Mother's Day

We were all finally back from our travels this past weekend, and we got to celebrate Mother's Day at home this year.  It was really nice because last year we were out of town for my first Mother's Day so it was hard to really do anything.  But this year I got treated like a queen.  Daddy made breakfast and then took Samantha for his run so that I could have a quiet time and breakfast in peace (not that a toddler throwing food isn't my idea of a fun breakfast but you know reading and eating without food flying is always nice once in a while).  Then while I served in the nursery for the first service as church, Daddy managed nap time and a poop diaper incident, and then joined me for second service (while a very well-behaved Samantha stayed in the nursery).  After church we headed to brunch at Agricola in Princeton, and after some delicious food walked around campus on what turned out to be a beautiful day!

Me and my girl.

Waving at brunch

Yum- our fruit and bread baskets were no match for Samantha!

Love her!  Thanks for the cute dress Auntie Diana!

In contrast, this was Mother's Day weekend- last year! She's grown a lot :)

Just walking around campus

Makes my heart warm!

After a long nap that I got to read during on my beloved outside lounge chairs, Daddy made dinner.  What a nice relaxing day with my loves!  Feel lucky to get to be this little one's mother!

Week on Long Island

After getting back from Grand Cayman, Samantha and I stayed the rest of the week on Long Island (Andrew had to travel for work). We loved getting to spend more time with my parents!

Samantha loved having a big yard to walk around and explore.  Mostly she loved having Lanie around!

Someone was a little impatient waiting for Nana to get home from work and mommy to cook dinner so I let her take everything out of the utensil drawer!

After dinner, Samantha and Nana went exploring more outside.  Let's just say "Ous" and pointing at the door was the command of the week.

On Wednesday, Nana didn't have to work so we got to spend the day doing all sorts of fun things.  First, sesame street house and then a tea party with car keys.

Then we went to library for story time.  Samantha spent much of story hour trying to get her snack out of my purse.  Oh well, she sat and listened to some of the stories.

Then we headed over to Panera for lunch.  We were joined by a few of the CSH moms :)  It was wonderful to have these moms that I have known forever get to know Samantha a little more!

And of course Samantha and Lanie spent a lot of time together :)

And Aunt Jo-Ann, Nic, and Pop-Pop came for dinner on Wednesday.  Samantha loved playing with them!

After a rainy Thursday and a trip to the mall, on Friday Samantha and I were out and about while Nana was at work.  First we had a play date with Piper (and Emily).  It was wonderful to see these ladies!

Can't believe how much they've grown in just over half a year (September 2013)

Piper was so good at sharing her toys with Samantha!

And then we got to spend a few hours with Emily while she packed.  She's already on her way out to Seattle for summer and then to NC for the fall so we had to soak up a few hours with her before she left!

And then back home to play with Granddad before bed!

Ooh- sofa fort!

And one last balloon punch before we left on Saturday!

So glad we got to spend a few extra days on Long Island with you, Mom and Dad!

16 months old!

Samantha turned sixteen months while we were in Grand Cayman and Nana and Granddad were kind enough to take some sixteen month photos for me.  I love these ones of her on the steps!  Maybe I should have her pose like that every month from now on!

Samantha has 16 teeth now (all of her eye teeth poked through this month), and she still loves eating.  She still loves pasta and fruit.  Every once in a while this month she has eaten a few vegetables or a few pieces of meat (salmon one night, chicken with bread crumbs another, and meatloaf with ketchup another) but this hasn't been with any consistency.  Maybe there's hope for a more balanced diet some day again soon, though?

Samantha is an expert walker now.  She walks (and tries to run) everywhere.  She balances super well these days, and new in the last few weeks she has started to try and balance on things.  Like she'll step with both her feet onto board books just to see if she can balance on little surfaces.

Samantha would rather be outside than anywhere else.  She demands to be outside a ton of the time.  I'm really glad her walking corresponded to nice weather!

Her language is slowly improving, and she now also says "Ous" when she wants to go Outside.  She also copies back sounds to us- like mama and dada and la (for Lanie) but doesn't really say them a ton on her own.  And new this month is nodding and shaking her head.  She now goes "Yeah" while nodding her head and "no" while shaking her head.  And she totally understands where language goes- when she is trying to say something she doesn't know how to say, she still expresses herself saying something like "Ice."

But by far the biggest change is her comprehension.  She understands everything (and now even remembers things some times).  If I ask her to get her shoes or her cup or a certain type of food, she goes and gets it.  She also knows many of her body parts and if you ask her to point to her head, hair, eyes, mouth, tummy, belly button, hands or feet- she's right there pointing (not sure why but for some reason nose is proving difficult for her...so random...haha).  

Best comprehension story this month - Samantha walked over to me holding her crayons.  I asked her if she could go get her coloring book (I was pretty sure she didn't know what a coloring book was).  She stood there thinking about it for a second and walked over into the pantry (definitely not where I keep her coloring book).  But then she came back out of the pantry with a piece of scrap paper from the recycling bin that she and Andrew had colored on the night before when I wasn't home.  I was shocked!

Samantha also is testing limits this month.  She runs away yelling "no" when I try to put pants on her, and if you ask for something she doesn't want to give you, she says "no."  She smiles and tries to climb the stairs right after you have told her not to, as well.  We're working on the discipline thing...haha.  

But on the sweet side, she has also learned how to give real kisses (not just blow them) and how to hold hands while walking.  

Love you, little girl!