Watch out, here she comes!

Daddy's little helper

This is the latest in beds for Sammy being bundled up and put away for (ahem) some other baby when the time comes. Sammy has outgrown it. Now she is in what I have always called a playpen and is now called a play yard. It isn't as wide as those playpens of yesterday but it has the mesh walls all around and a comfy bottom. She sleeps very well in it and does not want to get out of it when she wakes up. She loves to sit in there and play with her stuffed animals. And best of all is we don't have to worry about her falling out of it since she can pull herself up to a standing position now.

That first step is a doozy

This is how Sammy goes down a six inch step...forwards. But she needs to learn how to go down more than one step at a time and backwards at that.

Sometimes, ya just gotta

Mommy sent this to us Wednesday night. This illustrates the lengths parents will go to make their children feel good. However, Grumpa said that he would have given her the whole bowl....making grandchildren feel better trumps parents making kids feel better.

2nd Cold

Little Sammy is suffering through her second cold this season. You can't really tell by this photo, but her nose is really red here. And she keeps smiling for the camera.

Found Treasure

Hey! There's apple juice in here....APPLE JUICE!!

Whirlwind Weekend

Sammy has just been sooo busy this past weekend! Mimi's birthday dinner out, shopping and house looking with Mommy and Auntie Kenna and finally, a surprise birthday party for Auntie Kenna!

Happy 25th birthday, Auntie...we all love you!

Pools

Can't you just fall into those eyes?

Mommy & Sammy are sick

We all hope that you're feeling better very soon...

Not fair

Wait. You get burritos and I get Cheerios?

Yea! It's Spring!

Now, let's grow some more teeth!

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker

Or in Sammy's case, safecracker.

Patty Cake

Sammy is learning that when I sing the Pattycake song, she will start to clap her hands. And not over her ears, thankyouverymuch.

Socks taste good!

Double Vision

Great, just great. Now I have both of them doing it.

Puddin' Head

Mommy decided to give Sammy a taste of her chocolate pudding cup. Sammy was so-so on it and Mommy said that Sammy likes yogurt better. I like the fact that Sammy got chocolate from Mommy and then Mommy left! (But Sammy did NOT get a sugar high like before, thank God!)

These shoes are made for walkin'

Mommy sent this photo to me yesterday. I guess the laces weren't too hard, hmm? Sammy is ready to GO!

Reflections

I may need an ice scrapper to clean this window off today.

New shoes

Earlier this past week, Mommy, Sammy, and I went to our local Stride Rite store to get Sammy some 'pre-walking' shoes. Sammy is starting to show her leg strength and pulling herself up to a standing position now. Most of the time, once she's standing you can see the thought bubble appear above her head, "Crap! Now what do I do?" She wobbles and finally ker-plomps back down. So her standing on two legs means she needs good support in shoes. I remember taking Sammy's Daddy down to get his first walking shoes, too. His were white leather high top shoes that I later had bronzed. Sammy's shoes are soft leather; pink and white. I picked out some really cute white shoes with some heart cross-stitching on them. Lace up shoes. Mommy picked out some double pink velcro shoes. Mommy has a big distain for lace ups and preferred the velcro. While she was telling me the reasons for getting velcro vs. lace ups she said, "They're (the lace-ups) are hard!" I had to laugh and explain to her that velcro wasn't even INVENTED back when she was a baby and lace-ups were all we had. We managed. Double knots and all, remember? (Lord, do I sound like MY mother, or what?) Anyway, Sammy ended up getting both pairs of shoes, one with velcro and one pair with lace ups. Which will probably be kept here at Mimi's house. The hard part now will be keeping the shoes out of Sammy's mouth and on her feet!

Sammy wears a size 3.5!


These are the little pink velcro shoes.....

And these are the white with the cross-stitching. And yes, peeking out is a little itty bitty nylon that Mommy put on Sammy. (So damn cute!)

The New Do

Well, I know that you've been waiting patiently for a picture of her hair after I took out the roller. Just remember, her hair is thin. And blonde. And not very long. This reminds me of a Kewpie doll.

Beauty Salon

Today Sammy discovered some of my velcro hair rollers. She loved the different texture they had. And these have never been used so I let her play with them. One thing led to another and voila!

Ode to Joy

Sometimes, it takes a baby to bring us back to the simple things. With Sammy it was my little yorkie scratching. Sammy watched her and then smiled and laughed. What makes you smile?

Chompers

I'd like some corn on the cob now, please.

'Sup, dog?

This is Auntie Kenna's new hat that when she arrived here at Camp Cluster quickly landed on Sammy's head. (Please disregard her gang signs).

People Food

Sammy is very interested in what others are eating. Mommy and Daddy let her try their food all the time. I think this is wonderful. It lets Sammy's taste buds experience new sensations and helps promote good eating habits. We don't want her to become a picky eater, now, do we? However, she does behave much like a puppy if you're eating on the floor like Mommy is here. Sammy crawled up to her, pulled herself up, and asked, "Table for Two?"

It's not all rainbows and glitter here, folks

This is what happens when Sammy discovers that she can't crawl into our one room where our BIG dogs are sleeping. She would love to be with our big dogs but one of them is an elderly Lab who's never been around babies. It's just not worth the temptation. But Sammy insists and then I insist and then she insists and well, you get the idea. I'm bigger and I win. This will not necessarily be the case when she starts walking and can open doors herself. Then I will have to use the Super Soaker.

Let Me OUT!

Between the dogs licking the outside of this window and Sammy licking the inside, I have my daily chores set out for me.

Too fast

This is what Sammy has started to do in the past week: partially stand up. She's still not quite sure about putting her entire body weight on those legs but pulling herself up to a standing position is not too far off. And then? She'll be asking for the keys to the car.

Nostalgia

When I look at this photo it takes me back to when Sammy's daddy was this age. We were so excited that he started crawling. Such a benchmark in a child's life. I also remember that I cried when he took those first tentative crawls before he whizzed by me all at once. All that I could understand that my little baby was moving. Without me all by himself and that this was the first step in his independance from his parents. It really got to me because I could see the day ahead when he would start walking, then running and doing all those lovely things that children do all by themselves. And now? He's a daddy and I'm looking at his firstborn crawl away. Once again, I tear up.

Bedtime Story

This is my version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. QB1, QB2, and Boog-a-loo Bear.

Bed Buddies

This big pink bear was a gift to Sammy from her Auntie Kenna and Uncle Dave at Christmas. Sammy loves her bed buddy!

In like a LION!

Sammy seems to be happy that it's March but the weather will turn nasty today and remain wet, windy, and snowy all week. Didn't expect a weather report today, did you?