Cute stuff about Sammie

I mentioned that our camera broke on our second to last day in Egypt. That means any blogging I do in the near future will be text only. No more pictures, sorry. I'm afraid I'm out of practice at making my writing entertaining enough to be read without pictures. So what you'll read here will sound more like a journal entry of sorts.

I have cute things to share about Samantha. She's started her own gibberish language that is absolutely adorable. Just this week, it seems like she figured out her mouth will make weird sounds if she moves her tongue around different ways. So she goes jabbering away, sticking that little tongue out and moving it around. Most of what she says sounds kind of like "gliglug gully glglly" Lots of hard "g" sounds. I love it!

She also started saying "ah oh!" when she drops something. In fact, she intentionally drops things so she can say "ah oh, ah oh, ah oh!" over and over. I'm almost inclined to count it as her first official word, since she uses it to mean the same thing every time. It's true, she's been saying "dadng" for a few months now, but it's hard to attach a real meaning to it, as she says it all the time, about everything. So, maybe we should count "ah oh?"

Samantha has developed a new love of trying on clothes. For months she's been bringing me her sweaters and coats when she wants to go outside. But now she just gets on with it on her own. And she doesn't stop at jackets -- she loves trying to get on pants, hats, socks, etc. She got one of my shirts out of the washer today and came running through the living room with it around her waist, like a skirt. Cute.

Her latest greatest in that department is that she knows how to reach into her pants drawer while standing in her crib. (Her dresser is right next to the crib.) So, after her afternoon nap, she empties half her pants into the crib and starts trying them on. Last week I heard her making lots of noise in there and went to get her up. When I walked in, she was standing with her back to me, a pair of denim shorts on her head. She turned around and I could see two little eyes peeking nervously through the leg holes, wondering if she was going to get in trouble. I started laughing, and she pulled them off proudly, giggling with me while she waved them around in the air. Man I wish our camera was working for that one.

Samantha's also getting really good at lids... pen lids, tupperware lids, water bottle lids, etc. She can open most lids fairly easily. At a play group last week she opened a brand new water bottle she found in our friend's kitchen and went around sipping while the other kids were looking at her like, "where'd ya get that?" I was a bit embarrassed at her help-yourself attitude, and surprised that she got it open. Those six teeth of hers work wonders! She also opened a red ink pen yesterday and drew pretty pictures all over the cover of our Home Health Guide. Then this morning, she opened a tube of my waterproof mascara. Brian quickly closed it back tightly and handed it back to her -- both of us thought I must have left it open or something. Well, thirty seconds later, she had it open again, and had painted a nice black strip of mascara down the front of her hair, as well as smearing it all over both hands and a nice spot on the kitchen floor. Pretty Sammie!

She had to have a bath after that episode. Anyone out there have toddlers develop a fear of baths, after they've LOVED bathing in the past? Sam's always really enjoyed the water. But this past week she really freaks out when it's time to get in the tub. I'm not sure if it's something that happened (suds in the eyes, too hot of water or something?) or if it's just a phase. She was a wiggly, screaming girl this morning and really didn't calm down until I gave her a pacifier. How weird.

It could have to do with Brian scaring her with the garden hose last weekend, I suppose. He was planting veggies and she was playing on the patio. He said he turned on the hose and she got a little worried, so he thought he'd show her it's only water. He started waving the stream toward her, and she began to cry. So he wave it a little closer, so she could see it was nothing to hurt her. She really freaked out then, and ended up huddled in the corner, crying. Guess waving the hose at her was not the right idea?? And that was after she had huddled in the corner crying while he mowed the grass. She's a little scared of the back yard now, I wonder why?

Right now, she's tucked away, fast asleep for the night. She still sleeps wonderfully from 8 to 8, which is such a blessing -- for her and for us! We sure love this little girl so much. That's all for now, folks.