Inch Worm

Samantha is working really hard on crawling. She has finally figured out how to move forward instead of backward, but it's not very graceful. She kind of pulls her legs up under her and then flops forward. We call it the Inch Worm.

Thank goodness we have the baby gates on stand-by. They're ready to go up as soon as she figures this whole crawling thing out. Mimi is already not pleased.

And the winner is...

We got invited to a dinner on Tuesday hosted by United Way because Pat was a finalist for an award for his work with the Combined Federal Campaign. I was nervous about going because we had to bring Samantha with us. I'm so glad that we decided to go, because not only did Samantha behave beautifully the entire time, but Pat won!!! Now we just have to find a place for his big, shiny award.

Hair, Hair, and More Hair

Samantha is currently sporting the most awesome baby mullet. I realized that in most pictures you can't really see how long it has gotten in the back, so I snapped this one after her bath the other day. The next time I go in for a trim I'm going to ask my stylist if she thinks it's possible to give Sammy a trim too.

And here are a couple of cute pictures of Sammy wearing some of the bows that Grandma Pankau got her.

Sitting Pretty

Today Samantha decided that maybe it would be fun to sit up while she played. I impulse bought one of those shape sorters when I was at the PX today, and it has been a big hit so far. She mostly just chews on the shapes, but it kept her entertained for quite a while this afternoon.

Easter and Turning Six Months Old

We enjoyed a nice visit from my parents and younger brother over Easter weekend. The weather was pretty miserable, but luckily they were happy to just hang out at the house with us (by "us" I mean Sammy). We did get a chance to take them to Jake's, our favorite local restaurant and do a little bit of shopping. They got Sammy what we lovingly refer to as a Bouncy Bouncy, and she's been enjoying it daily since. This is her one of the first days we got it. She's a much more aggressive bouncer now.

Samantha also managed to turn 6 months old this month! She recently began sitting pretty well on her own when she feels like it. She really enjoys sitting and looking at her refelction in a mirror...so vain! She had her well baby visit on Monday, and everything looked good. She weighed in at 18 lbs, 4.5 oz, and was 26 inches long. She's meeting all of her milestones and is doing great. She had to get 3 shots, but calmed down pretty quickly after they were over.

Now that she's 6 months old, she finally gets to add some real food into her diet. The solid food is really just for fun and learning right now. She still gets the bulk of her calories from me, but we're getting her used to new tastes and textures. Her first food was avocado. It was almost too smooshy for her to get to her mouth, so we gave her a hunk of pear to gnaw on next. She's also tried peach and carrot, and there's a sweet potato waiting for her in the next couple of days. So far she hasn't really loved or hated anything, so we're just going with the flow. Here's some video of the avocado experience.