7/6/14: I can drink from a water bottle

July 6, 2014

On the way back from Maine, we stopped for lunch at Boston Market. Samara has been really interested in drinking from water bottles, but she usually spills a bunch when she is releasing the bottle from her mouth. Today was the first day that she didn't have any spills.

You can see that Samara is wandering around; she was really interested in the little birds that would hover near dropped food. She didn't understand why they would hop or fly away when she got close. She would get sad/frustrated when it happened, and it saddened me to see her face when she would turn to me, silently asking "Why?"

7/5/14: July 4th weekend, part 2

July 5, 2014

Samara spent a lot of today exploring and investigating her new surroundings. One of the first things that caught her attention was the wood stove, which she mistook for a tap.

Then she found Grandma's slippers and wore them in a novel way while checking out the cupboards.

Samara took a break from exploring and hung out on the couch with Grampi, who created the "I'm squishing you" game.

The sun finally broke out, so we headed outside. First we played with bubbles. Samara hasn't quite figured out how to blow enough air to create bubbles, but she tried.

Ace was hanging around, but got too warm and sought out shade. Intrigued, Samara followed him.

The last thing that Samara really liked was one of the dog leashes. I am not sure if she thought it was a scarf or necklace, but she definitely wanted to wear it.

7/4/14: July 4th weekend, part 1

July 4, 2014

On this rainy July 4, we headed up to Maine to stay at Aunty Sarah and Uncle Steve's house. Grampi and Grandma were also visiting. When we arrived, people were hanging out, drinking, and having a good time. I think Samara felt she had to catch up, so she grabbed a can of strawberry margarita, threw her head back, and pretend chugged it.

When Samara got her fill, we hung out for a bit.

Then we headed over to Cousin Francis/Peter's house for dinner. The previous owner had a cat, so there was a cat door going to the basement. Samara was investigating it, which caught Aunty Sarah's attention. Aunty Sarah dropped to the floor and checked it out with her. Although I do not own photographic evidence of this, if you ask Sarah nicely she just might show you.

7/3/14: Climbing and more

July 3, 2014

Today I left the room for a minute and when I returned Samara was on top of the activity table:

She was using it as a chair and was playing with a different toy.

She is very good at arching her eyebrow.

We played for a little while longer, and then it was time to go to open playgym at Gymboree. We had our first class yesterday. Although Samara was a little shy and wanted to observe most of the time, she did check out most of the toys and loved parachute/bubble time. I was curious to see what she would want to play with today.

She saw some other kids playing with maracas, and decided she wanted to try them out.

Then she found what has become her favorite slide. I tried finding a slide like this, but the company that makes it only sells to Gymboree. Bummer.

Samara found another slide to play on, but another kid was walking towards her, so she got scared and scurried away.

Later that evening, Seth, Samara, and I went out to dinner where Samara showed us her food dipping skills. She polished off most of the vegetables and pita herself!

7/1/14: Hoodie fun, part 2

July 1, 2014

6/30/14: Hoodie fun, part 1

June 30, 2014

The end of the school year was pretty busy for me, so I hadn't really had the motivation to take out the camera in a while.

Today that changed. I had a hoodie hanging on the back of a kitchen chair, and Samara decided to play dress up with it. She even knew there was a hood and insisted I put it on her. The result was a lot of cuteness and fun. Samara was zooming around laughing so much that most pictures came out blurry. These are the most in-focus ones.

6/9/14: More yogurt playing

June 9, 2014

6/8/14: Tennis fan

June 8, 2014

It was a really great day out, so while Seth was playing tennis, Samara and I checked out the playground next door. When we got tired of the playground, Samara and I watched Seth play tennis. Samara is his biggest fan. She ran right up to the fence, banged on it, and was smiling and waving like a proud little daughter.

Five minutes later she got distracted by her shoe, and was content to watch the match while practicing taking her shoes on and off.

Look at the intense concentration here. Why so serious, Samara?

6/1/14: Yogurt is squishy

June 1, 2014

Samara has been on a yogurt kick, probably because she likes playing with it more than she likes eating it.

Her fist is mid-squish with yogurt.

Then, she releases it with a satisfying glop!

She licks off whatever yogurt remains on her hand.

She goes in for more. Is she going for another squish?

Nope. It goes immediately into her mouth.

Samara will mix things up: she will eat some with her spoon, she will switch hands (although we think she might be a lefty), then go back to the "squish and eat" technique, finally ending with the drink it out of the bowl move.

5/31/14: Pants and keys

May 31, 2014

Samara has added multi-tasking to her list of accomplishments. She was trying to take off her pants and put some keys on her foot at the same time.

The keys are going on her left foot. Notice that there is another set of keys already on her right leg.

She pushed her pant leg down and one set of keys fell off.

She starts to put them back on, but then she decides she wants her pants back on first.

She probably repeated this 10-15 more times, took her pants off one more time, then ran around in her diaper laughing like a crazy baby.