Early Reader Award

Samantha started preschool in the fall and came home today with an "Early Reader" award! We knew that she was good at knowing her letters and the sounds, but we didn't realize how far she is. (Whenever I work with her, she assumes the teacher role and we don't get too far.) Sam was the only one from her class to get a reading award, so she is very proud of herself. It was a big deal for her to go into the "big kids" classroom and get her award. Daddy and I are very proud of her!

The many sides of Sam

Here's our girl! Doesn't she look sweet? Most of the time she is... except when she doesn't want to be. I've listed some snippets of recent conversations we've had below:

Riding home one night, we were talking about how lucky we are to have a home. I told her that not every family gets to have a home. She replied that we could share our house with another family and that she would share her room with another kid. Awww, I don't think she could have been sweeter in that moment!

One day when I wasn't saying yes to every request she made...

Sam: Mom, you are being naughty.
Mom: How am I being naughty?
Sam, thinking for a minute: You are acting like me.

There you have it!


Here's a video from a few months ago that shows the many sides of Sam.

Leslie

I remember when I was about 5 months pregnant with Samantha that a dear friend (Rene') took me under her wing to help me prepare for parenthood. She introduced me to a wonderful lady who provided daycare for her kids. Since I trusted Rene' and she had known Leslie for 9+ years, I was very hopeful. We met her and felt safe with the thought of leaving our kid with her. When Sam was 7 weeks old, Leslie started having her part-time. Then there was Sofia who loves Leslie just as much as Samantha does. We are very lucky to have found someone so special to look after our kids!

Here's the gang during the summer of 2005 with "Baby Sammy".

That fall Sam went to Emma Krumbees orchard for the first time.
Then came Sofie... this was the summer of 2008.

Sofia's first time at Emma Krumbee's... she loves Nora!

Sofia talking

Here's a short video of Sofia talking... no, I don't know where the accent came from, but it's funny!

Here's a list of words as of today: Mama, Dada, Nana, Papa, milk, more, done, bottle (baba), baby, book and something else that may be "doll" though that hasn't been confirmed.

Hard Conversation with Sam

On a serious note, the statistics on children being molested are staggering. Since a majority of the time the perpetrator is someone the child knows and is usually an authority figure, I took the approach of trying to have some talks about saying no and telling us as her parents now in the hopes that repeating it will help her tell if anything (deep breath) does happen to her. It is painful for a parent to even imagine their child hurt in any way, but I'd rather talk to her now than wish I did later on. I was very apprehensive given the subject matter, but I tried to be nonchalant!

I'm helping Sam get ready for bed.
Mom: What should you do if anyone ever touches your vagina?
Sam: No one touches me there. We keep our hands to ourselves.
Mom: That's good! If someone ever tries to touch it though, then you should tell me OK?
Sam: OK.

Mom (thinking to myself): 'Nuff said. Not bad for a first time!

Mommy makes a big mistake

Before you read this, please understand that I didn't think it wouldn't be a problem and I realize you're not supposed to do this. According to the nurses at our pediatrician's office, I'm not the first or last mom who has broken her own rules.

I gave Sofia peanut butter yesterday and there were consequences. Swollen eyes, runny nose and every size of hives were the physical consequences for her. The emotional ones are for me... The guilt of "I broke the kid and I'm sorry" to Daddy and to Sofia who appears to be fine with Benadryl and calamine lotion. Samantha has been very helpful in emphatically and repeatedly reminding me that we don't give Sofia peanut butter! I did the crime and I'll do the time in taking my licks, even if they're mostly coming from a 3 year old!

The cutest part of my deformed little girl was after I put the calamine lotion on she stopped itching and seemed to know that whatever was in that bottle was good, so after a few minutes Sofia would point to the bottle and say, "A-dis?" until I applied more lotion. This cycle continued until the Benadryl kicked in.

Disney On Ice

Samantha got to see her 2nd ice show today. It was "Mickey and Minnie's Fantasy Journey" and fun was had by all! Grammy and Nana accompanied Mom and Sam and it was a great show! Mine and Grammy's favorite was the part with Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and Nana and Sam enjoyed the piece with Peter Pan the most. What girl doesn't enjoy the occasional ice show? We went earlier this year to the "Finding Nemo" show with Rene' and "Camouflage Clay", who is now 8 and not interested in Disney princesses. We understand and don't take it personally, but we had a great time then as well! There was a point during both shows that I was so overwhelmed by my love for Sam that I nearly cried. I feel so lucky that we do this and spend some time together. I think Samantha's favorite part is getting the souvenir mug with the flavored ice. She kept the straw in her mouth while watching both shows intently!

Defeated by a gas can

Old man winter blessed us with about 3 inches of snow last night so I thought this would be my opportunity to chip away at the feminine stereotype by using the snow blower. Outside is generally Daddy's area, so I was strangely excited about my upcoming adventure. I ran into an issue when I couldn't get the gas out of the can to fill up the manly snow blower. As I shoveled the snow myself my only thought was I can't wait until Daddy comes home so I can learn how to operate the gas can! So help me, my girls will know how to use this and power tools too!

Friends and Family to the rescue!

As they say, you gotta have friends. Your family (blood or otherwise) definitely counts too! My friends are part of my family and without them, my life would not be as rich as it is. Thank you to all those (family or not) who have helped me this week... it's nice to have some sanity back! And those of you who know me well should understand that sanity is a relative term!

Thank you so much! Your support is priceless and gives me strength!