My Girly-Girl

While Samantha still loves to do things with her Daddy like play catch and wrestle, she is also starting to have a fondness for "girl things." She recently discovered her tea party set that she received from Grammy a long time ago. Last night, she brought it down from her room and declared that she wanted to have a tea party with Daddy. Daddy obliged.

Side note: I had to look twice at the picture above because it looked like Steve had some Woody Woodpecker thing going on with his hair ... it turns out that it is the plant behind him that is giving the optical illusion of him having some ridiculous hairstyle.

Sam also really enjoys being a princess lately, so imagine her surprise when Great-Aunt Chris brought her a "princess dress" today! And the dress came complete with shoes, jewelry and a crown!

I have to laugh because every time she goes into my bedroom and sees my wedding picture, she always says, "Mommy - princess." I guess that my wedding dress resembles that of a princess dress ... Too cute.

Sophia Is Two Months Old

Sophia turned two months old yesterday. I can't seem to say it enough that the time is just going by so quickly for me. Maybe it is because I'm balancing an infant with a toddler, and that combination occupies any of my spare time. Maybe it is because this is my second baby and things are progressing more easily because of that. Either way, I find myself just staring at Sophia when she falls asleep after nursing ... thinking that I wish that time would stand still for just a little while so that I don't miss a single moment of her infancy. She is so precious when she snores and I love when I catch a glimpse of a smile while she is dreaming.

While yesterday marked her two-month birthday, it also was the day that I took her to the doctor for her check-up ... and shots. This picture was taken before we left for the doctor (notice that Sophia is pretty content):

And then, this is later when we got home (after she received 3 shots in her chubby little thighs):

Some important notes from the appointment:

* She now weighs 10 lbs 12 oz (she is in the 50th percentile, just like at her one-month appointment)

* She is 23.5 inches long (that puts her in the 88th percentile for length; she was in the 75th percentile at her one-month appointment)

* She is so strong that she has already mastered half of the gross motor skills that the doctor will be checking at her four-month appointment

* She has begun drooling a lot this last week -- bibs are a must around here now. This is a little sooner than Sam started her "drooling stage," but Sophia seems to be progressing a little faster in all areas compared to Sam.

* She is now cooing and smiling on a regular basis. She seems to recognize familiar faces now and will turn her head in response to familiar voices.

* She has begun reaching for toys now and gripping them -- she especially loves the toys that hang from her bouncy chair.

* She doesn't love "tummy time," but will stay on her tummy for a little while, lifting her head up and looking around.

We go back to the doctor at the end of June for her four-month check-up. I can't wait to see how much she has grown by then!

Easter - Part 2

On Easter morning, Sam woke up early to see what the Easter Bunny had brought for her. Sophia was still sleeping, so we decided to let Sam hunt for the hidden eggs and let Sophia wake up on her own.

Sam got the hang of hunting for eggs right away. In fact, she was finding them so fast and saying, "more, more ...," that Steve was going around behind her and hiding them again for her to find!

As soon as Sam saw her Eater basket filled with goodies, the first thing that she said was, "Wow!"

Pretty soon, Sophia woke up and she was in such a happy mood. She came out and joined us so that she could see her special Easter basket from the Easter Bunny -- lots of baby essentials!

After seeing all of the goodies in her Easter basket, Sam got to open the Easter eggs that she had found. Steve helped her and they made a pile of all of the coins that had been hidden inside (she is really into putting coins into her piggy bank these days and was more than thrilled that the Eater Bunny had given her so many to put in there).

Later that morning, I made a bunny cake for the Easter celebration that we had with our families that afternoon at our house. Sam was so excited about this cake and all day she kept asking when we could cut the bunny cake.

Finally, the time had arrived:

At the end of the day, I tried to get a picture of my two girls together on this special holiday (Sophia's first Easter), but it goes without saying that it is no small task to get a 2-year-old and a 2-month-old to cooperate for the camera. This is the best that I could do:

Easter - Part 1

On Saturday, Sam and I did a special "project" together. She LOVES to do projects, and the mere mention of that word gets her so excited. Sometimes, the "projects" involve crafts (coloring, cutting, using glue, etc.) and sometimes the "projects" involve cooking. Our "project" for Saturday was to make "birds' nests." We talked about how the noodles represent sticks and the butterscotch/peanut butter represents the mud that is used to hold all of the sticks together. (That reminds me: When I got the peanut butter out of the cupboard, I asked her what it was and she told me, "mud." I realized that that is because Daddy told her that it is mud whenever she has "ants on a log.")

Her favorite part was putting all of the "eggs" in the nests. She chose to put two eggs in every nest (and she was very careful to make sure that each nest had exactly that amount).

After dinner on Saturday, we colored eggs. We told Sam that we were going to do this and she ran to get her crayons! We had to explain that we were going to do something a little more special ...

Sophia was even excited:

Samantha did a pretty good job with the egg coloring. We had to monitor her pretty closely so that she didn't get too much dye all over the place and we needed to make sure that she didn't crack any of the eggs. Overall, I would say that it was a major success.

The girls were pretty happy with the finished products:

After Sam took her bath, we let her come back downstairs to put the eggs in a basket for the Easter Bunny:

And then she took them to the table where her Easter basket (and Sophia's Easter basket) were ready and filled with grass for the Easter Bunny to fill. Sam even put out a carrot for him ...

And off to bed she went ...

Like Father ... Like Daughter

Samantha is truly a "daddy's girl." Now, don't get me wrong -- she loves her mama too, but there is something so special between her and Steve. She asks for him every morning when she gets up, and I say the same thing: "He's at work, honey. He'll be home soon." And it never ceases to amaze me how she almost instinctively knows (without being able to tell time yet, of course) when it is getting close to the time when her daddy normally arrives home from work. She starts looking out the window and then practices waiting by the back door for him.

The greeting is the same every day; Steve comes in the back door and Samantha races from the other end of the room, giggling, to jump into his outstretched arms. He swoops her up with a hug and a kiss and asks how her day was. (Somehow, this is never the greeting that I get from him; nor do I receive a similar greeting from Sam when I come home from anywhere).

Sam loves to "fix" things. I think that this is something she inhertited from her daddy, who is an engineer by trade. If Steve leaves any tools laying around, she confiscates them and uses them to "fix" anything that she feels is broken (her rocking horse, toys, etc.). This morning, she brought his measuring tape into my bathroom and started measuring everything from the wall, to her pants, and ultimately ... Sophia.

I think that her favorite time of day is right after dinner, when Steve devotes all of his attention to her and they play either inside or outside. I try to join in (if I am not busy with Sophia), but I also like to just sit back and watch them interact. I can't help but smile and watch as my little girl continues to have her daddy wrapped (tightly) around her little finger ...

Just Because ...

Here are a few random pictures from the last couple of days:

Samantha inherited this toy box from one of her cousins, and it has been a blessing! We keep it in our dining room (where most of her toys are) and she has had so much fun using it (both to store toys and to climb into and out of it).

Sam has turned into quite the "glamour girl," sporting her sunglasses (even if the weather is dark, dreary and rainy) and carrying her purse over her arm ... note that the sunglasses are on top of her head for the photo.

One of Sam's new favorite snacks: "ants on a log." Enough said.

And this little cutie? Well, she is growing so fast! She will turn 2 months old next week, and already her 0-3 month sleepers are getting too tight for her (she is very long). Her personality is starting to develop now and she trys to mimic us using her mouth whenever we are talking to her. We can usually get her to smile right away -- and that just warms my heart.

Look Who's Smiling ...

Sophia has been smiling for a few weeks now, but I haven't been able to capture too many of those smiles with the camera. I managed to get this one this morning. She did her first official smile at her Daddy back in March, but continues to smile more and more these days for more and more people... and some of those smiles are accompanied by giggling. I LOVE that!

Warmer Weather Brings ...

... the need for outdoor toys and activities.

Steve did some online shopping last week and told me that he had purchased something for Samantha ... but wouldn't tell me what it was. Instead, every day last week when he got home from work, he would ask me if the package had arrived. He was so disappointed when Saturday rolled around and the package had not been delivered yet. Honestly, I was starting to think that he was MORE excited about this purchase than Sam might be.

I took the girls grocery shopping with me on Saturday morning while Steve stayed home to do some repair work on his truck. When we pulled in the driveway (after a pretty successful shopping trip -- Sam only managed to open two cartons of yogurt and a box of sandwich bags -- I consider this good), he greeted us with such excitement. I knew that the package must have arrived while we were gone.

And this is what it was:

We worked with Sam all weekend so that she can get the hang of using the pedals. We are very close to victory at this point ...

The warmer weather is much-welcomed here in this household. We are anxious to be able to go on more walks in our subdivision and down to the beach (we did go for a nice walk yesterday afternoon as a family of four). And I look forward to some afternoon picnics with the girls and maybe some nature walks with Sam.

In the meantime, we are filling our days with bubbles, another fun activity that Sam seems to really enjoy right now:

Quote of the Week

Yesterday while I was changing Sophia, I called out to Sam and asked her to come into the bedroom with me. (Most of the time, I don't really need her for anything in particular, but by having her come into the room with me, I can be assured that she isn't getting into something that she shouldn't be. This was one of those times).

So, after I called out to her and asked her to come to me, she arrived and with a straight face, she said, "Yes, Sweetie?"

Apparently, I must say that to her a lot. And being the sponge that she is, she copied that phrase. Too funny ...

And because no post is complete without at least one picture:

A Visit to the Orchard

Last weekend, we traveled out to the orchard so that Sam could visit my parents and to see the baby pigs that were born a couple of weeks ago. The whole way to the orchard, Sam kept saying, "baby pigs, baby pigs" from her seat in the back of the car. As soon as we got there, my dad took her out to meet them:

There was a lot of mud, but Sam managed to get a good look at them through the fence.

She even got to see some of the reindeer:

This was our first trip out to the orchard with Sophia (it has just been too cold to head out there any sooner than now), and this meant that we were able to introduce her to several of the people there. One such person was my Uncle Scott (Sophia's great-uncle):

This was also the first time that my Grandpa Koan was able to meet her (Sophia's great-grandpa):

Grandpa and the girls:

We look forward to many more visits out at the orchard when the weather warms up a little more. Samantha loves to go there and see my parents and all of the animals, of course. I am sure that Sophia will soon learn to love it as well ...

One Month Check-Up

Sophia went for her one month check-up yesterday. I was anxious to see how much she had grown since our last visit because I know that she is definitely eating well and looking much bigger to me ...

She now weighs 9 lbs, 5 oz (2 lbs more than she did when we went for her newborn visit one month ago!). That puts her in the 50th percentile for weight.

She is 22.5 inches long and that puts her in the 75th percentile for length. (I still don't know how my girls manage to be so long when their parents are definitely not very tall!).

The doctor was very impressed with how strong Sophia has become. When placed on her belly, she can very easily lift her head up and look around. She still flops her head a little when trying to sit her up, but I imagine that she will be holding her head up completely on her own within the next couple of weeks.

She has a some "baby acne" on her forehead which started appearing a couple of weeks ago. The doctor explained that this is normal (some impurities coming out at the surface) and this should clear itself up by the time Sophia is 2-3 months old.

All in all, it was a good check-up, and we will head back there in three weeks for her 2 month check-up. She will have to get shots then (I always hate that part -- what mother doesn't?), and we will see how much she continues to grow.