Samantha is eating a Popsicle and she is smacking her lips just like Ella does when she eats pasta. Pretty cute. Sam has just taken off the past couple of days. She walks pretty much everywhere. She walked from our neighbor, Sue, house to home yesterday, about a block, up and over curbs, walked up and down our driveway. She held my hand, but she didn't have to to stay upright. Yesterday at the Fells Sam walked up the rocky hill path on her own and only sat down a couple of times to try to eat the rocks. Only one actually fit in her mouth. It wasn't very muddy, thank goodness. She just discovered the on button for her cd player, so now she can turn on her own music in her room.

She doesn't want to eat or drink lately. The only thing I can get her to eat is Popsicles. I guess her teeth are bothering her, and we may see a big one come in at some point.

She stands at the kitchen door and screams to go outside. This waiting to put on shoes so her feet don't freeze is just some kind of crap as far as she is concerned. She wandered around the yard yesterday on her own while I raked up the winter detritus. She waved a stick around and shrieked with laughter when Ella came along and chewed on it. I was impressed with Ella's control. She pulled on the stick just enough to have a game of tug of war, without actually pulling Sam around the yard.

Samantha only seems truly happy when she is with Ella. When Sam is in full creaming mode, Ella will come along and sniff her and tickle her with those little muzzle whiskers, and Sam will start to giggle. Just like that. If I wasn't so in love with the two of them I'd feel jealous. Yesterday Sam tried to give her binkie to Ella, shoving it right into the front of Ella's mouth. (yes, I washed it before giving it back to Sam)

Right now she is trying to put the dog collar around her neck. She tried to put it on Ella, but Ella only sat for a few minutes of that before getting up to lie on her tuffet and sleep. No success yet with the collar, but it is keeping her happy.

Thank god Sam is sleeping tonight, at least so far. Last night was a night from hell. She was awake and screaming as loud as she could, screaming as if she were in terrible pain, although we couldn't find anything wrong. She woke up every hour and a half all night long, and she wouldn't let me come near her. Only Amy was able to calm her down, and only after a long time of holding her. Putting her back down in her crib just lead to more screaming. In the end Amy and I were both awake pretty much all night long, after which I had to go to work very early. So I'm running on fumes tonight.

Sam definitely has moments when she pushes you to the end of your rope and beyond, and then she has moments when she's just adorable and awe-inspiring. Watching her bounce around our bed tonight giggling hysterically and trying to alternately pet Ella and avoid getting licked by her was a riot.

And then she does things that astound and terrify you. Today's new development was in climbing. She got a toehold on the raised part of the drawer front on Amy's dresser and climbed right up the front of the drawers. She only made it 6 inches up, but it was enough. It won't be long before she can climb onto furniture, tables, and bookshelves. Yes, I'm going to spend the next few months being afraid she's going to fall off something and kill herself.

Being a parent is hard sometimes.

Samantha is walking! In just the past 3 or 4 days she's gone from taking a few tentative steps at a time to walking all the way across the room. She holds her arms out for balance, but she makes it all the way from one side of the room to the other without falling down. I guess she's officially a toddler.

She's also climbing everything she can find -- the wire mesh baby gate, the footrest in the nursery, her daddy ... Today she managed to climb up onto the futon couch in the den for the first time. It's a bit too tall for her yet, so climbing onto it took her quite a few tries during which she became terribly frustrated and screamed at the top of her lungs (something she's done a lot of today, and a noise that I'm getting really tired of at this point).

But eventually she threw one leg up onto the couch (doing quite a split in the process) then grabbed the fabric of the futon cover with both hands and hauled herself up until she could get her other knee onto the couch, and then she was up. Seconds later she was standing up on the couch trying to walk from end to end, while I had a heart attack fearing that she'd fall off.

We've also discovered today that Sam likes tiramisu cake from the local grocery store's bakery, oreos dipped in milk, and mushrooms in spaghetti sauce.

She has quite a varied diet, actually. She eats tofu -- plain silken tofu is her favorite thing -- along with yogurt, avocado, broccoli (another favorite), tortellini, ravioli, peas, corn, french fries, peanut butter or Nutella on whole wheat bread, Life cereal soaked in milk, plums, peaches, and poached pears cooked in a little water with plums and dash of sugar. And I'm sure there are many other things that I'm forgetting. She also loves long thin strips of cheese that she can bite pieces off with her six little teeth. She's especially fond of Danish Havarti and smoked Gouda -- no processed American cheese food for this girl!

She's also very much an outdoor girl -- she's happiest when outside in the fresh air. I can't wait for spring when all the snow has thawed and we can take Ella and Samantha to the park together for a whole afternoon.

Samantha is having a rough patch. She has three teeth coming in on the top. She has a cut on her toe, and she has an ear infection, as well as a cold with a nasty cough that periodically causes her to throw up. Despite this, she has moments of sheer joy that are amazing. I was rolling her pop truck on the floor towards her, and she would catch it and squeal with laughter. Right now she is standing in our front doorway and slamming the door against the door jam. Now that is great fun!

It is snowing again. I need this winter to be over. I feel so cooped up inside. I actually vacuumed I was so bored. Matt will check to see if I am sick, I am sure. I am, actually, just the same cold Sam has.

Sam is into everything. I call her not easy but magnificent.

I just read a book, "The Last American Man" It was about a young man who decides he will run away from his family and live in the woods. He does so, and ends up becoming an expert hunter, woodsman and craftsman with a BA in Fine Literature. Interesting story. I think about Sam and her relationship with nature a lot. There were times in my childhood where I got to have the world stop and I could just listen to the trees and the wind. How will Sam get to do that in our suburban world?

The blog seems to have disappeared from Sam's web site. I guess it's time to try republishing (again).