Samantha Update

Sam is a learning machine.  I think she does something new every day.

Most recently she has begun to talk "jargon talk".  She has serious conversations with you and expects answers. When you respond, she'll do "I don't know" (something that is somewhat new) or just say "yea".  Its pretty hilarious.

I have also been teaching Sam to wink.  Its my new favorite :)  I will wink at her and she will concentrate really hard, open her mouth (mimicking me) and shut both eyes.  Eh, its a start!

She is learning sign language like a champ.  She learns something new everyday.  It is so easy for her to pick up; it amazes me!

She is going down the stairs both forwards and backwards.  In fact, I caught her going down the stairs forwards by herself and oh boy, did she get into trouble!!!  She knows that it is only a skill she does holding on to Mom and Dad's hands.  There is a spot on our stairs where it curves and there is no railing.

She has started to try to put her own shoes on.  Its pretty cute to watch, even when she gets frustrated.

She likes to help me "cook".  I put a bowl and spoon down on her level with goodies in it and she stirs it and usually eats whats in the bowl.  We call it "testing" to make sure that it tastes JUUUUUUST right!

She LOVES to brush her teeth.  And she is so good about giving the toothbrush back when she is done.  (It was a struggle at first.)

She still loves to swim.  She practices her swimming the the tub too.

That's all I can think of right now.  :)  I can't believe how big our baby is getting.  She is becoming a toddler more and more every day.

Greg said it perfectly the other day.  We were talking about how big she is getting and he said "I can't believe it.  Our daughter is becoming a little person!!"  For reals.  A little person.  Gosh that was fast!

Worries

Things I used to worry/think about:

• How does my hair look?
• Did I remember to put on make up?
• Does this outfit make me look fat/flabby/short(ha!)/lean?
• Will I make it to bed by 10 tonight?
• If I eat this, does that mean an extra 20 minutes on cardio?
• What should I do with my night free?
• What should we do this weekend?
• Should I go out to dinner and then drinks or just drinks?

Things I worry/think about now:

• Does my hair look greasy since I have not showered in a couple of days?
• Did I wash my face? Brush my teeth? Put on deodorant?
• Should I wear scrubs or actual clothes today/
• Did I stay up til 10 last night?
• If I eat this, will I still be hungry afterwards?
• I'm going to sleep with my free night.
• Do we get to relax this weekend?
• Do we have $$ for a dinner out?  

Oh the changes that happen with a husband and a child!  :)

(granted some of these have improved over time, but only a little! ;0)  )

Weekend Wrap Up

There are some weekends that don't feel like weekends at all, but rather just a part of the work week.  This usually occurs when I have Sam to myself for the weekend; when Greg is busy with other things that keep him away.

This weekend was one of those weekends.

I had Friday off because the boys' grandparents were in town and wanted to spend some quality time with them.  Sam and I went to Creve Coeur Park with some SLM mommies and had a splendid time.  My daughter is NOT afraid of water squirting out of the ground or jungle gyms or jungle gyms when wet.  She has no fear.  And while I totally appreciate this, sometimes I wish she just didn't want to climb while wet!  We came home, napped until 5 and then hung out.  Daddy had a fun event at work and then a very important happy hour (for reals.).

Saturday Daddy had to move Aunt Angie back to STL from Columbia so he was gone that day.  Sam took her nice 2 hour nap and I cleaned all the floors.  They were DIS.GUST.ING!  I can't believe I let the wood floors get like that.  I guess its because since you couldn't see the dirt, I didn't care as much.  But the feeling on my bare feet when they were clean is indescribable.  :)
We then headed to a "messy" playdate where the kiddos had the opportunity to paint with colored ice cubes, play in oatmeal, finger paint with pudding and marshmallows and cut out jell-o shapes.  My daughter felt the need to EAT all of these things.

(All pictures courtesy of Andrea Rudolph)

That being said, while on the way home Sam was a tad more fussy than usual.  I thought it was because the sun was in her eyes, but no...it was because she was about to get sick.
She whined for a while and then got rather quiet.  I assumed she passed out.  Not more than 30 seconds later I heard the sounds of up chuck.  Awesome.  We christened our new car seat!
I had to get off the highway and clean as much up as possible because the car was beginning to smell rancid.  I pulled over the first place I could find to stop...and where was this you ask?  Ahhh, Plaza Frontenac.

Yes.  I pulled into Plaza Frontenac to clean the puke off my daughter while a nice little family walked up: Mom dressed in a white dress and pearls and heels, Dad in a polo and khakis and loafers and Son in the same outfit as Dad but with a sweater tied around his neck (WTF?!?!? Who the hell does this anymore?!  Oh yea, people who live in Ladue...whatev).

Anywho, thanks to Sara I had paper towels to clean up the puke, and they held up pretty well!!!

We got home just to clean ourselves up again to turn back around and head out to West Co.  where Sam was dropped off and Grandma and Grandpa's and Greg and I headed to a going away party :(  Sad night for us.  But we are excited for Paul and his adventures in Chicago!

Sunday we were honored to be the God Parents of Eric and celebrated with family and friends of Eric's afterwards.  We then dropped Sam off at Grandma and Grandpa's* AGAIN so that we could see Inception (GREAT movie, btw).  AMC was having $1 soda and popcorn any size yesterday, so we just had to use it!

I bought a medium of each and barely made a dent in either.  I can't believe people eat all of that stuff in one sitting.  Ew.

We picked Sam up, came home, put her to bed and sat on the couch wondering where our weekend went...

I can't believe its Monday, but I will spend the day enjoying the peace (well as much peace that comes with 3 kiddos...).

Hope you had a fantastic weekend!!!

*Thanks to my Mom and Dad who make it easy for us to "have a life".  We couldn't do what we do without you!!!!

"Circle Time" Enforced

Samantha and Ben are definitely at the age where I can keep their attention span for 5 minutes.

That being said, I have started "Circle Time" at my house.  More like a triangle, but you get the idea!

We sit down, sing a good morning song, along with other songs, and learn sign language and have just started counting.  We also go over body parts as well as read books.

I have done circle time with 2 year olds and up, but never with the 1-2 age group.  So, I am asking for a little help.  If you have any other ideas that can be taught to this age group in the span of 5 minutes, I would greatly appreciate it.

Also, I really want to start art time, so if you have any ideas that would be fun, I am all ears!  We have done coloring with Crayons, but that gets rather boring.  I have vanilla pudding that I will add food coloring so that we can finger paint with that, but I am out of safe, edible ideas after that.  (Sam and Ben both still put EVERYTHING into their mouths.)

Thanks in advance!  :)

Picture Post.

Here are many pictures that have yet to be posted!  :)

                                                               Petting the goats at Grant's Farm

Feeding the goats

Riding the Carousel

Crazy Chicken

Paying no attention to the pony behind them (with Ben)

Playing with the balloon ball while Daddy enjoys a free beer!

Petting the baby Clydesdale

First time eating applesauce by herself.

First time in the sprinkler (with Ben)

Hanging with Daisey the Duck

Walk in Tower Grove Park

Feeding some duckies (but not Daisey)

Best buddies.

4th of July

We had such a fantastic weekend with family and friends!

We swam.  We ate.

We swam some more.  We ate a lot  some more.

And finally we just ate.  :)

We truly enjoyed this weekend.  We were able to be lazy in the mornings and spend it as a family.  Greg truly treasures these times because on any other day, we are running around like crazy.  Its nice for us to enjoy Samantha and each other on these quiet mornings.

By afternoon, after nap time, we were back to our normal run around crazy selves.

Sam got to enjoy some swim time with Grandma and Grandpa Levine on Saturday.
They have this fantastic baby pool at their neighborhood pool and Sam seems to really enjoy it.  Once she gets her "sea legs" down, she loves to wade around that pool.  (Keep in mind that this is after many falls with face under water, Mom grabbing her arm to pull her up and her looking at me like I'm crazy.)
We attempted the big pool, but I think she liked the freedom of not being held in the baby pool.  Such an independent princess!

We also got to hang out with baby Haylie some more on Saturday.  She's such a laid back and easy going baby.  Sorta like her Momma.  Sam was not/is not that way.  Kinda like her Momma!  :)

We have grown to love hanging out with "the other" Bergers.  I truly enjoy their company and can't wait for our daughters to grow up together.

Sunday we spent the early afternoon at a work party for Greg which was good for him to make an appearance and then  we spent the evening with Greg's side of the family.

We ended up going to see fireworks after all my hub bub about Sam not liking them and being afraid.  I mean,  when the poor girl buries her face in my chest and covers the rest with Geoffrey, its a pretty good indication that she doesn't like them.

But, Daddy really wanted to see them since we missed them last year, so I digress!

We went to Eureka to see them with Greg's parents and had a really good time.  Sam did struggle, but since we were watching them from the back of the pathfinder we just stuck her in her car seat and she passed out while we enjoyed them.  They weren't the best fireworks, but it was good to be with family and to remember the whole reason we are able to watch fireworks in the first place.

I hope you had a fantastic 4th of July.