Happy 6 Month Birthday Samantha!

"I love sweet potatoes!"

Oh my! Samantha is six months old today. She has grown so much since the very first time we got to meet her. We have been having a lot of fun getting her to try new foods - though she still doesn't quite want to eat it as much as she wants to play with the food :) She has tried rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, apple sauce, bananas, sweet potatoes, and peas. I think she likes the sweet potatoes the best. If we mix just about any of the other foods with the cereal she eats that up a lot better than when it's solo. Not surprising if you have ever tasted the cereal (yak!).

She has totally mastered rolling over and gets around pretty well. If you take your eye off her for more than 10 seconds, she's across the room. Just this past week she started sitting on her own! Before this past weekend she would sit for a few seconds and fall over, but now she can sit for just about as long as it keeps her entertained. She is so much fun and if you can believe it, she gets cuter every day!

We had her 6 month checkup appointment today. She weighs 17 lbs 9 oz and is 26.5 inches long - both 75th percentile. So we have no idea where she gets her height from - she may end up taller than both Lenny and I by her third birthday at this rate :) Poor Sam had to get three shots too! She did not like it one bit. She is taking a nap now and I hope that when she wakes up it feels a lot better.

I posted more pictures in the 3-6 month link and added her 4 month professional pictures taken by Kat's Photography on the left - enjoy!

Happy Birthday Sam!

Michigan Trip

Sam's serious side.

So we just got back from a great trip to Michigan. Samantha got to meet a ton of her relatives for the very first time! Unfortunately, she got a cold the day before we left and had it the whole time we were up there. Poor little girl! She is just now recovering. The flights went okay - I was very worried about taking Samantha on the flight. The flight up there was eventful...the first 15 minutes on the plane - in which you are required to sit in your seats - she screamed. She wanted to be walked around, but obviously we couldn't do that. After that she settled down and slept for most of the flight, but Lenny and I were "those" parents for the flight. On the way back she was pretty happy. I think it was because her cold was getting better so she felt better.

The trip was fun, we spent the first three days Lenny's folks' house and the last three days at mine. Lenny's sister Kalena and her husband Jon and two kids, Mathew and Ann stayed at his parents too. As a surprise for his parents, Lenny's brother Patrick also came into town from Australia. It was a lot of fun to see them - we had never met Ann (she's about 2 months older than Samantha).

The time at my parents house was busy too, we had a ton of visitors. We especially liked all the time we got to spend with my nieces. I also want to mention that my Mom made Samantha a beautiful blanket - thank you Mom! I want to make a special note here because I know how hard she worked on it - with one hand no less!

So there are a couple of things I really miss from up north that I thought I would write here - besides the obvious one: missing our families...
-Being able to store beverages outside (I love crisp cold pop - colder than a fridge gets it - something I will never get down in Houston)
-Cold water from the tap - I mean real cold water - not the "cold" water we get here
-Fresh air - it just feels fresher up there in the crisp cold
-Wearing thick comfy socks
-Rosy cheeks

Okay, I will stop with the writing...here are a few pictures from the trip and from the last month. I have posted all of the trip pictures at this link - Michigan. I have also added pictures of Samantha from Christmas until now at this link - 3 - 6 months.

Just for an update...Sam has been doing a lot lately - she tried Rice Cereal (and didn't like it...we are still trying), she is rolling over - the first time from back to tummy on January 4 and from tummy to back on February 22, she is talking more and more, she grabs and holds objects, she is very interested in her feet and toes, and she is really getting a little personality now.

Sam's first taste of rice cereal - "why is Mom doing this to me"

I'm cute!

Rice cereal try #2.

Samantha at 4 months.

Happy 4 Month Birthday Samantha

Today is Samantha's 4 month birthday! Yeah! She is doing so well! She is rolling over, holding onto toys for longer, putting everything in her mouth, and definitely talking more and certainly louder. We weighed her this week and she 15 lbs. Her hair is getting lighter and her eyes are still blue/green. I am starting to see a little more of me in her - she is totally a Lenny mini me so it's nice to see some of her mommy in there too! She is pretty attached to us now too - she knows her mom and dad (Grommit too!).

To celebrate a little early, on Sunday we gave Samantha rice cereal for the first time! Too bad she didn't like it! When I put it in her mouth she made a face that definitely screamed "what the heck is this!". She pushed the cereal out of her mouth so I tried again (several times) and she definitely didn't like where the situation was going and started to cry. Poor thing! She did want to hold the spoon herself though. We'll keep trying every once in awhile. I hope to post pictures too...we took a ton!

Laughing

So today Samantha did an all out laugh for the first time! She has been squealing when she smiles, but today it was a full out belly laugh. It was awesome. Lenny was holding her and I was making some silly faces and jumping around - she thought it was hilarious! I can't wait until she gets up from her nap so we can try to get her to laugh again - it's just the coolest thing I've ever heard!