She's Doing Well in Preschool

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!"

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...

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!

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!

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

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

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.