September 2007 Archives

I neglected to post a photo ON Samantha's half-birthday.  The day itself was pretty uneventful and Sam and I were forced to do a "self portrait" to commemorate the day.

 

The real celebration started Friday, when we drove down to Galveston.  We arrived in the early afternoon, and Samantha saw the ocean for the first time from our hotel balcony.

 

As you can see, it gave her a lot to think about.

 

After we checked in and gave our little shark a snack, we went to the Moody Gardens Aquarium.  In general, Samantha was disinterested, although a few things got her actively upset.

 

Really, who can blame her?  Check out the perpetrators.  They were huge!

 

The beach is so much more fun with a baby!  It's amazing to explore everything with her for the first time.  She was so excited, and a little nervous, when the little waves edged up close to her.  She absolutely wore herself out. She fell asleep before I made it to the sidewalk, and by the time I reached the hotel room she was so limp that I started to suspect she'd somehow inhaled seawater and drowned without my noticing.  Turns out, she was just really, really, really tired.

 

The second day we had the presence of mind to take pictures AT the beach.  What a cutie!

Crashed again...

Unfortunately, once the excitement/exhaustion cycle broke when we got home, her sleep schedule was completely wrecked.  She finally slept through the night again on Wednesday night.  It was worth it!

 

 

Samantha is 6 months old today!!!  Praise God for our little miracle!  What an incredible ride it's been.

We're taking her to the beach this weekend to celebrate.  It's a powerful event.  When Samantha was first in the ICU and her oxygen levels kept dropping, I promised her that if she kept breathing on her own through the night, I would take her to the beach.  I meant right away, but that wasn't in the cards.  This weekend I'll fulfill my promise, and she seems to be just old enough to enjoy it.  We've stocked up on baby sunscreen, she has little baby sunglasses that attach via a band around her head, and I've bought her a sand pail big enough that she can sit in it.  She may be too small to play with it, but it should make a good photo opp.  She may last no more than 10 minutes, but she's gonna look like a pro.

For her "half birthday", she also received a Rainforest Jumperoo, one of those free-standing springy things with toys around the seat.  I really expected her to lose her mind with excitement, but when I put her in it this morning she was pretty dubious.  She loves to kick, so I think she'll figure it out.  She gets absolutely manic when she gets to play with her Kick and Play Piano.  Hysterical.  I'll have to put up a video one of these days.  

Samantha is having a lot of fun this week.  She is exploring her voice range, and she spends a fairly significant chunk of time sounding like a humpback whale.  Very cute.  

She is learning to sit on her own for very short periods of time (up to about a minute), and as you can see in the photo below, she is getting very good at standing with assistance.  Props to Wendy for the gorgeous dress - she looked like a princess at church on Sunday!

 

 

We went to see her friend Matt this weekend.  He wasn't feeling very well.  I think we've found out why.

 

 

We also enjoyed a nice dinner out at Collina's, and since the weather was unusually pleasant, we sat outside. Samantha had a great time.  You can see here how much she enjoyed getting some kisses from Daddy.

 

In lieu of pasta or pizza, she enjoyed her wooden rattle.

 

 

She still loves her bouncy seats!

 

 

 

We took lots of pictures over the weekend, but I haven't had time to download them yet.  Look for another post tomorrow.  But I wanted to put a post this morning to celebrate the fact that Samantha has started playing with her hair.  What's the big deal?  For months, we massaged Samantha's arms every night and helped her stretch her arms every day in hopes of improving her range of motion.  Go Sam!

We also think she has learned the sign for "milk", or there's a lot of coincidentally timed hand movement going on.  Either is possible, and either is great, because coordinated hand movements are also a big step.

This little girl is well on her way to being (as we have prayed) "the most studied normal child in history".

This is how I always picture Samantha.  She's such a happy girl (unless she's supposed to be napping!).






















Samantha's getting pretty good at tummy time, after all.





In other news, she's going in for a second hearing test this week.  I don't expect any problems.  She really seems to pick up on voices and other sounds.  She's also learned that she's a big fan of squash.

Proof that my daughter actually likes sweet potatoes. She does not appear to like oatmeal.  I'm not sure she actually received any of my genetic material at all. Perhaps my husband (who is, after all, a geneticist) has secretly mastered human cloning.

Side note - look how tiny her hands are compared to my fingers!

Samantha is growing and doing more every day!  The most exciting new things are:

• She reaches for people and things that she wants
• She loves sweet potatoes (again, clearly Carl's daughter)
• She laughs until she shrieks
• She is beginning to find common household goods as exciting as her toys, especially electronics

She is truly my miracle baby.  I can't believe all she can do!