August 20,2011

Last week Samantha learned how to make a new sound - coughing. So she would be laying on the floor, playing with toys, and cough. It seems like a strange thing to do, but it was a new and fun thing she had figured out, and so she wanted to have some fun with it. We tried applesauce and sweet potatoes with her in the last couple of weeks. She LOVES sweet potatoes. She'll eat an entire container in one sitting, mixed with rice cereal, and still want more. A couple of days ago she seemed hungrier than usual. She drank 5 ounces of milk at 2:15, 5 ounces at 4:45, downed 4 ounces in about 5 minutes at 6:15, and was mad that there wasn't more. We went out to Daniel's to eat and she fell asleep on the car ride there. When she finally woke up she wanted to eat, so Adam fed her a container of sweet potatoes. And she was upset there wasn't more! Last night she had a bunch of rice cereal and milk mixed with applesauce, and really did well. She's actually opening her mouth for the spoon, rather than us happening to get the spoon to her mouth at the right time. She gets cereal twice a day at daycare, and hasn't really slowed down the amount of milk she drinks (I was hoping she'd cut back on milk if she had cereal). She's starting to get very distracted whenever I try to nurse, so I'm thinking it's time to quit. I just really don't like having her pull off every couple of seconds, over and over again. It's a harder decision to make with Samantha than it was with Julia, and I think a lot of that is because there's a good chance she'll be our last kid. With Julia, we knew we wanted to have another baby. But now, Samantha is getting older, and growing out of being a baby. It's a tough thing for a mom. She's getting so big and active and interactive now. She can sit up on her own, but usually only for a few seconds. When she's in the high chair she actually sits forward so that she's sitting up straight. She has better posture than either of her parents! Adam gave her some puffs last night while the rest of us were eating, partially to see if she'd want to eat them and partially to keep her occupied. She isn't too crazy about eating them yet (which is fine, because she's a little young for them), but she loves playing with them! It is so enjoyable to watch her process how to pick them up. And she's so happy with herself once she has them in her hands.

Julia is, of course, doing new things every day as well, especially when it comes to talking. When she talks about going to sleep, she lists the things she needs: blankets, pillow, nuk. She's a great help with feeding the dogs. All we have to do is ask if she wants to feed them and she goes into their room, opens the container, and scoops out a cup of food for each of them. And she usually puts the scoops away and puts the lid back on without needing to be reminded. About a week ago she was feeding the pups their supper and was calling for Tails to come eat. Over and over she'd say "puppy! eat!" She'd come out into the dining room area calling for Tails, and I finally asked Adam if she was outside. Yes, Tails was outside. That's why she wasn't in eating. But the really funny part of the story is that Julia was carrying around Tails' food dish with her! She was out in the kitchen, calling "puppy! eat!" and holding Tails' dish full of food. A couple of day s ago we were out playing on her swingset and she was pointing out the bird poop on her slide. So I told her I'd clean it up and got a large leaf from a weed and wiped it off. That seemed to do the trick. Today while she was out in the garage with me (I was polyurethaning doors and she was drawing with chalk) she said "poopy" about some dirt on the floor. She made some comment about cleaning her shoes, and wandered out of the garage and into the yard. She came back with a small weed leaf to clean it! Adam said she did the same thing while out with him on the swingset yesterday. It is amazing and scary to realize just how much she really does pay attention to the things we say and do. Julia is able to climb up and down her rope ladder (Jacob's ladder?) all by herself! And she loves to swing - HIGH! We got Sam a bucket swing, but it's great for Julia, too. I was pushing her last night high enough that the chains of the swing were parallel with the ground. She loved it!

Adam and I are working on getting a bunch of pictures hung up and so while they're out and being framed, Julia is looking at them. We were looking at the picture of my entire family from last fall, and she was naming all the people in it. She pointed out Mommy and Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Sasha, Ivy, and herself. I asked her who Heather was and she said "Ivy Mommy." When I asked what her name was, she said Heather. So then I pointed to Dave. She said "Ivy Daddy." I asked her what his name was, and she repeated, "Ivy Daddy." I said yes, but what's his name? Uncle.......? Her response? "Awesome!" Thanks, Dave.

Julia has alphabet magnets on the fridge that go into a toy that says the letter and the sound it makes, and it sings the alphabet when a specific button is pushed. Adam has been working with her a lot about which letters start certain important words. She can find the letters that start Mommy, Daddy, Julia, Samantha, Tails, Grandpa (& Grandma), Amy (sorry Amy, but I'm pretty sure she's thinking of her teacher Amy), and Ivy. All you have to do is ask her "which letter is for Mommy," for example, and she'll go get the M without any help. She can now hold up 2 fingers when asked how old she is. Usually she says a word that sounds like three when we ask her, but that's just how she says two (when we ask her to repeat the word two, it sounds like "free"). She is starting to sing a few letters along with the alphabet song, and loves us to sing songs to her. One of her favorite sayings now is "Yummy! Tummy!" She still loves her sister very much, although is getting into the phase of taking toys away from Samantha. She is getting better about replacing the toys she takes, though.