Sam's new favorite things...

It's cute to watch Samantha's interests change as she grows. She spends a lot more time now playing "pretend" -- either taking care of her baby dolls or stuffed animals, or driving her little toy car, etc. It's made for some cute pictures I wanted to share...

Here is Sam "pretending" it's time for "night night" in the middle of the kitchen floor. She's reading stories to her monkey and letting him play with her "bag o' tricks" toys before bed.
She also enjoys pretending she's about to leave the house. She grabs her bag, backpack, or coat, and then heads to the stairs saying "Bye-bye, Mama! Bye-bye, Daddy! See ya!" We wave her off and she goes up the stairs for a few seconds, then comes back as though she's had this wonderful adventure. We eagerly welcome her back with cuddles and kisses, of course. Here, she's got both her monkey and her backpack as she departs...
I probably haven't mentioned our beloved Sox Bear turned up missing at the end of our Norway trip in August. It breaks my heart, though Sam hasn't acted too distraught. For about a month after, she was liking a new bear that Brian and I encouraged -- Mr. Bear. But then one day, she asked me to put Mr. Bear on the shelf and bring down "Hop Hop." Hop Hop Bear is a little bear that she thinks is a rabbit (aka. "hop hop"), he plays music when you pull his tail. For the last week or so, Hop Hop Bear has been her constant companion.
She also has a huge fascination with diapers and potty talk lately. She always wants Hop Hop Bear to have a diaper, and insists that he is "stinky" from time to time and needs a change. So here's Hop Hop in his diaper, getting a ride on Sam's car...
Another new thing Sam loves to do is climb up in our bed and read her books and magazines. (She especially loves "The Friend" magazine from our church, so cute!) She always says, "Daddy's Bed!" when she climbs in, situating herself on his pillows. She'll sometimes sit reading for 10-15 minutes, unattended. I think it's adorable!


One last picture ... It was such a gorgeous fall day yesterday that Sam and I had our lunch outside. I took her little table outside and she "helped" arrange the chairs while I got our tortellini soup ready. When I brought the soup, I thought it was so cute that Sam had put out an extra chair and had seated Hop Hop and Peter Rabbit in it; they got "pretend" bites of soup and drinks of juice throughout the meal.
So fun to see our girl growing up!