Everyday Adventures of Our Little Family

No More Cast!

2012-01-21T13:41:00.001-08:00

Samantha got her cast off on Wednesday! I didn't know this (never had a broken bone) but after the cast comes off, it's common for the limb to still hurt. The doctor said it might take up to two weeks for her to be back to normal with a full range of motion. She said to just let Samantha take it at her own pace and not to rush her into walking. When we got home, Samantha started crawling right away, but did not stand at all. The next day, she was up and walking, but with a limp. Now, three days later, she is walking everywhere (no crawling) but is still limping. It looks like it hurts, but everytime I ask her, she says it's fine. Such a strong girl!

Look! It's my leg!

Two Random Things

2012-01-17T21:48:00.000-08:00

1. I took Samantha to an automatic car wash yesterday. My dad used to go through the car wash every time he filled up the car and I loved going through with him when I was a kid. Samantha did pretty well. She had her eyes closed the entire time. When we exited, she opened her eyes and said, "I want to try that again!"

2. I ran to put some clothes in the washing machine and left Samantha and William alone in the playroom. When I came back, she said in a VERY concerned voice, "He's crying!" and was next to him gently patting him. Sweetheart.

2 months!

2012-01-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

William turned 2 months old yesterday!

15 pounds, 10 ounces.
24 inches long.

He's a big boy. Already in 6-month clothing.
He is smiling and cooing all the time.
He is very mellow. He hardly ever cries. He'll cry when he's hungry or has to burp.
He is starting to enjoy car rides more - still cries once in a while, but will usually talk to himself or fall asleep.
I haven't tried to put him in a stroller yet.
He loves being in the Moby Wrap. Usually falls asleep.
He's such a sweet, sweet baby and we love him so!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

2012-01-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

We have lots of books at our house.

Books in the living room:

Books in the playroom:

And books in the bedroom:

Samantha loves her books. She KNOWS each one. When she's looking for a particular book, she knows which room to go to. She knows the titles of all her favorites (and she has a lot of favorites - it changes from day to day). She knows the names of the authors of most of her books; when she doesn't, she'll ask, "Who's this by?" She can also tell you the characters in each story. Not only that, but she makes connections between the stories and her life.

We've read to her everyday since she was born.

Now she reads to us!

wow!

2012-01-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

William is not even two months old yet, and I've already had to pack away all of the 3-month clothes. He's wearing 6-month clothes! Sheesh! Good thing we're exclusively breastfeeding. We'd be spending all of our money on formula otherwise!

His nose was better today. I've been using saline drops and the nosefrida. I got a huge green booger out this afternoon. We'll see how tonight goes.

More :(

2012-01-08T02:56:00.000-08:00

William has a stuffy nose! He can't breathe, so can't comfortably sleep. I feel so bad for him!

:(

2011-12-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

She's crawling everywhere.

Crawling.

My vibrant two-year-old who loved to...

run

jump

spin in circles

gallop

dance

march

stomp

but especially run...

has been reduced to crawling.

:(

We learned our lesson

2011-12-21T22:11:00.000-08:00

Never go down the giant spiral tube slide with a two year old on your lap.

Cause that's what Ron did with Samantha on Monday.

And that's how Samantha fractured her leg.

We didn't know it was fractured until today.

Poor baby.

We decided against taking her to the ER on Monday night because she didn't seem to be in much pain, except when she tried to walk.

On Tuesday, we called the doctor and they said to monitor it until Wednesday and treat any pain with ibuprofen. Again, not much pain unless she tried to walk. She got two doses of ibuprofen.

On Wednesday, we went to the doctor and she ordered an x-ray.

We left the doctor's office and headed to Children's Hospital.

Got an x-ray.

Got a call from the doctor.

"It's fractured. Head over to the Orthopedic Department. They're expecting you."

Got to Orthopedics.

"We need to get authorization from your insurance in 15 minutes or we can't see you today."

What?! Call the insurance company.

Got the authorization.

Samantha chose purple for her full-leg cast.

She will be in it for 4 weeks.

No gymnastics. And i just signed her up for dance class. Ooops.

Like I said, lesson learned.

William Keoni's Doctor Appointment

2011-12-21T21:43:00.000-08:00

5 weeks, 5 days.

13 pounds, 7 ounces!

22.5 inches

Doing really well.

And as cute as ever!

11 days old!

2011-11-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

We went to the doctor for a check-up today.

Weight: 9 pounds, 12 ounces
Length: 21.75 inches
Head circumference: 38 cm

He is a "very healthy boy."

Yay!

2!

2011-11-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

Samantha, you are two years old!
You are growing up to be such a smart, independent young person.
You know all the letters.
You know all the numbers up to 13.
You have a huge vocabulary and can clearly communicate using complete sentences.
You are silly! You like to make us laugh by joking around.
You like for us to pretend to cry so you can give us kisses to help us feel better.
You love sweets! Since you discovered chocolate on Halloween, you've been asking for "treats" almost everyday.
You love to run around the house.
You love to stay home in your pajamas all day.
You can put together 24-piece puzzles with minimal help.
You peed in the toilet yesterday!
You love your brother.

We love you!!!

William Keoni

2011-11-13T07:44:00.001-08:00

He's here! He arrived on November 11 at 7:35 am. A healthy 10 pounds, 7 ounces and 21.5 inches long. He looks just like Samantha did at birth. The same black hair. The same button nose, and the same set of lungs that can wake the neighbors when he is upset. He hasn't been upset much, though. He is so mellow. When he isn't eating or sleeping, he's just looking at the world around him. He is breastfeeding like a champ. He latched on less than an hour after birth, and my milk has already come in.
Samantha met him yesterday (Nov. 12). I was a little nervous about how she would react and how that first meeting would go, but I needn't have. She was excited to see her little brother and wanted to hold him. She kept petting him and giving him kisses. So cute!
Pictures to come soon!

Pumpkin Patch!

2011-10-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

Not good with the blog updates...sorry!Last weekend, we took Samantha to the pumpkin patch! We missed it last year, so this was actually her first time.

There were lots of pumpkins, of course...
And (fake) animals to ride...
And some real animals too...but my camera died and I didn't get any pictures of her riding a pony or feeding the billy goats.

We had a lot of fun!

Samantha is a lot better

2011-10-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

We ended up spending a night in the hospital for pneumonia. She coughed for an hour and seemed like she was having a hard time breathing. I told Ron I wanted to take her to the ER. He felt that it could wait until morning. I felt that it couldn't. We took her. I'm so glad we did. She was wheezing and wasn't getting enough oxygen in her blood. She got a one-hour albuterol breathing treatment and didn't improve. They admitted her for the night. She got a four-hour breathing treatment, then a treatment every four hours after that. By 5pm the next day, she had stopped wheezing and her oxygen saturation was up to 98% (compared to 91% when she was admitted.) They discharged us with antibiotics to treat the pneumonia. They told us that her lungs were inflamed and to expect the cough to stick around for 2 to 4 weeks, but she should be able to return to her regular activities in a few days.

It's been a week and she has completely stopped coughing. She's doing great!

Sick

2011-10-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

Poor Samantha is sick :(

I got a call from daycare on Tuesday, saying that she threw up. Went to pick her up and took her to the doctor...

she has an ear infection,
a throat infection,
and her lungs sound "junky"

She's on Amoxicillin for 10 days,
prednisolone for 5 days,
and an inhaler as needed

She threw up about 8 times on Tuesday...she didn't even eat anything, she was just throwing up stomach juices. On Wednesday, she seemed to be getting better. On Thursday, she was just very clingy. Today, she has a horrible cough! Hope she gets better soon. I feel so helpless. :(

Better

2011-09-15T04:42:00.000-07:00

Well, everything looks better!

The placenta is out of the way, so no placenta accreta.

I passed the 3 hour test, so no gestational diabetes.

The baby is healthy! Measuring about 2 weeks ahead, so it's gonna be a big one, just like Samantha.

We have a c-section date: November 11, 2011. Sounds good to me!

Wait, is that really only 57 days away??? EEEEE

Failed!

2011-08-30T04:17:00.000-07:00

Failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test. The cut-off is 130 and my result was 134. Argggh! I have to go in for a 3 hour test. I hope I don't have gestational diabetes. :(

Sad

2011-08-22T07:49:00.001-07:00

So sad to have to leave Samantha at daycare again. We haven't even left the house yet and I miss her already. :(

Back to reality

2011-08-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

We are back home from our 6 week vacation to Hawaii and LA.
I go back to work on Monday.
Samantha goes back to daycare on Monday.
One thing to look forward to:
13 weeks until baby #2!
We still haven't thought of a name yet. Eeeps!

And we're back!

2011-08-13T17:29:00.001-07:00

In Los Angeles, that is.

We are on Kauai!

2011-07-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

We got off the plane at 7:30 last night. Samantha was immediately surrounded by the attention of 2 uncles, 1 aunt, 1 great-grandma and 1 great-grandpa. When we got to her great-grandparents' house (where we will be staying for the next 3 weeks), she was loved on by 2 cousins and 1 more aunt. She is so lucky to be loved by so many!

Gorgeous

2011-07-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Samantha has been walking around saying, "I gorgeous!"

Thanks to Aunty Rebecca who would say "Hi Gorgeous!" every time Samantha walked into the room.

More Hilo

2011-07-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Falls: The best time to see it is during sunrise. We went during sunset. It was very backlit and I couldn't get a good picture.
Volcano: Lots of steam! Samantha wouldn't pose for a picture.But she loved playing with this pile of rocks out in the parking lot.
Zoo: A great little zoo with lots of rainforest plants and animals. See?

Emotional

2011-07-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

Stupid pregnancy hormones make me cry about the silliest things!

While we are in Hilo, we are renting a vacation home with our friends, who have a 2.5 year old daughter. Samantha and Ana get along very well and have played together nicely. Yesterday, Samantha offered Ana her stuffed Ernie (from Sesame Street) doll and Ana pushed it away, saying, "I don't want that." Now, Ernie is one of Samantha's prized possessions, and she couldn't understand why Ana didn't want it. She looked at me with tears in her eyes, and asked, "Why?" "Ana didn't want it." And all I could say was, "I don't know, maybe she doesn't like Ernie," as tears streamed down my face.

Silly.

Hilo, Hawaii

2011-07-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we flew out to Hilo, Hawaii to meet up with some friends who were also vacationing here. We didn't time our flight very well, and didn't have time for Samantha to take her afternoon nap before we had to leave for the airport. By the time we got to the airport, she was out like a light, but only slept for 40 minutes because we had to start boarding. Once on the plane, she was in a pretty good mood, but just wanted to walk around...which is pretty hard to do on a crowded plane. We tried to entertain her with books, drawing, new toys, and movies, but she didn't want to settle down to do any of that stuff. Three hours into the flight, she finally fell asleep, but only for an hour. We still had an hour to go when she woke up, but she was content sitting on my lap for that time.

Hilo has been nice. The weather is beautiful during the day and rainy at night. Ron bought a new ukulele. We found a nice playground downtown. Samantha tried her first Loco Moco...loved the eggs and rice and gravy, but not the meat. We went to the farmer's market today and got some fresh fruits and veggies. Yum!

Los Angeles

2011-07-16T17:23:00.001-07:00

We were just in LA for 6 days, visiting Samantha's grandparents. She was in HEAVEN being spoiled by her grandma and grandpa. We went to the zoo, library for storytime, and parks. She got to stay up late, eat ice cream almost every night, and was carried everywhere she wanted. Lucky girl!

A Little Brother!

2011-07-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

Samantha's having a little brother! We haven't told her yet...I think it's too abstract for her to understand right now, since he won't be arriving until November. That's not very long to us, but for her it is. Of course, I think our family is changing for the better, but I'm a little scared for her. She has been the center of our universe since she joined our family, and now she will have to share the attention with her brother. I hope she will always feel special because she is. She is the most amazing thing that has happened to us.

On to the bad news...there's always that, isn't there? I have placenta previa again. That in itself isn't bad, I had one with Samantha too. It was partial and resolved itself by 28 weeks. But with a previous c-section scar on the uterus, there is a chance that the placenta will grow into the scar tissue and get stuck. If that happens and it cannot disconnect during birth, the uterus will have to be removed! Yikes! Right now I just have to be careful and watch for bleeding. Any bleeding will be a bad, bad thing and I will have to take myself to the ER right away. We are leaving on a six-week vacation to Los Angeles and Hawaii on Saturday. The doctor didn't seem worried about LA at all, he said that there were plenty of hospitals there, but if I happen to bleed in Hawaii, I would not be allowed to fly back and I would have to stay there until the baby is born. Oh well, at least it's Hawaii! And we have family there that can help care for Samantha if anything happens. Which it won't. Gotta think positive!

So yay! A boy! Blues, yellows, and greens, here we come!

Stalling...

2011-07-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

Samantha has become quite the expert at stalling when it is time for bed.
Me: Samantha, it's time for bed.
Samantha: (running to the refrigerator) Eat!
Me: No, all done eating. It's time for bed.
Samantha: (grabbing her bubbles) I blowing bubbles!
Me: Say good night to the bubbles. It's time for bed.
Samantha: (taking books off her bookshelf) book!
Me: Okay, one book. (I read to her, then put the book back on the shelf.) All done! Time for bed.
Samantha: (starts to cry) More book!

She is so cute. Love her.

Too much fun!

2011-06-17T11:36:00.001-07:00

Hanging with this little 19-month old is just too much fun!
She is so funny! She says "hi" to everything she sees, followed by a "what are you doing?"
She "feeds" her stuffed animals and gives them hugs and kisses.
She likes her stuffed animals to "read" to her.
She sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "The Alphabet Song," "Frere Jacques," "Row, Row, Row your boat," and many others I can't think of right now.
She can count to 10.
She wakes up every morning with a smile and keeps us laughing until she goes to bed at night.
We love you, little one.

Riding the carousel (hanging on for dear life, but also wanted to wave to Mama):
Splashing at the splash park:

Parachute fun at a local children's play space.

We are loving summer!

2011-06-13T07:51:00.001-07:00

We have already gone to the zoo,

the amusement park,

and explored a new playground.

And there's so much more to do!

Merry Go Around!

2011-06-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Her favorite part of the park...she stayed here for an hour and a half! She rode on each character several times, but her favorite was the "turtle chair" (5th picture). I'm planning to take her to some real merry-go-arounds this summer. I think she'll love them!

Trip to the ER

2011-06-03T12:40:00.001-07:00

We were at the ER last night. Samantha was running around in music class and tripped on her own feet. For the next two hours, she couldn't put weight down on her left foot and cried so much from the pain that she threw up. Poor girl! We took her to the ER where the doctor said that nothing was broken and to just give her Motrin for pain. They gave her a dose at the hospital. She loved it! Kept sucking on the dropper and saying, "mmmm!" And it helped her feel better. We didn't get to bed until midnight. She's doing better today. Still has a funny walk...hopefully she will be back to normal by Saturday.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

18 months!

2011-05-28T07:51:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can't believe that my little baby is one and a half! She is such an amazing, funny little girl that keeps us laughing all day long.

She loves to hide. When she hears dada coming (home from work, out of the bathroom, in from outside, etc) she excitedly whispers, "hide!" and runs to me. We usually hide under a blanket with her giggling the whole time. She doesn't understand that she's supposed to be quiet when she hides! Dada pretends not to see her and will ask, "Is Samantha in the. . . closet?" And she'll innocently answer, "Noooo." Haha.

She has a little rocking chair that she loves to ride in. She climbs in all by herself and rocks back and forth singing "Row, row, row your boat." She just got a hand-me-down little dog rocker from her friend and she thinks it's the best thing! She goes wild in it! She even stands up and rides it like a surf board!

She's very good at puzzles. She knows the correct places for all the pieces, but sometimes she has a hard time getting the pieces to go exactly in the cut-out space.

Her Cookie Monster Play-doh is one of her favorite toys. She plays with it every single day. She'll either ask for "Cookie" or "play-doh." Sometimes she doesn't even ask, she'll get it off the shelf by herself and start playing with it! So independent!

First she presses the Play-doh into the mold.

Then she looks at it.

Then she feeds her creation to Cookie Monster.

Our favorite activity is to go to the park.

She rides in the swing and sings, "Row, row, row your boat."

Going through the tunnel.

Guess what she sings when she rides on this?

She LOVES these musical instruments.

Wheeee! Going down the slide.

Fingerpainting!

2011-05-10T07:20:00.001-07:00

She loves it. She loves it so much that she almost went through the whole tube of fingerpaint in one sitting. She loves it so much that she'll ask for it everyday. As soon as we walk in the door she'll grab her paints and say, "painting!" I love that she loves it so much. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty. She relishes in the feel and the sight of the fingerpaints (thankfully not the taste!). I just ordered her some more paints and paper. I even got some brushes and sponge stampers. I can't wait to see her get creative with it!

Daddy's Little Girl!

2011-05-07T06:43:00.001-07:00

(No, she's not really listening to music on the headphones. Just looking cute.)

Our Spring Break

2011-04-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love hanging out with my girl all day!

On Monday, I took my mom to the outlet mall that is about 45 minutes away. We got there at around 11:30 and shopped until 2:00. Samantha slept the whole time in her stroller. She's just like me! I HATE shopping. I only go to the store when I need something - and I'm in and out in a matter of minutes. After she woke up, we decided to get some lunch and I got directions to the local playground on my iPhone.

Going through the tunnel:
At first she was not sure about going across this bridge. After a few tries, she was a pro!
She figured out how to get on and off this frog all by herself!
Aren't these the neatest swings? Samantha thought so.

Cow, POOP!

2011-04-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

There is a little farm near us built by a local high school 60 years ago, and it still houses cows, pigs, sheep, bunnies, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and goats. It's free to the public and you can bring lettuce or celery to feed the animals. On Monday, we took some celery to feed the cows. The cows are Samantha's favorite animals on the Little Farm (that's the name of it). She was so excited on the way to the Little Farm. She kept saying, "Cow crunch!" and "Cow mooooooo!"
When we got there, we unwrapped the celery, pulled off a stalk and walked toward the cows. The cows sensed us approaching and got up and walked toward us. Samantha stopped in here tracks, shook her head and said, "Noooooo." So I ended up feeding the cows with her in my arms. She was very interested. She said, "Crunch!" every time the cows took a bite.
When the cows were done eating, one of them turned around and pooped! Samantha loved this! She said, "Cow, Poop! Biiiiiiiig!" all the way home!

She's Doing Well in Preschool

2011-03-31T06:53:00.000-07:00

Samantha transitioned fabulously to preschool. She was ready. She was ready for art projects. She was ready for more social interaction. Her preschool teacher is impressed with how much Spanish she knows (this is a Spanish immersion preschool), and how much she is talking in general. Her attention span is also impressive. The teacher did a story and puppet show and Samantha sat down and watched the whole thing. That's great for a 16.5 month old!

The other day a went in to pick her up. She ran away from me and said, "NO!" Grabbed a toy train and rolled it on the ground saying, "Choo-choo!" She didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay and play. I was not upset by that at all. In fact, I was delighted about it, because it meant that she was happy there, and we made the right choice moving her from the babysitter to preschool.

"Uh-oh, shoe!"

2011-03-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

We took Samantha to Target yesterday. She was sitting in the cart, happily playing for about 10 minutes. Then she wanted "uppies". She says this when she wants me to carry her. I took her out and carried her, leaving the cart behind because it was empty. She kept saying "uh-oh, shoe. uh-oh, shoe," except she doesn't make the "sh" sound quite clearly yet. It's more like a "dzh" sound. I didn't quite get what she was saying, so I kept walking, showing her things in the store. She kept repeating herself. Suddenly it dawned on me what she was saying. I looked down, and sure enough, one shoe was off. We ran back to the cart and found it.

I am just AMAZED at her communication skills!

Transitions...

2011-03-10T19:15:00.001-08:00

We had a great babysitter for the last 11 months. I had known her for 6 years, and asked her if she could babysit when I was still pregnant with Samantha. She only lives 2 minutes from my work and I could nurse Samantha (back when she was exclusively nursing) and visit her at lunch. She was great with Samantha - gentle, loving, patient - totally worth the $1,000/month that I was paying her. In the last few months, things started to change.
More than once, I would go to her house after lunch or after work and Samantha would be in her high chair. Not eating in her high chair, just in her high chair, hanging out. I was not okay with that. I'm paying you $1,000/month to care for Samantha, not put her in her high chair so you can clean your house. Clean your house on your own time.
The other day, I asked her if she took Samantha to her library for story time. Her response? "No, I was too busy." WTF? I'm paying you $1,000/month to be busy WITH Samantha, not whatever else you're doing.
We already had the feeling that Samantha had outgrown her care. Samantha is ready for more. But we weren't ready to move on yet because Samantha is so comfortable with her and we didn't want to disrupt her routine. Until Tuesday. That's when M asked me for more money, because Samantha demanded a lot of her attention. Samantha wants to follow her around and see what she's doing all the time. HELLO!!! Welcome to life with a toddler. She had two kids of her own...she knows what it's like. She just didn't want to treat Samantha as her own. Still, I wanted to try to make it work. I offered her $10/hr. That would end up being $1200/month. That wasn't enough. She had to "think about it."
Whatever. I can't afford to pay her any more.
Sooooo...tomorrow, Samantha starts preschool! It's a Spanish immersion preschool where she will have movement and music, art, literacy, outdoor time. I think it will be great for her...but I'm so nervous about the change. Wish us luck!

A Great Day at the Bay Area Discovery Museum!

2011-03-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

I'd totally get a membership to this museum if it was closer to where we live. Samantha really enjoyed all the activities. Well, all the ones that were appropriate for her age. They have some activities for bigger kids too!

Splashing

Little frog instruments. You take the stick and rub it on the frog's back and it makes a cool "croaking" sound! There were different frogs with different textures (and sounds).

A HUGE tree for the kids to walk through.

Making music

Drawing. This girl loves to draw.

15 months!

2011-02-21T15:06:00.001-08:00

Samantha, you are an amazing girl! Your daddy and I are so proud of the person that you are becoming.

Things I don't want to forget:
You shake your head and wag your index finger when you say, "Nooooo."
You love YOUR books, but you also love to get the "grown-up" books off the shelf and "read" them aloud to me or your dada.
You love to draw. It is often the first thing you ask for when we get home. You run to the paper and crayons in your room saying, "Daw." Then you hand a crayon to me and point to the paper and say, "Mama?"
You give great hugs and kisses. When we hug, you rest your head on my shoulder and your whole body melts into mine. When I ask for a kiss, I get a nice wet one on my lips, snot and all.
You know all the body parts. You especially like the nose, eyes, and mouth. Oh yeah, and hair.
You bring us our shoes and try to get them on our feet. Usually when we're cooking or doing laundry, or something else that does not require us to wear shoes.
You love the outdoors. You will point to the door and say, "Outside. Go go go!"
You still love to dance. You like to press the "Demo" button on our electric keyboard and dance to "Livin La Vida Loca" which subsequently plays.
You are starting to become interested in the potty. You say "pee pee!" when you pee, but we've never made it to the potty in time. Soon, though.

There's so much more I could write about. You are just a sweet, loving, smart, wonderful person and we love you so much!!!

We also went to the doctor today for a 15 month check up.
Samantha is 23 pounds and 4 ounces. She hasn't gained any weight since her 12 month check! Must be all the running around she does.
She is 30.5 inches tall.
She has 2 teeth that are about to erupt.
And the bad news...she has bronchiolitis, a respiratory tract infection. She has been coughing for the last 3 weeks or so and Dr. B heard wheezing when he listened to her lungs through the stethoscope. There's nothing we can do but wait for this to pass, and hope that it doesn't get any worse. Poor baby!

She Loves the Beach

2011-01-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii
December 2010
We stayed at the edge of the water, playing with the sand and making sand sculptures. There were a few waves that day, and we wanted her to get used to the water before heading in. We took her into the water. She was laughing and kicking her legs. After about 10 minutes we headed out and plopped her down on the sand, hoping to make some more sand sculptures. Nope - she got up and started running into the ocean! (I caught her before she got too far.) She loves the beach!

Tennessee Valley Beach, California
January 2011Yesterday was a beautiful day here so we met up with some friends for breakfast and then went on a hike to the beach. The Northern California beaches are nothing like the soft sandy beaches of Hawaii. The sand was more "gravelly" and the water was a LOT colder. We didn't think Samantha would like venturing into the water. We were wrong! Once she saw the water, there was no holding her back. Each time the wave crashed and made its way back into the ocean, Samantha pointed at the water and said, "MORE!" She loves the beach.

Samantha's Birthday Luau

2011-01-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

Bad blogger again! I always intend to put up a new post, I have things "written out" in my head...but I just don't have the time to sit down a do it!

Anyway, Samantha's birthday was on November 16, and we had a small birthday party here with just family and close friends. We kept the celebration small, because we had a huge birthday celebration planned for December with all the family from Hawaii.

What a great party it was! Thank you to all her aunts, uncles, and grandparents who made it all possible. Samantha is so lucky to be so loved by so many.

Her beautiful birthday sign made by a talented friend.
The decorations. The tables were decorated with beautiful flowers and pictures of Samantha inside hand-painted frames. Each guest got to take a picture home with them.

The pinata. See that turtle? It's a handmade pinata. Amazing

The pig. Delicious. Sorry vegetarian readers.

The Birthday Girl! How did she get so big ?

The birthday girl chasing chickens.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-25T10:53:00.001-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve at great-grandma's house. Samantha wore her cute Christmas dress.

That's not a very good picture of it, but you can see the top two panels. The bottom two panels have a stocking with a Teddy Bear peeking out, and a stack of presents.

Ron made yummy prime rib. (Wish I had taken more pictures at the party.) We also had turkey, fresh baked rolls, spaghetti salad, cucumber salad, rice, and four types of desserts! I also steamed some broccoli for Samantha (the girl loves her veggies!)

Samantha had fun playing with Krysi and Kimi, two of our cousin's kids. At midnight, we did a gift exchange. Yes, Samantha stayed up until midnight (she knows how to party!) This is one of samantha's many presents.

The perfect gift for her because she loves to read and she LOVES music.

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Funny picture

2010-12-25T10:26:00.001-08:00

This picture cracks me up! We were at Costco and Samantha was eating a cracker with cream cheese. It was a sample that they were giving away. Well, Samantha decided that she only wanted the cream cheese, not the cracker, which led to....

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A nice drive

2010-12-23T18:12:00.001-08:00

We went for a drive around the island today. Stopped at Lappert's for some coconut ice cream. Mmmmmm

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Sweet

2010-12-21T19:49:00.001-08:00

Sleeping at her great grandma's house in Hawaii.

We arrived on Saturday at midnight Hawaiian time, which was 2am for us. There was a 2 hour delay at the airport. The 5 hour flight was very bumpy. I was feeling sick at one point, and worried about how samantha was feeling, but she was fine. She was making friends with all the other passengers on the plane. Samantha took a three hour nap, woke up for an hour, and slept the last hour of the flight, so when we got off the plane she was WIDE AWAKE and full of energy for the next 2 hours. She finally crashed at 2am Hawaiian time. It has been rainy here and we have been very mellow, just enjoying time with her great-grandparents.

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Sickies

2010-12-12T06:13:00.001-08:00

The stomach bug of 2010 hit our house last week.

It all started with me. Then Samantha got it. Then Ron. I will spare you the details, but it wasn't pretty.

Thankfully, we are mostly better now.

What is this yummy stuff?

2010-11-25T22:19:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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Helping with the laundry

2010-11-19T14:55:00.001-08:00

Samantha is just so curious and into everything! The other day, I was trying to load the washer, but Samantha had other ideas. She stood by the washer and pulled out every single item. Before dropping each item on the ground, she looked at it and talked to it. This girl is a riot, and we love her so much!

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She wants to eat her birthday balloons!

2010-11-19T12:41:00.001-08:00

Music Together!

2010-10-20T17:15:00.001-07:00

Samantha and I go to Music Together class every week. It's a parent-participation class led by a teacher that's a practicing musician. Samantha loves music! Every time she hears a song with a strong beat or a familiar rhythm, she'll bounce and dance. She's even started dancing standing up!

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Test

2010-10-17T23:12:00.001-07:00

Just got Blogpress for my iPhone. Maybe this will make me a better blogger?

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9 months ...and sick

2010-08-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

This is how Samantha spent her 9-month birthday.My sweet baby is sick! We noticed that she had a fever on Saturday. Then she threw up. A lot. We called the advice nurse and she said to keep an eye on her fever and keep her hydrated. Her fever hovered around 101 degrees on Sunday and 102 on Monday. She threw up a few times each day. She didn't have the energy or desire to do anything but hang out in my arms.

On Monday afternoon we went in to see the doctor. Turns out she has an infection and was prescribed Amoxicillin for 10 days. She does NOT like taking it! I have to hold her down and Ron syringes the 7.5ml into her mouth while she cries the entire time. We're lucky if half of it ends up inside her!

I hate seeing her sick. I'd gladly hold her until my arms fell off and clean up vomit all day, but seeing her sad makes me SO sad. I hope she feels better soon! I can't wait to play with my happy baby again. Love you, Samantha!

Come to Momma!

2010-08-13T00:20:00.000-07:00

8...er, 8 and a half months

2010-08-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

A little late, as usual...Here is her 8 month picture.

She has grown by leaps and bounds this past month. At 7.5 months, I was just starting to feel her bottom two teeth come in...well, now she has 6 teeth! 2 on the bottom and 4 on top! Her teeth are SO cute, especially when she smiles. Teething pain has not been too bad for her. She was clingy for about a week, but that was it! No inconsolable crying, no grumpiness.

At 8 months and 2 weeks, she started CRAWLING! She has been mobile for a while, getting to where she wants to go by squirming, wriggling, and bouncing, but now she's officially crawling! Now she can get to my computer anytime she wants! Here she is checking her facebook page. ha!

She has also transitioned to taking baths in the big bathtub. This is her last bath in the kitchen sink. She LOVES the big tub. She splashes like crazy and even tries to drink the water.

All fresh and clean after a bath in the big tub!

We love you so much, Samantha!

I can feel them!

2010-06-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

Can't see them yet, but I can feel two teeth on the bottom! Yay teeth! So far, she hasn't been too miserable. We shall see...

Swimming!

2010-06-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

Samantha LOVES being in the water. This summer, we have mommy-and-me swimming classes three times a week. Today was her first class. The weather was windy and cold, but that didn't matter to Samantha! She had a great time!

We sang some songs in a circle.

Weeee! This is fun!

Brrr...it's kind of cold in here, mom.

Hmmm...what does this water taste like?

I can't wait to go swimming with Samantha again!

Phew!

2010-06-17T10:52:00.000-07:00

No fever last night! Yay!

Samantha is 7 months old!
Here she is with curly hair after her bath.
She's 19 pound and 13 ounces!
She wears size 9 months - 12 months. In some brands she needs to wear size 12 - 18 months!

She makes this silly face where she wrinkles her nose and breaths in and out really hard through her nostrils. We think it's funny!

This is what she typically looks like. Such a happy baby! She's always smiling. She's so inquisitive and just wants to explore everything around her. She's enjoying food a lot! We are doing Baby Led Weaning - which means that we skipped the whole pureed food stage and just started feeding her real food at 6 months. We are introducing her to a variety of flavors in the hopes that she will not be a picky eater like her daddy. In the last month, she's tried: chicken, pork, beef, cauliflower, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, green beans, potatoes, avocado, banana, strawberry, orange, peach, nectarine, aprium, pasta, bell pepper, onion, tomato, rice, garlic, cheese, watermelon, honeydew, ambrosia melon, cantaloupe, and galia melon. She doesn't have any teeth yet, but that hasn't stopped her from eating! She has LOVED everything! Most things are fresh, organic, and locally grown.
Grandpa: sorry, but she is not allowed to eat pizza or ice cream yet.

She is sitting up like a champ! She can move across the room by bouncing up and down on her bottom and scootching forward a little at a time. She's not crawling yet, but she's definitely trying! She rocks back and forth on her hands and knees, but hasn't figured out how to put it all together yet.

Our local zoo has a playgroup for infants - 4 year olds. It's a chance for Samantha to play with other kids and for parents to talk. The coolest thing about this playgroup is that they bring out an animal for the kids to meet and pet. So far, Samantha has met a possum and a chinchilla. Here's a video of her petting the chinchilla.

sigh

2010-06-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

I really need to blog more. Today Samantha turns 7 months! She has a doctor's appointment at 3, where she will be receiving more shots. After what she went through last month, I'm a bit nervous :(

Little Pork Chop

2010-05-23T10:16:00.001-07:00

Lots of stuff

2010-05-20T22:47:00.000-07:00

Samantha turned 6 months old on the 16th! I can't believe that she's already a half year old!
My sister came over to hang out with Samantha and brought her a present to celebrate her six months. Here is Samantha opening her gift.
It was a cute sun hat, a "Daddy's Sweetie" shirt, and a cheery cherry romper.
Samantha loved her new clothes, but she loved playing with the tissue paper more.Samantha's grandma also sent her a six month gift. Cute colorful headbands to keep Samantha's hair out of her eyes! If only she'd let me put them on! She would rather eat them.

On Monday, at her six-month appointment, Samantha weighed in at 18 pounds, 13 ounces and measured 27 1/8 inches. She got 2 shots, DtaP and PCV. Everything was fine until 3:30 in the morning. That's when Samantha woke up, which was very unusual for her. She had been sleeping through the night since she was 8 weeks old! I reached out to comfort her, and noticed that she was burning up! We ran to get the thermometer...101.1 degrees. We were told to expect a fever of up to 102, so 101.1 was high, but not too high. So I just held her and made sure she was comfortable. Suddenly, she vomited. A lot. All over the sheets. While Ron changed the sheets, I changed her pajamas. I thought she might be hungry, since the contents of her stomach were now all over the sheets, so I fed her...bad idea. A second round of vomit, and another set of pajamas later she finally fell asleep again. She slept for about 5 hours and when she woke up, she was still hot...the thermometer read 104. We immediately called the doctor and took the first appointment they had. She was already feeling better by the time we went to the doctor. Her temp was down to 99.3. He said to keep an eye on her and to come back if the fever is not down by Thursday. She was pretty much back to normal on Wednesday.

Here she is enjoying a strawberry on Thursday night.

oh, hi

2010-05-01T00:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. Where have I been? At this little thing called work. I went back to work on April 12. The transition was hard for both me and Samantha. I have to drag her out of bed at 7:20 - change her diaper, feed her, and have her in the car by 7:35 to get to work by 8:15. Forty minute commute. Sucks. Sometimes she sleeps on the way to work. Sometimes she doesn't . My awesome babysitter picks her up from work at 8:30. She brings Samantha back at 10:15 so I can nurse and I hang out with her until 10:40. The babysitter hangs out with her until noon, and she comes back to me for the rest of the day. We try to leave work by 3:00 and Samantha usually sleeps the whole way home. The first week was rough. She'd cry the whole time she was away from me. It has gradually gotten better. She doesn't cry anymore, which makes me sooo happy. This is how she goes to work: pajamas and bedhead
Samantha turned 5 months old on April 16!

She didn't want to sit still for a picture!

She was 18 pounds and 26.5 inches at her doctor's appointment on April 19. She's a healthy girl!

She has started sitting up by herself!

yummy!

2010-04-10T11:27:00.001-07:00

Books are SO delicious!

Hair Clips

2010-04-08T23:22:00.001-07:00

See the cute little hair clip that Samantha is wearing? I made it. And they are available for purchase from Monkey Bars in Alameda! So if you live in the Bay Area and have a baby or know someone who has a baby, drop by this awesome little shop and have a looksie. And maybe buy a clip or two. Thank you!

Tummy time...

2010-03-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

...is getting better!

She rolls onto her tummy and plays for a few minutes - then when she's done, she yells for help and we pick her up. She's not even close to figuring out how to roll onto her back yet. I wasn't able to catch it on camera, but she's been pulling her knees under her butt, then straightening them out again, scooting her body up an inch or so. I have a feeling she'll be scooting around all over the place soon. My baby is growing up too fast!! :(

Cutie!

This is How I Roll!

2010-03-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Samantha started rolling last Sunday. It took her about a minute to get all the way over, and she only did it once a day for the next three days. Now, six days later, it only takes her a few seconds to roll over and she does it all day long! Yaaaay for Samantha!

We went to the Doctor

2010-03-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

Poor girl woke up this morning and threw up. I don't mean spitting-up-her-breakfast throwing up; I mean drunk-girl-at-an-all-night-party throwing up. It was pretty scary for me to see her heaving and gagging. So we went to the doctor to see what was going on. Turns out, she's fine. She just has a lot of mucus in her nose and throat (not sure what's causing it) and throwing up was her body's way of getting rid of some of it. She's in a pretty good mood today and didn't have a fever, so we're just going to keep an eye on it. If she develops a fever or loses her appetite, it's back to the doctor we'll go.

Yummy fingers:

Oh, by the way, she's up to 17 pounds and 2 ounces!!!

Not a Happy Camper

2010-03-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

runny/stuffy nose
cough
watery eyes
grumpy
wants to be held all the time

But still so darn cute!

She Rolled!

2010-03-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Samantha rolled from her back to her front for the first time today. She first swung her legs over to the right so that her lower body was rolled over, but her right arm was still stuck under her. After wriggling for a few moments, the right arm was free and she was completely rolled over!! Ron and I cheered and clapped. She looked around curiously, then burst into tears because she realized that she was stuck on her tummy! Ha!

We are so proud of our big girl. She is growing up so fast.

No pictures :( I'm gonna have my camera ready next time.

Allergies?

2010-03-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ron and I have been suffering from allergies all week. For me, it's nothing worse than some sneezing and a constant tickle in my nose. Ron says he feels the same way.

Well, this morning, Samantha woke up way too early with a stuffy nose. I can hear it when she breathes. Could she have allergies too? Poor baby!

Here are some cute pictures I took yesterday when she was playing.

4 month stats

2010-03-17T23:25:00.001-07:00

Height: 26 inches
Weight: 16 pounds, 11 ounces
Head Circumference: 42.5 centimeters

She got one shot today...was her usual brave self and only cried for a few seconds.

Here are a few pictures of Samantha rolling. She usually gets to this point then rolls back onto her back, but she did get almost all the way onto her tummy once today. Was not fast enough with the camera to catch that, though.
What a beautiful baby! We love you!

4 Months!

2010-03-16T21:52:00.001-07:00

You are four months old today! What are you up to?

You are out of your 3-6 months clothes. You're wearing 6-9 months now.
You are smiling all of the time.
You love looking at people. If it's someone you know, you'll show your sweet smile. If it's someone you don't recognize, you'll wrinkle your brows and study their face for a while before offering a smile.
You are so good at gripping things! You'll reach out and grab toys, glasses, hair, clothing, whatever catches your interest!
You babble all of the time. Sometimes with your small voice, sometimes with your loud voice!
You are not rolling over yet, but you'll roll from your back onto your side.
You do not like tummy time very much, but you're getting better at it!
You are liking your carseat more. You hardly cry in it anymore.
You sleep very well at night - up to 12 hours! But you hardly nap during the day. Lately, you've been taking about four 20 minute naps throughout the day. That's okay. I love playing with you during the day.

You make your mamma and daddy so happy. We love you so much!

Hats!

2010-03-09T21:25:00.001-08:00

All of these hats were handmade with love by her Grandma Charlie. Aren't they awesome? She almost has one for each day of the week! Which one is your favorite? Samantha gets the most compliments when she wears the strawberry one.

Tummy Time

2010-03-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

Samantha has always HATED being on her tummy. When we first started Tummy Time, she would only tolerate it for a few seconds before crying and screaming. And we don't believe in letting her cry through it, so we pick her up and try again the next day. Now, at 3 and a half months, she still doesn't like Tummy Time, but we keep trying! Lack of Tummy Time hasn't affected her ability to hold her head up...she's really good at that. But I think it has affected her ability to roll over. She's not on her tummy for long enough to discover how to roll over on to her back, and when she's on her back, she has no desire to roll over on to her tummy. She does roll over on to her side, though.

Sad....

2010-03-02T10:56:00.000-08:00

Apo Grandma and Apo Grandpa went back to Hawaii this morning and we miss them SOOO much.

Updates

2010-02-25T23:41:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a few days because my computer got a virus! But it's all fixed now.
It looks like we have a thumb sucker. Samantha has always liked sucking on her whole hand, and just a few days ago, she found her thumb! So cute!
Samantha's great grandparents (apo grandma and apo grandpa) have been visiting from Hawaii. She took to apo grandma right away, offering squeals and smiles, but it took her a while to warm up to apo grandpa. She has been loving all the attention from her apo grandparents and Mama has been enjoying having so much help!

3 Months Old!

2010-02-17T22:43:00.001-08:00

Samantha is three months old! We went back to the doctor's for her second set of shots. She got two this time, one in each thigh. She cried for a second, but after some hugs from Mama, everything was good again. She weighed in at 15 pounds, 8 ounces! They didn't remeasure her height because they had just measured her a few days ago.

What are you up to these days?

It should come at no surprise given your height and weight, but you are comfortably wearing 6-month clothes.

You love your stroller now! You usually fall asleep when we take you out for a stroller ride.

You still don't like your carseat, but you don't cry as much as you did before.

You still love your Moby Wrap.

You are grabbing for toys, and love to feel different textures, but your favorite thing to grab is your daddy's hair:
You are so smiley! Whenever people talk to you, you will flash them your adorable smile. But when you see the camera, you refuse to smile!

For your 3-month birthday, we got you a Jumperoo. It took you a few minutes to figure out how to make yourself bounce, but once you did, a huge smile spread across your face and you went wild!
We love you, sweet girl.

A Visit to the Doctor

2010-02-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

Samantha woke up this morning with her right eye swollen half shut! Her eye itself was not red nor goopy, and the swelling didn't seem to bother her, but we decided to play it safe and call the doctor. They wanted us to bring Samantha in so they could take a look at her. Everything checked out fine! Samantha is up to 15 pounds, 2 ounces and 25 inches!

More Bubbles Fun

2010-02-08T22:32:00.000-08:00

She's Our Little Bubble Maker!

2010-02-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

She has been doing it for over a week now. It's so cute. One day I went into the backseat to get her out of her carseat, and she had bubbles coming out of her mouth all the way down to her chin.

Samantha's New Skill

2010-02-03T23:16:00.000-08:00

Can you guess what it is? Here are some clues:
Any guesses?

A Conversation With Samantha

2010-01-30T15:25:00.000-08:00

I had a cute conversation with Samantha this morning. I've been trying to catch her cooing on camera, but every time the camera turns on, she stops!

Me: What are you thinking about?
Samantha: Ow
Me: Owls? What do you think about owls?
Samantha: Goo
Me: Owls are good! What colors are owls?
Samantha: Yeh go
Me: Yellow? Yes, owls could be yellow. What else is yellow?
Samantha: Eh?
Me: Eggs are yellow! What a smart baby!

Well, at least I think so.

Stretch the Giraffe Gets Some Love!

2010-01-27T20:03:00.000-08:00

Stretch the Giraffe gets the honor of being the first of Samantha's toys to get hugs!

Captain Calamari

2010-01-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

Captain Calamari is Samantha's new toy. I love these soft toys from Lamaze...and apparently, so does Samantha!

How Big is Baby?

2010-01-21T07:38:00.001-08:00

SO BIG!

We went to the doctor for her 2-month check-up yesterday. She is doing phenomenally well. The doctor even called her a "rock star." She is up to 13 pounds and 15 ounces. Her height is 24 inches, and her head circumference is 40.5 centimeters.

We were concerned because she had been spitting up after eating. The doctor assured us that she is gaining weight adequately and not to worry, just invest in more burp cloths. Haha.

We opted to do only 3 vaccines yesterday, and the other two we will do at her 3-month appointment. The 3 vaccines were given in one injection in her thigh. I held her tight while the doctor stuck the needle in...I couldn't watch. Samantha made a little peep and squirmed, and that was it! She didn't cry at all! What a trooper!

And what a cutie too! We love you, precious girl.

Just Some Pics

2010-01-18T23:11:00.000-08:00

Daddy and Samantha

Mommy and Samantha

Guess What??

2010-01-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

Samantha is two months old today!

What are you up to these days?

You are smiling, but Momma can only catch them on camera if she's lucky.

You love going to Sing-A-Long at the library. You sit and watch all the older kids sing and dance. Pretty soon, you will be able to join in!

You still hate your car seat and stroller. You usually cry until someone gets you out.

You sleep at least 7 hours every night, sometimes 9!

You are a good napper during the day, but only if Momma holds you. If Momma tries to put you in bed, you are up in 5 minutes. Makes it hard for Momma to get anything done, but Momma would rather hold you anytime.

You like to S-T-R-E-T-C-H your body.

You have found your hands and like to try to put your whole fist in your mouth.

You are cooing all the time.

When you are happy, you kick, kick, kick you legs. You also kick them when you are upset.

When Daddy sticks his tongue out at you, you stick yours out at him.

You are the sweetest baby I've ever met and we love you forever.

All kinds of pink!

2010-01-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

This is a good look, no?

Who is this baby?

2010-01-09T23:27:00.001-08:00

It's Samantha!

With CURLY hair after her bath. Funny how her hair is curly when wet but so straight when dry.

Swing

2010-01-09T07:26:00.001-08:00

Remember when Samantha napped in her swing and Ron and I were able to eat dinner together? Yeah, well, she hasn't done it since. I've tried several times and the longest she has lasted was 5 minutes. I've gotten really good at eating fast!

Stroller Strides!

2010-01-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

Samantha and I joined our local Stroller Strides group. There are about six other mom/baby pairs in our group, and they are just so nice and understanding. Samantha doesn't really like her stroller yet and cried through the whole thing. The second day was much better than the first, though, so hopefully she'll get used to being in her nice comfy stroller soon.
The workout was great. I haven't done any kind of exercise since I was 20 weeks pregnant, so I was really feeling the burn!

More firsts

2010-01-02T14:01:00.000-08:00

Last evening, Samantha took a nap in her swing for the very first time, allowing Ron and I to enjoy a quiet dinner together. We had baked chicken, green beans, and potatoes, and watched Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist on Netflix. Romantic, I know.

We used to eat in shifts, one would eat while the other would hold the baby because she did NOT like to be put down for more than 2 or 3 minutes. We didn't mind, because we love holding her! I'm just happy that she's beginning to interact with her toys more.

In her swing at 1.5 weeks:

In her swing last night (almost 7 weeks):

Today, Ron gave Samantha her first bottle! (Sorry we forgot to take a picture!) She did extrememly well and gulped the entire 3 oz down within a matter of minutes. I don't think we have to worry about her refusing the bottle when I go back to work in April.

Special visitors

2010-01-01T08:40:00.001-08:00

Samantha's grandparents came to visit for nine days and Samantha loved every minute of it. Here are her grandparents loving on her...

There is nothing Samantha loves more than a warm, loving body to sleep on. Thank you, grandpa and grandma for being Samantha's "bed" for her many afternoon naps!

Grandpa's nickname for Samantha is Baby Beluga because of this song by Raffi:

We listened to this CD on every car ride.

Grandpa and grandma enjoyed reading to their little baby beluga...

Her amazing grandma made these adorable hats! They kept Samantha warm on our trips to San Francisco, the zoo, and on many walks around the neighborhood.

This was supposed to be a Santa hat, but we thought she looked more like an elf, so this is now officially the "elf hat."

This is the "split-pea soup" hat. We couldn't think of a name for it, and it reminded us of the split pea soup that we made with our leftover Christmas ham.

And here is Samantha with her "Pope hat." So cute!

Thank you, grandma and grandpa for visiting! We miss you and can't wait to see you again!

5 weeks!

2009-12-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

Our baby is five weeks old! At her doctor's appointment this week, she weighed in at 11 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 23 inches long. That's 97th percentile in both areas. What a big girl!

She is a great eater and a great sleeper and is just a sweet, sweet baby. She has started smiling at us and at herself in the mirror. We get so excited and cheer and clap every time she does it.
We celebrated her one-month birthday with (what else?) a cake!

Fun!

2009-12-11T12:22:00.000-08:00

Now that Samantha isn't sleeping 20 hours a day, she has time for some fun! Enjoying her monkey mat! We tried this a few weeks ago, but she would just wail. Now, she'll look at all the toys hanging around her. She's not quite reaching out for the toys yet, but she touches them by accident, and then stares at them until they stop moving.Tummy time! It only lasted for a few minutes, but that's pretty good for only three weeks old!

Reading one of daddy's favorite authors, Mo Willems. We read with her everyday. Hopefully, she'll grow up loving to read.

3 weeks old! And some firsts

2009-12-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little baby girl is three weeks old! She seems to change from day to day. Everyone tells me to enjoy every beautiful moment, because they grow up so fast. That is so true.

Here are some of Samantha's firsts:

First Bath at home:

Okay, this is actually her second bath at home. But it was the first bath where I actually got a picture because she wasn't screaming through the whole ordeal. When do babies start enjoying their baths?

First trip to the farmer's market:

Before Samantha was born, we went to the farmer's market twice a week. We've managed to go once since she's been born. She slept through the whole thing in her red Moby Wrap.

First trip to the zoo:

We went to the zoo to celebrate her friend Ana's first birthday. She got to meet some of mommy and daddy's friends for the first time. She stayed awake long enough to poop in her diaper and have a feeding. Otherwise, she slept through the whole thing, this time in her brown Moby Wrap. She loves her Moby!

Growing!

2009-12-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

Samantha had her two-week appointment with Dr. B yesterday. We were worried about her weight gain because she lost so much during the first 3 days of life. Well, Dr. B said she was kicking butt because she gained 13 ounces in 6 days! She's up to 8 pounds, 15 ounces. Not quite back up to her birth weight yet, but she's doing great! She also grew an inch.

She still mostly eats and sleeps all day, although she won't sleep very long unless someone's holding her. We're not into letting her cry herself to sleep. I know there's a whole method out there about letting babies cry it out and it probably works for some, but I just can't. I'd rather hold her. She'll usually nurse herself to sleep, then I'll hold her for about an hour, after that I put her down in the bassinet and she slowly wakes herself up. Then we'll play a little, change her diaper, and start all over again.

Sleep

2009-11-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

Samantha hates her bassinet! Every time we try to put her down for a nap in her bassinet, she wakes up after about 15 minutes, but she'll sleep for a couple of hours if someone's holding her. The funny thing is, she'll sleep in her bassinet at night. Last night she slept from 11:30 until 5!