Close encounter of the furry kind

| April 26, 2012

Last night, Sam and Mark got about 2 feet away from a fox in our yard!  We have had some foxes recently prowling around, but that was shocking!  For the last week or so there have been some fox sightings and I have heard them in the middle of the night.  One night recently, I was awoken at about 2:30 a.m. by one making a racket (which I Googled and found out was a territorial cry) and I scared it away with a flashlight.  It was sitting right outside our back door.

Yesterday, Mark and Sam were right by our screened porch watching a rabbit when out came a fox from underneath a bush in front of our neighbor’s porch.  It just came strolling out and stopped a few feet away from Mark and Sam.  Mark said he thinks they equally scared the heck out of each other because the fox looked shocked to find people standing there.   The rabbit took off, Mark picked up Sam, and the fox went trotting off across the yard before it disappeared.  Wow.  Sam has seen a lot of animals in our yard, but that was amazing!

Rain, rain go away

| April 23, 2012

Or maybe not because Sam is enjoying it so much!  This weather is so weird.  A week or so ago I was posting pictures of Sam in her bathing suit in the pool.  As I sit here typing it is 44 degrees and Sam is wearing her winter coat.  On this day, yesterday, it fell somewhere in between.  Not quite winter coat weather, but she is wearing a winter hat.  And it was pouring rain.  Absolutely horrible.  But…she wanted to go out and we hate keeping her cooped up.  Mark is such a good sport.  He will rain gear himself and Sam all up and head out to play in the rain with her.  He is more adventurous than I, that is for sure.

Sam loves playing in the rain and we both think it’s a wonderful thing.  You never see other parents outside playing with their kids in a rainstorm and I think Sam is so lucky to have a dad that is up for any craziness with her.  They had a blast.  Jumping in puddles, getting messy, and coming in the house soaking wet.

Here she is trotting off down the driveway looking for adventure.  We both love how both of her feet are off the ground in this picture.  She was racing off so fast.

That is one happy child, that is for sure.  I think she is still somewhat shocked that she is actually allowed outside in the rain, despite the fact that it’s not her first time doing this with her dad.

Splash!  Look at the tidal wave she makes!

Mark had to empty her boots of water quite a few times he told me.  Gee, I wonder why?

Mark and Sam had a good time putting sticks and leaves in the water and watching them float down the street.  It’s a good science lesson at least!

Off she goes again, both feet in the air!  Lookout puddles, here she comes!

A couple of quick updates

| April 20, 2012

Thursday when I picked up Sam from my mom’s, we were leaving the basement where Sam had just finished kissing her Poppy goodbye.  I noticed that she walked up the steps in the regular fashion, that is, one foot on each step instead of putting both feet on a step before moving up.  Now she goes up like you are supposed to.  Overnight she is growing up.

Also, when I put her to bed last night I noticed her 2 year molars are finally coming in.  Finally.  OMG, finally. I have been waiting for these suckers to come in for a long time.  When she went to the dentist at the end of March (a topic I forgot to blog about, but maybe I just blocked it out because it was such a nightmare) the dentist said that the one on her top left was coming in.  Last night though in feeling around, I definitely feel three.  Both bottoms and the top left.  Nothing on the top right yet unless I just couldn’t feel it.  Sam has been pretty good about it, not complaining, so hopefully all of our teeth troubles are behind us for a while.  Until they start falling out.  Oh boy.

She is still not a huge fan of the dentist and hates having her teeth brushed, but at least this time the dentist was able to clean her teeth and brush them and give her the fluoride treatment she needed.  This had better get better as time goes on or my gorgeous girl will have dentures at the age of 6!

My girl’s got a job!

| April 19, 2012

For some reason Sam finds taking out the trash a fascinating thing to do.  If she is outside and Mark goes to get the can, she comes racing along to help.  She even helps carry the recycling bins by holding one end while Mark carries the other.  I find this so funny because by the time she is old enough to actually take out the trash on her own, it will most likely be like pulling teeth to get her to do it.  Here she is helping out her Daddy with the household chores.

See, I’m not making it up!  Look how happy she looks!

Night Night!

| April 19, 2012

Sam loves being in our bed.  She always asks to climb in.  We don’t really let her sleep with us unless something extreme is going on, like she is sick, and even then, we try to limit it to one night.  Having a third wheel in the bed is NOT something we want to make a habit.  Everyone I know with kids who let their kids sleep with them says it is the hardest habit to break.  But….Sam manages to get in.  Since she just refuses to play in her room when she wakes up, and she gets up too early, we have taken to letting her into our bed in the mornings, for about an hour or so, just until it is bearable to get up.  Actually, the morning snuggle is quite nice.  She eventually gets tired of being in bed and you get a litany of “Get up….Right now?” with a big smile until you give in.

This weekend we were goofing around with her and she climbed into our bed.  She looks so small and so cute in such a big bed.  This is how she looks at my mom’s house where she sleeps in a full size bed.  I love it!

Her little bed head is so funny. She wakes up looking like she went through a tornado all the time.  This picture is not quite so bad.  Her hair is just in her face. She doesn’t have her usual wind tunnel ‘do.

Moving on to her own bed, Sam wanted us to take pictures of her with all of her animals.  She sleeps with a whole zoo of animals every night and you can’t ever take any of them out because she definitely notices.  I was the same way as a kid, I always had to have my friends.

We think soon we may look for an actual twin bed for her.  She is getting big and she is used to a big bed now.  Also, we’d be able to give her real blankets which would be nice.  She still sleeps in a sleep sack so she’s warm enough for now, but I always worry about her in the winter.  She refuses to give up her sleep sack though — she loves them.  How she manages to walk around in a sack I have no idea, but she is a pro.

On a side note, potty training wise, she is doing ok.  Maybe 4 days a week she will go on the potty once a day, but only for me.  Her diapers are pretty wet most of the time and I don’t know if she doesn’t have the physical control yet to stay dry or she is just being lazy.  I am not pushing it though.  She likes the potty and asks to use it once in a while and I am happy that she just has an interest.  We’ll see how I feel about still changing diapers as the summer comes to an end and she is on the verge of turning 3.  Hopefully by then, she will be ready to ditch the diapers on her own without me having to insist!