What is she doing?

Sammy has developed some quirky behaviors lately. She likes to eat with one foot propped up in her high chair. I think it makes her look very cool and laid back. ha ha

She also has decided that the most fun game is to take all of her toys out of the toy bin and then climb into it. The game is messy, but adorable.

Your fortune is...

We ordered chinese food for dinner tonight and ended up with three fortune cookies (possibly because we ordered enough food to easily feed three adults...I love leftover chinese). Pat opened his cookie and got this fortune.

I sassed the fortune cookie gods by saying that we already know that we're going to Jamaica in December, so it wasn't much of a fortune, and they responded by giving us this fortune in the third fortune cookie.

In my face.

First Words

Samantha has officially said her first word, "Hi". She started routinely using the word correctly and waving while she said it a couple of days ago. Yesterday she added "Bye" (with a wave of course) to her repertoire. You can tell when she's babbling that she's trying really hard to put other words together. The harder she tries, the more guttural she gets. It's pretty entertaining. It's amazing how much older this talking thing makes her seem. We're working on getting some video of it, but she's being camera-shy for now.

Samantha's 2nd Halloween

Samantha's 2nd Halloween was a big success! She was actually able to participate a little this year. We had an FRG (Family Readiness Group) Halloween party for Pat's Company on Thursday, and Samantha was quite a hit in her clown costume that Grandma made for her. I especially love her little matching bag.

For Halloween itself, we put her in this cute little jack-o-latern dress to run errands during the day, and then back into her clown costume for trick-or-treating. She wasn't too keen on going to the neighbors' houses, so she helped Mom and Dad pass out candy. I was pleasantly surprised that all of the kids in their costumes didn't bother her at all.

This Post Brought to You by the Letter P

Pigtails and Pajamas!

Penguins and Polka Dots!

Let Her Eat Cake!

I posted the mushy birthday post on Samantha's actual birthday, so now it's time for the fun one! We celebrated Sammy's first birthday with just our little family. Pat is working 12 hour shifts 7 days a week right now, so we waited to start the celebration until Pat got home from work (not until 7:30). Samantha got to open one present, a See 'n Say from Grandma and Grandpa Pankau while we were waiting to keep her occupied.

When Daddy finally got home, we ate a quick dinner, and then it was time for cake! I made a carrot cake with carrots from the farmers market and cream cheese frosting from scratch. It might not have been the prettiest cake in the world, but it was delicious!

Samantha started off eating pretty delicately.

But she quickly discovered how fun it was to squish the cake, stash it in her high chair, and chuck it over the side. At one point there was a piece teetering on the edge of her tray that finally fell off, which Samantha thought was hysterical.

After cake (and a bath), we let Samantha open the rest of her presents. While she was occupied playing with shredded wrapping paper, we stashed most of the new toys in a closet, to be rationed out over the next few days.

And finally, an adorable picture of the birthday girl just for fun. :-)

Happy First Birthday

Dear Samantha,

Today you turn one year old. In that year, you have blossomed into such an amazing little person. You are constantly busy learning and exploring the world around you. When you fall down you might cry a bit, but after a quick snuggle you are up and running again. You love being outside and looking at the rocks, trees, and animals. You invent new ways to play peekaboo, and then fall down because they make you laugh so hard. You love your sister-kitty, Mimi, more than almost anything else in the world. You shriek with delight when she comes in the room and try to pet her and give her kisses. You also shriek with delight when Daddy comes home from work. You immdeiately want to play with him and get annoyed that you have to hold still for some hugs and kisses. You are either wide awake or sound asleep. There is no in-between groggy period for you. You wake up immediately ready to face the day. You make the best faces! My favorites are your concentrating face and your scrunched-nose face. You are so close to saying your first word. For now, everything is either Ma, Ba, or Da. I'm excited for you to finally be able to start sharing your thoughts with us.

Daddy and I love you so much and want to wish you a very happy first birthday. We can't wait to see what your next year brings us!

Love,
Momma