Happy Halloween!

Samantha looked so cute in her "pre-Halloween outfit," that I couldn't resist doing a little photo shoot with her. Isn't she adorable?


Steve "gutted out" a pumpkin and cut little leg holes into it for Samantha. At first, she wasn't too excited about the idea of being inside the pumpkin, but she quickly warmed up to the idea and I was able to catch a couple of nice smiling pictures of her! As you can read on the pumpkin, this was Samantha's first Halloween. She was born 3 weeks after Halloween last year ...

Mommy getting Sam ready for Halloween


Sam was a sock monkey!

(Thanks so much to Aunt Michele for finding the costume for my little monkey. She was so cute!)

Taking time out to play with her costume on!

11 Months Old!

Our little girl turned 11 months old today. She is becoming so much more mobile these days, scooting around on the floor and starting to get into some drawers that are low enough to the ground to tempt her. She is constantly trying to pull herself up onto things (including me!) and has a definite idea of what she wants and when she wants it ... Little Miss Independence.

Scooting around on the kitchen floor

Looking for goodies in the stove drawer

Snack Time

Samantha seems to have a real problem with portion control when it comes to snacks. She prefers to stuff every cereal puff or every Cheerio that she has in front of her in her mouth all at once. For that reason, I am only able to put one or two small snacks in front of her at a time. We are now working with her and her new "snack cup" which has small flaps on the top it. She needs to carefully stick her fingers through the flaps and retrieve only a few Cheerios at a time. It does mean that she spills some on the floor, but it gives her some independence and some much-needed "portion control."

Our little cutie with her snack cup filled with Cheerios

Goodbye, Fuzz

Today was a very sad day in this household … and I am sure that the next few days will be as well. Out beloved cat, Fuzz, was put to sleep today. He was very old (almost 18 years) and his health started to deteriorate dramatically within the last week. My sister (our vet) gave me a shot to administer last week to possibly help with the side effects of his deterioration, but she was simply being optimistic; she knew that his time was coming.

Last night, before Steve and I went to bed, Fuzz wasn’t walking very well and then this morning, when I went to pick him up to put him in bed with me, I realized that his entire belly was bloated and very hard. I called my sister crying early this morning and we discussed different options because it was clear that I didn’t want him to suffer or be in any pain. Fuzz hates to ride in the car and I just couldn’t bear the idea of driving an hour to the clinic and then to put him to sleep immediately upon arriving. I just couldn’t do it.

So, Michele came to my house this afternoon and while Fuzz lay in my arms and I cuddled him the very best that I could, he peacefully drifted off to sleep. I know that it was for the best and that reasoning alone provided me with the strength to let go of something that was so special to me.

We will likely get another cat in the near future. The new cat will never be a replacement for Fuzz, but rather, someone new to love. And, someone that Sam will be able to interact with, just like she did with our beloved Fuzz. We love you and will miss you, Fuzz!

Giving Fuzz extra attention this morning

Reading books with Fuzz

Watching Sesame Street with Fuzz nearby (like always)

Resting peacefully on my book this morning

Lately, I'm not sure what I am going to find when I go to get Samantha up after her nap. She is moving more and more these days (often ending up 180 degrees from her original position in the crib) and yesterday, this is what I discovered: Somehow, she managed to wiggle her arm out of her sleeve (notice the "off the shoulder look" that she is sporting here immediately upon getting up) and her socks were completely off and tossed in random fashion among the blankets in her crib.

Look at what I did, Mom!

Playing with her new toy

This game is fun!

Big Book Bonanza

This is what my livingroom looks like every day! Samantha absolutely LOVES books and if I limit her to only being able to look at a couple of them (meaning that I only move a few of them to within her immediate grasp), she moves herself across the room to retrieve any others that were left far away from her. Within minutes, all of her books are spread out on the floor and she just moves from one book to another. She is fascinated by the bright colors of course, but to her, the best part is being able to turn the pages.

It makes a little more work for me to keep cleaning the books up out of our pathway, but I am secretly thrilled that she is showing a real interest in books (at this young age). And what kind of mother would I be if I truly tried to limit her on how many books she could really have???

(Notice that Fuzz is always near Samantha and the action)

An Attempt At Crawling

We are pretty sure that Samantha will not be a "real crawler." By that, I simply mean that she doesn't show a definitive interest in it. She has never liked being on her belly and the doctor has assured us that crawling is not necessary for walking. Given a choice, she would definitely rather walk (holding onto our fingers for support)! I took these pictures of her today doing her best to "crawl" and reach her shoes.

Smiling at Mommy before she spied her shoes across the room

Moving around and getting into position

Ready - set - go!

Almost there!

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!