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Samantha was in the back seat this morning on the way to Paula’s house. She was quiet and doing her own thing. I was stopped while waiting to turn. Raffi was playing (does he ever not play in my car?). Then out of the blue she said “goodness gracious.”

Lizzie is moving to Denver today. We’ll miss you Lizzie!

Samantha has finally entered the imitation stage. She’s late on everything, so this doesn’t surprise me, but it’s very funny. For example, she knows that after we get ready for bed, she can pick out 2 books. She walks over to her bookshelf and begins to choose. Last
week, as she stood in front of the bookshelf, she said “How ’bout…” in a long drawn out voice. And a few days later, she did the same thing as she was standing in the pantry picking out her snack. I know she picked that up from me, so it just amazes me that she knows what it means.

Also, in the bathtub recently, she started telling her bath toys “sweet dreams” and “see you in the morning.” !! How funny is that?!

This fall, Samantha has learned to say “Roll Tide.” I caught her saying it towards the beginning of the football season on October 10, 2009. Check it out.

Remember when we had the issue with new sandals in the spring? Well, it seems we’re going to have the same problem again this fall. It must just be new shoes. It doesn’t matter if you can see your toes or not, it’s just different. So, maybe after a few feet-glued-to-floor incidences, Samantha will be able to wear closed toed shoes again.

Samantha has really begun to talk these days. She’s even putting words together. “Where are you, Mommy?” She is getting new words every day, most of which are mostly intelligible.

Our tomatoes are coming along! Samantha enjoyed most of the first one, with Brian getting a few slices on a sandwich. I picked 3 more small ones today, but many more are almost ready.

I haven’t been adding blog items recently, but I have been adding pictures. Be sure to check them all out (those without RSS readers, please look throughout the site since I’ve added more than the most recent 5 on the side).

I guess I’ll start with our trip to the beach. We had a great time! Samantha slept for a whopping 45 minutes in the car ride there and back. I sat in the back with her both ways so I could occupy her a little bit. And of course, I wanted to show her what she should be doing in a car, so I “pretended” to sleep a lot. Thanks for driving, Brian! Samantha LOVED the water. She plays in a baby pool a lot (8″ deep) at home so she was used to laying in the shallow water on her tummy and floating. Thanks for all the help from MamaLinda and Aunt Lettie for watching her when my back was turned.

Her ears seems to be doing fine. She wore ear plugs while we were at the beach. She wasn’t bothered by them too much, but that could have been because there was so much else to see and do. She is teething again though. One tooth has broken through on the bottom (one of the pointy ones). She’s a bit lopsided because she has 2 more teeth on the left side than she does the right. I’m guessing they’ll come in at their own pace. Anyway, she’s been drooling, congested, and coughing a lot lately. Maybe the tubes will keep her well.

Here are some random facts about her. She is a great singer, having finished the whole alphabet song by herself yesterday. Wow! She is so incredibly independent these days too. She is learning that when we give her choices, she can say yes (and it actually sounds like yes) and shakes her head for no. She can almost put her Crocs on by herself. She opened the pantry door today (although I’m not sure if it was already cracked, but she sure was working that handle). She loves being chased by the corn popper. She can say I love you and has given several sweet closed mouth cheek kisses recently.

And lastly, Happy Birthday, Daddy!