Playtime!

When the weather is not really too conducive to playing outside, I need to be creative and find new things for Sam to play with so that she doesn't become too bored. Boredom results in small temper-tantrums that can escalate quickly. On Sunday, when it was cold and rainy, we spent the whole day inside and Sam really enjoyed playing with the laundry basket. It amazes me how something so simple can be so entertaining for her ...

"Look at me, Mommy!"

Then, later in the evening, Steve took all of the cushions off the couch and made a pathway for Sam to travel on. She had a blast with this! (And, of course, there's Watson having his own little party in the background ...)

Yesterday, the weather was nice and we were able to spend a little more time outside. Samantha loves to climb up and down stairs (like from the deck) and is now accustomed to walking on grass. When the ground is not too level, she still stumbles a little bit, but boy ... she is FAST! She definitely keeps me busy!

A Busy Time For Us ...

The last couple of weeks have been very exciting but also very hectic for us. We officially sold our house a few weeks ago and have been busy getting all of the paperwork, inspections and appraisal details handled in a timely manner. In the meantime, this meant that we also needed to start looking more seriously for a new home for us. We found one in Laingsburg that I fell in love with, but we were not able to buy that one because there was a previous offer in for that house already. We tried anyway, but to no avail.

Instead, we found another one in the same area that was a little cheaper (and yet a little bigger). We put an offer in on that one and we officially have a signed contract! We hope to be able to close on both our current home and our new home by the middle of May (with a little luck, we might be able to manage it perfectly so that we can move directly from our old house to our new house).

I am also wrapping up the Spring semester of teaching. I have two more weeks left and then I will have a full month off before I start back teaching for the Summer semester. That month off will be spent doing a lot of cleaning and moving, etc. I am grateful for the time off because frankly, it couldn't come at a more opportune time.

In the middle of all of this though, we still take time out to enjoy a nice snack of Cheerios:



The boxes are starting to get filled up in our house and we are moving as much stuff as we can out of the house and into the garage (for easier moving later). Last night, Steve and his friend brought down the incredibly heavy gun safe that was in the upstairs portion of our house. It is now residing in my dining room, but will be moved tomorrow. In the meantime, Sam (and Watson, our kitten) think that it makes for a nice place to play:

I will continue to post updates as we get closer and closer to our closing dates. We are very excited to move out of our small house and into a larger one. And we are even more excited about the beautiful neighborhood that we will be moving into. There will be some updates that will need to be done to our new home ... but none of them will need to be done prior to moving in. Rather, they will just be projects that we can focus on as we find time (and money) for them ...

17 Months Old

I took this picture the other day because it made me laugh so hard! Samantha decided on her own that she wanted to take Elmo (you will see him squashed behind her) and show him how to use the potty. So, she ambled over to the bathroom with him, staggering under his weight (he's battery-operated, very heavy and awkward to carry) and hoisted him onto her potty. Then, in order to show him how it is done, she took a seat on the potty herself. Too funny ...

Samantha is 17 months old today. The last month has brought with it a lot changes in her. She is growing more and more independent every day (she insists on stabbing her own food with her own fork now and she is adamant about going up and down stairs all by herself). Her temperament has always been very intense, but I have noticed that she is becoming a little more relaxed and with less whiny cries and less tantrums. This is a welcomed stage and I hope that it lasts for a little while ...

She still does not say too many words herself -- her audible vocabulary is pretty much limited to Mama, Da-Da and kitty. But, in contrast, she understands almost anything and is very eager to please. By that, I mean that she minds when I ask her to do something or when I ask her not to do something. She retrieves anything that I ask for ... she even knows where her shoes, her coat and any of her toys are at any given time.

This little girl has stolen my heart and makes me melt everytime I pick her up and give her a little more loving. I truly enjoy watching how much she develops her own personality and can't believe how quickly the time has flown ...

Play Time!

Sam discovered the other day that she could carry shoelaces and ribbon around the house and the cats will pounce on it. I was able to capture this picture of both cats (Mia and Watson) playing with her.

Sandal Time!

Last week, Grammy bought Samantha two new pairs of sandals for this Spring/Summer season. It was such a wonderful surprise! As soon as Samantha saw them in the bag, she sat down on the floor and pulled them out. Then, she immediately began pulling her socks off so that she could put the sandals on her bare feet (this amazed me -- and still does -- to think that she made the association on her own).

First she modeled the purple pair:

Then she modeled the yellow pair:


Notice that I had just painted her toenails ... they looked so cute. The sandals are a teeny bit big for her right now, but that is good because they will last her throughout the summer (hopefully).

Thanks, Grammy!

A New Home for Mendel

A few posts ago, I wrote about how we are fostering two kittens and their mother until the kittens are able to be weaned. The kittens are now 6 weeks old and are pretty much weaned from their mother, Mia. In the meantime, I fell in love with each kitten and begged Steve to allow me to keep all of the cats. (The original intention was to keep one of the kittens for ourselves and to find a home for the other kitten and the mother. We were pleasantly surprised that the mother was such a great cat and we decided to keep her for ourselves). Steve stayed firm on the idea that we cannot take on three cats -- two is plenty. I begged, pleaded and even cried. Afterall, I hate the idea of splitting up the two brothers.

Last night, I responded to a posting that Steve had put on Craigslist. There is a girl that is willing to adopt Mendel (the gray kitten) and has promised to give him a loving home (and even spoil him). She also promised to send me a picture of him every once in a while.

My sister reminded me that I gave those kittens an opportunity that they were not destined to have; if my sister had not been at Animal Control that day almost 7 weeks ago, they would have been euthanized. She rescued them. And if Steve and I had not agreed to foster them, they would have spent the majority of their time thus far in a cage at the animal clinic.

Mendel is strong -- he's the bigger one of the two -- and he will thrive in his new home. I wanted to keep Watson (whose name may change) because he's smaller (and more vunerable) and I seem to like his personality just a tad bit more.

So, Mendel will be leaving us tonight. His new owner, Mary, will be coming to pick him up and take him to his new home. I'm sure that it will be hard for me because I love his cute, little furry body so much, but I am making the most of our time together today. He will always have a special place in my heart ...

A Budding Engineer??

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a potty for Samantha. I don't plan to potty-train her for a while ... she's not ready for that yet. But, I thought that it would be a good idea for her to learn what a potty is and take an interest in sitting on it. I wanted her to associate it with the bathroom and maybe make the connection between Mommy's potty and Samantha's potty. (There is no privacy in this household anymore and she comes in the bathroom freely when I am using it; she actually came and sat on her potty when she saw me in there and then closed the door for her own privacy -- too cute for words!). I think that she understands more than I realize.

Today, I took the potty out of the bathroom as I was cleaning in there and she moved it to the middle of the living room. Before I knew what was happening, she had totally dismantled it and this was the picture that I took:


I think that she might have aspirations of being an engineer like her daddy. She can definitely take things apart quickly and loves to use her little fingers to poke and pick at small parts. All I can say is that she became more familiar with her potty today than I had planned on.

Our Little Tigers Fan

Yesterday was opening day for the Detroit Tigers baseball team. In honor of their first game of the season, Samantha wore her new Tigers tee that she received in her Easter basket. She is sporting Justin Verlander's number (one of my favorite players -- though I do have many favorites on the team). It was appropriate because he was the starting pitcher for the game yesterday. And the best part: the Tigers WON!

(Nevermind the cat bowls that she is carrying around ... I had just bought those at the store and she was proud to carry them around during the photo shoot)

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter holiday at our house this year! Samantha got an Easter basket from the Easter Bunny and she had a blast picking out each of the surprises from her basket -- even the Easter grass ...

She loves her books!

Mia wasn't too far away from her during all of the activity

One of the best surprises was her Hello Kitty plate set

Opening cards with Mommy

In the afternoon Grandma and Grandpa Lapinski came over for a succulent turkey dinner. Grandma brought more surprises for Samantha including some books.

Reading her new book with Grandma

After our dinner, we took a few pictures outside because the weather was SO nice ...

Mommy and Samantha

Daddy and Samantha

Grandma and Grandpa with Samantha

It was a great day with lots of good company and lots of good food. Samantha was an absolute angel and over the course of the day, she officially learned how to go down the deck steps backwards. Daddy has been working with her quite earnestly for a while and now she does it without blinking an eye. It took one small tumble down the stairs to learn that it is better to go down backwards! We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Samantha's Latest Antic

Samantha somehow figured out that if she pulls her chair across the room and puts it close to the couch, that she can use it to boost herself up there. (She is very good at getting down from the couch, but needs a little boost to get up on the couch). I was able to catch her in action the other day:

Step 1: Bring the chair over to the couch

Step 2: Use the chair as a booster

Step 3: Position herself on the couch with toys and books


Step 4: Give Mommy a heart attack by balancing on the end of the couch

It was at that point that the photo shoot came to a dramatic halt. I was able to gain my composure after diving to the end of the couch after picturing her catapaulting over the edge. It's carpeted and not too long of a jump down, but dangerous enough that I am sure that I got a few gray hairs!