tag and a tattle tale
Samantha discovered a new game this afternoon...tag. It's pretty freaking hilarious. We'll be playing then all of a sudden she'll take off for the kitchen and I start following her around the kitchen back to the living room. The whole while she's laughing hysterically, especially when I reach down to grab and tickle her stomach. She's a cutie.
And also a tattle tale. Since becoming mobile and obsessed with eating finger foods we've been working with Brody to not eat his food in piles. (background, while eating Brody will make little piles of his food in the kitchen and in the living room) More recently we've become really strict about it since we had ants. Mostly me picking up any food he leaves almost instantly and telling him no. Samantha must have caught on because while playing a game of tag she stopped crawling and started jabbering and pointing. She turned around to me still babbling and pointing near Brody's food dish. I peeked around her and started laughing. She was telling me that Brody had left a pile of food in the kitchen next to his dish. A true little sister, tattling on her big brother.
a day at home
Today started off with a bang. I'm working with Samantha on finger foods so I cut her banana a little bit larger today thinking it would help in getting it from her tray to her mouth. She did get some of them but a lot still ended up in the high chair or floor. She had a few pieces left so I popped one in her mouth and just figured she'd scarf it down so I went to put the second in her mouth. It didn't take more than a second to see that she was choking, especially once she pushed the last piece out and was still making the face. Without thinking I shoved my finger in her mouth and hooked the piece out. Immediatly afterwards I was thankful that I didn't make it worse by shoving it down further.
The rest of the day was tame compared to that. That is until Adam got home and I went to walk Brody. Samantha followed me behind the couch and sat at the bottom of the stairs watching me. I had my back turned for one second to get my coat out of the front closet. I turned around to get the mail key and Samantha had climbed up the stair. There she was, standing on the stair/leaning on the railing smiling at me. It was like she had been doing it for weeks. Just another reminder she's not so much 'baby girl' anymore but turning into 'girl'.
In between the excitment of this morning and this evening, I had some inspiration as I found this photo blog. I busted out the camera at the perfect time this afternoon; there was great light in the living room and Brody & Samantha were chilling together on the couch. Yet somehow none of my photos turned out like those in the blog. Go figure.
I call it like I see it
Samantha crawls. She moves her hands and her knees together to move in one direction. 95% of the time it's backwards. On a rare occasion she'll go forward. She's not zooming around me in circles yet. I don't think I have too much more time until then however. Over the past few days she'll get much further from her starting point in shorter spans of time. From the time I got up to walk to the fridge and back to the floor to play she had gone from the coffee table to Brody's toys (o joy of joys). This week I'm going to analyze the situation here so we can move some things, ground some things - namely the shelf in the corner, remove and/or bundle all electric cords, and come up with a decent looking way to block the way to the back of the TV. Oh, and the main thing, find a magical way to help Samantha not be afraid of the vacuum. With her scooting off her blanket it's really important to begone of all the Brody hairs. I guess I or Adam can just do it every night before/after dinner so one of us is around to hold her. We'll see.
We made a family trip to the library this weekend. I'm not overly impressed with the kids section. I keep comparing it to the Riverside Library and while if I remember correctly it's not like it was perfect it was nicer than this. But she's still to young to care anyways and they're voting this week to expand the library anyhoo. Adam got a number of books and I checked out two total chick books. This was late morning Saturday. Sunday evening at 12:15 am I finished the first book. Apparently I have more me time than I thought.
The weather is crazy...why is it snowing in April!?!? But we made it out before it all started and went to lunch today with BT and Brie to finally have that celebratory. We put Samantha in the high chair at Texas Roadhouse. She did good for about 20 minutes then wanted to be held. I'll take it, you have to start somewhere!!
play time
Samantha is turning into one of those silly babies. You're all excited to break out some of her favorite toys and then all she's interested in is the box. One of my favorites to play with is the stacking toy Beth gave her for Christmas. Meet Kyle (it's a Kushie and I name most of her toys)
Up until about three weeks ago Samantha loved to play with all the parts, suck on Kyle's eyes, and have me squeeze the rings to make the different animal noises go off. However NOW Samantha is obsessed with the plastic cylinder that Kyle lives in. She gets mad at me if I move the lid or take the case away.
Today before one of her naps we were quieting down in her rocking chair and I dropped the picture book we were looking at. I bent over to get it and saw a pink bear that had fallen off the wall ledge. I propped the bear up on the arm of the chair to get book. I heard Samantha start laughing so I looked back at her and she was staring at the bear. I picked it up and wiggled it around and she laughed even harder. Actual laughs. Not just giggles. Later this afternoon we were playing on the floor. I was flying her and having her sit on my stomach. Brody was by the couch but started walking towards us. Samantha started laughing again. It was loud and long lived. I could have cried. She was just so happy at the smallest thing. It's simply amazing to watch how much she grows every single day. I am so lucky to be here with her.
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend
I stopped wearing my wedding and engagement ring on May 9th last year. They still fit at that point but I was hearing the horror stories of people having to get them cut off because they're fingers swelled. Wanting to avoid that at all possible costs I stopped wearing them early. I felt weird the entire time...I definitely think that people thought I was a pregnant teen or something. After Samantha was born it took a little bit but I could slide them on again without much of an issue. It's just that I had gotten out of the habit of putting them on every day that I rarely wore them. Lately I've been wearing them (at least my wedding ring) daily and Samantha is so cute every time she catches a glimpse. We'll be playing and then all of a sudden she's transfixed on my bling. She pulls my hand towards her, moves them around, and tries to put them in her mouth; she loves them. Fancy girl.
It was an amazingly gorgeous day. The only downside was the wind. While we were running errands Samantha was taken aback by all the wind so I was weary of a walk. But at 5:30 I was aching to go out - as was Brody - so I busted out the Maclaren and off we went. She seemed fine and watched Brody prance along ahead of us. Whenever I bent down to see how she was doing she'd give me one of her grins and I knew she was ok.
Peas!
We gave Samantha peas tonight, she did great! She didn't eat much but it was late. Grandma Sue was here to watch and Butch got some on video!! And she didn't get too messy either, yay! We made them yesterday, Samantha and I. I tried them and actually thought they were delicious. I'm not big on peas so I was surprised when I was making them and couldn't help myself from having some. If all goes well the next three days it's on to sweet potatoes.
It was gorgeous out today and we got out for a nice walk. I put Samantha in the bjorn face forward for the first time. She seemed to like it except when the wind picked up in a few places. She was talking to Brody and I as we walked. Ha, sometimes when I would 'encourage' Brody to pick up his pace Samantha would start talking right after me, almost like 'encouraging' him as well. I wonder if she'll be bossy like me.
Over the past few days Samantha is getting closer and closer to crawling. If I turn my head for a second she'll bee line right for the edge of her blanket and start playing with the carpet. I am not ready for her to be on the carpet daily. I hate it. Maybe while we're robbing the bank for the convertible car seat will make sure to take enough to get hardwood floors.
me and my best friend
Or should I say Samantha and her best friend. Over the last few days Samantha has an unreal obsession for Brody. He has no idea what's in store for him. From petting him -which consist mostly of grabbing his ears and nearly poking out his eyes - , zoning out watching him on the couch or floor, watching him play fetch, she just can't get enough. Even when she's tired she'll just sit completely still, if he goes out of her sight line, she'll lean over so she can continue watching. It's cute, and I love that it entertains her. I've been able to play with Brody a little more each day since she likes to watch him so much. She's pretty adventurous too, she'll stick her whole hand in his mouth if I let her. Don't worry moms and aunts, I don't and I'm always on watch to make sure he's still being relaxed. As soon as he gets too eager, Brody time is over.
Samantha turned 5 months old yesterday! I had multiple photo shoots with her to mark the occasion. The new thing we're working on is sitting. She sometimes sits up from the tripod to sit unassisted. It only lasts a few moments, and she loves doing it!
Sleep Baby Sleep
One of Adam's coworkers loaned us Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It's the book our pedi recommends for sleep training. I didn't want to buy it, but get it from the library. I just haven't gotten there yet, and Adam was talking with some people about Samantha's waking problems, and that's how we got the book! I'm going to try to brush up on it all by Friday so that we can try it Friday night. It's not getting any better and I just want to try it to see if it helps. It involves some crying, on Samantha's part and no doubt mine as well, so we'll see if it's something worth sticking with.
I think we have a pretty solid routine now, she just won't stay asleep. About 30-45 minutes after her last nap, Samantha and I go to her room for one more diaper change. Then we sit in her rocker and I read her a book, sometimes two depending on the length and her mood. After the book, prayers. Then I wrap her up, turn down all the lights, and start pacing, usually about 10 minutes. Most times she'll go down ok, but wake shortly after. One of us runs in and puts her paci in, and sometimes that works, sometimes not. But the beginning of it all...diaper change, book, prayers, I'm keeping no matter what.
Ha, Brody is part of this too. Most nights Adam will take Brody out one last time while I'm getting Sam ready. Normally I'm pacing when they come back in. Brody sprints up the stairs to our bedroom, if I'm not there, he'll fly down the hallway and butt his nose into the door and stop dead in his tracks when he sees me. He just wants to know where we are. It's cute.
Target Smarget
I procrastinate too much, especially when it comes to running errands with Samantha. My only goal today (besides making one of the yummiest dinners) was go to Target to get face/body soap for A, more diapers for S, and look for a few baby things needed i.e. ice cube trays, something to hold toys in. For some reason finding ice cube trays is so hard! I need them to freeze the baby food I'm making Samantha, I don't want to keep throwing away the excess if we don't get to it fast enough. After the morning nap, I took a quick peek online, target sells them online, but not in store. Arg. I checked out Walmart, the only thing that came up from ice cube tray was Friday after Next. Then I thought I'd go to Jewel, they'd have to have it. I decided to wait until Samantha went to the bathroom one more time,I didn't want to get caught using the changing table at Jewel. Waiting, waiting, waiting, nothing. Waited too long, now it's nap time again!! Which was totally messed up because of a phone call and she wouldn't go back down. We play a bit, I feed her and wonder if we can make it there before a meltdown. For one reason or another, we didn't go. And now here we are, napping again. I should just go after she wakes, but now I feel bad for Brody. He won't get to go out before or after.