Samantha discovered that she is a mountain climber. She climbed the stairs to the third floor not once, not twice, but three times. Every time I turned around, she was rushing up the stairs, gleefully giggling. She is very proud of herself for her talent, as she should be. It is quite an achievement.

I was away tonight, and Matt put her to bed. He said she was not happy that I was gone and stayed up yelling until I got home at 9:30. Poor guy. I thought Sam was doing better at letting Matt take care of her. I hope it gets better. I don't want Samantha to be so stressed whenever I leave, and I don't like to think of Matt having to deal with a screaming child for hours while I am gone.

Samantha has started waving at everything now. If she sees herself in the mirror in the bathroom, or her reflection in the window, or while she is in her high chair and I sit down, she waves. It is pretty adorable. She is clearly having a blast exploring what her hand does and getting a response.

Sometimes I sing the Shema to put Sam to sleep. Our former cantor, Roy, used to sing the shema really slowly, and I like singing it that way to Sam. It is almost like a meditation, well, I guess it is a meditation. Anyway, Sam seems to find it soothing. I know I do.