Rockin' the 80's

Rat tail

+

Mohawk =

Coolest hairdo ever!

(that I'm itching to trim...)

Would you stop touching my hair, already?

Easter

I'm really no good at posting about holidays. Which is crazy, considering my family celebrates them all at least twice each.

Anyway, here's a quick Easter recap (Samantha's first!)

Sam was thrilled to get dressed up.
Daddy didn't know to put a onesie on underneath so she ended up naked half way through church due to the itchiness.

Jer napped, I ate some chocolate.

Lucy buzzed around on a bike my mom probably played on.

Sam played with some equally old toys
(the label on the box said "Playskool"- Days before spell check, I guess.)

She also put said old and filthy toys in her mouth.

And baby Kahlan watched.

Then we ate a delicious supper.
I couldn't resist and went wild on the dairy dishes.
(which was still a no-go)

Sam had her first trip to the park.

She l.o.v.e.d. the slide!


Trip # 47

Kahlan wasn't so much a fan.

Joel discovered he's outgrown the...things...(no clue what they're called)


Kahlan gave the things a shot.


Tried the horse swings,

the things,


and just went back to the slide.


The End.

Nom Nom

Sam likes to put everything that she can fit in her pincer grasp into her mouth.
This includes, but is not limited to:

carpet she yanks out
onion peels
hair
paper
crumbs

But recently I found her spitting something out.

I walked over and found a dead ladybug.

But that's not the gross part.

The next day I see a dead lady bug near her and contemplate picking it up, but think, "Nah, she won't see it. And if she does, she'll just spit it out again."

I come back later and notice two things.

1) The lady bug is gone
2) Sam is happily munching away on something

That's still not the gross part.

I manage to fish the dead insect pieces out of her mouth
(much to her dismay- apparently this one was tasty).

I thought that was the gross part, but it still wasn't.

Later I nursed her and when she pulled off,
there was a lady bug residue on my n i p p l e.

A wing, to be exact.

THAT was the gross part.

11 months

*phew!*
I almost missed it!

Short and sweet this time!

This month FLEW by.

Samantha is just under 15.5 lbs
She eats pretty much whatever we're eating, but has increased her nursing big-time
She prefers eating off our silverware
She can pretty much get anywhere now using a combination of rolling and a side army-crawl (trying to catch it on video)
She's wearing 6-9mo and 12 mo clothing, depending on the brand
She is very into pulling things apart and emptying out containers/bags/purses/buckets
She's added a few more signs, two of which are in this month's video!
She sits quietly at mass, reading her books, eating cheerios and playing with a wet-wipe
And she "talks" on the phone--priceless!

Presenting- Samantha sitting up unassisted:

Rare Footage II

We had an appointment. So, naturally she slept extra long. I did my best to get her to wake up. I turned off the noise-maker. I turned on the hall light. Stroked her head. Even took a picture with flash:

Nothin'.

Maybe I should try sneezing in the other room next time. That usually wakes her up.

*eye roll*

At least I got a sleeping baby picture! I haven't gotten one of those in months!

Peace Treaty Via Black and Decker

Apparently the battle with rice is a generational battle.

Or there's a anti-rice cooking gene.

Jeremy said I've just psyched myself out. That cooking rice is just like baking.
I'm a good baker, therefore it shouldn't be a problem.

So I did what any good wife does when her husband says such things.

I complained to my mother.

All these years I thought she bought minute-rice because she didn't realize the taste difference of real rice.

Turns out she has the same issue I do- and she's a fantastic baker!

So when my sweet friend surprised me with this

both my mom and I were overjoyed (we're moving in with the folks, remember).

I made sure to document the momentous occasion:

Before

During
(I so desperately wanted to intervene- notice the "foaming" on the sides)

Ta da!
No burnt popcorn smells this time!
This turned into our dinner, then lunch, then dinner, then lunch.

Thanks Melissa!!

Baby PT Continued...

Continuing from the last therapy session, this week was SO much better!

First, a tangent.

Since Sam has been born, it never ceases to amaze me how she develops. It's never gradual, like a hill. Everything is a stair step. One day she doesn't sign, the next she's learned 5. One day she won't sit, the next she'll play for hours sitting. This week wasn't any different.

On Saturday, I was a little disappointed, as Sam hadn't made as much progress from all the work we'd been doing since Tuesday's session. Then Sunday came and she blew me away. She sat up in the bathtub, leaning to play with the water. She stood at a glass door by herself, shifting her weight from hand to hand to play with my sisters on the other side of the door. She sat happily in the pew at church, playing by herself and never once tried to lay down.

I was beaming with pride!

And at the therapy session she amazed us again. The therapist said several times how quickly she was catching on and how much she had learned in just 2 weeks.

Sam loved all the musical instruments Diana pulled out and happily played on them.

She still likes to "fall over" but Diana always makes her work to get back up to sitting


The triangle was great motivation (notice the hand on the ground for support!)


Tug-of-war with Daddy (great for ab work)


Trying to get her to reach for the triangle, she decided the mirror was better because it was within reach.

She's gotten so good at sitting that we're suppose to play with her balance, gently pushing her to make her catch herself.

She practiced pulling up.

Coming to her knees first

then putting one foot down

Then to standing!

Having to do it over and over, however, got a little old.


Our homework this week is to play while kneeling as much as possible, and help her come to sitting from laying down. She started putting weight on her elbows while laying on her side this past week (how she "scoots")- so she's already part of the way there!