Matching tats

| September 30, 2012

My Aunt Barbara sent Sam a bunch of things recently, including a Rainbow Brite coloring book.  Sam has no idea who Rainbow Brite is (Mark and I were shocked that it is even still on television) but she liked the book anyway.  Her favorite part though, by far, were the tattoos in the front.  She didn’t know what they were, she thought they were stickers, so I explained to her what they were and promised her she could try them out soon.  She didn’t quite get it, and to make sure she was ok with what we had to do to get the tattoo on, this weekend we decided to give one to Daddy first.  She chose the quite large unicorn with the rainbow for him, but Mark talked her into letting him do a smaller one first.  So, Mark got a rockin’ green Rainbow Brite sprite tattoo and then Sam got one of Rainbow Brite.  She was so patient while we put it on and was so proud of it! Here are Mark and Sam and their rather cool matching tattoos!

Putt Putt

| September 28, 2012

We have been wanting to take Sam somewhere to play games and go on rides ever since we got home from the shore.  She really loved the games on the boardwalk and in Sea Isle and riding the Ferris wheel, but there just aren’t that many places around here to do those types of things.  Recently, we took her to a carnival and she rode a Ferris wheel with us, which was great, took a few spins on a carousel, and even rode on these little airplanes with Mark, which is something I never thought she was ready for.  The airplanes went around and around and up and down and not only was she not upset, she was smiling from ear to ear.

Down the shore, her favorite game was the little basketball game I posted pictures of.  That, and helping mommy play skeeball.  We had nothing else to do, so we ventured out to Putt Putt, which is a place that has been around forever (I used to go there when I was a kid).  There is miniature golf (hence the name) and an arcade.  We really just wanted to go to the arcade and it was a hit!  Not only did they have skeeball but they had her little basketball game too!  We played those things a million times, and Sam and Mark played the driving games (well, Mark did, Sam just steered hers).  I took a few pictures with my iPhone, so they are not exactly up to our normal photo quality, but it’s better than nothing, right?

I played this one space game and had no idea what I was doing, but over 100 tickets spewed out!  Bonanza!  Every game gives you tickets for which you can turn them in for a bunch of trinkets, just like at the shore.  Mark and I also played that rip off crane game (you can see it next to the racing games here) and Mark actually got her 2 toys!  It was turning out to be quite a night for Sam.  She was beyond excited with her toys and running around with her cup full of tickets.  We tried to teach her how to play whack-a-mole, but she didn’t quite get it.

One of the cutest things was Mark and Sam playing air hockey. I didn’t get any photos, only a movie, and since it too was taken with my iPhone, and I had to shrink the size for the blog, you have to excuse the quality.  But here it is!  Enjoy!

AirHockey

Hide and Seek

| September 28, 2012

The other day Mark and Sam did the cutest thing — they played Hide and Seek.  I had tried to play with her a few months ago (at least) but she didn’t really get it.  I kept telling her to hide and she just kept following me around.  But Mark asked her to play and told her to go hide, and off she ran into our family room to hide.  She hid behind one of the chairs and was quiet as a mouse while Mark and I “looked” for her.  Eventually, her giggling gave her away.  The next time we asked her to hide she picked the same spot, which I think is a pretty typical behavior for a kid her age.  She wised up the next time though and hid between our doors.

It is so amazing to me seeing how she changes now so quickly.  It really was only a few months ago that she didn’t understand that game at all.  Her understanding of so many things has grown by leaps and bounds.  When she was a baby, it seemed she changed so fast, and learned things overnight.  There was so much to say because she was different all the time.  Then there was a time, a long time, when things were pretty status quo, and it was hard to find interesting things to blog about.  Every day was just the same, and we just went about our days in the same fashion.  But now it seems she changes so fast again.  She is becoming such  a big girl.  She is easier to talk to, and reason with now, too, much easier than it used to be.  She can explain herself more easily and tell you what she is thinking.

Looks like the blog posts will have to come much faster now — I just have to find the time!

This is what 3 looks like

| September 25, 2012

Actually, that is not true.  Three looks like the out of focus, not composed properly, funny faces in the other 125 or so pictures that Mark took during our photo shoot.  You know, the ones where Sam is running around like a maniac (out of focus), sitting in front of hoses or other unattractive things (not composed properly), or making goofy faces and smiles.  Sam is a whirlwind, that is for sure.  She never stops moving.  Mark laments that it is so hard for him to take the photos he wants to get of her now because we can’t make her stay in one place for more than a second. By the time you notice she is standing how you want her to stand, she is moving again.  Mark is amazing though and always manages to get a good picture of our little girl.  Here she is in all her 3 year old glory.  Oh how we love you, little one.  Happy, happy birthday!

Sam’s 3rd Birthday

| September 24, 2012

Oh, my little girl!  How are you 3 already?  It really amazes me how time is passing by so quickly.  I am trying to really take in every moment because I know you are growing up so fast, but even still, time escapes me.  One minute I look at you and you seem like such a little sprite and the next you amaze me at how grown up you seem.  You are really not a baby anymore.  You are a little girl with a personality that is as big as the universe.  You have your own likes and dislikes, your own phrases and ways of saying things, your own sense of humor, and your own way of going through the world.  I am in such awe of you — that your Daddy and I made such a beautiful being.  Happy Birthday, Samantha Anne.  We love you so much.  I know that one day, you will say you are sick of hearing it, but it will never stop being true.  You are our whole world.

For Sam’s party this year, we had a Peppa Pig theme.  It was pretty hard to pull off since, until August of this year, there was NO Peppa merchandise of any kind available in the U.S.  I had to order some things from the U.K.  Weirdly, I didn’t even find that much stuff, but it could be that the rest of the world is not so obsessed with things like children’s parties as we are here in the U.S.  Anyway, we pulled together enough stuff to make it seem very Peppa-like.  I ordered this playset to act as a cake topper.

Sam was really excited to see her cake!  The Playground episode of Peppa is one of her favorites.

She was a bit impatient about the picture taking – she wanted to blow out her candles!

Big breath out!  Blow!

She manged to get all the candles out by herself except maybe one. It took a lot of huffing and puffing, but she did it.

All the ladies ready to eat cake!  Since I didn’t have a lot of Peppa stuff, I rounded it out with an orange theme, which is of course, Sam’s favorite color. (As she reminds us every single day).

The best part of the cake in Sam’s opinion…the frosting!

I don’t know where she saw these, on TV somewhere, but these party favors were a must have.  She loves them and I knew that if I got her some to play with at her party she would be thrilled.  As everyone came in the door she was handing them out.

Sam loves to feed everyone.  It’s a good thing Mark was in the mood for cake!

She also is a huge M&M fan, so I ordered her some custom ones.  Orange, of course, personalized for our little Sammy!

Sam and Maddox had a good time playing together during the day. Maddox brought his bike and Sam rode her tricycle and up and down the street they went. Later, Mark popped them both in the bike trailer and took them for a quick ride.

Present time!  Sam got a whole bunch of Peppa figurines and playsets (which are available now at Toys R Us!).

Maddox loved helping her open her presents.  He had a hard time understanding why none of the gifts were for him though, which is understandable.

She got some money from Poppy and Grandmom, in addition to her presents.  My little girl has an appropriate reaction to receiving cold hard cash!  Mom Mom and Pop Pop also gave her some money, which is so great for her because we are slowly building up the college fund for our little genius!

Sam’s special present from me and Mark was a locket.  Mark bought me a locket for my wedding gift and Sam just loves it.  She is always trying to pick out my jewelry every day and she inevitably picks the locket.  Mark wanted her to have one of her own, with pictures of her Mommy and Daddy inside.

She was really fascinated with it, and so excited to see the pictures inside.

We let her wear it for her birthday party, but explained that it is mostly for special occasions.

Look at our big girl!  She is so grown up.

Aunt Barbara sent her a Doc McStuffins doctor bag.  This is another show that Sam has become pretty obsessed with.  Overall though, it is a cute show that always delivers good messages, so I can’t complain.

Every animal she has had to get a check-up!

Sam got a new winter coat from Mom Mom and Pop Pop — here she is modeling it the next day.  So cute!

Since her party was on Saturday, the day before her birthday, and it was a very long day, Sam never finished opening her presents. We let her finish opening them on her actual birthday, Sunday.  She was pretty excited about the orange tutu (which she saw in Target).  I love how exhausted Mark looks — we were so beat. This was at about 7:00 p.m. on Sunday night and we had had about all the celebrating we could handle.  Sam was excited though to get her Littlest Pet Shop toys to open.  She plays with a set at Zephyr’s vet’s office so we knew they would be a hit.

One last pic of my little girl.  We got her a Peppa nap sack, and this picture was taken this morning while Sam was watching television.  She looks wiped out from her weekend.  She should!  It was so much fun.  She loved her party, and all of her presents.  Now she’s ready for the next birthday party!