Second Half of March

Lots of fun things going on at the Lieu house these days!

We love chair spinning!

And she is obsessed with peek-a-boo.  We've been playing that for a while, when she hides behind pieces of clothes or blankets, but now she's purposely putting her hands over eyes.  And I think she might have said "peek"- we'll see if that's repeated.

S is loving bouncing her ball.  And notice how easy it is to pop up without holding onto anything.  

Literally, Samantha's favorite thing right now is taking things out of the recycle and walking around the house with them.  She was able to climb up on the chair with the milk jug still in her hand- she was happy about it.

She is quite the mischievous little one these days!

We've had a few nice days (amidst the grossness that is March in NJ), and Samantha not only have enjoyed walking outside, she also has now stolen Tyler, our 7 year old neighbor's, green machine.  She climbed up on the seat and screamed every time we tried to take her out.  Good thing Tyler was understanding.  This girl has opinions.

Oh and she loves Mac and Cheese.  LOVES it.

She's also been pretending to eat her play food.  She now knows what to grab if you ask her to get you an apple or a banana.

Just snacking.  She loves eating anything that goes in and out of a bag right now (well as long as it's a grain)

They were pretending to drive a car.

Cuteness.  Love them.

We had a baby here last weekend, and Samantha thought the bouncy seat was sort of hilarious.  This was not how we used to use it.

Lighting is bad, but I wanted to catch the crazy climber we have.

And we were lucky that last Wednesday Nana got to spend some time with us.  S loved holding hands with her!  We wish Nana (and Granddad!) were here all the time.

March Friends

I realized that almost all of the pictures on the blog, show Samantha, Andrew, and I at home, which is totally not representative of our days.  In the last year, Samantha has made lots of little friends, and I've been lucky enough to get to know a lot of cool moms.  So here's a few pics of some of S's baby friends- I'll have to remember to take some more pictures at our normal weekly activities.

S and I go to Baby Boot Camp 2-3 times per week- it's an hour of working out at Market Fair with the babies in the strollers.  It's such a great class- I get in shape and get to socialize at the same time, and Samantha gets to run around during core exercises and steal other kids' snacks afterward. St. Patrick's Day work out :)

And squats with some extra weight.

Playdate with James and Juliette.  Everyone wanted in to the car.

While I was in NYC- Samantha and Noah got together in Village Park- sad I missed seeing the parents- glad these cuties got to share a wagon together.

S- also got to have a little playdate with her other church friends (all her church friends are little boys!)- Luca and Matthew.  

Love this shot-Luca and Matthew are playing music.  S is in the background stealing a Vera Bradley bag.  Haha.

CSH Reunion

Okay, so this might be the first blog post that does not have a picture of Samantha in it, but I had to commemorate it- this past Friday, I spent my first night away from Samantha since she was born (thanks to Andrew for making that happen!)  Since I weaned her at the beginning of February, I have been looking to use some of that new found freedom, and the perfect opportunity arose- Golub's 30th Birthday!  My three best girlfriends from high school all live in NYC, and prior to Samantha being born, we have been having at least yearly (usually semi-annual!) sleepovers together.  What started in the Golubs' basement has continued through college in four different states and grad schools all over the country and across the world, and 2013 was the first year we didn't have a sleepover.  I had to remedy that ASAP in 2014.  It was wonderful to start our 30s with the same girls that stood by me when we all turned 16 (and really to some extent even earlier!)  It's so wonderful to know that even though the years have passed by- and now our conversations are about babies, fiances, cases in court, and night call instead of high school crushes and ap exams- we're still so integral to each others' lives.  So very lucky to have you, girls!  Glad to be entering our 30s with the sleepover tradition still strong!

Happy Birthday, Sar!

Sarah, Liss, Emily, and I

And just for a little throw back- the four of us when we were 21.

And the four of us when we were 17 going on 18 :)

After a four hour dinner (a year ago- I would not have believe I could have had dinner for four hours and close down a restaurant!), we headed to the Bronx for a sleepover at Golub's apartment.  What a beautiful breakfast the next morning :)

And then we had the treat of helping Emily start her search for her wedding dress!  (Note this is not a dress Emily is going to pick!)

Lunch afterward with the girlies!

So thankful for so many years of our friendship!

New Shoes!

Samantha got her first pair of real shoes last week.  She's been wearing her Robeez Booties (which we loved!) all winter, and they were great shoes to learn to walk in, but their leather bottoms made them less than ideal for walking outside.  So after doing all sorts of research and borrowing some shoes from friends, we bought Samantha her first pair of real shoes.  I'm a little taken aback by the price of baby shoes (?!!), so I hope we get good use out of these ones :)

S needed to examine them first.

She wasn't very happy the first time we put them on.  

But things got better when she discovered Mommy also wears shoes, just like Samantha.  No wedges, for you yet, though, little girl.  (Note to self- clean shoe closet...haha).

And things got much better once she realized wearing shoes means she can walk outside!  She was off down the sidewalk! 

Very pleased with walking outside!

And now just five days after getting her first pair of shoes, she walked over to me carrying them this morning, sat in my lap and handed me her shoes while holding up her feet.  She also brought her fleece over to me.  Seems that someone wants to walk outside.  Too bad we're in for a cold spell this week- her little heart is going to be broken!

Mwah!

A new talent- blowing kisses!

First half of March

During the first half of March, Samantha has been concentrating on her walking skills- but that doesn't mean it's the only thing we've been doing.  March is such a crazy month around here- we've had snow and 60 degree days and then snow again- spring can't get here soon enough!  In the meantime, Daddy, S, and I have been trying to keep busy!

She thinks this is hilarious.  Our glass is not the cleanest.

 S is also working on her big girl cup drinking skills.  She loves holding these cups with two hands and drinking on her own.  About one third of the liquid ends up in her mouth, the other two thirds in her bib pocket.

Just finding some floss and unwinding it while mommy is cooking.  Whatever keeps her busy :)

 Investigating at Barnes and Noble.

 She loves saying "hi" to everything outside (still licking windows as well).

 She is also loving climbing in and out of her booster seat.  She even has been placing the tray back on top of her lap once she climbs in.

 We've been playing a lot in her room.  Taking all her books out of her bins is one of her favorite games.

And reading behind her chair is another of her faves.

And just wanted to also show off her beautiful new growth chart (thanks Aunt Jo-Ann!)

 What a beautiful peaceful sleeper.  This, though, is not the norm.  Usually I witness all kinds of rolling on the monitor while she is still asleep.

Daddy and Samantha have been trying out the new BOB for some runs. I cannot wait until the weather is warm enough for daddy-daughter runs all the time!

On another warm day we played on the playground nearby.  They have a cute little toddler structure.  It was Samantha's first time walking outside wearing shoes, and she did great!

And we liked the swing a whole lot better than we did last fall.

And of course there has been lots of eating.  Here she's sharing her lunchtime with her new little twin friends- Nathaniel and Elodie.

And she's working on her yogurt eating skills.  I gave Samantha her own cup and spoon.  She can get the spoon in there and lick off whatever ends up on it or get it into her mouth if I load it, but she can't yet seem to maneuver the yogurt and fruit onto the spoon herself and then get it into her mouth.

I was taking too long to load up her spoon so she just dug right in looking for those yogurt covered strawberry bits.  Sigh.  Crossing my fingers for increasing ability with utensils soon.

And finally she's also decided she does not want apple bits, instead she wants to eat it off the core.  So now I have to eat the skin off the apple while she points continuously at it, and then she very goes to work on it.  

Very happy with herself.

Hoping pics from the second half of March, will feature all sorts of outside warm weather- although I hear NJ is in for more snow tonight.  Ai yah.