Samantha did not start out to have a good night last night, but Matt, god like daddy that he is, thought that she may be in pain from the way she was acting, gave her some aspirin, and Samantha slept through until 8am this morning. THank goodness! She kept us up almost the whole night on Thursday night. I got a nap but Matt had to work all day. Poor guy was barely coherent by 9pm. Sam really does keep us on our toes!

She is sort of crawling now. She sits on her own quite well, as long as she isn't too tired, and actually pulled herself up onto her feet the other night. Of course she chose to do this for the first time in her bath tub which scared Matt pretty badly when he wasn't expecting anything like that. She seems to be advancing in leaps now and it is hard to know when a huge leap is going to happen. She is very alert and curious, very determined to get to her toy, Matt's glasses, any new thing she hasn't seen before. I try turning her around, and she just turns back again. I have to watch her with an eagle eye!

Goodnight Moon is her favorite book. I know this because she searches for it whenever I sit in the green chair in her room. She twists around and even cries if I don't get to it fast enough. When I get to the part about the quiet old lady, she smiles really wide. I think she is being precocious, or precious, to show such a marked preference for a book so early.

We had a nice evening. I gave up trying to feed her (today was not a big food day) and we went into the back yard for a bit to throw the ball for Ella and rock Samantha under the tree. We came in and I gave Samantha a bath. 6 pm was early for a bath, but I had to change her diaper anyway, so why not? I put on the Ray Charles album, something else that makes her smile, and we danced wildly around the room with her in my arms. Her feet may not be in rhythm, but they are wiggling right along with mine. I really enjoy his greatest hits album. Her head kept drooping down onto my shoulder, and a few times her eyes drifted shut, so we went upstairs and I rocked her a bit to go to sleep. Matt came home and took over the rocking part so he can hold her for a bit. She is really sweet this time of night; those soft sighs just before she drifts off are pretty amazing. I stare at her face when she is asleep, just to admire her pretty bow lips and the difference between sleep and her wide eyed alertness.

Samantha was pretty cute yesterday. She was babbling da da sounds quite often. That's new. Da is supposed to be one of the syllables that show she is gaining a mastery of language. I also saw her sitting quite steadily on her butt with one arm on the floor. We were in the kitchen on the tile floor and I kept expecting to hear the thud of her falling backwards, but she didn't fall once. Not even when she got up on hands and toes, then switched to hand and toe. She is such a strong girl!

We went outside and I put Samantha down on the terrace near the dog park gate. Ella stood next to her and wouldn't leave until I had picked her up. I know Ella wanted to go into the backyard pretty badly, but she wouldn't leave until she knew Sam was in my arms. Samantha loves going on hikes with us, and regularly laughs with delight at Ella's apparent joy at being outside. It is a wondrous thing to watch Ella with Samantha.

Our daughter is awfully precious. Yesterday we had a moment that I want etched in my mind. Samantha just finished a huge dinner, and we were out in the back yard under the oak tree. Ella was a few feet from us happily destroying some of the branches that fell during the storm. Sam had rolled a bit away and was staring up at the tree and babbling "ga, ba," just very content. There was grass in her toes and grass in her fists. She wanted to chew on her toes, but wasn't sure about the grass stuff that came with it. Just seeing her so content and silly was an amazing thing.

She is getting really good at holding herself on her hands and knees. She doesn't flop over at all, and she even gets up on her tippy toes and hands too. I've seen her sit for a bit, maybe five seconds, if she holds one hand on the floor, the tripod sitting mode. Yesterday she stood if I held onto her hands and helped to balance her. She didn't need much help. She is much steadier with that than she used to be too. As I fed her this morning, I noticed how her back was as wide as my hand now, and she holds her head high, almost holds her own bottle too. I think she can hold her own bottle, she just hasn't figured out that she wants to yet.

We have to baby proof the house now. Samantha is fascinated with the cd tower and the videotapes. Also any wires or dog toys are big attractions. We watch her closely, but it is also important to let her explore.

Matt just brought her into the room since she just woke up. She gave her daddy a big grin. Then Ella walks in and Samantha waves her arms and giggles and shrieks at her special puppy. This is a happy girl.

We are going through our first cold together. At least, I think Sam has the cold. I don't know how she couldn't. There is no body division at this age. She sticks her hands in my mouth, runs her drool over my eyes, all sorts of stuff, and I can only wash my hands so often. So far she seems happy enough, except it is very hard to get her to take a nap. I need a nap!

Samantha has figured out how to work the buttons on her crib mobile no problem. She is turning it on and off as I hope that she'll drift off to sleep. No luck, but she is getting really good at pushing that button!

We all went for a walk in the woods this morning. I figured if I was going to be miserable, I wanted to be miserable in a pretty spot. We went a little different way than usual, ended up in the forest facing the reservoir. Samantha is fascinating to watch in the woods. She loves staring straight overhead, and she touches whatever comes within reach. Ella was thrilled to be out, and in the face of such combined joy, who could let a nasty cold get in the way of some fun. So I stared straight up too, and noticed how pretty the leaves are against the sun. It is definitely true that children have a lot to teach us.

Samantha is now, at 7 months, steady on all fours. She hasn't got the crawl part figured out, but she rocks back and forth on her hands and knees very well. She even gets up on her hands and toes, which I think is hard to do. We definitely have to baby proof the house! A good project this weekend.

Samantha crawled a few bits today. I am not feeling well, so I had her in bed with me until Matt got home. She got up on her hands and knees and actually moved forward without falling for a tiny bit. Then she plopped over on her side. Right now she is on the floor of the den (covered with Ella fur) and getting up on her hands and knees, then hands and toes. That is hard to do! She is a very strong girl. When she gets up like this, she is able to plop her butt down on the floor without falling over at all.

I got another spoon for Samantha so she could play with it while I fed her. It was the only way I could get food in her. She was adamant that she hold the spoon, but she couldn't get the food in her mouth. Very independent. Gee, wonder where she got that from?

Ella and Samantha continue to develop a very good relationship. Ella can help with Sam's crankiest mood, and Ella seems to know that and comes to soothe Sam when she can. All Ella has to do is walk in the room and Sam's whole face lights up. If she is really having a hard day, Ella will sniff her face, and the doggy whiskers tickle Sam's cheek and that definitely makes Sam laugh. I am so grateful for their sweet personalities. I have to watch Sam because she gets a bit rough and it isn't fair to Ella, not that Ella minds, but it isn't right.