Samantha: 23 Months, Week 4

The week of May 6th through 12th went by quickly as I was busy writing my lesson plans for the last two weeks of school.  (Wow!  It is hard to believe I will only have two more weeks after this week, and not just two more weeks this year until school starts in August, but two more weeks for many years to come, until however many children we have are grown and school age when I will return to the teaching profession.)  It is a strange feeling, but I am SO ready for this next journey in my life.

The other thing that made this week incredibly busy was our complicated weekend of traveling.  Ben had a conference to attend in Chicago on Friday, and I had a baby shower to attend in South Bend on Saturday.  Since we only have one vehicle that we trust for long distances, this became a bit of a problem.  So, our solution was for me to take a day off of school on Friday so that we could leave for Upland on Thursday right after I got done with school.  We would all drive up to Upland together, Ben would drop off Samantha and I, and he would continue on his way to Chicago.  He would then come back late Friday night so that I could have the car to drive up to South Bend on Saturday morning.  It was kind of confusing, but it worked.

When we got to Upland on Thursday night, Ben's parents had a family staying with them that will be a faculty member next year.  They were staying in the two upstairs bedrooms, the rooms we usually use when we stay.  So, Ben's parents were nice enough to give up their bedroom for Samantha and I that night.  It was a bit strange for Samantha though, getting there late, having Daddy leave right away, and having a strange family at Ema and Papa's house.  She got to bed later than normal that night and had a really hard time falling asleep.  The first time she started crying I went into the room, and she had thrown her blankie on to the floor.  (She tends to do this more in her pack and play for some reason.)  I got the blankie and picked her up out of the pack and play, holding her and rocking her in the recliner.  She calmed down quickly, resting her head on my shoulder.  As she laid there on my chest, she started stroking my face with her hand, which was really sweet, but then she started playing around a bit more, so I decided to lay her back down in her pack and play, hoping that that would do the trick.  However, a few minutes later Samantha was crying again and this time Ema offered to go in there and try to comfort her.  Apparently she hadn't thrown her blankie out this time, she was just laying down crying.  Ema didn't even have to pick her up, she just knelt down by her pack and play, Samantha kept reaching up and touching her arm to see if she was still there, and eventually fell asleep.  It was probably after ten o'clock before she fell asleep that night.  She was tired, and I was tired.  I was so afraid that she would end up waking up at six the next morning because she is excited to be around people, which would make for a really grumpy little girl.

Sure enough, the next morning around six o'clock, Samantha started stirring, standing up in her pack and play, and talking to herself.  I think she was awakened by the noises of Ema and Papa getting ready in the bathroom that was attached to the room.  I don't think she knew that Roscoe and I were in the room with her, which was a good thing.  I decided that I would wait until around seven to get her out of her bed for the morning, just in case she decided to go back to sleep, and she actually did!  She slept for another two hours and woke up around 9:15!  I couldn't believe that she slept for that long, but it was so good for her and me, making our day start out on a better foot.

That day Samantha and I were on our own, so we played around the house and went on a stroller ride over to the Taylor campus.  We walked around the Taylor library (who knew they have a new kids' section with special chairs and books?), visited Ema and Papa in their offices, and walked around outside.

Later that evening, after Ema and Papa got home from work and Samantha woke up from her nap, we went out to eat at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants.  Samantha did a great job listening, enjoying her chips and salsa, rice and beans, and eating the ENTIRE quesadilla.  Since the guest family had left earlier that day, we had our normal rooms back upstairs for that night's sleep.  I got Samantha to bed and was so glad to see Ben return late that night.

Ema and Papa ended up going up to get Cousin Alaina on Saturday morning, and I left to go up to South Bend to my friend's baby shower.  It was great for Samantha and Alaina to get some play time together.  They have so much fun together and are more than just cousins, but also friends.  The older they get, the more they interact with each other and talk to each other.  It is so great having them be so close in age so they can grow up together.  Ah, the trouble they will get into together once they can talk, plan, and scheme.  :)

Here are some videos and pictures of Samantha and Alaina together on Sunday:

Before we left on Sunday afternoon, Papa was reading the girls a story.  He originally had both girls sitting on his lap, one on each knee.  He held Alaina's attention, but Samantha was more interested in buckling the car seat straps for the infant car seat that we are bringing back down for the infant I will be watching two days a week over the summer.

Family time is so precious.  We can't wait until vacation this July when Samantha and Alaina will have a whole week to play together.

Samantha: 23 Months, Week 3

Bath time with Samantha is always fun.  She loves her baths, always has.  This night was particularly enjoyable because she brought Dora in the tub with her, and we started a new game--spraying Dora.  She thought it was hilarious when I would spray Dora right off the side of the tub into the water, as you can see in this video.  Her laugh is precious to me.  I wish I could bottle it up and sell it to people that need something to cheer themselves up.  I also got on this video her saying, "Walking the roadie, roadie, roadie."  She has been saying this a lot lately, particularly when she's outside and is walking along the curb beside a road.  I have no idea where she got it from, but I think it's pretty adorable.

If Samantha wakes up extra early on a particular morning, Daddy will often take her somewhere to do something, to get some energy out, instead of making a disaster of our house, since we don't drop her off until 9:30 in the morning at the babysitter's house.  This particular morning Daddy took Samantha to a park near the babysitter's house.  She had a great time swinging on the swing, pretending like she was kicking Mommy through the phone.  It's always sweet to hear Samantha talking about me while I am gone at work, even if it is pretending to kick me.

This week was a very busy week.  On Tuesday evening, I had a baby shower for a friend and another friend was going as well, but needed someone to watch her two boys, one in preschool and one a little younger than that.  Ben was willing to sacrifice his time (and sanity) to watch the two boys and Samantha for the evening.  They created quite the mess, but had an enjoyable evening together.  The boys didn't even leave our house until 9:30, and Samantha didn't get to sleep until 10:00.  That is WAY late for her!

The good thing about her staying up that late was that she slept in until 10:15 on Wednesday, May 1st, Daddy's birthday.  He ended up just bringing her to the babysitter's house late and was able to get some good work done at home that morning.  Even though it was Daddy's birthday, he had a dinner out with his class from IU to a fancy restaurant for a free meal.  He couldn't pass that up, so Samantha and I went to a park and Daddy went to his dinner.

We have this book called "One Ball, Two Babies."  It is a very simple board book with very few words on each page, but Samantha has the whole book memorized. She started at the beginning, flipping the pages, and reciting almost every word.  I was pretty impressed.  There are some books that are her favorites that she knows certain words or phrases of, but never a whole book and knowing which page has which words.

On Thursday, we celebrated Daddy's birthday.  Mommy made Daddy an ice cream cake, our tradition, and Samantha helped me decorated it.  I put the M&Ms in the shape of the 29, then I let Samantha help me with the sprinkles.  If you notice the left side of the cake, you'll see a bunch of sprinkles all in one clump, that would be Samantha's handiwork.  However, once she discovered these sprinkles were things she could eat and that they tasted good, she just wanted to eat them instead of put them on the cake.

Here is Samantha enjoying Daddy's birthday cake.  I think she was a fan.  :)

Friday night was a school carnival, and we decided to take Samantha for awhile.  She was pleased because there was a bouncy house there, and she really likes to try those out.  There are a couple girls in my class that really love Samantha.  Ben will bring Samantha to my class quite frequently just to say hi, so she has become pretty popular with the third graders.  Well, these two little girls took hold of Samantha and were trying to help her in the bouncy house, talking to her, and encouraging her.  It was pretty cute to see them reaching out.

On Saturday we decided that it was nice enough weather to go to the Farmer's Market in downtown Bloomington.  We told Samantha ahead of time about where we were going and she kept saying "McDonald had a farmer's market" and talked about wanting to see a pig at the market.  Even though there were no live animals, she still had a great time and did not want to leave.  We walked around on the grass terrace, saw some people dancing a traditional dance in the square, and even got to watch some rescue dogs.  All in all, it was a great morning for the little girl.  As as we left, she asked if we could go back again sometime.  Going to the Farmer's Market tired her out and she took a GREAT three hour nap on Saturday, which Ben and I both appreciated.  

She has been having a bathroom issue again lately, going several days without a bowel movement and then finally on Friday night, she was sitting on her big girl potty and went poo poo!  We were so proud of her and so glad that she finally was able to go.  She continued to go several times on Saturday and is now seeming to be back to normal again.  I wish this problem would go away from her, it's hard to tell what the cause of it is or what we can really do about it.

As Samantha gets older, her vocabulary continues to explode.  I can't believe she is a couple weeks away from being two years old.  She can carry on full conversations with us sometimes, sings songs, makes up her own songs, says complete sentences (I even noticed that she corrected her verb tense once, going back and saying the sentence over again with the correct verb).  As a toddler, she of course is an expert at expressing her wants and desires, saying things like "Mine" or "I NEED you Daddy," "Come play with me Mommy" (while pulling on your pant leg.  She will look outside and say, "Play outside tomorrow" almost acting as if she's asking if she will be able to play.  Sometimes we say, "You can play outside today!" and she yells, "Play outside TODAY!"  We love listening to her talk and love to try to understand how her brain works and how concepts and ideas are connected in her brain.

Samantha: 23 Months, Week 2

In my last blog post, I forgot to mention about our friends, Kirk and Mary Beth, coming over Saturday night for a games night.  We used to do this with another family that we cherish so much and have really missed these times of connection with others our own age, after the kids are in bed and all distractions are taken away.  We made homemade lasagna, a great recipe I got from my cousin, and they brought a salad and some excellent bread.  We had a wonderful dinner together, sat and talked, ate some "Tollhouse" cookies, put Samantha to bed, and then played Ticket to Ride together.  We had a great game, with the two girls coming in the lead, and great conversation.  It's always good getting together with friends and having adult conversation.  However, the funny thing with Samantha being so social and so excited about having people over, is that if they are here when she goes to bed, she assumes they will be here when she wakes up as well.  So on Sunday morning, Samantha woke up very early, around six o'clock, asking for Kirk and Mary Beth.  We were glad that she enjoyed herself with our friends, but we weren't quite ready to face the day yet.  Ah, our little extrovert.  I'm not sure how she was born from Ben and me, but at least it's endearing.

Lately Ben's mom has been rethinking her decision to be a Cubs fan, so we decided to get Samantha to try and convince Ema otherwise.  Samantha says, "Go Cubs Go.  Boo Reds."

Here is Daddy's daily breakfast date.  :)

On Wednesday, we had something very scary happen with Samantha.  I had already come downstairs into the living room, and Ben was coming down after me with a load of laundry we were going to start so Ben could pack for his trip to the conference in Michigan.  Samantha was going down the stairs in front of Ben.  Well, Samantha has gone up and down the stairs by herself numerous times and hasn't ever had trouble.  She has been doing it independently for a couple months now, where we aren't even concerned about watching her go up and down the stairs at all.  She will either slide on her tummy or slide down on her bottom one step at a time.  

I don't know if it was just a culmination of events, or everything happening too fast, but she must have leaned forward too far on the steps and lost her balance.  She was probably on the second or third step from the top.  Ben said she more rolled down the stairs sideways, rather than end over end, which I guess is a good thing, if there can be a good thing about falling down the stairs.  Ben shouted out, "Jenny, Jenny, Jenny!"  But I couldn't get there fast enough from the living room.  I got the the bottom of the stairs just in time to see her hit the tile floor face down.  Of course she burst into tears, and I was shaking, my mind jumping to the worst possible conclusion of missing teeth, a bleeding mouth, a broken arm, a trip to the hospital.

However, at that moment, without even looking at Samantha or examining where she might be hurt, I scooped her up in my arms and quickly brought her over to the couch, holding her close to my chest, rocking her back and forth.  Eventually, after she calmed down a little bit, I inspected her little face and body for any sign of injury.  I didn't see any blood or missing teeth. The only sign of injury was a bruise on her left check and eye area.  Everything else looked good, and I was so thankful.  She really only cried for several minutes and then was back to her normal, silly self.  I think the thing that made her feel better was when I told her that everyone falls down the stairs at some point in their life.  Samantha then asked, "Even Mommy?"  "Even Daddy?"  I said yes, and that even Roscoe has fallen down the stairs.  That seemed to make her feel better, knowing she's not alone, and that everyone else turned out okay afterwards so she was going to be okay, too.  It was probably more scary for Mommy than it was for Samantha.

When Ben was putting Samantha to bed that night, she wanted to read one of her favorite books "The Secret Birthday Message" by Eric Carle.  Well, if you have ever read that book, for the boy to get to his secret birthday gift he has to follow all these clues, one of them being going down the stairs.  When they got to that part of the book, Samantha said "Boom, boom, boom, fall down the stairs," along with a hand motion of someone falling down the stairs.  Then, she giggled.  Apparently she is okay now if she can make light of it.  It's nice that kids are so resilient.

Later that night, around ten o'clock, my parents came into town.  Since Ben was going to be leaving early Thursday morning for his conference, they came to stay with us for the rest of the week and weekend to help watch Samantha while I was at work.  It was a hectic few days of taking care of everything around the house and dealing with a sleepy girl who was waking up too early in the morning (again with my comment of earlier where she wakes up earlier when we have visitors in the house).  I was very glad to have Daddy back home on Saturday night.  I know 'Cago Ema Papa had a good time with Samantha, playing with her, taking her to the Banneker Center, and putting her down for her naps.  Ben and I even got to go on a little date to Starbucks on Saturday night when he returned, since my parents were holding down the fort.  It was nice to be able to sit and talk, catch up, and hear about Ben's time presenting at the conference.

Here are pictures my dad took of Samantha dressed up for church on Sunday morning.  If you look closely, you can see the remnants of her bruise from falling down the stairs.

Samantha took a really great nap on Sunday afternoon after a long weekend of playing and waking up early.  After my parents left, we decided to make a family trip to our favorite restaurant these days, Chipotle.  (Samantha loves their quesadilla kids' meal with rice and beans and chocolate milk.)  On our way back home we were singing together in the car and finally managed to capture her singing on camera.  She knows almost all the words to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Jesus Loves Me."  It makes my heart happy to hear Samantha singing about Jesus loving her, and I always pray that someday those words will come to be true and that she will believe them to the very depths of her soul.

Samantha: 23 Months, Week 1

These first pictures are our photo shoot of Samantha in her Easter dress.  Back two weeks ago when Easter actually took place, we were too busy with other things and distracted by the miscarriage.  So, for church on Sunday, April 14th, we decided to put her back in the same dress and take some pictures outside at church.  Nobody else has to know it's not actually Easter, right?  Plus, the weather was gorgeous outside.

Here are our family Easter pictures from last year.  I thought it would be fun to compare how Samantha has changed in the last year.

Later that afternoon, after nap time, Samantha got to play outside.  Her most favorite activity as of late.  I love watching her play outside.  She loves to go on walks, discover nature, listen to and watch the living things growing and moving all around her.  I love to see her active.  I want to make sure we stay active as a family.  We don't let Samantha watch much television, and we encourage her to go outside and play as much as possible, especially on these beautiful, warm spring evenings.  Television is more like a special treat rather than an every day occurrence, and we like it that way.  When the television is on, it hardly holds her attention at all, she would much rather go and do something else.  Sometimes people poke fun at us for not letting her watch much television, or the "weird" reaction she has when someone does put the television on, but I would rather her not know what to do with the television.  I hope this continues in her personality.  I would much rather have a daughter who gets lost in books or lost in exploring the outdoors, a daughter who would much rather interact with her family, than getting lost in the unreality of television.

Thanks for the tricycle Ryan and Melanie!  She doesn't quite know how to push the pedals yet, but she enjoys being pushed around.  That handle on the back is a great idea!

The other benefit of moving to a three bedroom apartment is that now, instead of having our apartment back up to another apartment building, we now have a large grassy area behind our apartment with several trees that attract birds and squirrels.  On one of our walks behind our apartment, Samantha went up to the tree and let the needles of the tree brush across her face, making her laugh and smile, almost like the tree was tickling her.

The weather was just glorious this week.  Oh, how I love spring!  The warm breeze floating in our open windows, the green sprouting up everywhere, the flowery, sweet-smelling blooms on the trees (after all, we do live in Bloomington!).  It seems everywhere you look new life is growing and it is always such an encouragement to me after what seems like a long, dreary, cold winter in Indiana.

We have the most joyous sign of life living right in our very own house, our sweet Samantha who is now a month away from being two years old.  I can't believe it.  It seems like just yesterday when I was pregnant with her and eagerly awaiting her arrival.  However, at the same time, I can't imagine our family without her in it.  What did we do with all our free time?  How was our family ever complete without her?  

The next Sunday, April 21st, Samantha was having a hard time falling asleep for her afternoon nap.  Daddy lovingly went upstairs to see what was the matter.  She fell asleep with his strong, protective hand resting gently on her tummy.  Afterwards, Ben snatched the opportunity to get some sleeping pictures of our darling daughter.  We haven't gotten any pictures of her sleeping for quite awhile since she usually goes to bed independently and rarely needs us there to fall asleep.  It's nice to feel needed every once in awhile as a parent.  Children are so peaceful while they are sleeping.  Especially with Samantha, sleeping is the only time when she is still and not talking.  She certainly is a talker! :)

Such precious moments, such precious gifts that God gives us every day, such a tremendous responsibility we have in raising this little girl who is created in His image and who has a special plan for her life that God designed and only God knows.

Samantha: 22 Months, Week 4

I had another frightening experience this week (April 8-14).  At 3 a.m. on Monday morning I woke up with severe cramping, almost like the contractions you feel at the beginning stages of labor.  They would come and go and were strong enough that I wasn't able to sleep.  I didn't know what was going on, if I should wake Ben up, or get up out of bed.  After a while, I figured I'd get up and go to the bathroom, if anything, so that I would not wake up Ben with my movements.  While going to the bathroom, the contractions continued and I passed something that looked rather large, I didn't know if it was a clot or tissue.  After that passed, I felt much better, and came back to bed.  First thing the next day, I called the doctor to see if I needed to come in earlier than my appointment scheduled for Thursday.  They found an appointment for the next day for me.  I went in and they did another ultrasound just to check and see if everything was clear.  I was so nervous that I would have to have another D and C or that I had leftover tissue that could cause an infection or an even worse problem.  I was relieved when Claire said everything looked okay.  However, it was such a stark contrast from a couple weeks earlier when I saw my baby in my womb before the surgery.  Now seeing my womb empty of life was sobering, depressing, and brought back all the emotions from inside in such a raw and real way again.  It seems like the nightmare just kept continuing, and I was ready to move on from this tragedy, hoping that I wouldn't have any more issues, that my body would heal, and my womb would become ready to house a new life sometime soon.  Now, it was just a waiting game.


Ben took these adorable pictures of Samantha on Tuesday morning, making this statement on Facebook, "There are days when I realize just how quickly Samantha is growing.  Today is one of those days."  I think Samantha is just beautiful in this picture.

Here is a reply from Ben's brother, Tim, after we posted the above picture, "Was watching ET last night and realized my niece looks like a young Drew Barrymore.  So, if they need to remake ET, you guys know who to call."  What do you think?  Do you see a resemblance?

Here are some other cute pictures of that morning with Daddy.

Wow!  Look at that great smile!  I just can't get enough of this girl.  Seeing her beautiful, happy face just brightens up my very soul.

The weather has been warm and wonderful lately.  Wednesday was particularly humid and caused Samantha's normally curly hair to turn into perfect ringlets.  I told Ben to take pictures of her gorgeous hair.  I never want to cut this hair!

And here's Samantha sitting like a big girl at the dining room table after I got done doing her hair.  Even pulling it up, it's so hard to manage, it does not lay flat no matter what I do.  I often will say it looks like she has Texas hair, it almost looks like I tease it to make it poof up on top.  

I feel so lucky to be Samantha's Mommy.