Sam looked at the easel last night and read the three words that were on it, "Sam, Daddy, Mommy." Matt said he told her what he wrote earlier that day, so she probably just remembered what he told her. Sam remembered which word goes with which sounds, though, and pointed out the 'm's in each word. She is one smart cookie.

Poor kid was up all night last night. Poor us too. The nurse gave us some suggestions that should help her feel more comfortable and better able to sleep. She is sleeping now, more from exhaustion than real comfort, but we'll just make her comfortable and see how it goes.

Sam and I have been having some tantrums together the past few days.  She likes to make up her own mind for everything, which is normally fine.  Sometimes I don't have time for her to change her mind five times and therein lies the problem.  Luckily she comes out with some pretty funny stuff sometimes or the yelling would get to be a bit much.  She told me today, "I am pretending to be a good girl!"  "I am not a girl, I am a fish!" 
 
Any money found around the house is Daddy's money.  I found a dime on the ground today and she put it in her pocket "for Daddy."  We stopped by to say hello to Becky and Cole, "I will be very careful with the rake around Cole."  When we got there, she gave the dime to Becky instead. 
 
She loves her Daddy.  Lately when she gets into her screaming fits, a few minutes with Daddy turns her into a giggling, happy little girl again.  Daddy knows how to make his girl do the right thing and be happy at the same time.  My hero!
 
 

This will give you more info about our lives lately than you want, but it is also pretty funny, at least to me. We walked up the stairs to go to bed, and Sam tells Ella as she passes her on the landing, “No vomiting tonight, Ella. Please do not vomit. No vomiting.” I had to tell Sam to head up to bed, or she would have kept going on. Ella just looked at her, not having heard the word vomit with any real command and with no idea what Sam is asking. When we hiked in the woods the other day, Sam kept wandering off on small paths into the forest. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, “I’m hunting!” What are you hunting for? “I’m hunting for food!” Well, that set things straight for Mommy, I guess. She doesn’t pick things up to eat, not yet at least. There is a Harold episode where Harold tries eating leaves off a bush like the giraffe, then says it is yucky. So now Sam will take a leaf off a bush, but then drop it, saying, “Those are for the giraffes.” Thank you Harold!

Samantha shocked me today. We went for a walk in the woods with Ella, and Sam ran into the woods after Ella, ran up steep hills, and generally either walked or ran for an hour and a half through the woods. She was a joy to be with up there. We sat on our picnic rock and had a snack. I got to demonstrate to Sam how you spit out the cherry pit. What better way to celebrate the 4th? Ella went for a little swim and looks exhausted in the heat. She isn’t feeling well with her tummy, so Sam kept a close eye on her, walking her on leash at times. We saw a beautiful snake on the side of the road. I spotted it and pointed it out to Sam. She didn’t try to approach it, but seemed curious and definitely unafraid. The snake had bright yellow, black and white stripes running the length of its body, about 18 inches long, very small head. She said we could walk on and leave it to be cozy in the woods. Sam made it to the car and all the way home. I had to read to her and read again before she would sleep. I know she had a few m&M’s this morning, but would that little chocolate give her that much energy? Maybe she is just getting to be a big kid. She doesn’t need the phone book on top of the step stool to reach the sink to wash her hands anymore. She looks very tall to me. I marvel at what a gorgeous body she has, a golden light tan now from the sun with hair getting even blonder and redder.

Sam just ran and ran on the path screaming Ella, Ella Bella! This is one important dog in the scheme of Sam’s life.