Disneyland

We have been planning since Samantha was one to take her to Disneyland for her 2nd birthday.  So I haven't had much thought about going, especially during the summer.  Growing up we would go to Disneyland at least once a year if not more.  I have such fond memories from my childhood of being in Disneyland, there is no place like it.  So when my mom asked if I wanted to make a last minute trip  down to Disneyland before summer ended I was all for it.  We had a blast even though it was a short trip, it was great to be there with my mom when I brought Samantha for her first trip since my love for Disney all started with . Samantha did surprisingly well on the car ride down we made two stops to eat, change diapers, and stretch our legs.  We also brought along our portable DVD player to keep Samantha occupied (it didn't work on the plane but we thought we would try again).  This is how Samantha's love affair for Woody and Buzz all started.  I happen to bring Toy Story 2 and put it in for her to watch with Grammy while I drove the last leg of the trip.  Samantha was glued to the TV, a first.  Since then she asks about her Buzz & Woody daily.  We occasionally give into letting her watch it but I try to limit her TV time.  So we bought her  plush Woody, Buzz, and Jessie dolls so she could play with them instead of constantly asking to watch them.  It is so cute to see her put Woody on Buzz's back and say "infinity beyond!"

loves her some Toy Story

August

The summer seemed to come and go so quickly.  I'm finding that Samantha's seems to grow and change over night.  I am so blessed to be able to stay home with her and be a part of each milestone.  Our summer days (when we're home) have been some of my favorite. We live within walking distance to a park and library so we would walk to the park and play, then to the library to read some books and cool down before heading back home for lunch and a nap.  She loves flowers and it was hard to just walk by them without Sam wanting to stop and smell them- love it.  So I made up a game of talking to the flowers which she just loved.  Now as we take our morning walks Samantha sticks her little hand out from the stroller waving and saying "Hi flowers, pretty flowers, bye bye flowers."  It melts my heart to see how much she loves life and everything in it. 

Our little fish off swimming by herself

Big smiles after going poo poo in the potty!

Beach Fun

Summer

We have been so busy this summer, I'm not sure where the time has gone.  Samantha went in for her 18 month well baby check last month and is a perfectly normal happy, healthy little girl (which we already knew)!  She is in the 95% for height, she's really stretched.  She is talking more and more everyday and can definitely understand exactly what we are talking about especially if it's about her.  I love how she repeats the last word of whatever she hears someone say, it's so cute.  We are really starting to see some more independence coming out, basically she wants to do what she wants when she wants and she's very sweet about letting you know she says peas, peas, PEAS! (Please)

Things Samantha can do:

Repeat almost anything (so watch what you say!)
give lots of hugs and kisses
put on her shoes by herself (they are crocs but hey, I was impressed)
feed herself with a fork and spoon
drink from a cup
brush her teeth and hair
run
throw, kick and catch a ball
sing and dance (wheels on the bus is her favorite)
buckle herself in her stroller
I love how she'll come up to me and hug my leg and say "up" so she can give me a hug and kiss.

We were in South Carolina for two weeks to visit my cousins.  We had such a great time visiting and spending time with them.  The first week was just Sammi and I and then Daddy joined us for the second week.  We were able to spend lots of time at the beach and Samantha just loved it.  The water was so warm and the beaches were beautiful.   We had an amazing vacation (the 5hr plane ride with an 18 month old is another story!).

Swim Lessons

I can do it

Samantha has been growing so much over the past couple months. She loves to mimic and try and do whatever she sees Toby and I do. She loves to take care of her babies by pushing them in the stroller, pretending to change their diapers and rocking them to sleep. She loves to dance to music- she'll mostly spin around until she's dizzy! Being outside is one of her favorite things. We spend lots of time in the backyard and at the park. She's also discovered bugs. Two ladybugs landed on her last week and she just loved watching them crawl on her hand ( I was afraid she might eat one but she did great) and when the flew away she just said "bye bye." While we're outside she is a little explorer we look for birds, butterflies, flowers and rolly polly's. We got her a little water table to play with in the backyard and she loves using a paintbrush in water to paint (she'd do that the whole day if I let her. She is talking more and more everyday and it is so sweet to hear her little voice. She's the most amazing little girl, I am so blessed to be her mommy.

Let's have a car wash

WaWa

Can I help?

Looking for buggies

I got something

Digging in the dirt

Walking my baby

Proud lil momma

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter with family. It is always great getting together with our families, especially now with Samantha. She brings a whole new joy to celebrations as we teach her what they are and mean. We weren't to sure if she'd understand to much about the whole egg hunting thing but once she saw her cousins doing it she was off to find eggs.

Looking around to get the OK from Grammy to open the drawer

This is the "Grammy said I could" look!

Finding a picture of mommy

Giving kisses

Getting eggs

Trying to eat them

Bunny Love

Dyeing eggs

Animal vet Easter basket

Feeding her doggie