Update

The first picture is from Sammie wearing her arm restraints the night she had surgery. She had to wear them to bed so she wouldn't rub her eyes. We expected them to royally piss her off . . . but in true Sammie spirit, she found them to be amusing . . . and played with them and still managed to give us hugs with them on!!! As you can see, she's actually smiling a little in the picture . . . this is less than 12 hours after her surgery.

And the other pic is a first for us --- first time on daddy's shoulders!!! B/C she's so unsteady, it just hadn't occurred to us to put her there but she liked it!

I haven't blogged in over a week (gasp) because we've been so busy! My mom was in town all last week, Sammie B was still recovering from her surgery (which she took like a champ -- she was back to her old self within a day!). Gigi had LOTS of great time with the Bean, and even got to watch her Sunday night while B and I went out to dinner and to a concert. This was the first time that we've ever had someone else put Sammie to bed, so that part was a little hard for me, but I know it was probably the best night of Gigi's life so far ;o) Like all of us, Gigi is head over heels in love with our Bean. The two of them shared many giggles and smiles and loves last week! Gigi took lots of pictures so maybe she could share them . . . or even do a guest blog?? (What do you say Gigi?)

Sam came through the surgery like a champ, but she's decided to throw us a curve ball the last few nights --- Our little Bean that has always been SUCH an amazing sleeper (having been sleeping through the night since about 3 months old) has suddenly started waking up and needing us to comfort her back to sleep. She cries, the pacifier doesn't do the trick, stroking her head doesn't do the trick, nothing except being held. I thought maybe she had another ear infection, so I called and moved her 10-month check-up up to today (she's about 9 days shy of 10 months) but turns out, she's not sick. No ear infections. Her pediatrician said its not uncommon for something like this to happen after a babe/small child goes through something like surgery . . . she could even be having bad dreams. SO, we just need to go to her and comfort her, just as we have been, and we'll get through this phase. Our poor little bean! Knowing that Bean may be having bad dreams somehow makes the bags under my eyes seem totally insignificant!

PT is going really well . . . our therapist continues to be thrilled with Sammie's progress . . . she always holds her own bottles now; she's gone from not being able to tripod sit at all to being able to do so with minimal help from her arms; she's able to side-sit for a bit if we put her in that position; she's banging her toys and hitting them together; she splashes in the bathtub/pool (showing that the muscle tone in her arms is improving); she's able to hold the quadriped (crawling) position for a little bit, to hold on to her toes and pull them to her chest, to stand with assistance . . . . SO MUCH improvement. When she holds her toes, we say "show us the bottoms" and she extends her feet up to us and we kiss the bottoms. Then she giggles with delight. We are so happy! I spoke with our pediatrician today about all the things Sammie B is doing and all the things she isn't, and she's totally optimistic as well . . . all great news! On our way to conquering the world of motor skills . . . one PT session at a time!!! Sam's growth has slowed -- she was 90th percentile, but now she's down to 50th, which is okay. Her head is still big --- 80th percentile :o)

She's a GREAT eater and has loved all the food we've given her . . . and now we get to start experimenting with finger foods!!! Sam's hand-eye coordination is a little lacking (note the fact that she regularly poors milk on her head when trying to put her bottle to her mouth . . . though as of late, we are pretty sure this is a game she's playing and not such an "accident"). Finger foods will likely take a little practice. I stopped on my way home tonight and picked up the little baby food star puff things the doctor recommended starting with (they dissolve in their mouths, so not a choking hazard). Sam liked seeing me and daddy eat them, but didn't like them herself . . . we'll try again!

A few other fun things . . . when my mom was here, my mom and I took Sam with us over to my mom's hotel to check-in and as we were leaving . . . my mom said, "ready to go bye bye Samantha?" And, Sam said, as clear as could be, "bye bye." She hasn't said it again though -- little stinker! And, so no one believes us that she said it . . . but she did! She's also been saying mah mah mah a lot . . . not quite "mama" but getting there! AND, tonight as we sat eating dinner and she sat in her high chair staring at those little puff things we wanted her to eat, she said totally out of the blue "dada." B's heart melted. These may not be regular occurrences just yet, but the makings of her first words are there. Unbelievable!!

My favorite recent story is that when I was in the bathtub with her the other night, I was trying to squirt her with one of her squirt toys like I always do (and always get a smile from her) but I accidentally shot it in my face instead, which made me jump. She giggled uncontrollably!!! Like total belly laughs. It was the cutest and loudest giggle EVER. B was downstairs and heard it and ran up to see what was so stinking funny!!! I kept doing it, and she kept giggling!!! What a funny little Bug!!!! NOTHING in the world could possibly be better than those little giggles!!!