05/28/13: What is Samara doing? Part 2

May 28, 2013

Today, when I went to feed Samara after she napped, here is what I saw:

I assume she ended up this way because she is trying to roll over, but it is still causes me to ask, "What is she doing?"

Later on that afternoon, Samara was in the Jumperoo and I was trying to show her the other toys that were on it. I started spinning this lizard that had some balls in with it, and she started to squeal. While some squeals sounded happy, other ones bordered on sounding scared. I don't know which way was actually the correct interpretation. Which again makes me ask, "What is she doing?"

The final "What is she doing?" moment of the day also occurred while she was in the Jumperoo. I started playing with the floppy butterfly toy, and then she started to ravenously suck on it and the seat. Maybe she was really hungry? Or maybe she just had a ravenous appetite, who knows?

05/26/13: A day in the life

May 26, 2013

Some of you may wonder what a typical day is like for Samara. We bring her through a series of "stations" since there is only so much she can do right now.

When she wakes up in the morning or from a nap, she is hungry so she gets fed. Then we bring her downstairs and we have her play on the activity mat and do some tummy time (you have seen plenty of these pictures).

Now that we have the Jumperoo, we can add in a new station. We stacked up some foam mats and a phone book so she can bounce to make the music play. We are fairly certain that she uses her hand to hit the wheel in front of her to make the music play in a deliberate way.

Here are some pictures of Samara thinking really hard about what to do while on the Jumparoo.

When Samara tires of the Jumparoo, we switch to a calmer activity: reading.

Seth's notes:
As you can see, she is already trying to learn more about Daddy.  She finished his PhD thesis (with a few critiques along the way), then worked her way through The Game (how else would Daddy have convinced Mommy to go out on a date).  Now Samara is moving on to Daddy's favorite book, Everyone Poops (well, technically it is tied with The Very Hungry Caterpillar). You can see that Samara is very advanced, flipping pages and reading through the book at a rapid pace.

Finally, when she tires of reading, we put her down for a nap either in the swing or her crib.

05/25/13: New toy!

May 25, 2013

Today Samara did two new things. One, she wore her "Samara" shirt for the first time (she looks very happy wearing it).

Two, she tried a new toy, the Jumperoo. Her feet don't hit the ground yet, so we will have to stack something beneath it so she can jump. But she seems to like the toys, lights, and music so far.

05/24/13: Stay tuned

May 24, 2013

Samara wants all of you to know that there are more updates planned in the near future, possibly tomorrow if all goes well. She would also like to let you know that updates will be attempted more frequently. Sorry for the long pauses in cuteness!

05/22/13: Samara is 16 weeks old!

May 22, 2013

Today Samara is 16 weeks old! She wants to say hi and thank you for reading her blog!

05/21/13: What is Samara doing?

May 21, 2013

Lately we have been finding Samara all crooked in her crib like this:

And then I realized that she has been trying to roll over, but can't, so she ends up pushing the lower half of her body towards the side of the crib. Today, I got to see some of it in action. She reminds me of the cutest turtle ever lying on its back.

She is, however, much less spastic on her back. Yes, the video is 25 seconds of her doing the same thing. You don't have to watch the whole thing, though.

05/19/13: Samara smiles

May 19, 2013

Nothing wildly new or exciting to post about today, but Samara was pretty calm and smiley today, so I took a video. I know that some of you readers can't get enough of her smiles, so here is a bunch in a row. Sorry for the low-quality graininess going on in the video.

05/16/13: Samara is 15 weeks old!

May 16, 2013

Last post was about Samara's ability to talk for longer stretches of time. This post is how Samara has gained the ability to modulate her voice and create various emotions: she can make her voice higher-pitched and sound happy/excited, and she can also lower her voice and sound sad. She mainly uses her sad voice for when she is hungry and doesn't cry as much.

05/13/13: I like to talk a lot

May 13, 2013

Samara has been a little chatter box recently. She likes to talk a lot, especially with her hands shoved in her mouth. Here is a little sampling:

05/12/13: Mother's Day

May 12, 2013

Today was my first Mother's Day. I experienced many other firsts today.

1) My first car accident. Samara and I were on our way to Grampi and Grandma's for a Mother's Day get together, when an old man rear-ended us and pushed us into the car in front of us at a red light.

2) My first time calling 911. Samara was sleeping and then woke up screaming after the crash. Scared out of mind, I immediately called 911 and then found a safe place to pull over.

3) My first ambulance ride for my second time in the ER that weekend. Samara was securely buckled in her car seat and the police/fire department/EMTs said that she was OK. I wasn't sure if I was OK because I didn't know if I was so fixated on Samara that I was ignoring my own pain. I had some slight back and neck pain so I agreed to go to the hospital. I refused to be put on the board, though. I didn't think I was that bad. Plus, Samara was not leaving my sight. I had some neck X-rays done and it was determined that I would have some slight bruising and pain for a while.

4) My first time seeing a tiny baby blood pressure cuff. It was super cute.

5) My first time making an auto insurance claim and being asked inane questions about the accident.

6) My first time realizing that I truly could completely disregard my own well-being and fixate on the needs of someone else.

To all those mothers and fathers (especially mine) who have gone through every up and down with their child, many far worse than what I experienced today, I look at you with a new-found respect. Because it is true, you don't actually know what it is like to be a parent until you become one. And I know I have only been a parent for 3.5 months, but I can only imagine what the next 18 years is going to be like. So cheers to you and your dedication and love.

Oh, and we did eventually make it to the get together. Here is Grampi enjoying his time with Samara:

05/11/13: I feel better already

May 11, 2013

Samara already feels better. She still has a low grade fever (around 100), but her normal, sunny disposition has returned and you can't even tell she had such a traumatic experience last night!

05/10/13: Samara's first cold

May 10, 2013

It's Friday! It's the end of a busy week, and it's time to reward ourselves by going out and having fun. Now of course, we could always head to a movie, or hang out at a bar, or maybe just get together with friends. Bt what is the excitement in that? We can do those things anytime. Instead, let's make this Friday different. Let's mingle with people we don't know. Let's try something we'll really remember forever. Let's go somewhere we've never been before on a Fridaty. Let's go . . .

To the ER!

Yes, it was quite a memorable Friday evening. A bit more than three monts in, and Samara has already had her first visit to the emergency department. Now don't worry, she is fine. It turned out to be a siple viral fever spike that as resolved with some aspirin up the tushy (Samara's, not ours). All her blood work turned out fine, and no bacterial infection.

However, we got to the hospital at 7 PM, and Samara hadn't eaten for a long while. On top of that, they needed to try two times to take a blood sample out of her hand, put an IV in the other, she needed to be held down for x-rays, and the catheters were not Samara's idea of fun. Needless to say, Samara was not a happy girl.

The tiny baby johnny is quite cute, though.

Oh, we actually did TWP new things this night. By the time we left the hospital at 10:30 PM, we were absolutely starving, so we tried the new Shake Shack down the road. Interesting fact, they make the tables with wood from old bowling lanes.

*This post was written by Seth

05/09/13: Samara is 14 weeks old!

May 9, 2013

Samara turned 14 weeks yesterday. The following video shows two things. One: Samara is very hard to wake up. Two: Samara is starting to learn how to flip over. She doesn't quite know what to do with her arm yet, so a full flip is still a while off.

05/04/13: I really can hold things

May 4, 2013

It has been a little over 2 weeks since Samara first developed the ability to hold toys. Her grasping ability has improved - she can hold objects much longer and has more control. She is also capable of bringing them to her mouth. Let the toy tasting begin!

05/01/13: Samara is 13 weeks old!

May 1, 2013

Today Samara is 13 weeks old. She is able to voluntarily control most of her movements (some reflexes still remain) and is learning to self-soothe. If she could fit her entire fist in her mouth, she would, but her fingers of choice are the middle and ring fingers.

04/29/13: I am very pretty

April 29, 2013

Samara was watching the mobile and she looked very pretty, so I snapped a few pictures.

04/24/13: Samara is 12 weeks old!

April 24, 2013

Where is the time going? Samara is already 12 weeks old! She is now starting to like baths, but she has always loved getting her hair washed. Here you can see how calm she is while Seth washes her hair.

04/21/13: Visiting New Jersey, Day 2

April 21, 2013

Today is our second day in New Jersey. We are getting ready to go to a combined birthday party for our niece and nephew, Dina and Ozzy (Yoey's brother and sister). Grandma and Yoey are having a fun time hanging out with Samara!

04/20/13: Visiting New Jersey, Day 1

April 20, 2013

Today we drove down to New Jersey to visit Seth's family. When we arrived, we found out that our nephew, Yoey, was also staying for the night. He was very cute with Samara, getting her to smile and laugh.

04/17/13: Samara is 11 weeks old!

April 17, 2013

Today Samara is 11 weeks old. A recent developmental milestone that she has reached is that she is able to grasp toys for a short period of time. I can't believe how quickly time is passing!

04/16/13: My hair can be quite curly!

April 16, 2013

It does't look like it when it is dry, but Samara's hair is very curly when wet! Must be from Daddy...

04/15/13: Last full day in Puerto Rico

April 15, 2013

Today is our last full day of vacation. In the morning, Samara showed us how cute she can be, especially when she smirks.

For the rest of the day, we decided to enjoy Puerto Rico's warm weather sitting by the pool one last time. She really liked the water today.

We let her lounge by the pool, all cozy in her towel.

Then she noticed the sunlight filtering through the tree above and started bouncing all around. It's too bad today is our last day! I think she was just starting to like Puerto Rico!

04/14/13: Samara tries the pool

April 14, 2013

Today started off with the usual tummy time, playing, and chatting.

Since Samara's first experience with the beach went so well, we decided to try the pool. My attempt at dipping her feet in was met with crying and sadness.

Seth tried and, again, crying and sadness.

But wait.

This isn't that bad.

Actually, this is quite nice. I want to stomp my feet in it.

Then we went back to the beach for more happy times with Daddy.