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?!

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 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!

We have enjoyed a few weekends at home after a busy April. Catching up on little things makes me feel better. I’ve been decorating a little bit. I feel like I’m horrible at decorating a house, so I’ve been trying to put my style into the house just a bit. Not a moment too soon, since we’ve been here for nearly 6 years…

Samantha had her 18 months checkup last week. She’s growing well and very average. Everything was right on, except for her speech. She’s not saying as many words as is normal at this age. I’m not worried about it because the girl “talks” constantly and I know words will come in due time. The doctor is not worried about it because her “receptive” language is good. She really does understand exactly what we say. She knows most of her body parts and all sorts of other everyday words. However, her lack of words may be due to the fact that she has yet another ear infection. The doctor said it’s time to go to an ENT and get tubes. Having constant ear infections can make sounds muffled, so she may not be hearing properly, therefore her speech will be affected. I’m not totally convinced that it’s the right course of action, but we at least need to give it a try (going to the ENT that is). They might have other options for us.

We’re going to the symphony again tonight. It’s Gershwin, and should be good. We heard Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Dvorak’s New World Symphony last week. It was great and one of my favorites so far. We still have quite a few more shows in the next few months, so the offer to babysit is still available to anyone who wants it!

Also, she is a big fan of blowing kisses. Last night, skyping with Papa, she must have blown him a dozen kisses. He sure is lucky.

She has also learned to clap on command. You can say “Clap Samantha” and she will clap.

And lastly, I think she has learned her first word – “uh oh.” I don’t think she learned it from us, although I guess it’s possible. Yesterday, she was sitting in her high chair and dropped her sippy cup (not that she’s learned to use it yet…) and she said what sounded like “uh oh.” It still needs some work, but the inflection and intent was difinitely there.