Things have been hectic without Matt and I haven’t felt well either. This morning it all just sort of hit and I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I piled Sam into bed with me and told her to go to sleep with no real expectation that she would, but I was desperate. I fell asleep. Sam did not. I vaguely hear something about Mommy wake up and then I feel something sort of cold and hard on my face. Then the stench hits me. She had dug out a half eaten (Tucker) mini pumpkin that had fallen under the bed and sat there for a couple of days, luckily mostly dried out, and tossed it in my face. It woke me up all right. I leaped out of bed screaming, “That’s disgusting! Yuck! Really disgusting! I heard that from her for the next half hour. She thought it was all great fun.

I was wide-awake after that and had no problems keeping my eyes open. It took a couple of hours, but I even laughed about it, quietly, shaking my head with dismay at the same time.

She is playing quietly on her own right now while I write this. We had a few emotional squalls yesterday and through the night. She definitely misses her daddy, but is doing all right so far. She woke up maybe three or four times, but I didn’t go in any time. She seemed very happy this morning at six when we all woke up. I had to clean up after Tucker – more sick. Ugh. I got up, let out the dogs, got a bottle for Sam, and headed back up stairs. I changed her diaper, then brought her into my bed to sit there while I cleaned the rug. She drank her bottle, and when I got into bed declared Mommy snack! When I asked if she was hungry, she said yes. So I got her some grapes, cheese, graham crackers and a piece of banana. She ate a bit, grabbed two grapes and said “two grapes! “ Then she dropped one and I told her it had disappeared, only we found it a second later. She took the other five grapes in her hand and hid it behind her back. When I asked her where they were, she said they disappeared. I said maybe a mouse took them, and she very seriously said "yes, Mommy, mouse." I asked if maybe the mouse would bring them back. She puts her hand with the grapes under my nose and says “Here mommy!” and giggles. I didn’t think kids this age did jokes like that.

After her snack, we all fell asleep until about 9:30, a first for us. Sam has never slept with us in the morning before. I think she could breathe better propped up on our pillows and me. Her nose is a little stuffy this morning.

Sam and I just put Matt on the plane for his trip to San Diego. I think he’ll have fun, but we miss him already. Sam screamed all the way home and just fell asleep in her room after screaming more. I think she really misses her daddy.

So, just to update you on language, Sam will basically repeat any new word you say to her and she will use it appropriately back to you hours or days later. She is using some prepositions, like you or “help you” when she wants me to help her. She understands the concepts of prepositions, verbs, nouns and is getting her vocabulary built up at an astonishing rate. Last night she almost said “Baruch ata Adonai,” and that made me all teary eyed. She says Shabbat whenever she wants me to light candles. She says Twinkle, Twinkle for the song and Jingle bells for that song. She is even starting to sing her own songs to me, mostly about babies right now. Darcy sent a card where she said Baby three times and Sam is fascinated by that. She also likes that the card is addressed to her.

Her favorite things? Flashlights, dollies, putting on her own socks, using the potty, - although not this morning trust me, you don’t want details. Pinwheels. Thomas the Tank Engine, Zaboomafoo, Teletubbies, crayons, drawing, bubbles. She is the most vibrant and physically active child of any two year old I have seen. Not easy, but magnificent.

I bought an outfit for Sam yesterday. Yes, she has a closetful, but this one is unique. There is a fleece top with sueded fabric on the pants, lace everywhere, and a little saying on the shirt inside a heart of lace: "Sweet Girl." Sam really is a sweet girl, but every once in a while I need to remind myself that she is. Hence, the shirt. That and the purple looks stunning on her.

Samantha is having a fine time with this blizzard. We have at least a foot of snow, drifts of more than two feet in some places, and the wind is packing the snow into pretty firm drifts. Sam just keeps ploughing along. She first went out this morning about 11 am and had some fun, although she fell forward once and got her face in the snow for a second. She wanted to come back inside after 10 minutes. Then at 5:00 tonight, she asked to go out again, so I got her back into her snowsuit and out we went. I packed down the bulkhead and pulled her down on her butt (no sled yet), which made her giggle in delight. Then we went up the stone steps into the back yard and she just heads off into the snowdrifts as high as she is. She has no fear of the drifts. I can’t believe how strong she is. Between the weight and stricture of the snowsuit and the height of the snow, it was very hard to walk. She just kept going. I asked her if she wanted to go in; she says “no.” She took off her mitten so I just picked her up and carried her in then. She loves the stuff. She would still be out there if I let her.

The temperature is 25 degrees just outside my window. I am sure with the wind chill and further away from the house it is much colder.

After not touching the blocks at all for months, she is now stacking them one-across almost as tall as she is - about 12 high. That is about as tall as I can stack them. She does that alot with learning things. She starts a little late, then leaps ahead.

Sam is very fond of the Baby Beluga book right now. She knows how to say Inuit Girl, Baby Beluga and Kayak. The hard part is getting her to slow down learning words and numbers and colors long enough for her to relax and go to sleep. She doesn't want to stop. I am glad she is so curious, really.

Sam is wandering aroud diaperless with her rain boots on the wrong feet. It is one of the cutest sights I have ever seen. She is very proud of the fact that she can put her own rain boots on, as she should be.