While at Grandma and Grandpa Toll's house, Samantha learned some new skills. She has been in the habit of just throwing her sippy cup carelessly off the table onto the floor, so I decided to try and teach her to put her cup on the table when she was done with it. She actually did a pretty good job of catching on. After a while, she even started putting it on the table without us prompting her. Every time she put it in the right place, we would clap for her and say, "Good job!" which she liked. She likes anything that gets her attention. :) Grandpa also taught Samantha how to whisper, particularly at dinnertime when Samantha tends to be more vocal. If you whisper when you talk to her, she tends to whisper back to you. However, the biggest accomplishment is her walking tons more! Instead of taking 8 or 9 steps, she could get up to 15 to 17 steps! She was getting all around the house and was especially wanting you to walk around with her while she held your finger. Anything that moved, she tried to turn into a walker to push around, like the kitchen chairs, the cooler, the rolling desk chair. (I guess I should have brought her real walker toy.)
One night, when we were on our way back into the house, Samantha saw the black cat. She is very interested in animals, so I put her down on the ground near the cat. Samantha was a little unsure at first, but then reached out to pet the cat once she saw me pet it. She is very gentle with animals and pets them very nicely. I guess she has good practice with Roscoe. However, once the she petted the cat, the cat took that as an invitation to come and rub herself on Samantha's legs and brush her tail in her face. Samantha was not too keen on that action and actually ended up pushing the cat away whenever she tried to rub herself on Samantha. It was quite funny. Samantha made it very clear that she did not want the cat to be doing that.
On Wednesday morning, Jo Ann came over to the house to see us. It was great catching up with her, and she really enjoyed seeing Samantha trying to walk all around the house. She even bought her a cute little Taylor University romper onesie, which is a little big on Samantha, but still looks absolutely adorable. In case you can't tell, it says I love Taylor University on the front.
On Thursday evening, after dinner, Samantha and I headed back to Bloomington. I was a little nervous about driving by myself with her, but it really went fairly well. I had an arsenal of toys and books by me in the passenger seat, and every 15 minutes or so, when Samantha would get tired of what she had, I would hand her something new. It worked pretty well and seemed to keep her occupied enough for the couple hour ride down to Bloomington.
It was nice to be back home in our familiar environment, but I have to admit that it was really strange not having Ben home. Especially overnight, it felt weird to be in our apartment by myself (well, not counting Samantha and Roscoe). On Friday we had to take the car in to get new tires, so Samantha and I walked around downtown Bloomington, exploring different shops. It was hard to bide the time because I knew Ben was going to be coming home that night and was really looking forward to seeing him again.
The reason Ben came home for the weekend from ICPSR was because his friend Chris was getting married in Columbus. We took Samantha with us, and even though she didn't make it too long during the ceremony, we had a good time at the reception. It was outdoors, so we were able to walk around with Samantha a lot when she was getting antsy. We saw some good friends from our Taylor days and even had them back to our house afterwards so we could hang out some more. Samantha did a really great job the whole day and everyone was impressed with her activity and personality. She wore herself out so much that she fell asleep almost immediately once we got in the car to travel back to Bloomington.
On Sunday afternoon, we ended up going over to play games with the Brashers because they were going to be going out of town soon, and we didn't know when our next opportunity would be. I put Samantha down for a nap there, and the cutest thing happened when she woke up. Thomas came into the room with me to get Samantha, and when Samantha saw him, she was still laying in her pack n' play, and would look at him and then at me, back and forth. Then, a huge smile broke out on her face, but it was almost like she was frozen, like she couldn't believe he was actually standing right there. Samantha loves Thomas and is always excited when she sees either of the Brasher boys.
After we played games, Daddy had to leave again and it was hard to see him go. Monday, the day after he left, Samantha kept saying Dada all day long, so you could tell she was confused as to why he wasn't there anymore and that she missed him. You could also tell that we had tired her out over our busy weekend because she took a really long morning nap.
On Monday night, I decided to make grilled cheese for both Samantha and me. She had never eaten grilled cheese before, but bread and cheese are two of her favorite things, so really, how can you go wrong? She seemed to really enjoy it. Then, after dinner, we went to the splash pad over at a local park. We walked around together and at first she seemed a little apprehensive and was just taking it all in, observing everything and all the kids. Then, she warmed up to the idea and started walking right up to all the sprinklers and fountains, sticking her hands in them, letting the water fall on her head and face, squealing with delight. It was great fun to watch her have such a good time in the water. She just loves water, and I can't wait to take her to more places like this, especially once she becomes a little more sturdy on her feet and can walk more comfortably without assistance.
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