Sam's Latest Trick

We had a fantastic day yesterday. On the weekend, Mom and Bill brought down their old van for Sam and I. I have affectionately named her Wanda the Wagon. She is a beauty. Bill likes to remind me that I was embarassed to drive the thing when I lived with them but I'm ridiculously excited to drive her now. It is so easy to get Sam in and out, requires no maneuvering, twisting or turning! I can also keep the stroller in the back and not be irate when I get groceries and open up the trunk to find it there...because in this piece of luxury automobile, there is room for the stroller AND my groceries!!

Anyways, yesterday was my first big day of using the Wagon. I met up downtown with my lovely friend Sheena and we did a 3km walk around the river. The colours are beautiful right now with the trees in full fall apparel. Sam enjoyed herself but was not having a stroller walk. No, let's wreck Mommy's back some more by making her use the Snuggie! Ah well, it was a good workout anyway with an extra 14 pounds 2 ounces strapped to my chest! After a good visit and walk with Sheena, we stopped by my work to say hi to everyone. Sam was passed around and had lots of good cuddles with everyone. It is so weird going back to work...I keep thinking everything will have changed and it hasn't...I have though! I am such a different person than I was last there (and not only that I'm a good 50 pounds lighter!). Sam did excellent and didn't get cranky at all even though we missed her nap. She was asleep before I left the parking lot. The parking lot, I might add, that charged me $31.50 for our little adventure! ROBBERY! Later on in the evening, Uncle Reece let us know that him and Uncle Keith (lil) were playing hockey just down the road. So we bundled Sam up and took the Wagon for a little spin down to the hockey rink and watched a period. Sam was in awe. She really, really loved hockey. I thought the pucks hitting the boards (LOUD), bodies slamming into the boards in front of us (LOUD) and the rink itself (COLD) would bother her but she just loved it. What a busy but great day for her. So much stimulation!

Which could explain the great night we had...she was in bed by around 815. She didn't get up to eat until 630! And as I write this at 830, she is still sleeping soundly. Cutest thing though and Sammy's latest new trick...I checked on her at 5 and she was sucking her thumb. Not sure if this will be a regular thing or not but it was adorable and a lot easier than packing soothers everywhere we go!

Playtime!

21 weeks

This week, Samara figured out how to get a soother into her mouth. YAY! She doesn't always get it...and sometimes she is sucking on the wrong end. But she is definitely gaining some independence. She is able to play on her own for longer periods as well.

Crib Report Edition #?

It's been awhile since I've posted on how our nights are doing and we have people asking for updates. We have started putting Samara to bed a bit earlier. We used to start her bedtime routine at 8pm...which consists of a bath, lotion massage, pj's, story with Daddy, nursing session and then a top up with a bottle. This meant she usually wasn't getting to bed until almost 9pm and we were really struggling to keep her up and boy, was she cranky! So now we just watch her tired cues and start anytime between 7-8pm.

Last night she was in bed by around 8pm. She put herself to sleep and then...we didn't hear her...for a long time. I woke up at 1230. Nothing. 130...nothing. 230...nothing but by this time I'm thinking she must be about ready to get up because for the past week or so this is her midnight snack time! 330...still nothing. 430, I've had enough, I'm positive there is something wrong so I go in and check on her. She's perfectly fine and oh so precious. I go back to bed but can't fall back asleep because I just know she's going to want to eat soon. And Shawn will be getting up in 30 minutes so the shower will probably wake her up. 5 comes and still nothing. The shower in fact does not wake her up. So now I have to pump because I'm so uncomfortable from going 9 hours without nursing. I don't know how much to pump because I know she'll be hungry soon. I do a couple of ounces on each side just to make it bearable and check on her again and go back to bed. Shawn also checks on her and by this time, I'm sure she's thinking, eff off already, I'm trying to sleep!! Anyways, she eventually wakes up at 6 to nurse and then goes straight back to sleep. It is now 830 and she still isn't up. That's an incredible night!! Now please don't be the person that tells me that by this age she SHOULD be sleeping through the night. I don't need to hear it! I've already had people tell me this and it is not helpful AT ALL!

We have made MAJOR progress in the past 4.5 months. Just to remind people...we used to try everything to get her to sleep. We would have to rock her while she screamed for almost an hour and then she'd only be good for an hour or less on her own. It usually resulted with her sleeping on me on the couch in the living room. We progressed from that to taking turns sleeping with her in our bed. And now she's such a big girl sleeping in her own room. I have to admit, when she woke up this morning to eat and Shawn was already gone to work, I was VERY tempted to just bring her to bed with me to cuddle.

Sammy is Famous!

Yesterday we went to the Calgary Farmer's Market for Uncle John's (Bill's brother's) book release. He is Calgary's best restaurant critic and writes for the Calgary Herald (as well as others!) and reviews for CBC Radio. John and his wife Catherine (also his editor) were there releasing the 7th edition of My Favourite Restaurants. Look for it in Calgary bookstores. We use it every time we go out for a nice dinner and it has never let us down. Also look for Cheap Eats which Shawn has been using for selecting cheap restaurants for lunch while he is at work.

Anyways, we had a lovely time there. We picked up the latest copy of the book and on page 99, Samara is featured briefly! We ran into our friend Gizzy there, had Saskatoon Berry Lemonade and bought some organic beets to make Borscht.

20 weeks

Samara has discovered the sound of her own voice...especially the high range. She shrieks so loudly. It's cute (mostly!). It's so high pitched that the cats' fur stands on end. Hopefully she discovers the low range sometime soon to balance out the ringing we hear in our ears!

Sam also has started taking interest in the cats. She always smiles and laughs when Charlie or Robbie come near her and she actually reaches out to pet them. They're not enjoying that so much as they are still not sure about her.

I don't know why this is funny...but it is!

Samara and Jamie

Yesterday, my friend Angela and her son Jamie came over for a visit. I met Angela at the prenatal classes we had gone to before Samara was born. Jamie was born a week before Sam. They've gotten together lots over the past few months but they've always been in their strollers while we've gone shopping or walking so haven't really looked at each other much. This time we put them face to face and it was soooooo cute!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Samara's New Trick!

Dancing with Sam

I'm not actually that bad of a dancer but Sammy loves seeing my hair whip around!

19 weeks

We've had a really good visit with my Dad. He got here last week and spent the long weekend with us before flying up to Yellowknife to see Chelsey. Now he's back for the day and leaves early tomorrow morning. We're sad to see him go!

Samara is getting so close to crawling. Her little bum gets wiggling in the air and arms and legs flailing! When we put her on the hardwood floor instead of her mat, she ends up going backwards from pushing so hard. It won't be long. We can't turn our backs on her right now because she can actually make it pretty far in a short amount of time. Guess it's time for babyproofing!!

Sammy's Trip to the Zoo

Today Samara and I met up with the other moms from our prenatal group and their babies at the Calgary Zoo. It was a fun time. I'd say the babies were too young to really "get" it but I am so sick of walking aimlessly around our neighborhood so the change of scenery was nice! The only bad thing is that there was so many cool things to see that Sam couldn't be bothered to have her usual nap. So she's a bit cranky now and having a tough time settling down for her evening nap. It's worth it though to get out of the house for awhile every now and then. I didn't manage to take 1 picture while we were at the zoo but I took a quick one when we got home. I know I'm biased but damn is that one cute kid!

Questions

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
10 years ago I would've been 17...just starting University at Augustana in Camrose. I was taking my bachelor of music with a minor in psychology. This of course never happened...I ended up with a bachelor of arts with a concentration in music and then went on to take my elementary education after degree. Seems longer than 10 years ago but also seems like yesterday!

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today?
Shower, tidy the house, do the banking, take Samara to the zoo and keep learning how to play guitar.

3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
These change all the time but lately I've been snacking on chocolate zucchini bread, m&ms, cheezies, crackers and cheese and yogurt.

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:
Buy a couple of homes...one in Canada in the mountains and one somewhere warm so we could escape the winter. Buy a newer vehicle. Give money to family and friends. Give to charities. Set Samara up with $$ for life!

5. 2 of my bad habits:
Eating WAY too much sugar everyday and being impatient with myself and others!

6. 5 places I've lived:
Wetaskiwin, Camrose, Edmonton, Calgary...I've only lived 4 places I guess.

7. 5 jobs I've had:
marketing coordinator at Olympic Seismic, piano teacher, office administrator at Saputo, piano accompanist at Dance FX and cashier at Value Drug Mart.

I don't actually know how to tag people but if you're reading this and have a blog, consider yourself tagged!

Jolly Jumpin' Around

18 weeks

We had a great visit with Jim, Jill and Ashlie last weekend and now this weekend my Dad is coming up from Memphis. This will be his first time meeting Samara.

Some pics from the past week:

Shadow March 23, 1996 - September 2, 2009

After many long discussions and much soul searching, the difficult decision was made to put Shadow down this afternoon. The last couple of years have been very tough on her. She has had many heart problems but the biggest problem in the end for her was her back end. Being a big dog, she suffered from arthritis in her joints and once she got herself to a lying down position, it was really hard for her to get up without her back legs collapsing on her. It was really hard to watch. It was a hard decision, but the right one. She is in doggie heaven, running, chasing and prancing about, I have no doubt in my mind.

My favorite memories of Shadow...well, there are just so many. When she was a puppy...trying to get her to jump on beds, couches, etc. which ended up biting us in the butt years later when we couldn't keep her off! Coming home to find things destroyed. Rushing her to the vet after finding my sewing kit strewn all over the room and pins and needles everywhere...only to find that although she will eat entire socks whole, underwear by the dozen, she does apparently know better than to eat needles! Cuddling her during thunderstorms, which she was terrified of. Barking and growling at boyfriends that would tell Shadow I was theirs. Eating snowballs that we threw. And more recently, having cats as best friends...surrounded by cats so much that in the end, I think she thought she was a cat. You could always go out to the barn and find her cuddled with a couple of cats. She was such a good dog and she will be (and already is) so very missed.

4 Months!!

Sammy is 4 months old today. She is always making us laugh and we really can't imagine what life was like without her. She is rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy with the greatest of ease, is trying so so so hard to crawl and can actually scootch forward, is grabbing and putting everything in her mouth and can sit on her own for a bit. Her favorite things to do are going for walks in the stroller (facing forward), being carried in the bjorn while we do things around the house (facing forward) and playing on the floor with us. She thinks Mommy is hilarious and we spend lots of time trying to make her laugh. She is now waking only 2-3 times a night including 1 feeding around 4am. It feels GOOD to be getting some decent sleep again!