bad thing, of course).  Today we walked down the street and she pulled what seemed like 40 dandelions out of our neighbor’s yard.  Hmmm…I wonder if she has a future as a botanist…

Our tulips have just started to bloom and this weekend Sam decided to check one out. I am proud to say she was very gentle. I told her to smell the pretty flower, and she walked right up to it, took the stem in her hand and leaned in and closed her eyes for a good sniff.

I love how deeply she is leaning in here.  She was really trying to get the full effect.

Mark took this picture a little later through our rose bush, which hasn’t yet started to flower.  I think it makes  a nice frame.

Last but not least, a few pictures of our happy little girl, just looking pretty. 🙂

More!

| April 17, 2011

Sam has been gaining more words all the time.  We often talk about how many words she knows versus how many she actually says since she still doesn’t say a whole lot.  Well, she does, but not exactly on command or when we want her to.  It is unbelievable how much she understands.  You can say almost anything to her and she really gets it. She follows directions so well, bringing you things, trying to put on her coat, picking things up, etc.  We actually have had to start spelling around her because if we don’t, and we say things like “bath” she immediately runs for the tub and God forbid you don’t give her a bath.  There are a lot of words like this that she responds immediately to. I never thought I’d have to start spelling around an 18 month old.

Anyway, she definitely understands more than she says, but she is getting better at using words when she is trying to express herself.  One night last week, I put her to bed and said, “Goodnight Angel, I love you” and she said, “Night Night”.  It was so adorable I couldn’t stand it. 

Her favorite new word, by a wide margin, is More.  More is definitely part of her vocabulary now.  She says More when her bottle of milk is empty.  She says More when she is out of french fries or another of her favorite foods.  She even says More when we are listening to music in the car and a song ends because she doesn’t like the pauses between songs.  It is adorable, but also very helpful.  Finally, she can tell us when she is hungry, or thirsty or wants something!

I really feel like since she turned 18 months old she is changing in leaps and bounds.  Growing up so fast.  I feel like it’s yet another turning point, a time in her life when she is going to change overnight.  My little Samantha is such a little girl now, and not my baby anymore.  I look at her and can’t believe how fast she has grown.  Slow down, Sam!  I’m not ready for you to be a big girl just yet.

Rain, rain go away

| April 17, 2011

We had terrible storms here Saturday and were stuck inside the house all day. Once when it was pouring, I brought Sam outside on the porch to watch the rain. She just stared at it for a while with this sad little forlorn expression. She loves going outside to play now but I think she knew she was not going to get out yesterday. I know the feeling honey, I love to go play outside too, especially with you 🙂