So Many Changes

8 Month-Old Sammy!

I seem to be only getting up one of these posts a month. It's just tough getting on the computer for any length of time these days. Hope you are all still following our journey.

Soooo many changes since my last post. Sammy is now officially crawling!!! She started with the army crawl but is now starting to figure out how to move her arms and legs together. Of course, if I'm anywhere close by she'd rather ride the "mommy taxi" but I'm trying not to pick her up as often so she can practice. She's really getting good at cruising the furniture and can now sit up and pull up from the floor. One of her favorite activites is to hold our fingers and walk all over the house. Our knees are getting sore as well as our backs. She has suffered a few injuries herself. She tends to want to lead with her face and has aquired a few cuts and bruises, poor thing. But our reflexes are getting faster and we're catching her more often. Fortunately we finished the baby-proofing this last weekend. House is now safe..er.

She now has two teeth but won't let me get a good picture of them yet. I can tell that there are more on the way because of the excessive drooling and chewing. We've also had some sleepless nights. Samanatha seems to have developed a new pattern; waking up at midnight or 1 am to play. She's started pulling up in her crib and will stand there and scream until one of us comes in for her. After an hour or so of trying to get her back to sleep, I usually cave and bring her into our bed where she proceeds to kick, slap and grab us for another hour or so until she falls asleep and I put her back in her crib. Fortunately this only happens every other night. The next night she's too exhausted to keep it up and sleeps through until morning. I'm not sure what's causing it or what to do about it but I hope its just a phase. The books say this is about the time separation anxiety kicks in so maybe that's it. She has been a bit clingy with me and more shy with strangers.

She's a really great eater and has started to eat more than just pureed baby foods. We've given her mac'n cheese, avocado, watermelon, pears, mangos, rice cakes and of course, the little Gerber Puffs that are like dry cereal. She's pretty good at feeding herself but still makes a big mess and will throw things on the floor when she's had enough.

The screaming has gotten worse; louder and more shrill. She's babbling now but still prefers to scream to express her opinion. I think I'll be deaf by the time she's two.. If any of you have heard it you know what I mean. Our neighbors must just love us.

Football has now begun and, as you can see from the picture above, we're trying to make sure Sammy is a die-hard Charger fan. Let's hope she has a reason to be proud this season. I'm dying to get rid of that wallet!!

On her new bike...

...that doubles as a walker.

Peeking over the couch at mommy.

Kickin' back in the tub.


Baby's first Converse.

Crawling injuries. Bruise under one eye and cuts on her nose and cheek. I had to delay her portraits by a week so she could heal.

With Kathy at Baloba Park.

Crawling Action Sequence:

Starts out strong at one end.

The crying begins but she's still moving.

But then she stops.

Falls to her belly.

And gets bored. "I'll just sit here 'til Mommy rescues me."

And for fun...Sophie begging for Bryan's sandwich.