Catching up

I realize it has been entirely too long since my last post. I'm sorry. I have no excuse. I will try to do better.

I had decided not to keep doing a post on (or around) the 7th of every month since Samantha is already a year old, and I figured that there isn't that much to say each month, right. Well this month has proved me wrong.

Since her birthday, Samantha has gotten 2 more teeth, stands almost all the time, stood on her own, started cruising and says several words now. The teeth were another bottom incisor on 1/28/09 and her first molar on 2/4/09. She is working on some top teeth, too, but I think they will still be a while in coming.

She stood on her own on 2/7/09. Of course, she was VERY highly motivated that day. She had something in her hand that she didn't want to let go of, and Aunt Kathy was holding her container of puffy stars just out of reach. So after thinking about it for a few minutes, Samantha finally let go of Kathy's leg and reached up for the container. Yeah!!! We haven't seen a repeat performance yet, but I'm sure it will be coming.

Samantha was also very highly motivated on 2/12/09, the day she cruised along the couch for the first time. You see, Samantha loves to sort laundry. And we had a pile of clean clothes I had taken out of the dryer on the couch. She pulled up on the edge of the couch, and we moved the clothes to the other end to see if she would cruise or crawl. And she did cruise down to the other end of the couch. Woohoo! BUT, I still say she is NOT a toddler. Crawling is still her mode of transportation, so she is still my baby...NOT my toddler, no matter what her doctor says. :)

Samantha's vocabulary has taken off this month, and so has her ability to imitate sounds. She says Dada, (and once in a while Mama, but she usually just calls me Dada, too), bye-bye, uh-oh, Da doo (Thank you), Baba (Benjamin), Bah (book), and today she started saying uice (juice). I think she says doggie, but I can't remember what sound that is. I will have to write it down the next time I hear her say it. She does it every time she hears a dog barking. Brent thinks she may have said diaper, too, but we havent' heard it again, so we aren't sure. One of her favorite games is to make a sound and then have us copy it, and she starts giggling like crazy if we say a different sound, then she will copy that sound. She also signs thank you, more and milk, and blows kisses and waves bye-bye. She will still give kisses occasionally, but usually only to Daddy. I fact, if we are both right by her and I tell her to give Mommy kisses, she will promptly give Daddy kisses, then giggle at me. Little turkey!

Samantha has gotten very adventureous. She loves to be tossed in the air, to fall down onto the bed or a pillow, to crawl over things and she attempts to climb. Once she figures out how to use her feet and legs for climbing, we will be in real trouble. She would rather be outside than anywhere else, and starts to get very upset when we bring her back in before she is ready. And if she is inside, one of her top priorities is to find a window to look out.

I haven't been able to get very many pictures lately because somehting is wrong with my camera...most of the time, it doesn't focus. But here are a few that we have managed to get from the last month or so.


These first two are from Kathy's bridal shower. Samantha definitely remembered what presents are and decided to help Kathy open them.



Looking adorable in her sailor dress and hat.


Playing outside with Mommy.


Watching at the door calling for Daddy to come home. Really. She went to the door and started calling his name. I was very glad that he came home a few minutes after that because I was starting to think that she was going to get upset that he wasn't answering her.