7th night

7th night

We all had a very quiet day today. I read "Second Glance," a book that Patty and Abbie gave me. She is right. I couldn't put it down. Sam is pretty tired after staying up late with Oliver and his family. We painted Sam's menorah today, the clay one that I made from her hand prints and mine. It looks gorgeous. She painted one hand completely blue, and one hand completely white. I put the blue candles in. The paint isn't dry yet, but I just couldn't wait. We have three menorahs lit now, and they put out quite a glow.

I didn't make sufganiyot this year, but we did go to Dunkin Donuts for some of their jelly donuts. They taste okay, but it isn't the same as mine.

Sam opened her presents. We gave her a Swahili counting book and a Mancala game with little marbles. Mom gave her the "Jungle Book" and Pat gave her the Rainbow fish Coloring Book with Stickers and some more candy. No more blue whales, but lovely gummy worms and a candy necklace. Sam loves the idea of gummy worms, just like Aunt Patty and Uncle Cliff knew she would.

5th and 6th night

Fifth night

Mom Tad the Frog Leap Pad counting game. Sam played with that often already

Karen and Bill and Liam gave her a book called Mammalabilia. Fun read.

Pat and Cliff fleece hat

Aunt Cedalle one very colorful, very large flying dragon. It is made of felt and stuffed with wings that stay outstretched. Sam loves to sit on it and pretend to fly.

Update on the blue whale candy that Aunt Pat Uncle Cliff gave to Samantha. Okay, so I stole a blue whale and ate it to see what it tasted like. Yech! But Sam loved them. She had a fit at Barbara’s house to eat them before she got out of the house. Being the mean parents that we are, we asked her to wait until after her dinner. She wasn’t happy, but if she could *hold* them until after dinner, that would be fine. We agreed that she could hold them. Which she did. She kept asking to eat them on the ride home, and the only way to keep her quiet about the blue whales was to tell her that if she said those words again, we were going to take them away and there would be no blue whales at all tonight. Not a peep after that. She ate some after dinner. She didn’t seem to want them to eat, just to play with. I gave them back to her a couple of days later when her friend Liam was here. They were both thrilled and wandered around with them. Sam found a hot dog bun for one of hers, and Liam wandered around holding his under (or in) his nose. I asked him if he liked them, and he said “Yes, they smell sooo good. I just want to sniff mine forever!” Liam cracks me up regularly, for obvious reasons.

Sam had Liam sleep over. This was her first time to have a friend sleep over at her house, and the first time for Liam to sleep at a friend’s house. They were both so excited. Sam was bouncing from one side of the room to the other to have him there, finding toys and handing them to him, most of them her favorite toys. That lasted until just before dinner when Sam decided she had to have one of her dinosaurs she hadn’t played with in weeks, and Liam had to have the set of dinosaurs all together. Poor kid was heartbroken that they were split up, and Sam absolutely refused to give hers up. Matt made them our dinner centerpiece. Did I mention that Matt is a genius?

Liam gave us a wonderful serenade in the morning before breakfast and Matt made us all deeliciouso blueberry pancakes. Everybody was full and happy. Sam was very sorry to see Liam go home with his parents. We all were, actually.

Sixth night

Mom Winnie the Pooh counting cartridge for Leap pad. Sam played with it all morning.

Aaron and Angelica gave her a card game for gin rummy. The animals on the cards are painted like her SNAP! Game, which she loves.

Oliver, his younger sister, Amelie, his parents, grandfather and step grandmother came to dinner last night. We had a great time. His grandfather definitely approved of Matt’s taste in Irish whiskey. All of the adults are still at the table eating, and we hear the William Tell Overture blasting from the hallway. Oliver had started to play with the hobby horse that I got for Samantha. Yeehaw! Hi ho Silver, Away! I got up and had Sam and Oliver put the horse into the stable (closet) for the night. They each put an orange in the closet for the horse to eat. Sam was surprised this morning that the horse hadn’t eaten the snack they gave him. I told her maybe he didn’t like oranges and we’ll find a better snack next time. They played beautifully together. I heard lots of giggling, and found them tucked into the large box I set up in the living room. Large cardboard boxes and children are a match made in heaven. They also made a drawing together. When they get along together, they are both amazing; but when one of them gets mad, the world goes up in fireworks. It is a sight to behold. Try to separate them, and they both start sobbing for the other. Go figure.

It really was great to meet Oliver’s grandfather and we had a wonderful evening. Oliver helped Sam to light her menorah. They were adorable.

Uncle Jon took courses in fixing antique, high end watches. He got a battery for Sam's Pooh watch, tweaked something else inside and now the little bees are flying again. Sam is so thrilled. She is very impressed with Uncle Jon and will be sad to see him go.

Hanukkah 2005

Fourth Night

Sam was so tired to night, not much registered, unfortunately. She opened some presents at Barbara’s house where we went to light candles. It was very nice to light candles with them. Barbara gave her a Toad and Frog are Friends book, which is just the right length for her now. We opened the blue whale candy and the candy necklace from Aunt Patty, and the Lindt chocolate balls from Grammy at Barbara’s house. Samantha was fascinated with the blue whales and wouldn’t let them out of her hands. We managed to hide the rest of the candy before dinner, and she was too tired to think about candy after dinner. There is always tomorrow.

She lit her own menorah that I now have placed in the window. We gave her two of our presents, a very nice guitar with real metal strings, and a plastic fishing rod with plastic fish that have holes the hook can catch on. Sam can fish now, and she is very excited. Jon gave her a wonderful machine that can turn any piece of paper into stickers. Turns out that our very own art store in Arlington Center had one. It is very cool. I think Sam may have to share that gift with Mommy.

Third night

Matt was home with her.

Ladybug bracelet Grammy and Grandpa. Sam shows it to everyone who comes to the house.

Snowshoes Very cool ones that have metal digs on the bottom and should hold up well to lots of use. Thank you Alan and Monday. Now if it would just start snowing?

Hobby horse that plays the William Tell Overture in its entirety. Mom and Dad. Pat’s idea, but I am the sucker who followed the suggestion. To Pat’s credit, Sam does love it, but it is loud. When the Overture is in full swing, Sam is literally hopping across the room. Very cute.

Comb and Brush set from Grammy and Grandpa. Sam has been combing her hair all day today.

Sesame street puzzle Aunt Patty and Uncle Cliff Hasn’t had a chance to open it yet. Looks pretty cool.

2nd Hanukkah 2005

2^nd night

Sam has been rather difficult this evening, so she did not open many presents. For those of you who gave us numbered presents, I am sorry we got out of sequence. If you were here, you would know it became very important to get her in bed soon. I’m sure you understand!

She did open our gift, a Winnie the Pooh watch that can’t tell time anymore, but she is still thrilled. Carolyn and Mark gave her a sticker activity book with many animals on it. The book tells Sam to match the animals with their babies, or match shapes. It is pretty cool.

Sam is upstairs with Daddy having a bubble bath. Daddy said he had to put on his special bubble bath outfit, which means things that can get splashed. Sam is very enthusiastic about bubbles and water.

We are having a heat wave here, about 45 degrees and raining. Almost all the snow is gone and all the ice. Yippee! I finished chopping up the ice. Sam misses the snow angels and is dearly looking forward to making a snowman. Our neighbors, John and Mark, are wonderful to Samantha and invited her over to give her a present. She was thrilled with their Christmas tree, and John showed her all three of their trees, every one of them beautiful. Mom got tipsy on Mark’s margarita, but luckily I just had to cross the street to get home. Sam just had orange juice. Sam opened her gifts and starting reading “The Snowman” right away. It is one of those books that just has pictures, and she is fascinated by a moving, action type snowman. She also got a kit of sewing cards and rubber pieces that fit together that she had opened and strewn across the living room floor first thing the next morning. They knew just what would fascinate her. Must be all those nieces and nephews they have, good training for them.

I hope you are all well and enjoying the week before New Year’s Eve.

First night 2005

Samantha loves the candle lighting ceremony. She sings along with us during the blessing, although she is still uncertain about the words. For the first time, she is holding the shamash for the smaller menorah and lighting her own candles. She is very proud.

We went to NH over the weekend to see my family for a bit. Seems like the time is always mostly taken up with driving, even when we are there, just traveling from one family home to the next. I didn’t get to see Alan’s home for very long, but he has clearly worked hard to make some big improvements. Pat and Cliff had stained their siding, and added new siding to most of the house. I had liked the color in the photos, but seeing the house in reality was amazing. The antique bronze color works really well with the green hills surrounding it.

Sam got to open some presents during the day at Grammy and Grandpa’s house. She ate the menorah cookie from Zayde right away. Everyone oohed at the pretty frosting on the top. The mittens Grammy knitted for Sam fit very well, and perfectly match the pair Grammy also knitted for me. We opened some presents from Pat at her house, which were two books: “Encyclopedia of Nature” and “Encyclopedia of Animals.” They have great photos and pictures of Winnie the Pooh asking questions about nature. Patty also gave her a placemat with a menorah that Sam can draw on over and over again. Sam colored everything in immediately and made sure that each candle’s flame was colored yellow.

We woke up Sam and lit our menorah when we got home from the long drive. It was so nice to be home out of the rain. She opened a few more presents. Our friend, Becky, had dropped off a beautiful box filled with yummy foods, bread and some lindt chocolates. Yum! We’ve been using the blueberry spread on the bread and it is very tasty. She gave Sam a huge box of stamps and another present of lipsticks and a momento box. Sam is fascinated with the stamps and hasn’t figured out the lipgloss yet. We gave her some stickers, a glue stick, a Pooh and Eeyore puzzle and a dreidel.

Language

I ask, "Would you like to have a fire?"

It would be pleasant to have a fire.

I ask, "what would you like for dinner?"

I don't know. What are your thoughts about dinner?


Sam cracks me up, when she isn't yelling "stinkball!" at someone, sometimes to make them laugh.

paper

Sam is taking the strips of paper from the shredder, putting tape on each end of the strip, and putting them on the back of my chair in the office. Sam says that the peices of paper say that the chair doesn't sleep. So the chair doesn't sleep. She is also making bracelets out of them with tape. Pretty cool. She has made two bracelets for Daddy so far. She is a very busy girl.

Sam had her first swim class today without me in the pool. She was great. Can't swim yet, but she was very brave. This is hard for her, since her face gets splashed now and then and she hates getting her face wet. She still has a hard time remembering to stop breathing when her face goes under water, but her instructor, Amy, is used to helping children with that. Amy is wonderful, enthusiastic and bright. Sam said she got scared sometimes, but she never once hung back or tried to leave. That is courage. I couldn't be prouder of her. She is learning to kick, paddle and to lay on her back using a noodle. Great stuff! She had to wear her 'new' bathing suit for class today. 3 years old and she already has a fashion sense.