I Want to Hug Her

I didn't know what to expect when Samantha was born as to how Joshua would act. I assumed he would be jealous of her. So far, so good at 6 months. I don't see any real jealousy issues. I have tried really hard to not say, "Sorry Joshua, you can't do X because I have to do Y for Sami". I don't know if it has worked, but Joshua is really good with Samantha. He is always asking to hug her (or just doing) and kissing her and asking to hold her. It is really cute.

Time for Solids

Getting ready for the big event. Anticipation for what is coming.

Trying to decide whether Sami likes it.

Yes. Another bite, please.

6 Months has come, and it is now time to start Samantha on solids. Today was the big day. Of course, "solids" is a word to be used very loosely. (No pun intended, well - maybe). Solids is basically specially formulated rice cereal mixed with so much breast milk that you are practically feeding her liquid via spoon. Of course, it tastes different, and this is Samantha's introduction to food. Each day, you make it a little thicker. For the first 2 weeks, Samantha will only get the rice cereal. After that, she will start to be introduced to new foods.

Samantha did well with her first feeding. She didn't spit it out too bad, and she seemed to like it. I look forward to introducing her to all kinds of new foods - like pizza!

My Little Shoplifter

On Thursday, Joshua, Samantha and I went to a local Mommy and Me event in Rockville. It was at an outdoor shopping center. The different stores in the shopping center participate and have little activities or giveaways for the kiddies. (In the end, it was pretty lame and I am not going to go back to that event).

One of the stores is Hallmark. They were giving balloons to the kids right outside of the store. Of course, I grabbed a balloon for Joshua as he loves balloons. I also needed to buy some cards, so I went inside the store. I bought the cards I needed and walked out. As we are walking down the shopping center, I noticed that Joshua was holding a tealight candle. Ut oh. I didn't buy that for him. I grabbed the candle, walked back to the store and walked up to the woman standing at the outside handing out balloons. I handed her the candle, said I was "sorry" and walked away. It definitely could have been worse. Yet, I can't imagine a store wanting to press charges against a 2 year old.

This is not the first time and certainly not the last time I will be apologizing for my son's wrongdoing.

Samantha's Photo Shoot

A local photographer in the area was looking for a baby model. So, I volunteered Samantha. I thought she was actually looking for baby models for future projects. However, she was just looking for baby models for her own projects. (Honestly, I think it was just a ploy to gain more business). The pictures came out amazing. I wish she wasn't so expensive and then I would buy some. Here are just a sample. I wish that I had rights to these pictures and then I could send them to a baby talent agency. Unfortunately, I don't have rights to the pictures and can't do anything with them. Oh well.

2 1/2 Years Old

Joshua at 2 1/2. Well, this is the only picture I have that is halfway decent from his 2 1/2 year birthday. If you look at our pictures, 90% of them are of Samantha. Joshua refuses to sit still for a picture.

Joshua is gaining some independance and telling us what he wants. Plus, he is telling us that he wants to do it as opposed to us doing it for him. That is great that he is starting to do things by himself, but of course, it takes much longer to complete the task.

We are still seeing the temper tantrums with the terrible twos. They aren't super frequent which is nice, but they are there. Luckily, we aren't seeing any temper tantrums pertaining to his 5 month old sister. Joshua (at this point) seems to really love Samantha. He hasn't shown any real signs of jealousy and he is always hugging her and kissing her, and asking to hold her.

Sleep Through the Night Already!

A full night sleep. That is all I want. 8pm - 6am. Is that too much to ask for? By this time, Joshua was sleeping through the night. In fact, he had been sleeping through the night for several months by now. Samantha won't sleep through the night. No matter what, she is always waking up around 2am. She is hungry, so there is nothing I can do about it. I tried to just rock her. Nope. I tried to change her diaper. Nope. I even tried a few times to wake her up before I went to bed to feed her hoping that would last through the night. Nope. Samantha is starting solids soon, so hopefully that will help.

5 Months