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Brian and I went to Memphis last weekend for our anniversary. Some of you may be thinking that our anniversary was about 6 weeks ago. You’re right! We thought to plan a trip in September, but just now got around to taking the actual trip.

Samantha stayed with MamaLinda and Pop and saw all of her Burns side family all weekend. I think she had a great time. While we were in Memphis, we visited Sun Studio, The Peabody, took a Mississippi Riverboat Dinner Cruise, walked up and down Beale Street, and took a tour of the Gibson Guitar Factory. Memphis was farther away than I anticipated, so it seemed we spent a lot of time in the car, but overall, we had a good trip!

We went to the zoo a few weekends ago. It occurred to me that we hadn’t been to the Children’s Zoo or play area yet, so I wanted to try it out. Samantha rode the carousel, pet lots of sheep and goats, and checked out Alabama’s Wild. And of course, we couldn’t leave until we took a train ride. At one point in the petting zoo, the sheep started baa-ing. It was surprisingly loud, and all of us were thrown off-guard! And now, she makes a different sound for a pig. Before, it was just breathing in and out sort of. Now, you can tell she’s really trying to snort. It’s funny. It was a quick visit, but well worth it.

Halloween has come and gone. Samantha wore her costume a total of 3 times and threw a tantrum each time I put it on her. I know, how horrible am I?

The week before Halloween, the Moms Group at church had a Halloween party. I decided to go since it was in the late afternoon, and she could have a go at wearing her costume. Once we got to the party, she was fine. She loved eating the apple slices, running around with the other kids, and eating more apples. She got a bag full of goodies too.

On Friday the 30th, Hoover had a Family Fun Night at the nearby park. Once again, it was trauma as the costume went on. At the park, we got to eat a hotdog, go through a trick-or-treat line, go on a hayride, and I was going to try to stay for the movie, but it got late.

Then the big day. It was a mostly normal Saturday until the doorbell rang at 4:30. Yes, it was early, but it was a neighbor. Samantha had just gotten up from her nap and wasn’t in her costume yet. Brian was outside cleaning the fleet, so I figured I’d put her costume on (the. horror.) and go outside. As it got later, I asked if she wanted to go on a walk, and she said “yes.” We walked up the street and as soon as I started to go up a driveway to ring a doorbell, “no, no, no!” rings throughout the street. Brian was still outside (at our house) and noted later that he heard the screaming down there. Once she realized that people would put a bowl of candy in front of her, she was much more inclined to go up and ring the doorbell. She never did say “trick or treat,” and she wanted me to hold her as we got close to the door, but she did enjoy her evening I think. We came in and had dinner. (I know, backwards order.) Afterwards, she picked out some Peanut M&Ms. I don’t know if she had ever had them before, but I think she liked them.

I carved my pumpkin the day before Halloween. I think it turned out pretty good and I got lots of compliments from the parents as kids came to trick-or-treat at our house.

We went to the pediatrician last week for Samantha’s 24 month check-up. The doctor walked in and said “Wow, I haven’t seen you in a while!” After looking at her chart, he commented that the last time he saw us was when he recommended tubes for her ears. That was 6 months ago, so he said it was in fact the right decision. It wasn’t cold season during that time, but still, Samantha has been fairly healthy for a good while now.

So, on to her check-up. The doctor said everything looks great. In general, she’s about 60th percentile in growth. Her language development is not where it needs to be, but I think it has drastically improved in the last month or two. He doesn’t seem to be alarmed to it. She got a HiB shot (had a nationally shortage for the last year, otherwise she should’ve had it at her 12 month appointment), a flu shot, and a H1N1 flu nose mist. She’ll have to go back in a month and get the booster shot for the H1N1.