Samantha: 29 Months, Week 3 {Gymnastics, Halloween, and the Children's Museum with Alaina}

We started off this week by doing day three of my preschool lessons from last week.  The end of the week just got so busy we didn't have time to do it.  So, we finished up our apple theme by making an apple tree with hand prints:

I thought she may not like getting her hand painted brown in order to make the hand prints, but she actually really enjoyed it.  She kept saying that it tickled her.  I think the prints turned out pretty well, and it gave me a good idea from some handmade Christmas cards this year.

We also practiced tracing and writing the letter A, with my help of course, on a cookie sheet with shaving cream.  However, Samantha much preferred to rub the shaving cream up and down her arms and to clap her hands together, making the shaving cream fly around.  But that's fine, that's what preschool is for, introducing some new concepts, but allowing much creativity and free exploration along the way.

She got some physical activity and counting in by jumping on pillows placed on the floor.

So far, I think Samantha is really enjoying doing preschool with me.  I am really having fun looking around for ideas and coming up with plans that will challenge her mind, but are also fun, simple, and affordable.  I look forward to continuing this in the future and discovering how much she can grow and learn through this process.  It's much easier having a class of one than a class of twenty something.  It's much more enjoyable and rewarding teaching your own child as well.

Later in the week, I took some pictures of Samantha's hair because her curls were just beautiful.  Some days they really pop, like little ringlets all over her head, and some days they are more loose curls.  However, I just had to take a few pictures of her hair on this day.  Coming from someone who was always envious of other's curly hair (so much so that I even got a perm in eighth grade, big mistake!), I love Samantha's curly hair.

On Tuesday, my wonderful husband posted these lovely words on Facebook. They made my day, if not my whole week.  I am blessed with a wonderful family.
My wife is a great mother. Like most mothers (and humans--although guys are generally too stubborn to let it show), it is easy to think negatively about the job that one is doing. This is even more true in an important job like parenting. Today was one of those days for Jenny where Samantha was in a mood (that is what happens when she wakes up at 6:30 and doesn't nap very well). It was a hard day. I know she is a great mom, and I know Samantha would say the same things that these kids say (if she were old enough). The way that Samantha looks up to and adores her mommy is priceless. On the normal days I do not do enough to show my appreciation to Jenny, and I do even less on the bad days. I have a lot to learn about being a parent that I can learn from Jenny. This video was taken from a friend of mine, but it rings true to me.
We have been going through some crazy days with Samantha waking up early and being pretty tired and grouchy at night.  Like Ben stated above, she has been waking up around 6:30 or 6:45 on some days, which is just way too early for Samantha.  Then, she spends the rest of the day with huge bags under her eyes, acting like she is half asleep.  We try to encourage her to sleep in longer in the morning, but for some reason her little body is waking her up early.  You'd think that this would mean she takes a really good afternoon nap, but unfortunately, that is not always the case.  We are hoping Samantha is just going through a weird sleep phase that comes with growing into a more independent little girl who is aware of the world around her.

Thursday, which happened to be Halloween, was a very exciting day for Samantha.  She had her first gymnastics class!  She is part of the Tiny Tumblers at the YMCA with other 2 1/2 to 3 year olds.  Daddy came with us today since it was her first time, and he went in with her since I will be the one with her most every other week.  Samantha was SO excited for gymnastics and had a great time there.  They started with warm ups and stretches, but Daddy had to keep reminding Samantha to participate and not just watch the others.  There were a few kids you could tell had been in classes before because they already knew what to do, whereas Samantha was brand new at this.

After the warm ups, they started the obstacle course where they climbed on mats, did donkey kicks, jumped on round dots on the floor, and walked on balance beams.  Samantha needed a lot of assistance with this since it was her first time, but we were really proud of how well she followed directions. At the end of the obstacle course, they got to go up to a bar with the teacher, Michelle.  They got to hang on the bar and do different moves with their legs. This was Samantha's favorite part, as she has loved hanging on bars for quite some time now, so it was difficult for her to want to keep going around the obstacle course when she just wanted to go back and hang on the bar with her teacher.

Then, the last five minutes of class, the kids were given free time to go play with anything they wanted to in the room.  Samantha chose to crawl through a tunnel a couple times, hang on the bar again, and jump into "the pit" which is filled with foam cubes and I think is used when gymnasts are learning how to do a vault.  She had a great time playing around in "the pit," having Daddy bury her, and attempting to climb back out again.  We were really excited for Samantha to take gymnastics and improve her coordination and her willingness to do more physical activity.  She is just always very cautious, which is good, but we want her to feel more comfortable to run and jump and play.  She could not wait to go to gymnastics again next week.

Well, the fun morning didn't end there because right after gymnastics, Daddy dropped us off at the library for a special Halloween Storyhour Extravaganza for which Samantha was allowed to dress up.  She was so excited about wearing her Belle dress at the library.  Samantha was already pretty tired out from her physical activity that morning, so she sat very still and quiet in the library auditorium.  They had a clown there that kept acting silly, losing his shoes as he walked across the stage.  Samantha didn't say anything about it at the time, she didn't even laugh, but afterwards, all she could talk about was the funny man who kept losing his shoes and how that "cracked her up."  After listening to some Halloween stories, songs, and videos, they handed out a special snack as the children left the auditorium.  Most kids probably would have been disappointed that they didn't receive candy for a snack, but Samantha was thrilled that she got a special apple snack AND that she could eat in the library while Mommy read books to her.  That was a pretty special morning for Samantha.

In fact, it was so special and exciting, that there was no way she was going to calm down enough to take a nap that afternoon.  It often happens that way, when we are doing anything new or overstimulating in the morning, it is extremely hard for her to settle down enough to take a nap, even if she is extremely tired.  It makes for a difficult evening and usually an earlier bedtime, but I guess it makes sense in the world of a two year old.  Life is just so exciting!  Who wants to miss out on things by taking a nap?

Friday morning, I had another doctor's appointment.  I was 15 weeks and 2 days along.  I was very pleased to see that I hadn't gained much weight since becoming pregnant.  I didn't gain too much weight with Samantha, but probably more than I would have liked.  Plus, I feel like I gained a bit with my last pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage, and never lost that weight, so I started off this pregnancy a little heavier than when I was pregnant with Samantha.  Anyways, Ben and Samantha came with me, even though it was just going to be a short, quick check of the heartbeat.  I have to confess that I was still a bit nervous about whether we'd hear a heartbeat.  I think after this appointment I will feel much better about it since I am now in my second trimester where the chance for miscarriage is very low.  Hearing the loud, strong heartbeat immediately was such a relief.  I just looked over at Ben and smiled.  I wish I could listen to the heartbeat every day.  I can't wait until I can feel the baby moving in my belly.

My next appointment is scheduled for December 6th and at that appointment, I will have another ultrasound, hopefully to find out if our baby is a boy or girl.  Samantha cooperated pretty well with us last time and we were positive of her gender.  Obviously, we would be happy no matter what gender the baby is.  We would love to have a boy because then we would have one of each, not having to worry about trying again for a boy in the future.  But it also would be nice to have a girl because we already have everything girly.  We would hardly have to buy anything, and Samantha would have a sibling close in age to play with and talk to, which would be fun.  I always enjoyed growing up with a sister 18 months younger than me, always having a friend around to play with.  We'll see!  I'm so excited for December 6th to come!

After my appointment was over, Ben took Samantha on a Daddy-Daughter day.  He is going to try and do this once a month or so, as his schedule allows, giving me a break to go have some time by myself, and giving himself a chance to bond with Samantha by himself.  At first, I didn't know if I'd really like having a whole day to myself.  I normally don't prefer to be by myself, I'd rather hang out with a friend, but I think sometimes I forget how important it is for me to have some alone time.  I started off my day away by running a couple errands (I know, exciting, right?).  Then, I went to our local Once Upon a Child store to shop for some maternity clothes.  I found a pair of pants, a shirt, a couple dresses, and a winter coat.  It was a pretty good shopping trip, and I actually had time to go try on the clothes.  I don't even try to go shopping with Samantha for that very reason, not that I would choose to go shopping much anyways.  After that, I went and got some lunch and saw the movie Prisoners.  (Yes, I went to a movie by myself, and it was great.)  I went in the middle of the afternoon on a Friday so there were only like six other people in the movie theater with me.  It didn't feel awkward at all.  I really enjoyed my day by myself and am looking forward to the next Daddy-Daughter day.

Meanwhile, Daddy took Samantha to campus where she said hello to the office staff, played in the big chairs, and sat in Daddy's classroom where he lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays.  They had a good morning together, just like old times when I was at work and Daddy spent the day with her on Fridays.

That night, since Samantha took a good nap on Friday afternoon, we decided to go to the IU Homecoming parade that went down the main street of Bloomington.  It was a bit chilly that night, but Samantha still wanted to wear a princess dress.  She chose Snow White this time and had her pumpkin ready to collect the candy that the parade participants would pass out.  The parade really was very good.  It was only about twenty minutes long, but there were fire trucks, the IU marching band and cheerleaders, and Samantha even got to see her gymnastics teacher.  We got TONS of candy.  Her pumpkin bucket was filled up to the brim, and we actually had to start refusing candy because we had no place left to put it.

On our way home from the parade, we noticed that people were still trick or treating around our apartment complex.  In fact, in one apartment someone was dressed up in a head to toe cat costume and was standing outside his door, trying to attract kids to come to his house.  We quickly parked the car and let Samantha walk around to a few apartments for trick or treating.  She had a great time going up and knocking on people's doors, except she did the same thing as last year, she kept expecting to be able to go in the person's house, which unfortunately is not a part of trick or treating.  Our little social butterfly. :)

After she got to go to a few houses, we decided to go back home and let her have the experience of handing out candy to other kids that were walking around.  We turned our porch light on, but it still was hard for kids to know that they could come to our house.  So, we ended up standing in our doorway waiting for kids to come around.  Samantha was pretty excited about giving out candy, and we waited patiently on the stairs until the next group came around.  However, she kept wondering why her friends weren't going to come in our house.

We had a very exciting evening with the parade and trick or treating.  I think Samantha was hoping it would be Halloween again very soon.  And we are now using her Halloween candy as incentives/rewards to take good naps.  If she takes a good nap in the afternoon, she can pick a piece of candy out of her pumpkin for a treat.  It's nice that she's still at the age where we can limit that sort of thing without her putting up a fuss about it.  It's so fun to go through these childhood experiences through the eyes of your children.  She is just so enthusiastic about everything.  Her joy is contagious.

Since we have not had enough excitement lately (written sarcastically), Saturday was another action packed day.  We had plans to meet Upland Grandpa and Grandma and Alaina at the Children's Museum.  Alaina had never been there before, so Samantha was very excited to be able to show her around to all her favorite places.  Unfortunately, the carousel was closed for maintenance, but Samantha seemed to be okay with it, knowing that it would be open again the next time we came.  We saw the dinosaurs first.  It's hard to keep two two year olds together, looking at the same thing, but they had fun digging for dinosaur bones.

On the way to see the trains, the girls stopped and played with some toy dinosaurs for awhile.

Samantha kept trying to make her dinosaurs roar at Alaina and Grandma, but they didn't seem to be too impressed. :)

After watching the trains for awhile, we "rode" on the train for awhile, the girls sitting next to each other, pretending to look out the window, and being silly with each other.  It's great to get them together.  They are interacting with each other so much now, and I know they both really love each other.

After getting their fill of the train section, Alaina found another digging area that they both joined in together.

After a little more playing, it was time for lunch.  Grandpa and Daddy went out to the cars to get our coolers, and we met them in the cafeteria.  After a good lunch, it was time to go back and play.  There are so many great exhibits in the Children's Museum, and everything is better when you have your cousin, grandpa, and grandma there with you.

I think the biggest hit of the day was the leaves you could climb in the area designed especially for kids five and younger.  Last time we came to the Children's Museum, Samantha was too afraid to climb in this by herself and as soon as she started climbing she wanted to come right back down, needing our help to do it.  I don't know if she has developed more physically since then or if she was more comfortable after already being exposed to it once, but she climbed right in without a hesitation, going all the way to the top and back down by herself.  Alaina even joined her, and they both climbed up and down through the leaves for quite awhile.  We enjoyed watching them play, using up lots of energy to climb in and out of the leaves.

We had a very busy morning and afternoon of playing.  So, Grandma offered to buy everyone ice cream as an incentive to leave the play place.  We enjoyed some yummy ice cream together and the girls were definitely very tired.  After good-bye hugs and kisses, we went our separate ways and thankfully, Samantha (and Mommy) took a nice nap in the car on the way home.  We had a wonderful Saturday at the Children's Museum with Alaina, Grandpa, and Grandma.  It just won't be the same when we go back again and they aren't there with us.  Samantha was so excited all week for this day to come.  In fact, every day she asked whether it was Saturday so we could go to the Children's Museum with Alaina.  When Samantha woke up Saturday morning, realizing what day it was, she literally squealed with excitement.

And to end this post, I have a couple cute Samantha sayings from the week.  On Wednesday, when talking about BSF at lunch time, I asked Samantha, "How do you get to heaven?"  She replied, "Drive!  No, walk!"

Then, on Thursday as she was looking at her books with Daddy, she said, "Some day I'm gonna read this book to you.  I'm learning how to read."

The things she says just crack us up.  It's very often that both Ben and I are in tears from crying so hard at things she says at the breakfast or dinner table.  I think she has her Daddy's sense of humor.  She enjoys saying things to make us laugh.  We love the conversations we get to have with her.  Some people say she talks too much, but we love it, and we wouldn't change a thing about her.