CitiSam

I still have to download the pics that Grandpa sent from last weekend, so I'm a bit out of order. Here, Sam comes with Mommy and Daddy into Manhattan to have dinner with Daddy's group of crazy Mets fans.

The family!
The littlest Mets fan with the other little Mets fans. Rachel, the girl on the right, has been going to games with her parents forever. I met her when she was 2 and she's 8 now. Scary.
Sam on the train. She enjoyed her ride, and she also rode the BUS for the first time. When we got off and it pulled away, she shouted "NO! BUS! WAIT!' She has a thing about buses so our car rides are punctuated by "BUS! BUS!" whenever she sees one, sometimes several blocks away.

Oops

Sunday Sam and I went to a playdate with my moms group at our friend Liz's house. Sam had a good time...until...

I decided to take her up to the potty with me because things were crazy downstairs. She held my hand and walked up the stairs just fine. The gate was open at the top of the stairs so it didn't occur to me to close it. I'd never been to Liz's before, so I wasn't sure which room was the bathroom, so I turned the corner to check it out, putting Sam behind me. A couple of seconds later--mom's instinct, I guess--I turned around to look at her and she was at the top of the stairs. It seemed to happen in slow motion. I knew she was going to try to climb down, and as soon as she tried to step to the next stair, she started tumbling down and I just couldn't reach her fast enough. It was horrible, and she was screaming, and I was crying, so I took her back upstairs to a rocking chair. Sam HATES to see people cry, so she's bawling and trying to comfort me at the same time. While sweet, it still wasn't fun. A few minutes later, Liz came in and asked Sam if she wanted to see the doggy, and Sam nodded yes, and that was the end of that.

Luckily there was no permanent injury. I checked on her frequently during her nap that day and have been watching her all week, and she's just fine. But I feel stupid, especially since she fell down some outside stairs last summer with the SAME GROUP OF PEOPLE present. Aaaargh.

Oh yeah--after the incident, I caught her stealing another little kid's grape and eating it. It would have really capped off the day if she'd started choking on it. Can I just keep her locked in the bird cage until she's 18????

Sam enjoys a quiet moment by the door.
She loves this moving toy. It had to be taken away eventually because she and a little boy were fighting over it.

Taking a ride.

A small view of the (fun) chaos...there were probably 9 moms and at least a dozen kids!

Bird Taxi

I guess Sam's shoulders are big enough...Jokie went for a nice ride the other night! I think she'd been holding a piece of paper he decided he was in love with!

Diva in the Making

For once I am blessed with an overload of pictures, so I have enough for at least all week! The two below are nothing special, except that Sam pointed at the camera and begged me to take her picture. She will also point at the computer and say "Sammm....Sammmm" because she likes to look at pictures of herself! Are all toddlers so self-obsessed? :-)

Samantha Learns to Share

Here she shares her breakfast with...the bird!

We had a fun weekend which included a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, a playdate, and a BBQ. Unfortunately Sam took a tumble down a flight of stairs yesterday, I'll tell that story when I post the pictures. She's fine, but Mommy is still shaken up!

Sam and her Sti-sers

Sam loves her sticker book, and the grandparents are recent recipients of her very first pieces of art. Mommy has to go buy more stickers because these are all gone.

Sam is learning to say more and more words now. My favorite is "bus"--whenever we see one on the way home she says "bus"--and "sti-ser" is pretty funny too.

Night Night!

Miss Samantha is feeling much better. She's only coughing a little and she's much happier than she was over the weekend. When I put her jammies on last night, she started saying "Meh-sin! Meh-sin!" She wanted her medicine! Not because she knows it's medicine, but it apparently tastes yummy so she thinks she's getting a treat.

Also, for the first time last night, she told me she wanted to go to bed. Usually we cuddle up on the couch with her blankie and a book until she falls asleep, then I put her in her crib. Last night she was starting to fade, and out of no where she said "Night night!" I was very surprised and asked her if she wanted to go night night, she nodded yes, and I put her in her crib without a problem. I checked on her a couple of times and she was still awake but happy to just lay there and fall asleep on her own. Hooray!

Giddyap, Little Sammy!

Sam is still illin'--we had another cough/barf episode last night. Poor little thing. If her coughing doesn't abate in the next day or two I'm going to have to take her in again.

This is Sam next to the toy pony that Grandma and Grandpa got her for Hanukah. It hooks up to the TV and when she bounces, the screen changes (letters, numbers, etc.). She can use it without that hookup too, although frighteningly enough, she knows how to plug the machine in. It's also scary that she runs in the house when we get home and turns on the TV, but that's a post for another day.

OK, I'm going to get on my pony now!
Hee hee hee--look how silly I am, Mama!
Wooooooo hooooooo! Giddyap!
I love my pony! (This picture was taken after I said "show me your teeth!")
Uh oh...fun is over, something interesting is on TV.

The Long, Long Weekend

No picture today. I've been getting very lax about that lately. As Kristen said on her blog, there's only so many pictures I can take of her in the house! The weather's been rotten up until this weekend. I was excited to take her outside to the park and for a walk, but of course she got sick! I stayed home with her Friday because she had a temperature of 102.5 and a cough. I took her to the doctor Saturday morning and she has an ear infection.

Saturday night she seemed to be feeling better so we took her over to our friends' house for a card game, but something just seemed off and she was getting cranky again, so I left with her and let Daddy have some peace. Five minutes before we got home she barfed all over the place, so we had to rip apart the carseat and clean it yesterday.

Sigh. I'm almost glad it's Monday.

Silly Girl!

Sam seems to understand what the camera is now, and loves to ham it up!
Hi Mommy! Watch me be silly!
Ha-loh? (That's how she says "hello")"
Why do you keep taking pictures? Why? Why?

Lovin' Spoonfuls

Sam has gotten much better with a spoon lately. It's been so nice the last few months to plop her in her chair and let her go to town. I still occasionally feed her if it's something like yogurt, but for the most part she's on her own.

With intense concentration, Sam carefully scoops up yummy rice & beans (courtesy of Mayra!).

I think there is some food on this spoon! Yum!

Eh. Too much work.