Future Guitar Hero

I had to take a break during my last post to shoot this video. Do you think we have a future Guitar Hero on our hands?

9 Month Well Baby Visit

Samantha had her 9 month Well Baby Visit on Monday, and everything checked out great! This visit was especially good because Pat was able to come with us, and Sammy didn't have to get any shots!!! Her next round of vaccines aren't until 12 months.

Sammy weighed in at 21 lbs and was 27.5 inches long. She's getting tall enough to reach most of the things we've tried to move out of reach on end tables. Pretty soon we'll have to put it all away.

Samantha continues to eat well and enjoy trying new things. She feeds herself applesauce and oatmeal with her own little pink spoon. Last night she was enjoying big juicy bites of peaches that we bought at the farmers market earlier that day. Here she is chowing down on a pita chip!


Today kicks off 2 weeks of visits with friends and family. Aunt Corky and Uncle Harry will be at our house shortly for a visit, and then on Wednesday we're heading up to Bellingham to see Jim, Dorothy, Don, Mary, Emma, and Margaret. Karen, Tina, Ben, and Jake will be in town also, so we'll get to see them as well! On Friday we're flying to Missouri to introduce Samantha to tons of family and attend a wedding. I have a feeling we'll be absolutely exhausted at the end of the trip, but we're so excited to see everyone!!!!

9 Months

Time really seems to be flying now. Our baby girl turns 9 months old today. She goes in for her 9 month Well Baby Visit on Monday, but I know that about a week ago she weighed 20 lbs 11 oz and was 27 inches long.

It seems like there have been some big changes this month. After months and months of only sleeping while being held or laying next to me, Samantha is finally turning into a pretty good little napper! Her separation anxiety seems to be getting better, and with it her sleep is improving. She is now routinely sleeping for 1.5 - 2 hours in the morning and the afternoon. Sometimes I have to nurse her back to sleep after about 45 minutes, but she goes back down easily. It's so nice to have some time to be able to do things around the house that are tricky with a mobile baby (like update the blog or paint my toe nails!). I snuck in and snapped this picture of her zonked out just a couple of minutes ago. I know that I was risking the fury of the sleep gods by using the flash, but Samantha didn't even flinch.

We've also moved Samantha into a new car seat. Her infant one was only rated up to 22 lbs, so now she's in a big convertible car seat. We'll be able to keep her rear-facing all the way to 35 lbs, and then she'll finally get to face forward. I was hoping that the car seat change would make her a little less fussy in the car, but no such luck. At least I'm able to sit in the back with her most of the time and keep her entertained.

We took Samantha to see the fireworks on the 4th, but they didn't hold her attention well. We watched them from pretty far away so that it wouldn't be too noisy for her. We were all bundled up in jackets and blankets because it was in the 50s. Brrrrrr! Luckily, Samantha seems to have inherited Pat's tolerance for the cold instead of mine. (Actually Pat says the credit goes to Pops!)

Playing

Samantha has been pulling up on everything, standing on her own, and even trying to take a couple of steps. We decided she would enjoy a push toy, so we headed out to Toys R Us yesterday to get one. Our choices were fairly limited, so we came home with a truck. It has headlights that spin around and make noise, and Samantha spent about 5 minutes solid spinning them yesterday. Here's some video of her walking with it. Sometimes she needs help standing up with it, but I figure she'll be a pro in a few days.

I also took some video of Samantha playing one of her favorite games. She likes to crawl around the ottoman so that she can't see us and then "find" us. She screams hysterically when she gets us. It's pretty adorable.

First Haircut

Poor Samantha has been dealing with her bangs in her face for weeks now, so I finally took her to get them trimmed. I was going to have her baby mullet trimmed as well, but Sammy wasn't having it. She sat on my lap, but got a little upset when the stylist started combing her bangs. I think Samantha thought she was going to try to put her hair in a ponytail, which she has started resisting.

"What does this lady thing she's doing to me?"

"I don't think I like this"

"Hey! I know that baby!"

"I can finally see again!"