Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | July 5, 2012

This 4th of July, like last year, we took Sam to the annual parade in our hometown of Springfield.  Sam loves parades.  I am not sure why kids all seem to like them, but they do, and our little girl is no exception.  It was so hot but we got lucky enough to find a spot in the shade.  She was all decked out in her holiday finest.  A bunch of people, including a policeman who was in the parade, stopped to comment on how patriotic she looked.

I love the look on her face here, it is like she is saying, I know I’m cute, Mommy!

The music is always her favorite part, that and the fire engines.  She also liked watching the bicycle/wagon/stroller part of the parade. There is a contest for the best decorated, and we thought about decorating something for her so we could actually march in the parade, but at the last minute decided we’d just watch.

A lot of the marchers and the floats and cars throw candy and gum out to the spectators.  Sam was so excited to get this butterfly shaped lollipop.  She wouldn’t let go of it the whole day.  Mark and I think she came home with more candy on the 4th of July than she got on Halloween, and that’s saying something because she really raked it in on Halloween.

All in all we had a good time at the parade.  I wish she could see fireworks, but the noise would scare her to death, if we could even get her to stay up that late.  The fireworks on her shirt are enough this year!

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment �
Tags:

pamelamyers | July 4, 2012

Ok, so last night didn’t go so well.  It started out so well. Sam was so excited about her bed.  We lit her new nightlight and started her routine and she was so good.  She didn’t even want to sit in the chair and read as usual.  She wanted to get right into her “new big girl bed” and have me read to her there.  I laid in her bed with her, read two books, and told her we were going to close our eyes and go to sleep.  I think within five minutes, she was fast asleep.  Then she woke up once at around 11:00 p.m.  Neither Mark nor I could figure out what was wrong, but our guess is that she was just a little disoriented and scared.  It wasn’t too bad though because I got her to lie down and go right back to sleep.

Our second wake up call came a bit later, I am not even sure what time it was.  I went into her room and found her standing next to her bed.  I was afraid she had fallen out, but couldn’t be sure.  It was hard to get her to talk to me through all the crying, but I was pretty sure she did because she doesn’t usually get up with bad dreams and such.  But again, I got her to go back to sleep right away.  Then came wake up call number three.  At 3:00 a.m.  When I went in her room and found the poor bunny on the floor!  So, she did fall out.  Mark was afraid that might happen and questioned me about whether she needs a bed rail, but I didn’t think she did.  She doesn’t use them anymore at my mom’s house, so I figured she’d be ok.  I guess sleeping in my mom’s full size bed gives her more room to scoot around without falling out.  I calmed her down fast with big hugs and asked her if she wanted to go back to bed. I promised her I’d go to bed with her and stay the whole night so she didn’t fall again but she said, “I think I need to sleep in Mommy’s big bed.”  I took her to bed with us so she, and we, could get some sleep.

She woke up pretty late today, which was good after the night we had, at around 7:45.  I asked her if she liked her new bed, except for the falling down part, and she said yes.  I was worried she would be scared off but she wasn’t. I promised her I”d get a bed rail so she wouldn’t fall again.  Later today I was looking on the computer at bed rails and showed her a picture of one. I think the photo made the bed look like a crib because when I told her we’d get one of those she said, “No, Mommy, I need my big girl bed!” and I had to explain we were not taking her bed away just getting a rail so she stays in.  So I am sure she likes her bed, despite her tumbles.

Tonight’s bedtime went very smoothly too.  She was really tired from our Independence Day festivities (the subject of an upcoming post!) and told Mark and I that “I need to go to bed, I so tired!” at 6:45!  Hey, who are we to argue?  I let the little munchkin go to bed!

I dropped the bed rail down so I could lie down with her and she kept telling me I had to put it up, so she definitely knows what it is for.  She seemed very relaxed when she feel asleep. I think she knows she is safe now.  I surrounded her on both sides with stuffed animals and pillows to make her feel snug.  I just hope she sleeps soundly.  We all could use a good night’s sleep, and I want her to get back to sleeping through the night.

Sleep tight, Sammy!  Sweet dreams!

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments �
Tags:

pamelamyers | July 3, 2012

Sam’ finally has her big girl bed!  A true big girl bed, a twin, not a toddler bed.  Mark and I decided it was time to move her out of her current bed and into something with some more room.  As I posted about before, she has been having a lot of trouble sleeping and we are hoping this fixes the problem.  The last time she had sleep issues she was in her crib and switching her to a toddler bed worked like a charm.

We told Sam a few weeks ago that we were going to go shopping for a new bed for her and she was really excited.  She had never been to a furniture store before and visiting “the bed store” as Sam called them all, was so much fun!  We let her jump on the beds and help us pick one that she liked.  When we finally found a bed for her, we had some additional shopping to do.  The whole time we were out, Sam kept asking where her big bed was.  She was so confused that we didn’t bring it home. I can understand that because everything else we buy, we put in the car.  It was pretty cute.  We explained that a man with a big truck would come and bring it and she was happy with the explanation.  Impatient, but understanding.

The next step was Sam’s and my frantic shopping trip to buy bedding!  A quilt, pillows, sheets, a mattress pad cover, everything!  I brought her to Target and she picked everything out herself.  I got a mandate that she was going to have orange sheets (which I found), and then we looked at a few kid-design quilts until she found one she liked.  We wound up coming home with a few matching throw pillows shaped like an owl and a lion and a nightlight shaped like a toadstool.  Yeah, it’s a little strange, but in her book, “I am a Bunny,” Nicholas the bunny hides under a toadstool when it rains and she thinks it is adorable.

Today her bed arrived and Mark and I spent hours rearranging the furniture in her room and getting everything ready.  It turned out pretty cute.  Sam actually has more room to play now than she did before.  I will take some pictures of her room soon so everyone can see.  But in the meantime, you can see these.

This is Sam’s first look at her new bed in her room.  I love how excited she is. (Also, please note her new purple tutu, which she is beyond thrilled about owning).

Does it surprise you that the first thing she had to do was bounce? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

It’s a pretty classic looking bed which is what we wanted. We looked at a few that were very pretty, and white, but eventually we thought this would serve her for a longer time.

We asked Sam to try out her new bed by getting in the covers.  She couldn’t wait!

I’ll let you know how her first night goes…wish us all luck!

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment �
Tags:

pamelamyers | July 1, 2012

Today we spent the day at the pool.  Sam had so much fun!  We were there for about four hours, which was a really long time, and we probably spent 3/4 of that time in the water.  It was so hot out that the water was pretty warm, even the main pool.  Sam likes the baby pool the best, for obvious reasons.  It is shallow enough that she is comfortable and it is as warm as bathwater.  But, you can imagine, it is not exactly a ton of fun for Mommy and Daddy.  Actually, it is a lot of fun, because playing with Sam is great, but it is not refreshing sitting in water that is barely up to your waist.

Anyway, we did spend a lot of time in the baby pool where Sam finally used her inflatable turtle swim ring.  We have been trying to get her to experiment with it and she was really into it this time.  She actually put it on, hung on to the turtle’s neck and floated!  She lifted her feet up, sometimes behind her, sometimes in front of her, but she floated!  We were so proud of her.

Eventually, we got into the big pool.  I have to hold Sam the whole time, but it is a lot of fun, swirling her around, getting her wet, letting her kick her feet and splash everyone.

I can’t wait to get back there again to let Sam play some more in the water.  She loves going to the pool, eating french fries…She’ll be swimming like a fish before we know it!

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments �
Tags: