Daddy Daughter Date

Leah and Daddy had a Daddy-daughter date last month while I was visiting my Grandma in Texas. They went to Thanksgiving Point and had a blast. It was a hot day. Leah got to go on a pony ride and a horse-drawn carriage ride. She saw the animals in the petting zoo--ducks, goats, donkeys, llamas, baby chicks, and horses. Her favorite thing by far was the pony ride!

After spending some time at Farm Country, Chris and Leah went inside to the dinosaur museum and looked around while they waited for their movie: Wall-E. This was Leah's first ever movie theater experience, and she is still talking about it a month later!

Of spending the day with Leah, Chris said "I kept looking at her thinking 'she's not always going to be like this.' I took a mental picture while she was riding the horse so that I would always have that moment in my mind. I always want to remember what she was like as a little girl."

I think Daddy-daughter day was a big hit!

Samuel's Latest Hits: Addendum

Okay, here are a few things I failed to add last time.

Samuel is pulling himself up to a standing position on everything. He is very proud of himself for this.

Samuel loves to play and splash in the bath! I just graduated him from the bath seat in favor of bare-bottom on the bottom of the tub. I had to bust out the old non-slip mat or he would just slip and slide all over, but he loves the freedom!

Object permanence: Samuel looks for whatever it was that you just took away from him or that he dropped. Also, it is so cute, but when he drops a cheerio, he looks down after it and reaches for it. If it is just on the chair or in his lap, he very determinedly reaches and pinches is up and eats it.

Did I mention this kid is determined?

Samuel's latest hits

He's growing so fast that I can't keep up informing you of what is going on!

Samuel is teething. He has one bottom tooth with its next door neighbor coming in. He's never inconsolably cried quite like when he was getting his first tooth. Poor guy! I'm sure thankful for Orajel!

Samuel is eating solids and loves it! He is a hungry boy!

Samuel is sitting up on his own, crawling, grabbing, and putting everything in his mouth. He is very determined. Leah never could get herself from crawling to a sitting position or from sitting to crawling, and she could hardly sit up unassisted until nine months or so. Samuel had it mastered at 7 months.

Samuel is already trying to pull himself up on stuff. He does this crawling "move" where he sticks his bum up in the air with his legs extended below him, like he's a camel, and it looks like he's trying to stand up. He has already tried lifting himself up into a cabinet or onto a toy. I can see the wheels turning--he keeps lifting one leg hesitantly trying to figure out how to get it over the edge of the cabinet, and then he chickens out and does something else. It is so cute, because he's not quite there yet, but I can tell that he really wants to be.

Here's some more evidence that Samuel is more of an independent thinker and a problem solver than Leah. Leah never held her own bottle--she made me hold it for her, and Samuel figured out how to hold a bottle the very first time I handed him one. Nowadays, Leah will complain that she is stuck on something, or she'll climb into his crib and not be able to get herself out, and she'll whine and wait for me to come rescue her. I show her how to get herself unstuck, like "put your leg over the edge and reach down," or "push the chair away from the table and you'll be able to get out." She still doesn't get it. I can already tell that Samuel will be the kid who gets himself unstuck on his own. He also recovers faster after bonking his head. Maybe it only takes a few months of minor older-sibling "abuse" to toughen up a younger sibling. It is so increasingly amazing to me how different my children's personalities are at such young ages. And it is so much fun!

Samuel Meets Great-Grandma Helen

Here is documentation of our weekend hiatus to visit Grandma Helen in Texas. Samuel is among 40-something other great-grandchildren, but that doesn't make his any less special!

Grandma was thrilled to meet our little guy, and they hit it off great! Please pardon the poor quality of these camera-phone pictures.

I'm a big kid now!

Leah is such a big girl! She is mostly potty trained (how do you really know when you are completely done potty-training, anyway?). This would have been a week and a half since her last accident if she hadn024't has so many blueberries yesterday... She also has a big girl bed! No more crib for this girl, c0heck out her latest tent bed setup:



Today we videotaped her making a commercial. Okay, so she may not be the most articulate, but don't you think she is just the most beautiful, intelligent, sweet little girl ever? Is this how every parent feels about their own children?

Laughing and crawling

Here are two videos that are quite possibly only appreciated by grandparents.

Samuel (army) crawling, with Leah providing the commentary:

(He is actually quite a determined little mover!)

Leah spinning in circles and causing uproarious laughter--at least they are entertaining each other!