Samantha's Favorites

I decided to ask Samantha a series of questions and record her answers exactly as she said them. I plan to do this periodically with her (and Sophia once she is older and can talk!) just to see how the answers change with time. When I asked her these questions, she did not hesitate on any of her answers; it was like a real, live interview and she took her role very seriously. Some of the answers even surprised me.


What is your name: Samantha La"pink"ski (she used to always skip the "la" at the front of our last name; now she says that and adds an extra "k" in the middle)

How old are you: Two and half

Who is your best friend: Kiera and Syndey, Jennifer is Momma's best friend (She is right -- Jennifer is my best friend from grade school and her two girls are Kiera and Sydney)

What is your favorite color: Green (always has been and probably always will be)

What is your favorite animal: Zebra (I didn't know this)

What is your favorite movie: Big Bird's Bedtime (This was her answer without any hesitation. We haven't watched this movie in a LONG time, but it was always her favorite when she was a baby).

What is your favorite book: Duck Soup (yeah, we read that one A LOT)

What is your favorite song: Twinkle Little Star (and then she broke into song ...)

What is your favorite toy: My toy box (that encompasses a lot of toys, I guess)

What is your favorite food: blueberries (she does love them, but I was surprised that that was her one choice)

What makes you happy: Watson (one of our cats)

What makes you sad: Daddy go to work


The last question broke my heart. Daddy has had to travel a lot this summer because of his job and that's really hard on a toddler that is a definite "Daddy's girl." He came home from Mexico late on Wednesday and spent the day at home with us yesterday. He went into work this morning though and I am hoping that the reason that Sam replied that that is what makes her sad is just because he wasn't here with us this morning.

She is growing up so fast! There isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't say something that just cracks me up. She is starting to use more adjectives lately to describe things and I often find her copying some of our phrases that she has heard us use. She eavesdrops on conversations (so I need to be really careful), and she often asks who was on the phone when I get done talking to someone. She is incredibly polite and reminds me often, "I not shy, Momma." No, she isn't!

Sophia is Five Months Old

Sophia is five months old today and is growing up so quickly. She really is such a happy baby and has been such a joy to "love on" every minute that I can!

Since we don't go back to the doctor until next month (when she turns 6 months old), I don't have any stats on her weight and length at this time. I do know that she is definitely growing because she has now outgrown most of her 6 month clothes.

-- She is going through a little phase right now where she is easily startled. Loud, abrupt noises and unfamiliar faces seem to set her off and she starts to cry uncontrollably. This is just a phase and will pass soon.

-- She doesn't like to be left alone in a room for any period of time. She must be able to see someone (anyone) at all times.

-- She loves her bouncy seat (as long as she can see someone) and pretty soon, I am going to see if she likes some of the bouncers that we have where she can push off with her feet. She's incredibly strong and will put all of her weight down if you balance her upper half.

-- She typically goes down for bed between 8:30-9:00 pm and will sleep until about 6:30 am, when she is ready to nurse again. She loves to sleep on her left side and sometimes I find her on her belly in the morning when I go to get her out of her crib.

-- She continues to roll all.of.the.time, and she pushes off with her feet to try to get somewhere. With very efficient scooting motion, while laying on her back, she has been known to move a few feet from her initial position on the floor. By no means is this crawling; she is just very strong with her legs and very determined.

-- She loves to hear her voice. Sometimes, in an attempt to get my attention, she get louder and louder. It makes me laugh.

-- She never runs out of smiles. And she's ticklish. I don't think that I could ever get tired of hearing her laugh!

-- She continues to drool A LOT, so in almost every photo, she is wearing a bib. She must soak at least 10-12 bibs a day. She also sticks her whole fist in her mouth quite often and her fingers are continuously wet with drool. This is just her way of exploring the world; I don't think that she is going to cut teeth anytime soon.

I am excited about the next couple of months because she will begin on solid food when she turns six months old. I look forward to making all of her baby food myself, just as I did with Samantha. It is such a fun time to watch as babies try new and different foods and I can't wait!

Fun With Pancakes

Samantha asked for pancakes this morning for breakfast, but our tight schedule in the morning did not allow for it. After explaining this to her, I made a promise that we could have pancakes for breakfast next time.

As the day progressed and I realized that I didn't have much planned for our dinner (Steve is still out of the country), I asked Sam if she would like to do something different and have "breakfast" for dinner -- complete with "special" pancakes! I received a resounding, "YES!" from her.

Our "special" pancakes were colored and she got to choose and help with the shapes.

She even helped me flip the pancakes:

Then, for even more fun, we made her name with the pancake batter:

Sophia just supervised:

Sam could hardly wait to eat her dinner ... er, I mean breakfast. Now, I just need to make her realize that this was a privilege and we won't always be making "special" pancakes. Only every once in a while ...

** Oh, and everytime that I ask her if Sophia can eat _________ (insert food item here), she always says, "No, she too little. When she get bigger, she have teeth." Too cute.

Tomato Time!

If you recall, Samantha planted two grape tomato plants a couple of months ago:

We have taken great care of them (extra watering on these VERY hot days), and Sam has anxiously waited, day after day, for the tomatoes to turn red.

Finally, she was able to pick a couple of them yesterday:

Ah, perfection!

The tomatoes that she picked didn't even make it into the house to be washed first! She ate them immediately!

Oh, so delicious!

Tomorrow, we will pick a couple more; and maybe Mommy will be able to enjoy one of them (maybe).

Sittin' Pretty (Sort of)

On several occasions this month, I have attempted to get a few pictures of the girls sitting together. I've mentioned before that it hasn't been easy. That's because, well, Sophia can't sit up on her own yet and then when you throw a toddler in the mix who has her own ideas about what she wants and doesn't want ... it can be tricky. But nonetheless, here are a few:

Sophia loves to kick all.of.the.time:

I'm not sure what Sam was doing with her hands here:

Taken right before Sophia fell over to the side:

The girls really do love each other and get along very well. Sophia is such a happy baby (except when she gets hungry and wants to eat IMMEDIATELY of course), and Samantha is incredibly attentive to her little sister. Some days I just stand back in amazement and watch how the two of them interact; they already have a bond that is so strong and I can't wait to see what the future holds for those two.

Samantha's First Ice Cream Cone

Samantha had her first ice cream cone today! While she has had ice cream before, it has always been in a bowl using a spoon. This week, while I was buying groceries, I spied the ice cream cones and decided that I would purchase a box and surprise her. Without telling her ahead of time, I casually asked her after dinner tonight if she would like to have an ice cream cone. She could hardly control her excitement! She chose strawberry ice cream and we headed outside to indulge.

She did better than I thought; there was minimal mess and she used her tongue like a champ. And when she bit into the cone, she told me that it was "delicious."

Of course, Little Sister came outside with us, but it will be a while before she can have any ice cream!

Wordless Wednesday

(This is what you get when you try to take a quick picture of a toddler and an infant together!)

Happy Birthday, Papa!

My dad's birthday is on Friday this week. Steve is leaving the country (AGAIN), so we decided to have a little impromtu dinner at our house with my parents. Sam was insistent that we needed to have a "happy birthday to Papa cake," so we set to work making an apple cake for him (a chocolate cake made in the shape of an apple). This was appropriate since he IS an apple grower!

Sam waited anxiously by the window for my parents to arrive. I couldn't resist taking a quick picture because I remember that she did the same thing LAST YEAR on the day of my dad's party. I found that picture and put it together with the one from the other day. My, has she grown!

And here's a picture of the girls together while we were waiting:

After dinner, Sam could hardly wait to put the candles in the cake and sing happy birthday. This is one of her favorite things lately; she goes around the house randomly singing happy birthday! Sophia, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled about this part:

We had a great time, as usual. I love that we now live much closer to my parents (30 minutes, instead of an hour), and am glad that they are able to come an visit whenever they want ... Happy birthday, Dad!

Go Tigers!

When Sam was a baby, Steve bought her a couple of little outfits. One was a Detroit Tigers ensamble -- in pink. It was the cutest thing ever; partly because he picked it out himself and then partly because we hoped that Sam would grow to love baseball as much as we do.

I got that outfit out for Sophia to wear yesterday in hopes that she could be a lucky charm and the Tigers would win their afternoon game. I guess that it worked because they squeaked by with a win. And they needed it.

Here is a comparison of the girls:

I think that it is fun to do these comparisons every once in a while because I sometimes forget how small Samantha was. I see some similarities in the girls, but there are some definite noticeable differences too. Sophia is obviously much bigger than her sister (she weighed 1.5 lbs more at birth) and her coloring is lighter. While Sophia's hair (what little there is of it) is starting to get darker on the top of her head, it remains lighter on the sides. Her eyebrows are also VERY light, while Sam's had already started to darken up. Also, while this picture doesn't show it very clearly, Sophia's eyes are quite blue ...

Happy 4th of July!

We have had a great day today, simply enjoying the wonderful weather outside and spending time as a family. It was so sunny this morning that we all needed our sunglasses:

Some of us spent some time relaxing in our fold-up chairs in the driveway:

While others simply enjoyed time in their carseat:

(You'll notice that they are bothing sporting the same excited expression)!


When lunchtime rolled around, we decided to continue taking full advatage of the weather and had a picnic lunch outside under the shade of a canopy in our front yard:

After lunch, Samantha cooled off in the sprinkler:

And Sophia and I stayed in the shade and took some pictures of my little one on her first Fourth of July:

After the girls' naps, we headed down to the park to partake in the annual potluck for our subdivision. Sam wore her bathing suit under her clothes so that she could go in the water after we ate. She had a blast!

Then, after putting Sophia down for bed, we watched a little baseball before getting ready to watch the fireworks in our driveway. We have the most perfect view of some of the best fireworks over the lake from our very driveway. Sam assured us that she wasn't "going to be afraid," and she was right! She really did start to enjoy the pretty colors ...

Geography Girl

About 10 days ago, I was at the store and decided to buy Samantha a puzzle of the United States. She is such a "sponge" these days and I thought that it would be a good time to start teaching her where we live and some of the other "easier" states. I had NO IDEA how much fun she would have with this, nor did I expect that she would learn them as fast as she did.

This was taken on the day that we got the puzzle. Notice that she is already taking a real interest in it.

After a couple of days, she started doing it faster (and showing Sophia).

I am proud to report that she now knows about 20 states and we are working on the others. She also knows all of her color words (she reads them on flashcards) and reads some opposite words (up, down, on, off, stop, go, hot, cold). All of this is really fun for her and I am so pleased that she wants to learn. She's going to be ready for school in no time!