6 Month Doctor's Appointment

Samantha turned 6 months old last week, and had her regular check-up with the doctor today. As you can see, she did have to get shots (one in each leg), so the nurse put some sparkling bandaids on to help make her feel better. She only cried a little bit and once Mommy held her, she stopped.

She now weighs 14 lbs. and 1 oz. -- that means that she has more than doubled her birth weight! And, more surprisingly, she is 27 inches long (she was 20 inches at birth). That puts her in the 90th percentile for length -- I'm still in shock over that part because, as you all know, her parents are not very tall ... Maybe it has something to do with the fact that she never stops kicking; her legs are CONSTANTLY in motion! In fact, I struggled to get this quick snapshot of her ...

The doctor said that she is doing very well and looks so happy and healthy. We will go back to the doctor in late August for her 9 month check-up. How fast the time flies!

Happy Memorial Day!

My happy girl, just enjoying the holiday!

Samantha Got Her Ears Pierced!

Yesterday, I took Samantha to get her ears pierced. Steve and I agreed that this was something that we wanted to do soon ... and so, on a whim, I surprised Steve and took her yesterday. When he came home from work, we greeted him at the door and he noticed right away. Samantha was so good and only cried for a short time after the piercing. I am so proud of my little girl!

The "before" picture

Waiting patiently with Mommy

Immediately afterwards

All better ... and oh, so cute!

Samantha's First Meal

Samantha will be 6 months old tomorrow and so we decided that it was time to give Sam her first meal -- some rice cereal on a spoon. I was in charge of feeding her while Steve videotaped (do they still call it "videotaping" these days?) the event and my mother was here so she took pictures. As you can tell, this was an exciting event for all of us!

Her first taste of cereal on a spoon

She likes to try to be a "big girl" and hold her own spoon

She did so well!

Fuzz and Samantha

We are very thankful that Fuzz (our baby for so long) was receptive to the introduction of Samantha into our family. This picture was taken on the night that we first brought Sam home from the hospital. Look at how little she is! Fuzz sniffed her and from that day forward, he has accepted her and her presence in our household. He doesn't seem to mind that Mommy has a little less time to care for him (though I try to make up for it with extra treats!) and he seems almost oblivious to the crying of the baby ...

Now, Sam tries to reach out and pet Fuzz (or grab some of his fur), but Fuzz just moves aside and finds another place to rest. Last week though, he decided to actually interact with her and nuzzle up against her.

Aunt Minnie was there to witness the interaction between "Big Brother" and Samantha

Trying to play with "Big Brother"

Happy Mother's Day!

For Mother's Day, Deb (my sister-in-law) and myself took the kids to Grand Rapids on Saturday afternoon. We stayed overnight in a hotel and the kids went swimming in the pool (this was Samantha's first time in a pool). We then went to lunch on Sunday to celebrate our special day before heading back to Lansing. This is a picture of Samantha and me at the hotel in Grand Rapids.

Testing out the water in the pool for the first time -- Samantha didn't mind it one bit ...

Samantha was casually hanging out in her special ladybug float, enjoying every minute of it.

Swimming with Mommy in the pool

I love getting kisses from my baby girl!

Here is a picture of Samantha wearing her Detroit Tigers outfit that Daddy bought for her. Both Steve and I are big Tigers fans (in fact, we went to a couple of games last year when I was pregnant with Samantha). Go Tigers!

I can't believe how big Samantha is getting -- she will be 6 months old in a couple of weeks. Every day, she seems to learn something new and I am constantly amazed by how much she is changing and growing right before our eyes. We have been going for walks in her stroller whenever we get a chance (sometimes, she even goes for two walks each day -- one with me in the afternoon and another with Steve in the evening when I am teaching). She loves being outside and I can't wait for the warmer weather to be here so that we can spend even more time outside.