Samantha: 26 Months, Week 4 {Watching Sadie and Another Trip to the Zoo with Alaina}

Well, this past week was the first full week of August and marked our first week taking care of Sadie. Since Monday was our first full day together, we just stayed home to learn her schedule, her temperament, and what it was like taking care of both girls.  Samantha was SO excited about her coming to our house.  When she woke up and found out Sadie was there, she had to go see her right away.  She didn't care that she was only in her underwear.

We had a good day together.  Samantha did great with having a little baby around the house, and Sadie was an easy baby to take care of.  I think we will enjoy our few days a week together.  It's good practice for Samantha on how to share, be patient, and become more independent.  It's good practice for me, too, in seeing what it will be like when I have two children to take care of some day.

Sadie also came to our house on Tuesday, and I decided to be a bit more adventurous and try going on our first outing.  We played for a little while in the morning, got all of our things ready, and headed out to the library for story time.  I brought the Ergo baby carrier for Sadie, along with both girls' diaper bags, and my purse.  Needless to say, that was way too much stuff to lug around.  Next time, I will have to consolidate.

Sadie needed a bottle right when we got to the library, so I fed her while Samantha sat on the rug to listen to stories.  However, Samantha had a hard time staying there by herself, she kept coming back by me or trying to walk around the room, which I couldn't do too much about while feeding Sadie.  Eventually, I was able to sit down on the rug by her with Sadie on my lap, and that seemed to calm Samantha down some.  After story time was over, we went back to the play room for a little while before the craft started.  I put Sadie back in the Ergo right before craft time, and she ended up falling asleep in that while I helped Samantha with the craft.  The morning went pretty well, I was able to manage both girls okay, and I was glad to get Samantha out of the house for awhile today.

Sadie's Mommy came at lunch time to pick her up, so I had the afternoon with just Samantha.  It was kind of nice easing into watching Sadie by only having her a day and a half this week.

We have pretty funny mealtimes around our house some days, and Tuesday was no different.  Lately, even though Samantha is only two, she has been asking why questions a lot.  Except she'll say it like, "Why are you holding my hand, why?"  "Why are you taking my plate, why?"  She has to start and finish the question with the word why.  Well, I started picking on Samantha a bit a lunch by asking her questions in the same way, and she thought it was hilarious.  We laughed so hard that day.

I thought and thought all Tuesday night about something special Samantha and I could do on Wednesday since we didn't have Sadie with us on that day.  It was going to be a warm, humid, and rainy day, so we couldn't really do anything outside.  So, I finally came up with the idea to take her to the WonderLab, which is a hands-on science museum right here in Bloomington.  I have been there before with my classes at school, but have never taken Samantha.  It was a pretty neat place, and Samantha really enjoyed herself.

One of the first things she went to there was the water area.  She liked the part where you could drop the balls into the water container and watch them twirl around through the tornado water before they pop back out the bottom.  I had her put on the water smock so her shirt wouldn't get all wet, but she wasn't a big fan of that and wanted me to take it off right away.

The WonderLab had a construction theme, so there were lots of different objects and materials to use to build various structures, but most of them were a little beyond Samantha's ability.

They had a special preschool time that we also attended there, and the topic was on the zoo.  They read a book about the zoo, did a little activity where they took turns sorting pictures of animals into the environments in which they live, and then looking at little animal figures to determine whether they moved on land, water, or air.  Samantha did a pretty good job listening to and following directions even though most of the activities were a little beyond her age.  There was even one time when the kids were standing in line, waiting their turn, and another little girl tried to go ahead of Samantha.  So Samantha turned to the little girl and said, "Waiting in lion."  (Yes, that's how she says line, like li-on.)

Samantha then played with many other thing at museum like a bubble room and a special area for kids under six that had  tree house to climb and a machine where you could stick a squishy ball or scarf into a hole and the air would suck the ball or scarf through a little maze, spitting it out at the top.  Samantha loved this and squealed every time the ball or scarf would pop out of the top.


We had a really good time at the WonderLab, and it will be fun to come back another time, maybe next year, when Samantha is a little older and will enjoy some of the hands-on activities a little more.

Ben's parents had been watching Alaina for a few days this past week while her daycare was closed, so we made plans to meet at the zoo on Thursday.  Samantha LOVES the zoo and was even more excited about meeting Grandpa, Grandma, and Alaina there.  We did all the typical zoo things, made our way around the whole place, saw the dolphin show,  and ate pizza for lunch.

But the best part was that Grandpa and Grandma spoiled the girls, getting them enough tickets to ride the train and the carousel twice.  Samantha was in seventh heaven, hopefully she doesn't expect this every time now, because Mommy and Daddy can't afford that every time we go to the zoo.

 Samantha picked to ride in the back of the train.  Since we went on a Thursday and most schools already started in our area, the zoo was not very crowded which made it very nice for us.

 Samantha's first ride on the carousel, she chose to ride a horse on the inside.  The second time on the carousel, she chose to ride a tiger on the outside.  Alaina took turns riding with Grandma and then Grandpa, sitting on the bench together with them.

It was a pretty hot day at the zoo, so we gave the girls time to play at the splash park.  At first, Alaina wasn't quite sure what she thought and had to observe everyone for awhile.

But then later, after she got comfortable, she really enjoyed playing in the red sprinkler.  Samantha joined her for a little bit and then walked off to do her own thing.  You can't keep Samantha in one place for too long.  She just has a mind of her own.

After the girls were sufficiently wet and tired from playing at the splash park, as it was way past their nap time at this point of the day, we decided to make one last stop at the White River Gardens that is a part of the admission to the zoo.  We had never been there before and were excited to see what it looked like.  They had a beautiful greenhouse full of flowers and plants with hundreds and hundreds of butterflies flying around right out in the open air.  Samantha loved the butterflies flying right in front of her face and enjoyed exploring the little paths around the greenhouse, spotting butterflies on leaves and eating fruit placed out for them.

They had an outside garden area as well with many plants, flowers, shrubbery, and statues of animals like geese, frogs, and bunnies, which Samantha particularly enjoyed.  By this time, the girls were extremely tired and were starting to lose their patience, so we decided to head out.  We spent a good, long day at the zoo.  The girls loved seeing each other, and Samantha loved seeing Grandpa and Grandma, too.

When we got in the car, I read a couple books to Samantha to calm her down, we sang her songs and prayed with her so that she would take a nap on our way back home.  It was no time before she conked out in the back seat.  Spending a day outside in the sun will tire out a little two year old.  We love our sweet Samantha so much.

Well, that evening when we got back home, we made kind of a spur of the moment decision to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the weekend since Alaina and Aunt Jeni would be there until Saturday afternoon.  We couldn't pass up another opportunity for the girls to see each other because once summer ends and everyone gets busy with school starting, we won't have as many chances to see one another.

When we are at Grandpa and Grandma's house with the girls, it seems like we spend most of our time playing outside, riding on the swing, looking at the garden, wandering around their yard, and going on walks over to Taylor.  They both love visiting there.

Friday night at dinner, after Aunt Jeni arrived, we captured a really silly video of Aunt Jeni making the girls laugh hysterically.  It's wonderful to have great, happy times with family, and we are so thankful that Samantha and Alaina are so close in age and can grow up together.

Samantha loves to sing sings and tell stories.  I think she knows that certain things will make us laugh, and she loves to make people laugh.  For example, on the way back from Ben's parents' church on Sunday, Samantha starting singing "The Farmer in the Dell."  However, instead of singing "the farmer takes the wife" or something like that, she said, "The farmer takes the pacifier."  After she said that, we all laughed really hard, so she kept singing it again and again, wanting to make us laugh.  She has a great sense of humor, and we love that about her.