I decided to combine weeks 10 and 11 into one blog post since most of that time was spent on a Toll family vacation to Galena, Illinois. Before the vacation started, Ben taught Samantha something new. At her two month checkup, our doctor told us that babies will start mimicking you, the faces and noises that you make, and one example he gave that is good to try is sticking your tongue out. Ben did it with her several times, making a funny face and a funny noise while sticking his tongue out, and she loved it! She smiles and laughs every time. In fact, right after he taught her how to do it, anytime she would see him, she would automatically stick her tongue out because she knows it gets people to laugh. We even have noticed her sticking her tongue out at her toys or at her favorite thing lately, ceiling fans!
The beginning of Samantha's vacation was a weekend spent in the Chicago area to see my family. We were a little worried about how Samantha would do on a longer trip like this because sometimes lately she hasn't been that big of a fan of being in her carseat for extended periods of time. However, she did an excellent job. In fact, she slept the first leg of the trip for almost three hours and let us get all the way to Crown Point, Indiana! That evening we went to Giordano's to get Chicago style pizza which was a first for Samantha. Saturday, July 23rd, my friend Janell from college came out to visit us and see Samantha. It was great to hang out and catch up with her. Sunday, we went to church with my family, had lunch, and then headed out for Galena.
During our trip to Galena, we did a lot of relaxing and playing with babies. Since there were two 2 month olds, we didn't have any big plans of sightseeing, we were just looking forward to spending family time together. We rented a house there that is a part of the Eagle Ridge owner's club, and it was a very pretty location. While we were there we did a few tourist things. We went on a boat ride on the Mississippi River, took a walk by Lake Galena, and the adults went on an alpine slide. 
Baby Alaina and baby Samantha were so cute together wearing their matching dresses and hats made by Grandma Toll. Here they are hanging out on the table together during the boat ride. They both did a great job on their very first boat ride!
Here is Samantha in her outfit, hanging out with her proud Daddy and Grandma.
While we were in Galena there was a very large rainstorm that came through the area and we got around 14 inches overnight. The next day we went downtown to see what kind of damage was done. We found the floodgates were down and the river had flooded over into the streets.
Overall, the last couple of weeks has brought a lot more interaction with Samantha. She loves to be with people, to smile, and is even beginning to giggle and laugh. She loves having people's attention, and Ben is afraid that we might have a little extravert on our hands. It will be interesting to see how her personality develops as she grows. We are really enjoying her happy personality and finding new ways to make her laugh and smile by making funny noises and faces, blowing raspberries, and talking with her in her own baby language. In fact, on the way back from Galena to Upland, which was a seven hour drive with an hour and half stop over in Lombard, Samantha only slept an hour and a half total all day. The rest of the time she was playing and talking with her mommy and daddy as we drove, just as happy as can be. We are so blessed with this sweet little girl that brings such joy to our life.
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