Ug, sick again. I’m not sure if this is the same thing Sam has had for the last week or so, or if she just smoothly transitioned from one malady to another, lubricated as she was with phlegm. And I’m sick too, so I have to say that the guy from Trixie Update had the right of it, though, when he identified Baby-related Immune Deficiency Syndrome (BIDS) as the reason why. Kids make you sick and then don’t let you rest to get better. They’re like little breeding grounds for germs, and I’m pretty sure that Sam crawls downstairs in the middle of the night to cough in all our drinking glasses.
The thing is, Sam isn’t acting sick. She’s generally happy and has learned a few new tricks this week. Sam is a long-time fan of taking things out of other things and then complaining that there’s nothing left to take out of anything. She’ll sit in front of her basket of toys and take them out one by one until it was empty and then look at us as if to say “Hey, I’m out of stuff. fix this!”. This week she actually learned the joys of putting them back in the basket, which excites us because it’s a prelude to cleaning up after herself. And the next step after that is getting a job. The really cute thing, though, is that she’s learned to take the shapes out of her shape sorter bucket and hand them to us. She’ll do this for up to ten minutes at a time, just pulling the shapes out, handing them to us, and making a sound like “dis!” each time she gives us one. As in “Take dis! And be happy with my cast-offs.”
Speaking of words, one of the big milestones everyone wants to know about is her first word. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Sam now has a few words in her vocabulary if you know how to listen for them. She says “Ma-ma-ma” when she wants Ger, and “Dad” for me. She’ll point at the cat and say “gat!” pretty consistently, and the bathtub is “bed,” probably because every night we say “Okay, time for bed” and promptly place her in the tub. I’m pretty sure she’ll miss that one on the Vocabulary section of the SATs. Finally, she often points northeast and says “Quebec!” even though she’s really pointing more at Manitoba.
Cruising is her other big milestone for the week. For the baby illiterate among you, cruising is when babies walk around by leaning on something (furniture, the wall, the cat) for support. She will also take little steps if I hold her up and gibber like an idiot right in her face. So the mobility is ever increasing, as are my fears that she’s going to drink a bottle of flaming bleach the second I turn my back.
So yeah, pictures:
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One day last week Ger gave Sam a little cookie biscuit thing. As a special bonus, I present you with “Destruction of a Cookie” below:
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Dramatic, wasn’t it? You can really smell the pathos. We’re heading to St. Louis for Christmas this week, so Sam’s update will probably be delayed a day or two. Have a Merry one yourself.
Cruising, eh?! I never, ever called it that…but now you’ve educated me. Very cute pictures. I bet that’s an old navy turtleneck. And it’s weird to see Samantha and Emma having the same toys. We just took all the old ones out from storage to prep for #2 and Emma is having fun re-exploring them…and actually using them correctly and efficiently!!!
I learned the term “cruising” from the “What to Expect” books. Not sure if they made it up or not, but it seems to fit for some reason.
The purple turtleneck is a Carter’s actually. They’re probably all made in the same overseas sweatshop, though. That or by elves.
I’ve noticed a lot of overlap in toys, too. I guess we shop at the same places. Some of Sam’s favorites aren’t even toys, though. The other day she picked up one of those plastic cans that once contained concentrated juice, then started going “Aaaaaahhh” while bringing it over and away from her mouth to see what effect it would have on her voice. She ended up with something like “AAAAAAAHHHHHHaaaahhhhhAAAAAHHHHaaaaahhh.” She did that for like ten minutes.