March 2008 Archives
I can't believe our Baby Samantha is already 1 year old. It just doesn't seem possible.
She's off to a rolicking good start on her birthday. She stayed up till 2 am, and slept in until almost 8. She did get up just in time to see Daddy off and to be presented with the gifts Farmor Helen and Papa G sent down.
Here's our birthday girl:
It was a gorgeous day today in The Woodlands. 60 degrees, sunny, with a bright blue sky and a nice wind.
Samantha and I went to the park this morning for an Easter event held by The Woodlands. There was an Easter egg hunt (between us adults, it was more of an Easter egg sprint, because all of the eggs were "hidden" pretty much in plain sight). I was able to knock a couple of kids out of the way and snag a couple of plastic eggs for Samantha. They were candy-filled, not that she could eat it, but I thought she might enjoy shaking it to hear the rattling. Not so much. She was completely overcome by the chaos and wouldn't even touch them.
Totally unimpressed by the Easter bunny, too. Not afraid, mind you, just completely disinterested. You'd think a 6 foot tall rabbit would impress anyone, really, but she just seemed annoyed that he was between her and the ducks.
Fortunately, she is always a ham for the camera, so here she is.
I just don't like to eat! Another experiment in letting baby have fun with food to encourage her to eat. At least the first part is working.
Tuesday's physical therapy session went amazingly well. The best part was that the therapist said, in reference to Samantha's ability to repeat an activity when prompted, "You can see how smart she is, because..." I honestly didn't catch the end of the sentence. I was still grappling with the unexpected wave of delight from the first part. I know it's early and that was hardly a scientific assessment, but it's sure a wonderful thing to hear given our history.
Is it possible that she really will be the most studied normal child in history?!?
Two weeks ago, Samantha leaned back in physical therapy, held her own bottle and drank 5 oz of milk. I breathed a sigh of relief and mentally reclaimed the 2 hours a day or so I was spending giving her bottles. Alas, upon returning home, she was unable to replicate the victory. She would tilt the bottle down and suck air out of it until I was sure she was going to blow up like a balloon and then pop. Finally, I would give up and help her lift it, and the very instant my finger touched the bottle, she would drop it with both hands and let me feed her. This has been going on daily for two weeks.
Today, we went through the ritual, only she held her hands up above the bottle, clapping while I fed her. I had the distinct sense she was mocking me. "Yay, good mommy!"
I decided to get the camera and get a picture of the crazy scene, so I set the bottle down about a foot away and went into the bedroom for the camera. When I returned moments later, here is what I found.
We are putting Samantha through her paces trying to get her upper body strength built up so that she can sit up on her own, crawl, etc. The latest example is moving from the floor to a sitting position. When she wants to sit up, I move her into the right position and prompt her to push herself up while I provide enough support to be sure she doesn't actually fall over. She squeezes her eyes shut with concentration and eventually cries -- sobs -- with frustration. The whole process takes quite a while. Let me tell you, I feel like the meanest mom in town during the process.
Don't get too upset. We never give up, and the moment she is fully upright and recovers her balance, she starts to CLAP and beams with pride. This baby's gonna be a black belt.
