Samantha

It is a miracle..I am only a few days late with your letter but forgive me as we are knee deep in the middle of packing up out house and I do not do well with moving. yes, we are moving from the only house the you have ever lived in since you were born…kind of making me sad now that I think of it. I worked so hard to create that pretty nursery and last weekend we sold your glider and ottoman to a nice pregnant mommy waiting to have a little girl and that made me happy we could pass it on for a fee. LOL. So anyway, about you. You are a pistol. You are hysterical and full of words..some we understand like poop, mommy, daddy, max, dog, esther, up, more that, yum, wow wow wubzy, help, wet, hot, shoes, nite, nite, hair, teeth, the part of your body, apple, water, cup, top and other and then there is a whole language that you speak that i understand but the words I do not know but I hear you. It is so cute and you have full conversations with yourself, the pretend phones, and anybody listening and of course your babies that you sleep with in your bed.

So one thing I call is the “escape artist” because not matter where we are you seem to escape-it can be playgrounds, people’s houses, whole foods, stores but you seem to escape and never look back. People always tell me that you will look back but you don’t..not because you don’t love me I think it is because you are so secure with how loved you are that there is no need to look back and of course that you want to leave and in your mind it is time to leave. You do crack me up. I literally have to run after you and scoop you up and then try to figure out how to occupy you so you don’t escape again or at least for another 5 minutes.

You have a sassy part and you and I know where you get that but I can also say that you dad has that too but I know you and I are so much a like. I see so much of you in myself already. I see the fire in you and the way that it has to be your way. The way that I pick out your shoes but then you reuse to wear them because you want to pick them out yourself…I did the same thing when I was your age. Luckily you like the clothes I pick for you or we would have issues..you just have a shoe thing and cell phones and remotes. You love your silver shoes and your puma sneakers…luckily target makes a lot of good shoes because I have a feeling we will need to keep you occupied with choices and luckily you have small feet so we won’t have to buy them too often.

You are a great sister. You adore your brother and you love to just squeeze him..so much that sometimes you get him upset. He watches out for you and I know he will always protect you. You had your first blood test this month. It was awful. I am sure I would have pushed it off as I did with your bothers but since we are moving I figured why not do it now and get it over with. You were a champ and i was so proud of you. They took 4 viles of blood. You screamed blood murder and sweated bullets but your survived and I had a cold bottle waiting for you. Yes bottles. You are officially switched over to Lactaid Milk and finally for the first time since I breast fed you-you are pooping normally. It is amazing and I know your little Gi system is getting better because that formula was horrible for you. You still love pizza and now you enjoy eating chicken with pizza sauce on it-you crack me up-anything with pizza sauce.

You are full of life my dear. You are a strong willed little girl and you are my love. I am so lucky to be your mom. You have taught me so much about myself already and I love watching you navigate through the world on a daily basis. You have no fears. You are the kid at the playground doing thing that kids twice your age are scared to do. Never look back and keep looking forward because your momma will always be there to chase after you. I love you Sammy Jane!

Sealed with all my love,

Mommy

Dear Sammy,

I am so overdue on this letter but better late than never. Wow-this has been a tough month for you. Let me see-first an ER trip with a 105.5 temp to the Southern Ocean County Hospital, then a case of Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease, then a yeast infection and then  spider bite that landed us in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia but you are fine, tired but fine. I have to say that despite being sick-especially the high fever, (which scared your mom and dad so much), you were still your wild free loving self. And let me also say that the drive to the ER from Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island was 45 minutes and it was the longest drive for me EVER. I was so scared but you were fine and you are good now.

I have also come to learn that my mom says we are exactly alike in personality. I did know this when I saw how independent you are…I just had that feeling that the “apple did not fall too far from the tree”.

You are talking so much. You call all dogs ESTHER because our dog is named Esther. You now say MOMMY and I love it. It warms my heart. You also say NO constantly and Bad. OH Geez. You love to say no and move your finger back and forth like I do-I swear little girl-you will cause me to gray early. You have a fire that cannot be squashed and a  personality that is louder than life.

You love your babies, strollers, cell phones, bags and most of all SHOES! You want to sleep in your shoes and wear them all of the time It is so funny. You hate getting your hair brushed, but love putting lotion on yourself and by the way-you even enjoy eating shea butter..you are so funny. You love to brush your teeth and splash in the water. You love to read books and dance on them too. You love to dance and sing.

You still love PIZZA more than any other food. We also call you swiper because you like to eat anything that anyone else is eating. It is hysterical. You prefer to eat with your fist, hands, fingers…you love to dip and you would bathe in marinara sauce if you were allowed..you love sweets too..anything that is candy and you beg for Omega DHA balls daily.

You love Max & Ruby, Curious George and Shrek. You enjoy TV but you really love to play. You love anything that has animals as one of your favorite movies is about a cat and dog, Milo & Otis. You basically love life. Your Dad and I always joke that your brother wants to create the party but you want to be the party. I love you so much. I love your zest for life and the fire inside of you. I love that you refuse to sit in a cart and that I cannot food shop with you because you have to walk. You are teaching me so much about how to tame a wild and beautiful little girl. Don’t change ever but understand that life does have rules. I love you little one!

Dearest Little Girl,

So when people ask my how old you are-I say “18 months going on 30!” You are hysterical ands so full of personality. You are very independent..almost to the pint where you will walk off and not look back. There are so many times where I have to tell your brother to stay while I run after you and you never look back except at the end of your walk and then you laugh. You love to laugh -strong belly laughs too. You have been cutting 4 teeth this month and not feeling your best. It is so sad to watch you in pain-I actually gave you tylenol the past few days which rarely happens. You went to the doctor and you are now over 20 pounds and 30 inches. You are eating and that is so good. I know you are small in size but you look big…I am sure it is that huge personality.

You are now in love with eating pizza. You walk up to the fridge and say UP and the you point at the whole foods fresh pizza and I break you off a piece and you eat. You love eating pizza even at 6:30 in the morning. The doctor says even if you eat is all day..it is fine as long as your are enjoying eating. I have notices that you like eating anything anyone else is eating..like the other day when you ate onions-yes raw onions in my salad. You also will not sit down in a high chair or on a chair-you like to stand and there are some things that I have learned to let go. I would rather you eat then force you to be upset and hysterical-so I let this one go. I went trough this with Max and he sits now..so I am sure you will sit too.

You love horses. We went to the Devon Horse Show the other day and you screamed and screamed NAY NAY! It was adorable. We also go and look at the horses down the street at least 3 times a week. You love them so much..actually you love all animals. You are now saying Nay nay, moo, cat, dog and your monkey noises are great. Basically, you just crack me up. Everybody says you are adorable and you are.

You hair is at the point where we can do pig tails or some type of top pony tail because if we don’t then you can’t see…your curls almost look like shirley temple. It is all very cute. I know I am going to have so much fun with your hair and of course since I have curly hair know how to condition all your beautiful curls. You are such a beautiful girl.

Now on to your shoes obsession. I did not know that you would be so much like a girl but you are. You LOVE shoes-you actually refuse to take them off because you love wearing them so much. I just bought you a new pair of Keens for the beach and when we move to Florida. They are pink-they are adorable and you love them.  Shannon-your babysitter also bought you a cute pair of shoes at Target-white and $6 and You LOVE them. You also love to go into my closet and wear my shoes, Max’s shoes and your Dad’s shoes..it is endless.

Well my little one-you are adorable and you are so much fun to be around. It has been a true honor to be your mom and I dream about how close we will be in our life together as mother and daughter. Don’t stop every looking up or pushing the boundaries because this makes you the tough and sweet girl that you are-I have said that from the moment you were born. I adore you.

Love,

Momma (which is what you call me!)

Dearest Samantha,

It is a few days late and to be honest, I feel like life is moving so fast and I looked at my watch and realized that it was three days past your 17 month B day. So forgive me but here we go. I have been saying that you are 17 months going on 30 and I mean it. Everything is “I must do it myself”. You also always have a plan and a destination. It cracks me up how much you already express what you want. You have multiple words. You say up, dog, cat, sit, ba ba, wa wa, mama, dada, Ma-for max, car, poop, pee, nana for banana, more, apple, yummy, yes, no and I am sure there are more. You are so good at hearing words and then saying them. Last night you said moo, deer, hat, truck and well the list goes on. You will also have full conversation and I actually understand even though I don’t understand one word but it is a mother’s instinct.

You have a fire inside of you that is so persistent. You are such a little peanut but let me tell you one thing my little child-people see you coming from a mile away and your eyes-they say that you look through people when you look at them. I have a feeling that you will always see the truth in life. You have no fears at least so far-you are the kid at the playground that goes down the slide head first, you climb the railing of the stairs at home but you hate to be tied down. You refuse to sit and eat-you prefer the floor and I have tried and sometimes you sit but only on a big chair and then I have to hold you. You just don’t want to be a baby and you never did. You also want to do everything your brother does and you actually do.

You have started to eat some foods but you still love your bottle and I am not one to take it away from you-I have never believed that there is some magic age where the bottle should be taken away. But you do eat pasta, marinara sauce, rice, banana chips, strawberries, egg, beef, chicken, veggies, cheese, fruits and yogurt. You are not a big eater but I miss a lot of veggies in with your yogurt and you seem to love that. i also sneak spirulina in your morning bottle and you don’t seem to mind that at all either. You just like to eat on your own and feed yourself and you have been that way from birth so I am not surprised. You know what you like and what you don’t..well you don’t eat it.

You love to wrestle with your brother. Each night you both roll around on the floor and even kung fu fight since that is what your brother loves to do and you laugh and laugh. You love splashing him in the bath but then you kiss him when you see he gets upset. You enjoy hitting him but then patting him with love. You just enjoy playing and laughing. You enjoy books and when you are done hearing them you like to stand on them and say, “Book” and dance. You are just so funny. I don’t know how to explain it but you are. You are also a wanderer. You will just go off and not even look back. I guess it makes me feel good that you are so confident but at 17 months-can you give me another few years to get used to this? LOL

You are just a plain joy and I love you so much. I am so honored to be your momma. As much as your are independent, you are the first one who wants to be held, hugged and kissed. I love you so much!

Love, your momma-always and forever..don’t ever stop looking for the stars because I know you are looking. I love you sweet little girl. You make me so proud already!

We were at a great spring festival last weekend. There was a petting zoo, slides, fire trucks and lots of games for the kids. We all went together, which was really a lot of fun. Max and Samantha both had a great time. Max is getting so much better at going into places with tons of people. I think he is just getting older and more confident. There were fire trucks and that made his day. It is so funny because Scott could not get Max to look at the camera but I am sure you get the idea. Of course the minute the camera was away he was having a ton of fun again.

I swear I look at this picture and wonder where my little boy is because he looks so grown up. I am amazed at how fast the time is going even though some days feels so long.

Now Miss Samantha was having a love affair with this rabbit. It was really cute because they had three sections the gate was low enough that she could reach the animals. There were chickens and two kinds of rabbits but this one was her favorite. It was so cute to watch. She was being so gentle too and I was really proud of her.

Max also enjoyed feeding the goats and sheep. It was so much fun. They had little bowls of food for $1.

We had a wonderful time despite the total mommy move on my part. First off, it was hotter than I thought and both my kids had long sleeve and pants on and then the stroller that I keep in my truck needed air in the tires. Those are both total mommy moves but at least nobody looked really hot and nobody would have known that it was hard to push the stroller with no air in the tires. I swear my brain can only hold so much information at one time.

As for the move, we have decided to delay the move either till december if a buyer is willing to wait that long or next summer. It just felt rushed and Max is not fully potty trained and so I was becoming insane. Bottom line:insane mother = insane family. So I let go and said this is when I can do it and we will see if it works but at least I let it go and are getting back to normal-slowly-FYI-I don’t do change well and admire people that can. Those type of people give me hope for myself. LOL