10/30/13: I am 9 months old!

October 30, 2013

Samara is 9 months old today! To celebrate, she wanted to take a provocative belly pic:

This bad girl influence must be from her favorite singer, Miley Cyrus!

When I picked Samara up from daycare, Miley Cyrus's song, Wrecking Ball, was on and Samara was dancing to it! So, when we got home, I started playing all different songs trying to get her to dance, but she wouldn't. Reluctantly, I put Wrecking Ball on and she started to dance!

After all that dancing, she worked up an appetite for dinner. Here you can see her happily eating. Daycare always tells me she is a really good eater!

Samara's feet look like they are flaming red in the next two pictures, but in the original file I uploaded they look normal. I am not sure why this happened.

10/28/13: Feeding myself solids

October 28, 2013

Samara has ben getting a lot of practice feeding herself solids, so her pincer grasp is getting quite good. Here is a video of her eating chicken and squash. Towards the end we start having a cute "conversation."

10/27/13: Peekaboo around the corner

October 27, 2013

Sorry if these crawling around the corner videos are getting boring. We are playing a bit of Peekaboo around the corner, but I like this video because the tip of her pigtail lets you know her little cute face is coming.

10/26/13: More crawling and something that might be dancing

October 26, 2013

Now that Samara has been crawling around the corner of the counter a bit, she has learned to anticipate our presence and gets excited.

Later that evening, Seth was playing some music and Samara was doing something like an intense Superman shake. Maybe this is her dancing?

10/24/13: Shivers and feeding myself

October 24, 2013

Samara has been shivering a lot recently. I am not sure why, as we keep the house at a constant temperature. I asked the pediatrician about it and she didn't really seem to be too concerned about it as it could be related to her development. Since I am posting this months after this actually happened, it went away on its own. You can see her cute little shiver while she is playing with some new balls.

An additional new development is that Samara has added to her understanding of cause and effect. I gave her one of those food pouches, and she knows to squeeze/suck it to get some food out of it. She does not seem super pleased in the video. A few minutes after I stopped taping she started squeezing it really hard while shaking it all around, so I promptly took it away from her.

10/23/13: I found you!

October 23, 2013

Samara does something new, cute, and/or hilarious almost everyday. Here is something cute that she did for the first time:

10/19/13: I can play Peekaboo!

October 19, 2013

Grandma and Pop Pop came to visit this weekend. While we were out to dinner, Samara decided to show us that she knew how to play Peekaboo! She just grabbed the blanket and started hiding her face, while laughing and looking very pleased with herself. Here are two videos showing her playful side.

10/14/13: New face and more crawling

October 14, 2013

Anytime I see Samara making a new face, I race to get my camera to try to catch it before she never makes it again. Today and for the few days following it, she would make this face:

This is her take on a cute fishy face.

Now that Samara has been crawling for a while, she has learned to crawl faster and also let us know when she would like to be picked up. She stops crawling then does a weird Superman-type wiggle when she wants one of us to pick her up. You can see her do it at the end of this video. She also likes exploring the floor by either licking it (also seen in this video) or blowing on it.

10/08/13: Paper towel giggles

October 8, 2013

I fed Samara her dinner and was cleaning her face, which she usually hates with a burning passion, but today was different. She found humor and amusement in the activity, so I whipped out my phone and captured this rare moment.

10/06/13: I like looking for necklaces

October 6, 2013

Samara's memory has improved; she has the ability to remember where things are located from day to day. For example, she knows that Seth has a shiny necklace beneath his shirt. She knows to look under his shirt to find it. However, she doesn't remember who wears necklaces and who doesn't. She will often scrape my neck looking for a necklace that isn't there.

10/05/13: Visiting Grampi and Grandma

October 5, 2013

Sorry for the long hiatus, everyone! I started to get really busy with school then I decided it would be a really good idea to dump water all over my computer and destroy my hard drive, which included all my edited Samara pictures.

To pick up where I left off, here is a video where Samara is playing on Grampi's lap, but then Grandma started playing peekaboo behind Grampi's chair. You can see in the video how vocal Samara is becoming.

10/02/13: I can clap!

October 2, 2013

Seth and I have one of those baby mirrors in the car where you can see your baby in the rearview mirror, which I love. I like knowing if she is sleeping, I like watching her play, I like watching her smile after she sneezes, and I like having the piece of mind of knowing she is OK if I hear her coughing or make making weird noises. On our way back home today, I looked in the mirror just in time to see her clapping! I have realized that some behaviors Samara exhibits only last a few days and then they disappear, so I like to try to capture them as soon as I see them. So, as soon as I pull into the driveway I pulled my phone out and took this video:

10/01/13: Family picture

October 1, 2013

At the request (and when I say request, I mean demand) of the Russian infant room teacher at daycare, Seth, Samara, and I took a quick family picture. Between the yellow room, the light bulbs, and my lack of desire to properly white balance the camera, the picture is not the best quality. But, it is a rare opportunity to see the three of us together.

09/29/13: I like to take the play mat apart

September 29, 2013

Samara's new thing is to play with the edges of the play mat. She crawls over to the edge, pulls an edge piece off, then starts madly brandishing it in the air. Sometimes she gets one in each hand and lies on her back and goes to town waving them in circles.

09/26/13: My best seal out of water impression

September 26, 2013

Samara crawls! She looks more like a seal out of water, but she is still cute. I like how she uses her right toe to help propel herself forward.

09/24/13: I can stand with support

September 24, 2013

Samara recently built up some core strength and can stand with support. It is funny how things sort of come together at once, so it seems like it happened overnight.

09/23/13: I like to stick out my tongue

September 23, 2013

In case you didn't believe me before, Samara LOVES sticking her tongue out right now.

09/21/13: Baby playdate

September 21, 2013

Today Seth, Samara, and I went to hang out with some of the families I met through my new mom's group. I hadn't seen the babies in a while, and it was fun to them army crawling, babbling, playing, and being cute.

We also realized how difficult it is to get a good picture of all 4 babies.

09/19/13: Look what I learned to do at daycare

September 19, 2013

Samara picked up a new behavior from an older baby at daycare:

She has been doing this ALL THE TIME. 

09/17/13: New things

September 17, 2013

I observed a lot of new developments with Samara today.

Her first tooth broke through her gums. You might be a able to catch brief glimpses of a little white spot in the bottom of her mouth in this video of her babbling:

Next, she developed the ability to pick up toys and bang them together, which you can see in the video below. She can also pass toys back and forth between her hands, but I haven't been able to catch that yet.

Samara is also getting very close to being able to crawl. She wants to reach for toys just beyond her grasp, but she gives up, not knowing how to make her body crawl.

The last video of this post captures some decision-making. Samara wants to play with a toy, but there are a bunch of them scattered around her beyond her reach. She does a tricky roll move to get a toy, but then she ends up in a predicament when they are all far away again. She takes some time to weigh her options, and figures out which toy is the closest.

Finally, here is Samara looking cute at daycare. Samara was so cute, one of the infant room teachers just had to snap a picture and shared it with me.

Stay tuned for more posts. I am trying to catch up!

09/08/13: Apple picking

September 8, 2013

Today Seth, Samara, and I went apple picking with some other families in my local playgroup.

Samara had fun riding on the train, looking around at other people, touching the plants, and hanging with Seth.

Although Samara was relatively unsuccessful at eating fruit (having no teeth yet), she was very good at gumming/licking the fruit.

Samara also had a fun time seeing Jake, a baby who she has known since she was 3 weeks old!

09/01/13: Out of order and old trick

September 1, 2013

Um, yeah. I haven't been posting for an absurdly long time and I apologize for that. I recently updated my phone and all these photo and video files transferred that never transferred before. I have posted a video similar to this one before, but completely lied to you saying it was a "new" trick. It apparently was an old trick because Samara started doing that a month before I posted about it. Anyhoo, Samara is doing her trick more enthusiastically this time.

09/15/13: Baby Naming Ceremony

September 15, 2013

Today was Samara's baby naming. As you can see, Samara is quite excited.

She was playing with her hair brush and the tv remote to pass the time until the ceremony.

Ceremony time! Samara had some nice blessings said in her honor. Here are a couple (rare) family pics.

Afterwards, Samara wanted to have some fun, so she tried the slide.

This is her "I don't know how I feel about this" face.

Here is a nice picture of Samara with Ellen, Shari, and Renee.

Samara is so cute she attracts both adults and children alike.

More quality time with Grandma!

Lexi was being shy through the door.

Then Yoey came over and was being playful and loving with Samara.

Not wanting to be left out, Dina came over to play.

When all the guests left, Samara passed out from all the fun.

To end the day, a fun shot with Daddy. Samara's hair makes her look like a hammerhead shark!

09/14/13: Visit to NJ

September 14, 2013

This weekend Seth, Samara, and I were in New Jersey for Samara's baby naming. We just hung around Grandma and Pop Pop's house while waiting for Grandma and Grampi to get in town.

Samara had a lot of fun chomping on Pop Pop's watch, and Pop Pop had fun playing with Samara.

Next, Samara had some fun Daddy-shoulder time.

Samara has a tendency to eat people's hair. In this video she acts like a zombie baby with Seth.

Pop Pop always manages to get Samara back in his arms, although this time she was on his shoulders. She immediately began chomping on his hair.

This is a rare family photo. Although Samara doesn't really look ready for the camera.

Finally, after a LONG drive, Grampi and Grandma arrived. The wait was worth it, though. Grampi looks so happy to Samara again.

09/13/13: I like to roll...

September 13, 2013

Samara has started to use rolling to get her from one place to another, rather than trying to crawl. She knows that she can eventually reach a toy or get to a new place if she rolls around a million times. I am not sure if this is lazy or smart. Recently, she started leaving the confines of the foam mat. Now we can no longer just plunk her down and assume she won't get into any mischief. I don't want her to be mobile just yet!

Oh, how did I get here?

09/08/13: First football game

September 8, 2013

Today the Giants game was on, so Samara and Seth spent some Daddy/daughter time together. Samara's eyes are glued to the bright, flashing lights of the tv:

She started leaning in closer towards the tv. Maybe she will like football and she can be Seth's football buddy.

Touchdown!

Make the field goal...

That was exciting. Let's play now, Daddy!

Daddy's funny. I love Daddy.