Friday Leftovers

• It's a beautiful day! Sunny and warm, finally a nice summery day! We spent the morning outside and I'm relaxing now while both girls are sleeping. Yes! 
• I didn't post much this week because Brian and I were both sick with the stomach flu. Thankfully the kids didn't get it! Feeling so much better now. 
• Grace is doing awesome using the potty; we're very proud of her and have been telling her so. She now tells me "I so proud of you using the potty, Mommy" when I come out of the bathroom. 
• I've been doing some reading on Baby Led Weaning. Anna is not interested at all in me spoon feeding her.
• Wee Bears ends next week! Grace will miss it, she really loves going. 
• Anna is starting to become mobile. Slowly but surely, she's figuring out how to scoot herself along on her bum. When she's on her tummy she pushes herself backwards and slides along the floor. 
• We need to do a bit of baby proofing in here. We moved into this house last summer so it was toddler proofed, but not baby proofed!
• Get more leftovers here. 

Chatting with Gracie

Dis big sister is so done! - after finishing supper.

I don't know where it is, honey! - she likes to call me honey, sweetie, or darling lately.

Oh you found it! I was worried!

Mike: Is Magnum handsome?
Grace: *looks around* It's windy today.

Come on, ladies! Let's take a ride! - as we were leaving the grocery store.

That's a good deal, Carmen.

No screaming in the house, Anna! You can sing, talk, or laugh but no screaming! Got it? She got it!

Grace: I'm pooping.
Me: Let's go to the potty!
Grace: No! I don't want to sit on the potty!
Me: Why not?
Grace: Because it's my birthday.

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the street!

Once upon a time, a girl jumped in a BIG puddle!
Once upon a time, a teddy bear walked down the street.
(These are her go-to story starters)


"Let's have cake. Cut some! I have a knife in my purse." (After we sang Happy Birthday in the car).

Sign Language

Grace and I took a baby sign language class when she was 6 months old. I loved it. The instructor was lovely, we learned a ton of signs, and lots of cute little songs to help teach them. Within a couple months Grace was signing milk, more, and all done. She picked up a few more signs but when she started talking her vocabulary just exploded and I didn't keep up with signing.

When I was pregnant with Anna, I had big plans to start signing to her right from the start. How's that been going? It hasn't. Big fail on my part. I haven't been signing to her at all! But I plan to change that, starting now. I'm going to get Grace to help me teach Anna. We'll start with milk and more, like we did with Grace, and move on from there. It was so awesome when Grace started signing to us and could kind of tell us what she wanted/needed before she could talk; I want to give Anna that opportunity too! 

Wordless Wednesday

Auntie Murr is Getting Married!

Auntie Murr and Uncle Matt are engaged! 

Uncle Matt popped the question 2 weeks ago and the wedding is June 28 - this year! We're all very excited for the wedding and I'm honoured to be Murr's MOH. Grace is going to be a flower girl! That makes 2 weddings this summer where Grace will be a flower girl. I hope she doesn't get nervous!

Anna's First Trip to Hearts Content

I took the girls up to the camp yesterday for the day. Zilla and Bampers had spent the night there and we joined them for brunch and then spent most of the afternoon there. Grace had a great time - walking on the beach, throwing rocks in the water, looking for frogs in the pond across the road (no frogs yet but lots of eggs! Grace said they looked like peas), and helping Bampers get water from the brook. Anna had a good day too; she had a nice, long nap and hung out with us outside for a while. I forgot my camera but took some pictures on my phone so they aren't the best quality. We're looking forward to doing an overnight at the camp soon with the girls!

Big bubbles!

Anna hanging out

Having a snack

Playing backgammon with Zilla

Snoozing away

G playing dominoes

Grace writing her first entry in the book

Cool dude

It was a beautiful day but the wind was chilly

More bubbles

Trying to get them out over the lake

A bird's nest that Bampers found

Relaxing and reading a book with Zilla

Play-Doh

Bampers doing some puzzles

Happy girl!

Swingin' Sisters

Anna's first time on the swing!

Friday Leftovers

• Two kids teething at once just isn't fair. For them or us! My poor girls. At least Grace is almost done, her last 2 molars are coming in. Poor Anna is just starting. 
• It's been raining most of the week. Hoping for some nice weather this weekend!
• We picked up Grace's flower girl dress for Uncle Rob and Auntie Sharla's wedding yesterday. It is beautiful! She tried it on and loved it; she didn't want to take it off! And she loves her sparkly shoes. The dress is a bit big so we need to get it altered. Grace is very excited to "dance and twirl" in her fancy dress at the wedding. 
• I picked up a potty seat for Grace yesterday. So far, she really likes it; it has Dora on it, of course. She has had one pee on the big toilet and was very proud of herself. I think it's time to really focus on potty training (so far we've been pretty relaxed about it and encouraging her to use the potty, but not really "training"). 
• I requested Secrets of the Baby Whisperer from our library weeks ago and it finally came in. Anna's naps have been getting better but we'll see if these strategies can help out even more. 
• Grace is on a big cereal kick lately. For the longest time she would always ask for oatmeal or toast and peanut butter for breakfast. For the past week all she wants is Cheerios. 
• Get more leftovers here!

Sick

The girls are both sick. To be honest, I'm not sure if they both have colds or if they're both feeling miserable due to teething. Grace is working on her last 2 molars and Anna doesn't have any teeth yet, but has been a drooling machine for a couple months now and chewing everything in sight. They both have runny noses and just aren't feeling themselves.

Grace has been sick off and on for over a week; the fact that it comes and goes makes me think it's probably her teeth, rather than a cold. Anna just started with the runny nose and crankiness over the last 2 days. She was up every 2 hours last night, and almost every hour the night before. For someone who is not the greatest sleeper to begin with, this does not help matters.

I hate seeing them sick! I hope these teeth hurry up and come through and/or this cold leaves us soon!

Wordless Wednesday (Faces Edition)

Happy

Sad

Surprised

Mad

I think this was supposed to be scared?

Another Girl with a Blankie

I mentioned here that Anna was already starting to show a preference for a blanket. She will rub it on her face and it seems to be the reason she has started falling asleep on her own rather than being rocked to sleep. Today I realized she may be more attached to this blanket already than I thought! I took the girls to Costco this morning and they were great while we were in the store, but they were both tired and fussy on the way home. Grace was asking for her blankie, which was at home. I told her to ask Anna if she could borrow her blanket, thinking that she wouldn't want to, but she did. From the backseat I heard "excuse me, Anna, may I borrow your blankie?" It was pretty cute. I passed her the blanket and gave Anna a toy to play with. Anna kept fussing so after a few minutes I gave her the blanket back. She settled almost immediately and went to sleep! Grace fell asleep a few minutes later, too.

I am not at all opposed to Anna wanting/needing a blanket for comfort. In fact, I'm glad she likes that particular blanket because we have two of them! After Grace became attached to her blankie I looked for another one but couldn't find any. Having a spare this time around could come in handy.

Grocery Shopping with Two

I'm actually kind of embarrassed to admit this, but this week I took both girls grocery shopping by myself for the first time. Usually, Brian or I go alone, or one of us takes Grace while the other stays home with Anna, or we do our grocery shopping as a family of four. I had been avoiding taking the girls myself for a while because Anna is not content to sit in her carseat in the cart like Grace used to. Every time we tried, I ended up carrying Anna around the store while Brian pushed the cart, with Grace's help. Since Anna started liking being in the carrier I had been meaning to take them both on my own, but it was just easier to do it the way we had been. Part of my hesitation to take both of them and put Anna in the carrier is the fact that Grace sometimes refuses to sit in the cart - she would rather help us push. Plus, I like going to the grocery store by myself. It's funny how, once you have kids, going to the grocery store alone is like a mini vacation.

Anyway, our shopping trip went perfectly! I had Anna in the Beco and Grace happily got in the cart. No whining, crying, or fussing from either of them. We ran into Anna's boyfriend Lennan and his mama and we strolled a few aisles together. Soon Anna will be able to sit in the cart, which I think will make things even easier, and I think both girls will enjoy sitting in the cart together. 

I feel like I should mention I don't completely avoid going out with both girls We go out often - playgroups, visiting friends & family, the library, we used to go to Kindermusik, etc. I was just avoiding shopping with both of them. I'm sure not every shopping trip will be smooth sailing, but I won't hesitate to go again, just the three of us.

Happy Half-Birthday, Anna Banana!

Happy half birthday to our beautiful Anna!

At six months:

• Anna has started sitting on her own. She is still a little wobbly and falls over from time to time, but she's getting steadier. 
• She can roll from back to tummy and from tummy to back, but doesn't do it very often. 
• She will wiggle and twist herself around to move on the floor, but doesn't get very far. I'm in no rush for her to become mobile!
• She still loves her baths. We've stopped using the mesh ramp and usually just lay her in the tub on a towel so she doesn't slide around too much. She likes to splash! She also loves the occasional bath with her sister; she smiles and laughs the whole time. 
• Naps are getting better. The past couple weeks have seen almost daily naps! Sometimes multiple naps per day. This is great progress. 
• Night time sleep is okay. She usually wakes once or twice to eat, but settles back to sleep very easily. 
• Anna is very much a mama's and daddy's girl. She likes to know where one of us are at all times. She does not appreciate being left alone in a room, even just for a minute while I tuck Grace in for a nap or grab some laundry. 
• She still absolutely adores her big sister. I love seeing them interact with each other. Grace is so wonderful with her. I never want to forget the look on Anna's face when she looks at her big sister. So much love. 
• She likes being outside. Going for walks in the stroller, going to the playground in the carrier, or hanging out on a blanket in the backyard, she's always content to be outside. The fresh air helps with naps too!
• Anna is wearing 6-12 month clothes and just started wearing size 3 diapers. 
• She's had her first taste of solid food. She's had some avocado, but so far she's not a big fan. Let the adventure begin!
• She is starting to show a preference for a blanket. It's fleecy and soft, just like her big sister's (which she often tries to grab if they're sitting on the couch together, and we'll hear Gracie say "no, no, Anna!")
• Anna is a drooling machine but doesn't have any teeth yet. 

Wordless Wednesday (Pics from the Phone)

Tuesday Tune

This song will forever remind me of our family road trip to Maine and the best wedding reception ever.

Visit the Tompkins Family and listen to another Tuesday Tune!

Anna's Favourite Band?

It seems that Anna likes Mumford and Sons as much as the rest of us. Except while Grace, Brian and I like to listen and dance to their music, Anna likes to fall asleep to it. Several times over the past couple weeks I've laid her down awake in her crib, and turned up the music while I'm tidying up in the living room and kitchen. Today she fell asleep to it and as soon as the music stopped, I heard her stirring. I hit play again and she settled and went back to sleep! I think we may need to invest in something we can use in her room to play music; the mobile and other "baby music" devices aren't going to cut it!

New Blog Name

Since Anna joined our family I've been meaning to change the name of the blog. It's no longer just about Grace but about both of our girls, and our family as a whole. I was trying to think of something interesting or clever but, I've got nothing! So for now, it's The Sampson Fam.

Friday Leftovers

• We've had some great spring weather this week. The girls still need to dress cozy and wear a hat, but I'll take it! We've been spending lots of time at the playground and in the backyard. 
• I haven't been able to drive my car all week because the brakes are gone so we haven't gone far. It's getting fixed today!
• I really love having a playground right next door.
• I almost don't want to say this but ... we've been making some progress with Anna's naps! She has had at least one nap every day this week, usually for at least 45 minutes. Not only that, but a few times I laid her in her crib and she fell asleep on her own! This is huge! Now next week I'll be complaining about how that all went out the window.
• Anna is almost officially sitting independently. She still flings herself backwards once in a while, but she's getting pretty steady on her little bum!
• Grace had a stomach bug earlier this week. Thankfully it only lasted a day/night but I hate seeing her sick. 
• I never leave our stroller outside. I left it out yesterday for the first time, for maybe 2 hours, and when I went to get it there was a squirrel sitting on it and he had chewed two little holes in the front handle bar! Annoying. 
• Head over here for more leftovers. 

Wordless Wednesday (You Better Run!)