Nick Nolte?

Dave calls the photo of Samantha her "Nick Nolte" shot. I have to say, I can see the resemblance.

Keeping it Clean

I was not raised in a particularly tidy house. In fact, there is a framed plaque hanging up at my parent's house that reads: A Clean House is a Sign of a Wasted Life. Dave on the other hand is quite a neat freak. Not necessarily scrubbing things to keep clean, he is more of the making piles and picking up kind of clean. Over the years I have made the adjustment and our house is usually clean and I would say that both of us like having things clean and in working order.

The baby has become a whole different story. I started out being very particular with her cleanliness but babies are messy! For awhile I got frustrated with how dirty Samantha would be when I picked her up after work. But, the more time that goes on, the less I fight her mess and the more comfortable I am having a little pig pen daughter. Don't get me wrong, she gets a bath and scrub down every night. But dinners sometime have a way of turning into a royal mess like the photo shown here. I love this photo - it really captures the stage she is in right now.

She loves beans and that also includes putting beans in her hair, all over her face and on her clothes. I'm hoping that when she is done crawling and is walking full time, she won't get her hands or her clothes quite as dirty.

First Steps

On Sunday, Samantha took her first steps! She has been standing on her own and cruising around holding on to furniture for awhile but she is hesitant to go anywhere on her own. Dave gave her Javier's leash as we were heading out for a walk and I think she had a false sense that she was holding on to something and took some steps two different times. Since then, she hasn't done it again but I am confident she is at the beginning of her long walking career. I found that the average person takes 216,262,500 steps in their lifetime so she is just getting going!

You can see her walking with Gramps here. There are more pictures from a fun summer posted here.

B is for Baby and Bossy!

In the past few months, Samantha has been displaying signs of a serious attitude. She shakes her head adamantly when she does not approve or doesn't want something (including most food). In fact, she throws the food she does not want right on the floor. This is fine at home because Javier the pug is grateful for everything she throws his way but in restaurants it can be quite embarrassing. She also has a very high pitched shriek when there is something that she does want that is out of reach.

When you tell her no,or she is frustrated, she has been known to put her head down on the floor and cry in an extremely dramatic fashion. Is this the terrible twos already?

Now, when I tell people about these personality traits, or explain her attitude, every single time they say "Well, I wonder where she gets that?" and that is followed by a sarcastic chuckle. What's that all about??

Then, depending on the day I respond with a "Must be from Dave", or a "Definitely from Molly, my sister in law" or every once in awhile, "Maybe from my mother in law Judy". I'm attaching a short video of what happens when you decide you are done pushing her on her little car, I finally figured out how to flip it around but then it wouldn't load so you will have to watch with your head titled! It will give you a feel of how she runs the show around here!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Aside from writing about breast feeding, I think the second topic I most frequently write about it my mom. Today is her birthday and I want to say again how much I love and appreciate her.

Not only is she my best friend, someone who I tell everything to and who listens to me, supports me and loves me no matter what, she is also a fabulous, loving Grandma to Samantha. We are all lucky to have her.

Happy Birthday Mom!!